A form of hacking, as applied to telephone networks. Phone phreaks exploit weaknesses in the phone system to make long-distance calls for free, tap into other's calls, take control of lines, get free phone services, and the like.
Phreaks (or phreakers) are usually motivated more by technical curiosity and the hacker ethos than any criminal intent (although phreaking is most certainly illegal). To bounce a call through a dozen different switching systems around the world, to your friend next door - all for free - is regarded by phreaks as an accomplishment. The fact that they are committing fraud and felonies in the process is regarded as incidental - or perhaps part of the fun.
The tools of phreaking often take the form of "boxes", such as the blue box, red box, or beige box. These devices - whose names refer to their function, not their actual color - generate various useful audio frequencies or electrical signals. The "red box", which allows you to make free calls from pay phones, is the easiest to build and can be assembled using two parts from Radio Shack that cost less than ten dollars.
The archetypal phone phreak is John Draper, aka Captain Crunch, who began phreaking on the West Coast in the 1960s.
The practice of phreaking has declined in recent years, as phone networks have been upgraded from old analog systems to newer, less vulnerable digital systems.
Phreaks (or phreakers) are usually motivated more by technical curiosity and the hacker ethos than any criminal intent (although phreaking is most certainly illegal). To bounce a call through a dozen different switching systems around the world, to your friend next door - all for free - is regarded by phreaks as an accomplishment. The fact that they are committing fraud and felonies in the process is regarded as incidental - or perhaps part of the fun.
The tools of phreaking often take the form of "boxes", such as the blue box, red box, or beige box. These devices - whose names refer to their function, not their actual color - generate various useful audio frequencies or electrical signals. The "red box", which allows you to make free calls from pay phones, is the easiest to build and can be assembled using two parts from Radio Shack that cost less than ten dollars.
The archetypal phone phreak is John Draper, aka Captain Crunch, who began phreaking on the West Coast in the 1960s.
The practice of phreaking has declined in recent years, as phone networks have been upgraded from old analog systems to newer, less vulnerable digital systems.
by Greenie December 12, 2003
by RedBoxChilipepper(not really) October 5, 2003
The pure art of achieving free phone calls through the use of a colored box. The two main boxes are the Blue Box and Red Box. The Blue Box puts you in an empty tandam from which you can dial anywhere in the world, where the Red Box imitates the tones of the coins droping into the phone. However, these boxes no longer work on most pay phones anymore due to the digitizing of switches.
by The Weasel October 1, 2003
by Axis of Knowledge June 12, 2003
the act of gaining free calls from a telephone from blueboxing(cant anymore) redboxing(YES YOU CAN!!!) and phonecard numbers.
by ¡DŃ™! November 13, 2003
by TA October 12, 2003
Someone who likes to explore the workings of the telephone system, such as switching, call routing, etc. Phreaks are always trying to keep up with the latest telecom innovations.
by Anonymous July 14, 2003