war dialing

war dialing
n.
A computer cracking technique that uses a software program to automatically call thousands of telephone numbers to look for any that have a modem attached.
Example Citation:
"WheelGroup will now try to gain access by avoiding the Internet and attacking XYZ's individual computers. It will use a method called war-dialing. Consulting the phone number on the business card of an XYZ employee, the hackers assume (correctly) that computer modems at the company will use the same area code and three-digit prefix. Waddell downloads a free program from the Internet called ToneLoc, written by hackers named Minor Threat and Mucho Maas. It comes with a manual that explains how to automatically call thousands of phone numbers within a specific range."
— "How We Invaded a Fortune 500 Company," Fortune, February 3, 1997
Notes:
This term comes from the 1983 movie War Games, now a classic in computer cracking circles. In the movie a young cracker (Matthew Broderick) is using war dialing to look for games and bulletin board systems. However, he inadvertently ends up with a direct connection to a high-level military computer that gives him control over the U.S. nuclear arsenal. Chaos ensues.
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Look at other dictionaries:

  • War dialing — or wardialing is a technique of using a modem to automatically scan a list of telephone numbers, usually dialing every number in a local area code to search for unknown computers, BBS systems or fax machines. Hackers use the resulting lists for… …   Wikipedia

  • War dialing — Se conoce como war dialing o demon dialing (en inglés) a una técnica utilizada durante las décadas de los años 1980 y 1990, que consistía en hacer llamadas a una serie de números de teléfono automáticamente con el fin de encontrar módems… …   Wikipedia Español

  • War dialing — Se conoce como war dialing o demon dialing (en inglés) a una técnica utilizada durante las décadas de los años 1980 y 1990, que consistía en hacer llamadas a una serie de números de teléfono automáticamente con el fin de encontrar módems… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • War dialing — Composeur (logiciel) Pour les articles homonymes, voir composeur. Cet article fait partie de la série Programmes malveillants …   Wikipédia en Français

  • war-dialing — noun a) The practice of having a computer dial large numbers of telephone numbers in search of devices that can be exploited, such as fax machines or modems. b) A similar practice in other address spaces, such as IP addresses …   Wiktionary

  • war-dialing — ● ►en n. m. ►SECU Le fait d utiliser un wardialer …   Dictionnaire d'informatique francophone

  • war driving — n. A computer cracking technique that involves driving through a neighborhood with a wireless enabled notebook computer and mapping houses and businesses that have wireless access points. Also: war driving, wardriving. war driver, wardriver n.… …   New words

  • war texting — pp. Using text messages to break into a remote system such as an automobile or a GPS tracking device. Also: war texting, wartexting. war texter n. Example Citations: Researchers at iSec Partners, a cybersecurity consultancy, have shown how a car… …   New words

  • war chalking — (wohr CHAW.king) n. Using chalk to place a special symbol on a sidewalk or other surface that indicates a nearby wireless network, especially one that offers Internet access. Also: war chalking, warchalking. war chalker n. Example Citation: Mr.… …   New words

  • Demon dialing — In the computer hacking scene of the 1980s, demon dialing was a technique by which a computer is used to repeatedly dial a number (usually to a crowded modem pool) in an attempt to gain access immediately after another user had hung up. The… …   Wikipedia

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