Toll Fraud Prevention - Lucent Technologies MERLIN LEGEND Release 6.0 Maintenance And Troubleshooting Manual

MERLIN LEGEND Communications System Release 6.0
Maintenance and Troubleshooting 555-660-140
Customer Support Information

Toll Fraud Prevention

Use the longest-length barrier codes possible, following the guidelines
for passwords. (See "Choosing Passwords.")
Toll Fraud Prevention
Toll fraud is the unauthorized use of your telecommunications system by third
parties to make long distance telephone calls. Under the law, you, the customer,
are responsible for paying part or all of those unauthorized calls. Thus, the
following information is of critical importance.
Unauthorized persons concentrate their activities in two areas with the MERLIN
LEGEND Communications System:
They try to transfer out of the MERLIN LEGEND Communications
System to gain access to an outgoing trunk and make long-distance
calls.
They try to locate unused or unprotected mailboxes and use them as
drop-off points for their own messages.
The following is a discussion of how toll fraud is often perpetrated and ways to
prevent unauthorized access that can lead to toll fraud.
Physical Security, Social Engineering, and
General Security Measures
Criminals called hackers may attempt to gain unauthorized access to your
communications system and voice messaging system in order to use the
system features. Hackers often attempt to trick employees into providing them
with access to a network facility (line/trunk) or a network operator. This is
referred to as social engineering. Hackers may pose as telephone company
employees and employees of Lucent Technologies or your authorized dealer.
Hackers will go through a company's trash to find directories, dialing
instructions, and other information that will enable them to break into the
system. The more knowledgeable they appear to be about the employee
names, departments, telephone numbers, and the internal procedures of your
Issue 1
February 1998
Page A-12