Section E: Miscellaneous

Table of Contents

  1. What does XXX stand for?
  2. How do I determine if I have a valid credit card number?
  3. What bank issued this credit card?
  4. What are the ethics of hacking?
  5. Where can I get a copy of the #hack FAQ?

(Italic indicates updated questions, while bold indicates new questions.)


01. What does XXX stand for?

TLA     Three Letter Acronym

ACL     Access Control List
PIN     Personal Identification Number
TCB     Trusted Computing Base

ALRU    Automatic Line Record Update
AN      Associated Number
ARSB    Automated Repair Service Bureau
ATH     Abbreviated Trouble History
BOC     Bell Operating Company
BOR     Basic Output Report
BOSS    Business Office Servicing System
CA      Cable
COE     Central Office Equipment
COSMOS  Computer System for Main Frame Operations
CMC     Construction Maintenance Center
CNID    Calling Number IDentification
CO      Central Office
COCOT   Customer Owned Coin Operated Telephone
CRSAB   Centralized Repair Service Answering Bureau
DDD     Direct Distance Dialing
ECC     Enter Cable Change
LD      Long Distance
LMOS    Loop Maintenance Operations System
MLT     Mechanized Loop Testing
NPA     Numbering Plan Area
POTS    Plain Old Telephone Service
RBOC    Regional Bell Operating Company
RSB     Repair Service Bureau
SS      Special Service
TAS     Telephone Answering Service
TH      Trouble History
TREAT   Trouble Report Evaluation and Analysis Tool

LOD     Legion of Doom
HFC     Hell Fire Club
TNO     The New Order

ACiD    Ansi Creators in Demand
CCi     Cybercrime International
FLT     Fairlight
iCE     Insane Creators Enterprise
iNC     International Network of Crackers
NTA     The Nocturnal Trading Alliance
PDX     Paradox
PE      Public Enemy
PSY     Psychose
QTX     Quartex
RZR     Razor (1911)
S!P     Supr!se Productions
TDT     The Dream Team
THG     The Humble Guys
THP     The Hill People
TRSI    Tristar Red Sector Inc.


02. How do I determine if I have a valid credit card number?

Credit cards use the Luhn Check Digit Algorithm. The main purpose of this algorithm is to catch data entry errors, but it does double duty here as a weak security tool.

For a card with an even number of digits, double every odd numbered digit and subtract 9 if the product is greater than 9. Add up all the even digits as well as the doubled-odd digits, and the result must be a multiple of 10 or it's not a valid card. If the card has an odd number of digits, perform the same addition doubling the even numbered digits instead.


03. What bank issued this credit card?

1033    Manufacturers Hanover Trust
1035    Citibank
1263    Chemical Bank
1665    Chase Manhattan
4024    Bank of America
4128    Citicorp
4209    New Era Bank
4302    HHBC
4310    Imperial Savings
4313    MBNA
4317    California Federal
5282    Wells Fargo
5424    Citibank
5410    Wells Fargo
5432    Bank of New York
6017    MBNA


04. What are the ethics of hacking?

The FAQ answer is excerpted from: Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution by Steven Levy

Access to computers -- and anything which might teach you something about the way the world works -- should be unlimited and total. Always yield to the Hands-On imperative.

All information should be free.

Mistrust Authority. Promote Decentralization.

Hackers should be judged by their hacking, not bogus criteria such as degrees, age, race, or position.

You can create art and beauty on a computer.

Computers can change your life for the better.


05. Where can I get a copy of the alt.2600/#hack FAQ?

Get it via FTP: (1, 2)

Get it on the World Wide Web: (1, 2, 3)

Get it by E-Mail at:
hackfaq@sekurity.com  (Subject: send faq)
EOT