What Is Phreaking?

Date First Published: 4th June 2023

Topic: Cybersecurity

Subtopic: Threats To Systems, Data & Information

Article Type: Computer Terms & Definitions

Difficulty Level: 7/10

Learn more about what phreaking is in this article.

Phreaking is the act of exploiting vulnerabilities in telephone systems to gain unauthorised access to restricted telephone services or areas, often to obtain free phone calls, bypass calling restrictions, have calls charged to someone else's account, and even take control of entire telephone networks. Phreakers can also use social engineering tactics to hack into restricted areas or services rather than technical skills and knowledge.

Whilst phreaking is a fraudulent practice of hacking into telecommunication systems, like computer hacking, not all phreaking is malicious and can be used to test the security of systems. This can be used to identify any vulnerabilities that need to be fixed as a form of penetration testing.

Methods Of Phreaking

Phreaking often involves fraudulent manipulation of telephone signalling. Examples of methods used to phreak a system include:

• Blue boxes - These are electronic devices that produce the tones used to control telephone networks. Mimicking these tones can allow an attacker to trick the system into thinking they are placing a legitimate call when they are actually manipulating the system. It may use a modified radio transmitter to send out frequencies that mimic those used by telephone networks.
• Red boxes - Similar to blue boxes. Instead of emitting pulses, it emits tones that mimic the signals used by telephone networks to make free calls and bypass calling restrictions. It can be done by recording the sound of coins inserted into the payphone and then playing the recording back when making a call, tricking the system into thinking that money has been deposited when it actually isn't.
• Black boxes - These are special devices that generate codes that can be used to gain access to restricted areas of a telephone network, including voicemail systems and operator assistance menus.

Types Of Phreaking

Below are five different types of phreaking.

• Toll fraud phreaking - This involves making unauthorised calls using the victim's account, resulting in fraudulent charges against their account. It may be performed by using stolen credit card numbers or sensitive information.
• Long distance phreaking - This involves making free long-distance calls by using special codes to bypass the billing systems or by abusing the free long-distance calling periods offered by phone companies.
• Denial of service phreaking - This involves flooding someone's telephone system with so many calls that it becomes overwhelmed and can no longer operate. It can be performed manually or by using bots. Using bots allows thousands of calls to be made in a few minutes.
• Caller ID spoofing - This involves users modifying their caller ID number so that their information looks like they are calling from a different number to avoid being caught making prank calls.
• International phreaking - This involves users making international phone calls at a small percentage of the original cost, often by abusing discounts offered by some phone companies. Only offering international calling services to clients that request it can help prevent international phreaking.

Where Did The Term "Phreaking" Come From?

The term "phreaking", a combination of the words "phone" and "freaking" was first used in the 1970s by a group of hackers who could make long-distance calls free of charge by mimicking the tones used by the telephone system. Phreaking is sometimes considered the predecessor to computer hacking since it took place before personal computers became popular. One of the earliest documented cases of phreaking happened in 1878 when a group of teenagers worked out how to use a whistle to make free phone calls.

Originally, the term "phreaking" referred to the process of exploring and manipulating telephone systems by mimicking dialling tones using blue boxes or whistles. The reason why people engaged in phreaking was because of their curiosity about how phone networks operated, not to defraud telecommunication companies. Now, the term has become synonymous with computer hacking and is a form of hacking that takes place over telecommunication networks.

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