An Introduction to Beige Boxing

by Erik Paulsen

I'm going to take a few moments to take things back to the basics: I'm going to teach you Beige Boxing.

Beige Boxes go back to the origins of hacking, when accessing other people's phone lines helped you remain undetected.  Using hijacked phone lines helped conceal crimes that were committed through modem connections.

Beige Boxing is a science; employing it in practical situations is an art.  Beige Boxing will permit you to connect a phone, laptop, or PalmPilot to a telephone landline.  Whether you are learning by tapping into your own phone line, or someone else's, there are only a couple of basic parts and tools you will need to get started.  Once you've learned to Beige Box, you can learn more about more advanced topics including DTMF tones, Red Boxing, social engineering, wardialing, and wiretapping.

So, let's start with something basic.  As I go through the following examples, I expect that you are already familiar with the following things: you know what a phone is, you know how to dial a phone number, you know what a modular phone jack is.  If you're using a modem, I also expect that you know how to dial with that modem and how to do whatever else you want to over the phone line once connected.

Also, it helps to have common sense when doing anything clandestine.  If you plan to do anything illegal, or anything that you think might be illegal, check your local laws and try not to break them.  Beige Boxing offenses, in the eyes of the law, usually involve trespassing, theft of services.  Connecting to the Internet by Beige Boxing may be considered a federal offense, since the illegal phone connection will more than likely cross state lines.

The Most Simple Device You Have Ever Made: The Beige Box

A "Beige Box," or a homemade "lineman's handset," is a simple telephone cord modification.  It is called a Beige Box because the first version ever made supposedly used a beige phone.  I'm sure you can learn more about this if you look for a description on the Hacker's Lexicon.

Construction is simple.

You'll need a few parts: one modular phone cord, which will be mutilated; two solder-type or screw-type alligator clips, preferably insulated; a soldering iron or screwdriver (accordingly); and something to cut and splice the phone cord, typically a wire cutter which will double as a wire splicer.

Finally, you will need a phone, and you won't be doing anything to it.

So choose an appropriate phone.  Obviously, the phone you will be using to Beige Box will need portability!  If you can't use it with one hand or less, don't bother with it.  A decent hands-free telephone is ideal.

First, cut the phone cord as close to one of the ends as possible, so you have a phone cord with a modular jack at only one end.

Next, you will want to splice the same end of the cord that was just cut.  This will expose the two (sometimes four) color-coated wires inside the cord.  We will only be dealing with the RED and GREEN wires, so if you also have YELLOW and BLACK wires, you can carefully cut them off.

The object here is that you want to connect your two alligator clips to the two separate wires inside of the phone cord.  I would say you will only need to expose the last two inches or so of the outer plastic cover.  This will leave you with two wires, one RED, and one GREEN, sticking out two inches from the end of the cord.

Then, strip a little of the plastic jacket off the RED and the GREEN wires, so you have enough bare wire to connect the clips.

Finally, attach the alligator clips, one to each stripped wire.  Now, it doesn't actually look like a box, but you can plug it into your one-piece phone.  Construction is now finished, and you have just made a Beige Box.

I'm sure you're now wondering what you can do with the box you've just built.  To test it out, look for your home phone line's junction box.  This is where your phone line comes into the house and where it is wired to your home's telephone wires.  It will typically be found on the outside of the house but may be in a garage or possibly by your house's fuse box.

I have seen junction boxes located in many places, from apartment building laundry rooms to hotel utility closets, but I'm sure your search will quickly succeed.

Once you have found your junction box, open it up.  If it has a lock on it, use your judgment and your common sense.  If you keep reading, I'll assume you've got it open.  These are customer boxes, so the person who pays for the phone will own the equipment.

What we are aiming for is a bridge-type connection, allowing your phone to access the landline.

So, you will want to connect your alligator clips.  If you're smart, you won't reach your hand into the junction box and fiddle around, as there is electrical current flowing through the wires.  It will typically be only 20 volts of direct current, but if the phone happens to ring, you'll get a nice "wake-up call,' as ringing voltage is around 100 volts of alternating current.

Respecting the electricity inside of the box and observing reasonable safety measures, attach the alligator clips accordingly: RED-to-RED, GREEN-to-GREEN.

You may notice that GREEN, RED, BLACK, and YELLOW wires are connected to your four terminals.  You will be attaching your alligator clips to the RED- and GREEN-wired terminals.

Hopefully your junction box is wired this simply.

If this is not the case, remember the rule: RIGHT RED RING and LEFT GREEN TIP.

Or, more simply: RIGHT RED.  Some boxes are wired this way instead of using colored wires.  So attach your RED wire with the right terminal (which is usually a screw) and your GREEN wire to the left terminal (also a screw).  Correctly attached, with a phone plugged in, you should get a dial tone.  This means success.

You can connect your Beige Box to any phone line which you can access.  You can expand this to network junction boxes, which are the ugly green boxes located in residential areas, and to buried phone cable lines if you can match the correct wires together.  You may be surprised to see how many phone lines are grouped together in one location.

Now what you do with it is up to your imagination, and is only limited by the laws of electricity.  An FM transmitter can be attached to a phone line.  So can audio input and output connectors and a multitude of other devices and applications.  Beige Boxing simply taps into a phone line.

After that, there's not much of a limit.

A note to those who are unfamiliar with technological tampering: this device is not meant to harass the AT&T operator, enemies, or ex-girlfriends.

It is not meant as a tool to stalk someone or to listen to private phone calls.  It is not intended to do any damage, physical or emotional.  It is a tool for learning about the physical aspects of and possibilities of this technology.

Glossary of Terms

Dual-Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) Tones:  The tones emitted by a Touch-Tone telephone or a device modified to emit such tones.  As well as dialing phone numbers, they are also used to control telephone equipment, including electronic switching equipment and payphones.

Red Box:  A modified DTMF tone dialer that generates the tones which tell a payphone that a quarter, dime, or nickel has been deposited.  Since its discovery, the possibility of Red Boxing has been widely eliminated by telephone company countermeasures.

Social Engineering:  Acquiring information through manipulative social interaction.

Wardialing:  The act of dialing phone numbers in a sequence to search for telephone numbers with interesting properties or for phone lines connected to modems.

Wiretapping:  Recording or transmitting the conversation taking place over a phone line, in order to listen to conversations and gather information.

Lineman's Handset:  A device used by telephone company repairmen to connect to a phone line for testing purposes.  A professional and feature-enhanced version of the Beige Box.