 The introduction to Phrack, issue 1 | |
| Editor | The Phrack Staff |
|---|---|
| Former editors | Taran King Cheap Shades Knight Lightning Shooting Shark Elric of Imrryr Crimson Death Dispater Erik Bloodaxe Voyager daemon9/route Phrackstaff Circle of the Lost Hackers |
| Categories | Hacking/computer science,phreaking,anarchy |
| Frequency | No set frequency |
| First issue | November 17, 1985 |
| Based in | St. Louis |
| Language | English |
| Website | phrack.org |
| ISSN | 1068-1035 |
Phrack is ane-zine written by and forhackers, first published November 17, 1985.[1] It had a wide circulation which included both hackers and computer security professionals.[2]
Originally covering subjects related tophreaking,anarchy andcracking,[1] its articles also cover a wide range of topics includingcomputer andphysical security,hacking,cryptography,counter culture and international news.
Phrack has been described as having "had its finger on the pulse ofhacker culture",[3] and being "hugely influential in the early days of hacker culture".[4]
Issues ofPhrack are divided in volumes, covering 1 or more years of publication.
| Volume | Year | Issues | Editors |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 1985-86 | #1 to #9 | Taran King Cheap Shades |
| 02 | 1987-88 | #10 to #24 | Taran King Knight Lightning Shooting Shark Elric of Imrryr Crimson Death |
| 03 | 1989-91 | #25 to #36 | Taran King Crimson Death Dispater |
| 04 | 1992-93 | #37 to #44 | Dispater Erik Bloodaxe |
| 05 | 1994 | #45 to #46 | Erik Bloodaxe |
| 06 | 1995 | #47 | Erik Bloodaxe |
| 07 | 1996-97 | #48 to #51 | Voyager daemon9/route |
| 08 | 1998 | #52 to #54 | route |
| 09 | 1999 | #55 | route |
| 10 | 2000 | #56 | route |
| 11 | 2001-05 | #57 to #63 | Phrackstaff |
| 12 | 2007-08 | #64 to #65 | The Circle of Lost Hackers |
| 13 | 2009 | #66 | The Circle of Lost Hackers |
| 14 | 2010-2012 | #67 to #68 | The Phrack Staff |
| 15 | 2016 | #69 | The Phrack Staff |
| 16 | 2021 | #70 | The Phrack Staff |
| 17 | 2024 | #71 | The Phrack Staff |
There were 3 hardcover releases. Each hardcover release contained most (but not all) articles of the e-zine release. Both the hardcover and e-zine were released simultaneously.
| Issue | Year | Place | Front Cover |
|---|---|---|---|
| 57 | 2001 | Hackers At Large |  |
| 62 | 2004 | RuxCon |  |
| 63 | 2005 | What the Hack |  |
Phrack, first released on November 17, 1985, takes its name from the words "phreak" and "hack".[5] The founding editors of the magazine, known by the pseudonyms "Taran King" and "Knight Lightning", edited most of the first 30 editions.[6] Editions were originally released onto theMetal Shopbulletin board system, where Taran King was asysop,[1] and widelymirrored by other boards.[5] Its headquarters was in Austin, Texas.
During its first 10 years of publication,Phrack was largely associated with telecommunications fraud, providing material forphreakers and information about arrests in the community through its Phrack World News feature articles.[7] Along with the release of articles such as "Smashing The Stack For Fun And Profit" and the editorship of daemon9/route in 1996,Phrack's orientation shifted towardcomputer security and its focus drew closer to the current definition ofhacking.
The 24th issue ofPhrack, released February 1989, included a document relating to the workings ofEnhanced 911 emergency response systems.[8] This document was an administrative document describing which parts of the organization are responsible for what parts of the E911 system.[9] It had been copied from aBellSouth computer and played a major part in a series ofSecret Service raids calledOperation Sundevil and featured inBruce Sterling's bookThe Hacker Crackdown.Phrack's editor,Knight Lightning, was arrested and charged with access device fraud and transportation of stolen property.[9] The proceedings which ensued are known formally asUnited States v. Riggs, named forKnight Lightning's co-defendant Robert Riggs.
TheElectronic Frontier Foundation filed anamicus brief supporting Knight Lightning, and helped to get the case dropped[10][11] by introducing a witness who showed thatBellcore was selling more detailed documentation to the E911 system for as little as $13 to anyone who asked. The E911 document had initially been valued by the prosecution at almost $80,000.[12] The case was then dropped.[9]
After the arrest of Knight Lightning, and the shutdown ofPhrack by theUS Secret Service in late December 1989 a few weeks after issue #30 was released, some attempts were made to resurrectPhrack under the editorship of Doc Holiday and Crimson Death. However, the lack of consent from the original editor to accept thisPhrack Classic led to a new editorship for issue #33 by Dispater under the nameDiet Phrack until issue #41.
Issue #42 was released under the editorship ofErik Bloodaxe in 1992. In September 1994, the firstPhrack website appeared with release #46, containing all the files from the previous issues.
With the growing use of the internet and interest in computer security, from 1996Phrack became increasingly oriented towardcomputer security. The editorship was handed toroute along with voyager until 2000 (release #56). During this period, thePhrack website wasdefaced several times and the magazine was often unavailable.[13]
Since 2001 Phrack has been edited under the alias Phrackstaff.
In 2005, it was announced thatPhrack was to come to an end, with the 63rd issue as its last. To commemoratePhrack's final appearance, the issue was to be a hardback edition, released simultaneously at theDEF CON andWhat the Hack conventions on July 29. An e-zine version of the release followed on August 1. The European printer for the hardcopies ofPhrack to be distributed at Defcon refused to fulfil the order once they realized that they were printing a hacking book. TwoUniversity of Arizona students filled the gap and printed between 100 and 200 copies ofPhrack 63 in time for release at Defcon 13. The copies ofPhrack 63 distributed at Defcon 13 are each stamped with a "serial" number on the inside of the last page. It is believed that there are 100 numbered copies ofPhrack 63 distributed at Defcon. All copies were hand cut and bound; unnumbered copies may be unreleased "extras", or may have cutting errors that meant they were deemed them unfit for distribution.[citation needed]
Issue 63 told readers to "expect a new release",[14] and on May 27, 2007, issue 64 was released by a new board of editors referring to themselves as "The Circle of Lost Hackers" (TCLH).[15] TCLH released issue #65 ofPhrack on April 11, 2008 and issue #66 on June 11, 2009 and so on uptolatest release of #71 on2024-08-19 by Phrack Staff.
Phrack issues are released irregularly, and issues are grouped into volumes. Each issue comprises a number of Philes: stand-alone text files of technical or counter-cultural content. Philes are submitted by members of the hacker underground community, and are reviewed by the editors.
In addition to technical articles,Phrack also provided a focus for news and gossip among the hacker community.[3]
In the 1990National Computer Security Conference, Sheldon Zenner andDorothy Denning suggested thatPhrack articles contained the same factual content in computer and security magazines, but differed in tone.[16]
Phrack is especially popular due to the general high standard of the releases compared to other underground zines, but has made its reputation from a number of high-quality articles.
Several regular columns are present in most issues ofPhrack, such as:
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