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                                  TES Presents

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                 - What To Look For In A Code Hacking Program -
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                              written by Dissident

     Phreaking's getting tricky these days, ain't it?
     Ok, there are two groups of things a code hacker should have, the
necessities and the things that are good to have...  Here are the necessities:

     Mutliple ports.  If you constantly try to hack from the same port (the
800/950 or whatever number that the company you're hacking from is on) you
are begging to be caught.  The program should have an option to handle at
least 5 different ports.  It should also be able to handle a different format
for each one if necessary. (One could require nine digits, another only 4, 
another requiring a 9 before the place you're trying to call to, etc)
     Multiple targets.  The program should be able to handle as many
target numbers as it can ports.  If everytime you try a code you go to the
same number you are, again, begging to be caught.
     The ability to hack codes RANDOMLY.  And when I say random, I mean going
as far as to have a different seed each time it generates a random code...
If you hack sequentially I hope you get caught.
     Not only should the codes it tries be random, but almost everything about
the program should be random.  It should pick a random port, with a random
target, and with a random code.  Believe it or not, some companies are starting
to show some intelligence, and they're beginning to notice patterns. . .
You can't predict chaos, remember that.
     The ability to stop after a certain number of tries, or a certain number
of successful codes, or at a certain time.  If you let the hacker run for a
long time, you better have a LOT of ports and targets set up...  Hack for
short periods of time, or for a relatively small number of tries.  If you
get impatient and desperate for codes, you will make mistakes.

          And now, the nice things to have.

     The ability to have a random delay between the tones it dials.  Humans
can't dial 11 digit numbers in .7 of a second, and the companies know that.
Humans also cannot dial with a consistent gap between each tone.  If the
program puts a random time between each tone, the system will have a better
chance of thinking you're a human.
     The program SHOULD be able to encrypt all of the codes it hacks when it
saves them/prints them/etc.  That way, IF you get busted, you won't have so
much evidence against you.  When you get nailed, they go through everything,
even if they are idiot schmucks.  If your list of codes contains all 'wrong'
codes, they'll have less of a case against you.
     It is also nice if the code hacker waits a random length of time between
attempts, no matter how many ports it is trying.  If you're hacking random
ports, with random targets, with a random delay between digits dialed, with a
random amount of time between all of your attempts, and with a randomly
generated code, you're going to be hard as hell to catch.

     And now some warnings. . .

     I don't know if it is a COMMON practice, but some companies have set up
bad accounts (codes, whatever) for the specific purpose of catching whoever
tries to use it.  If it doesn't belong to a real person, only a hacker would
get it.
     Don't hack fast...  If at all possible, dial fairly slowly.  I've heard
of places that watch for extremely fast dialers.
     Don't phreak to the same place with the same code constantly.  I feel
that one is self explanatory.
     If you're very cautious, you can always use someone else's line when you
are searching for codes.  But be SURE you don't leave anything that can point
to you.
     If you think there is a chance that you've been snagged, or at least
caught the attention of the Gestapo, stop phreaking.  The less stuff they
have against you, the less of a case they'll have against you.  Also, if you
keep phreaking, they'll sooner or later shove a printout in your face that
contains every number dialed from your phone.  Don't bring everybody else down
just because you got careless.

     Speaking of bringing everyone else down...  I don't know if the truth has
been out yet, so I'll bring it out.  There was a loser by the name of Jeremy
Hall.  His common handles were "Quicksilver" and "Shells".  He thought he was
hot shit.  He set up many Alliance conferences, called up Voice Mailboxes 
almost everyday, etc.  He was about 13 years old, a little whiny brat.
Well, there was also a damn good phracker by the handle of Amadeus.  Ever
wonder what happened to him?  Quicksilver turned him in to save his own ass.
He also caused alot of Mailboxes to come down, and I think a few boards came
down because of his ignorance.

Just thought I'd mention that for those who knew Amadeus or Narcsilver.
(BTW-Narc:615-647-8019  724 York Road  Clarksville, TN 37042

 Various programs with code-hacking functions written by members of TES-

 Commcracker and Coax - written by Cronus
 HAMR, HAMR 2.0,HAMR128 - written by Dissident
 CHOMPS under development - Cronus
 CHOMPS-Amiga also under development - Dissident

 All of the above except for HAMR 128 and CHOMPS Amiga were written/are being
developed for Commodore 64s...  Commcracker/Coax/HAMR require 1660 modems,
the rest will work with Hayes Compats.

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