Engineering:Switched Access Service
Switched Access Services (SAS) was an internal Pacific Bell network testing and maintenance system used by telephone company personnel to remotely access, test, and monitor subscriber telephone lines and central office switching facilities. The system became known in hacker and phone phreak communities during the 1980s and 1990s through accounts of its unauthorized use for monitoring telephone conversations and other activities.[1][2]
History
Hacker Kevin Mitnick learned of SAS in the early 1990s from Justin Tanner Petersen (also known as "Eric Heinz" or "Agent Steal"), who had discovered references to the system while breaking into Pacific Bell facilities with Kevin Poulsen.[3][4]
Mitnick described SAS as connected to Remote Access Test Points (RATPs) that allowed authorized technicians to dial in and perform remote diagnostics on subscriber lines and equipment.[3]
Independent accounts confirm that Poulsen and associates physically entered Pacific Bell offices, stealing technical manuals and equipment related to the system.[1][2]
Capabilities
According to contemporary accounts, SAS enabled Pacific Bell technicians to:
- Check the status of subscriber lines
- Initiate various test procedures
- Access remote switching and transmission facilities
- Remotely connect to active subscriber lines for monitoring (often referred to as "listening in" in hacker contexts)
The system used command-driven interfaces and included functions not widely documented outside engineering teams. Prosecutors later described it as "test technology" that was hijacked for criminal purposes, including intercepting calls and making calls appear to originate from different numbers.[2][4]
In hacker culture
SAS became a significant target for phone phreaks because of its powerful remote monitoring capabilities. Kevin Poulsen pleaded guilty to using the system, including in schemes to rig radio station call-in contests by controlling incoming lines.[2]
Petersen was accused by his defense attorney of continuing to use SAS while working as an FBI informant.[1][2] Mitnick used social engineering to obtain documentation and access details, later describing extensive use of the system for monitoring lines in the Pacific Bell service area.[3]
The system featured prominently in investigations and trials involving Mitnick, Poulsen, and Petersen during the 1990s.
Relationship to switched access service
The term "Switched Access Service" also appears in Pacific Bell's public tariffs for carrier interconnection and access arrangements.[5] The internal testing and maintenance platform described by hackers appears to be a distinct engineering tool that shared similar nomenclature. The precise technical relationship between the tariffed service and the SAS test system has not been fully detailed in public sources.
See also
- Pacific Bell
- Kevin Mitnick
- Kevin Poulsen
- Justin Tanner Petersen
- Phone phreaking
- Wiretapping
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Johnson, John (July 31, 1994). "Hacker in Hiding: Digital Desperado Who Claims to Have Worked for the FBI Is Now Being Sought by the Agency". Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-07-31-me-22155-story.html.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Johnson, John (August 4, 1994). "Fugitive Hacker Leaves Trail of Strange Claims". Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-08-04-me-23449-story.html.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Mitnick, Kevin D.; Simon, William L. (2011). Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker. Little, Brown and Company. pp. 117–158. ISBN 978-0-316-03770-9.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Kevin Mitnick, Part 2". Cybereason. https://www.cybereason.com/blog/malicious-life-podcast-kevin-mitnick-part-2.
- ↑ "Pacific Bell Telephone Company Tariff F.C.C. No. 1". AT&T. https://cpr.att.com/pdf/fcc-pb/1000.pdf.
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