Presented at
The Last HOPE (2008),
July 19, 2008, 3 p.m.
(60 minutes)
This talk will give a brief history of phone phreaking from 1960 to 1980 the Golden Age of the analog telephone network. After a quick introduction to the then-modern long distance network and "operator toll dialing," you'll see how the first "blue box" came to be, look at why organized crime loved the technology, and see how AT&T and the Department of Justice reacted to this fad in the 1960s. You'll then follow the phreaks into the 1970s as their hobby hit the mainstream in 1971 with the publication of "Secrets of the Little Blue Box" in Esquire and the founding of YIPL, the first phone phreak newsletter. As a bonus, you'll get to listen to some sounds of the old network! If you've ever used a blue box, this will be a phun trip down Memory Lane - and if you haven't, you'll get to listen to some great examples of hacking with tones!
Presenters:
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Phil Lapsley
Phil Lapsley has spent the last three years documenting the history of phone phreaking through hundreds of interviews and Freedom of Information Act requests. He has been interviewed by National Public Radio and the BBC and quoted in multiple newspapers, including the New York Times, on the topic. He has also presented on phone phreaking history at the 10th Annual Vintage Computer Festival. When not researching phreaking, Phil has tried to act like an upstanding member of society. He co-founded two high technology companies in the San Francisco Bay Area and worked for McKinsey & Company, a management consulting company that advises Fortune 100 companies on business strategy. He co-developed Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP, RFC 977) used in the USENET news system. He is also the author of one textbook, 10 patents, and numerous technical articles.
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