Thread drift question: how common are successful hacking (old
> definition of the word "hack") attempts against MIT's 5ESS? When I
> was at the 'tute long ago it had a SxS (in building 10 IIRC) with the
> main number at UN4-6900, and one of the popular entertainments among
> the student body was trying to find a live wire pair from which one
> could dial "9" to make an outside call [*]. Occasionally someone
> would manage to get into the switchroom and do a bit of rewiring,
> although I don't recall ever hearing of any damage being done other
> than a few unauthorized LD calls. (But one of the hackers' exploits
> in 1961 or so was described in an article in Newsweek ... not for his
> "informal" rewiring jobs, but for his use of what today is called
> "social engineering" to make an international call from a campus-only > line.)
Most are probably worrying about hacking the campus computer system to change their grades. Most also probably have cell phones and could care or less about landlines.
For landline service, most colleges use outside services to handle their LD service. Penn State, for example, uses AT&T ACUS (forget what the acromym stands for) and all the LD is handled via AT&T's OSPS operator services & calling card platform (Operator Services Position Station). Pretty hard to hack. Not impossible, but not simple either.
Dave