From: Robert Rothenburg Walking-Owl <rrothenb@ic.sunysb.edu>
Date: Thu, 2 Feb 95 18:12:33 PST
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: The FNORDWALL CHIP.
Message-ID: <199502030212.VAA22129@libws2.ic.sunysb.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



>    ----- Transcript of session follows -----
> ... while talking to toad.com.:
> >>> RCPT To:<cyberpunks@toad.com>
> <<< 550 <cyberpunks@toad.com>... User unknown
> 550 <cyberpunks@toad.com>... User unknown

Talk about lame. I accidentally CC'd this to "cyberpunks". *sigh*

[ More header snipped! ]

> 
> > 
> >          THE FIREWALL CHIP!  U'RE PHONE ALWAYS OFFHOOK?
> 
> Fnorjd!
> 
> > 
> >    We have potential bugging devices in all our houses - The telephone!
> > Of course, when it is onhook, the microphone does not transmit... or
> > does it? Would the phone have to be rewired to render it always
> > "offhook" or would it be an operation at the central phone company?
> 
> I believe there is a way to get regular analog phones to go "off hook"
> by sending the right kind of signal down the wire. Apparently not that
> reliable if you've got multiple extentions.  I think some newer phone
> systems and/or newer phones don't work that well for the method, though
> I never tried it myself.
> 
> 
> >    This problem demands a hardware solution. How about an adapter module
> > between microphone & the rest of phone?
> 
> How about disconnecting the phone when uneeded? Or, filter the calls through
> an answering machine (which may also defeat such a method described above).
> 
> [ Snip! ]
> > 
> >    The FIREWALL CHIP could have its applications software supplied by
> > various companies which would specialize in fields for
> > detecting electronic intrusion. Some specializing in phone audio, others
> > in vision telephones, cell phone tracking, & many others to be
> > considered.
> > 
> >    The FIREWALL CHIP will be a future necessity. It & its software
> > suppliers will probably constitute an outlaw industry.
> 
> I don't think it will be a necessity. I can think of several alternatives
> that don't require trusting an "outlaw industry".
> 
> Rob
> 
> 
> --VAA00527.791777197/abel.ic.sunysb.edu--
> 
>