Toll Fraud Prevention - Lucent Technologies MERLIN LEGEND Release 6.1 Maintenance And Troubleshooting Manual

MERLIN LEGEND Communications System Release 6.1
Maintenance and Troubleshooting 555-661-140

Toll Fraud Prevention

Use the longest-length barrier codes possible, following the guidelines
for 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 private network facility (line/trunk) or a private 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 allow 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
company, the more likely it is that they will be able to trick an employee into
helping them.
(See''Choosing Passwords'' on page
Issue 1
August 1998
Page A-13
A-24)