Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!asuvax!noao!ncar!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!casbah.acns.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request From: julian%bongo.UUCP@nosc.mil (Julian Macassey) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Do Network Interface Devices Make Fraud Easy? Message-ID: Date: 23 Feb 91 04:50:51 GMT Sender: news@casbah.acns.nwu.edu Reply-To: Julian Macassey Organization: The Hole in the Wall Hollywood California U.S.A. Lines: 58 Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 152, Message 6 of 7 Originator: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu In article hayes!tnixon@uunet.uu.net (Toby Nixon) writes: X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 139, Message 9 of 12 > In article , rborow@bcm1a09.attmail. > com writes: >> in the phone itself or in the line. Apparently, according to the >> geniuses at IBT, all you need to do is pop open the NID box -- located >> on the back of your house about five feet off the ground -- with a >> screwdriver or something, pull out a wire, and insert your phone's >> modular plug. If you can make or receive a call through this point, >> then the problem lies with your nonworking phone. If you cannot make >> or receive a call, then the problem probably lies with Bell's network. >> My worry is simple: with these NID's located so conveniently for >> anyone to use, shouldn't I (or anyone else with these NID's) be >> concerned with the probability of fraud? > In Southern Bell land (our subdivision, anyway), these boxes have > latches on them on which you can place a padlock. The telephone > installer who came to our house strongly recommended making use of > this feature! We put on a combination padlock, like you'd use on a > gym locker, so that if we ever need service we can tell the repair > office the combination to the lock, which they record on the repair > order, and we don't need to be there to provide a key. Ok, just in case everyone who is worried about people with telephones in their back pockets sneaking up to their NID, lets put it in perspective. Where your NID is now, there has always been a "protector" or more recently in telco speak "demarc". They are all easy to access if they are attached to an outside wall. Yes, some demarcs are in basements. So if you knew about this and had a phone with a couple of alligator clips attached, you could make calls on someone else's line. This is even better at apartment houses, because you are less likely to be challenged and there are more lines to chose from. So apart from the fact that the NID accepts an RJ-11 plug, nothing is new, nothing has changed. You didn't think it was a problem then, why should it be a problem now? And yes, you can lock your side of the NID, but upon close inspection, you will notice that the NID can be opened by the Telco using a security TORX tool (available at car parts stores). The Telco can open both sides of the NID, theirs and yours, you can only open one side - unless you have the magic tool. So lighten up. If you are really paranoid, move the NID inside. Yes, my protectors are under the house with the Black Widow spiders. But the telco put them there decades ago - back when protectors were large porcelain things and wire was brown and covered with cotton. Julian Macassey, n6are julian@bongo.info.com ucla-an!denwa!bongo!julian N6ARE@N6YN (Packet Radio) n6are.ampr.org [44.16.0.81] voice (213) 653-4495