Editing Phrack

{{Short description|Online hacking magazine}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2021}}{{Infobox magazine
|title         = Phrack
|image_file    = Phrack 1st ed.png
|image_size    = 
|image_caption = The introduction to Phrack, issue 1
|editor        = The Phrack Staff
|editor_title  = Editor
|previous_editor = Taran King<br />Cheap Shades<br />[[Knight Lightning]]<br />Shooting Shark<br />Elric of Imrryr<br />Crimson Death<br />Dispater<br />[[Erik Bloodaxe (hacker)|Erik Bloodaxe]]<br />Voyager<br />daemon9/route<br />Phrackstaff<br />Circle of the Lost Hackers
|staff_writer  = 
|frequency     = No set frequency
|circulation   = 
|category      = [[Hacker (computer security)|Hacking]]/[[computer science]], [[phreaking]], [[anarchy]]
|company       = 
|publisher     = 
|firstdate     = November 17, 1985
|country       = 
|based         = [[St. Louis]]
|language      = English
|website       = [http://phrack.org phrack.org]
|issn          = 1068-1035
}}

'''''Phrack''''' is an [[e-zine]] written by and for [[Hacker (computer security)|hackers]], first published November 17, 1985.<ref name="p1.1">{{Cite journal |author=Taran King |title=Introduction |journal=Phrack
|issue=1 |pages=1 |date=1985-11-17 |url=http://phrack.org/issues.html?issue=1&id=1#article }}</ref> It had a wide circulation which included both hackers and computer security professionals.<ref name="cnet2005">{{cite web |title=Long-lived hacker mag shuts down |first=Will |last=Sturgeon |publisher=CNet |date=2005-07-11 |url=https://www.cnet.com/news/privacy/long-lived-hacker-mag-shuts-down/ |access-date=2022-06-07 }}</ref>

Originally covering subjects related to [[phreaking]], [[anarchy]] and [[Software cracking|cracking]],<ref name="p1.1" /> its articles also cover a wide range of topics including [[computer security|computer]] and [[physical security]], [[hack (technology slang)|hacking]], [[cryptography]], [[Counterculture|counter culture]] and international news.

''Phrack'' has been described as having "had its finger on the pulse of [[hacker culture]]",<ref name="thomas">{{cite book |title=Hacker Culture |first=Douglas |last=Thomas |author-link=Douglas Thomas (academic) |publisher=[[University of Minnesota Press]] |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-8166-3346-3 |page=[https://archive.org/details/hackerculture00thom_0/page/121 121]}}</ref> and being "hugely influential in the early days of hacker culture".<ref name="bbc2005">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4657265.stm |date=2005-07-09 |title=Key hacker magazine faces closure |first=Mark |last=Ward |access-date=2007-12-30 |work=BBC News }}</ref>

==Publications==
===E-Zine Releases===
Issues of ''Phrack'' are divided in volumes, covering 1 or more years of publication.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Volume
! Year
! Issues
! Editors
|-
| 01
| 1985-86
| #1 to #9
| Taran King<br />Cheap Shades
|-
| 02
| 1987-88
| #10 to #24
| Taran King<br />Knight Lightning<br />Shooting Shark<br />Elric of Imrryr<br />Crimson Death
|-
| 03
| 1989-91
| #25 to #36
| Taran King<br />Crimson Death<br />Dispater
|-
| 04
| 1992-93
| #37 to #44
| Dispater<br />Erik Bloodaxe
|-
| 05
| 1994
| #45 to #46
| Erik Bloodaxe
|-
| 06
| 1995
| #47
| Erik Bloodaxe
|-
| 07
| 1996-97
| #48 to #51
| Voyager<br />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
|}

===Hardcover Releases===
[[File:Phrack63-WTH-Release-Party.jpg|thumb|Phrack #63 Release Party]]

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.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Issue
! Year
! Place
! Front Cover
|-
| 57
| 2001
| [[Hackers At Large]]
| [[File:Phrack57FrontCover.jpg|frameless|307x307px]]
|-
| 62
| 2004
| RuxCon
| [[File:Phrack62-Hardcover-Front.png|frameless|296x296px]]
|-
| 63
| 2005
| [[What the Hack]]
| [[File:Phrack63-hardcover-front.png|frameless|311x311px]]
|}

==History==
''Phrack'', first released on November 17, 1985, takes its name from the words "[[phreak]]" and "[[Hacker (computer security)|hack]]".<ref name="hackercrackdown2">{{cite book |first=Bruce |last=Sterling |author-link=Bruce Sterling |title=The Hacker Crackdown |publisher=Bantam Books |date=1993-11-01 |chapter=Part 2 |url=http://www.mit.edu:8001/hacker/part2.html |isbn=0-553-56370-X |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120601150345/http://www.mit.edu:8001/hacker/part2.html |archive-date=2012-06-01 }}</ref> The founding editors of the magazine, known by the pseudonyms "Taran King" and "Knight Lightning", edited most of the first 30 editions.<ref name="p60.1">{{Cite journal |author=Phrack Staff |title=Introduction |journal=Phrack |issue=60 |pages=1 |date=2002-12-28 |url=http://phrack.org/issues.html?issue=60&id=1#article }}</ref> Editions were originally released onto the ''Metal Shop'' [[bulletin board system]], where Taran King was a [[sysop]],<ref name="p1.1"/> and widely [[mirror website|mirrored]] by other boards.<ref name="hackercrackdown2"/> Its headquarters was in Austin, Texas.

During its first 10 years of publication, ''Phrack'' was largely associated with telecommunications fraud, providing material for [[Phreaking|phreakers]] and information about arrests in the community through its Phrack World News feature articles.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Nikos Drakos |title=The Evolution Of Telco Fraud Articles In Phrack |date=1994-08-10 |url=http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/classes/6.805/student-papers/fall94-papers/miller-phrack/miller-phrack.html }}</ref> 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 toward [[computer security]] and its focus drew closer to the current definition of [[Hacker (computer security)|hacking]].

===Arrest of Knight Lightning===
{{main|Operation Sundevil}}
The 24th issue of ''Phrack'', released February 1989, included a document relating to the workings of [[Enhanced 911]] emergency response systems.<ref>{{Cite journal |author=The Eavesdropper |title=Control Office Administration Of Enhanced 911 Services For Special Services And Major Account Centers |journal=Phrack |issue=24 |pages=5 |date=1989-02-25 |url=http://phrack.org/issues.html?issue=24&id=5#article |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071018015950/http://www.phrack.org/issues.html?issue=24&id=5&mode=txt |archive-date=18 October 2007 }}{{cbignore}}</ref> This document was an administrative document describing which parts of the organization are responsible for what parts of the E911 system.<ref name="hackercrackdown4"/> It had been copied from a [[BellSouth]] computer and played a major part in a series of [[United States Secret Service|Secret Service]] raids called [[Operation Sundevil]] and featured in [[Bruce Sterling]]'s book ''[[The Hacker Crackdown]]''. ''Phrack'''s editor, [[Knight Lightning]], was arrested and charged with access device fraud and transportation of stolen property.<ref name="hackercrackdown4"/> The proceedings which ensued are known formally as ''[[United States v. Riggs]]'', named for [[Knight Lightning]]'s co-defendant Robert Riggs.


The [[Electronic Frontier Foundation]] filed an [[amicus brief]] supporting Knight Lightning, and helped to get the case dropped<ref>{{cite web |url=http://w2.eff.org/Misc/Publications/John_Perry_Barlow/HTML/not_too_brief_history.html |title=A Not Terribly Brief History of the Electronic Frontier Foundation |first=John Perry |last=Barlow |author-link=John Perry Barlow |date=November 8, 1990 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121228011522/https://w2.eff.org/Misc/Publications/John_Perry_Barlow/HTML/not_too_brief_history.html |archive-date=2012-12-28 |url-status=dead |access-date=2022-06-07 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYpB1NzCO6g |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/LYpB1NzCO6g| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|title=TEDxMarin The Right to Know|first=John Perry|last=Barlow |website=[[YouTube]] |date=June 1, 2011}}{{cbignore}}</ref> by introducing a witness who showed that [[Bellcore]] 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.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110720013626/http://venus.soci.niu.edu/~cudigest/CUDS2/cud204.txt CuD Computer Underground Digest issue 2.04] file 4, originally published September 23, 1990; via [[archive.org]]</ref> The case was then dropped.<ref name="hackercrackdown4">{{cite book |first=Bruce |last=Sterling |author-link=Bruce Sterling |title=The Hacker Crackdown |publisher=Bantam Books |date=1993-11-01 |chapter=Part 4 |url=http://www.mit.edu:8001/hacker/part4.html |isbn=0-553-56370-X |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120601150232/http://www.mit.edu:8001/hacker/part4.html |archive-date=2012-06-01 }}</ref>

===Pre-2000===
After the arrest of Knight Lightning, and the shutdown of ''Phrack'' by the [[United States Secret Service|US Secret Service]] in late December 1989 a few weeks after issue #30 was released, some attempts were made to resurrect ''Phrack'' under the editorship of Doc Holiday and Crimson Death. However, the lack of consent from the original editor to accept this ''Phrack Classic'' led to a new editorship for issue #33 by Dispater under the name ''Diet Phrack'' until issue #41.

Issue #42 was released under the editorship of [[Erik Bloodaxe (hacker)|Erik Bloodaxe]] in 1992. In September 1994, the first ''Phrack'' 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 1996 ''Phrack'' became increasingly oriented toward [[computer security]]. The editorship was handed to [[Mike D. Schiffman|route]] along with voyager until 2000 (release #56). During this period, the ''Phrack'' website was [[Website defacement|defaced]] several times and the magazine was often unavailable.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://phrack.com/owned-by.html|title=owned-by.html|date=2 December 1998|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19981202233037/http://phrack.com/owned-by.html|archive-date=2 December 1998}}</ref>

===Continuation after 2000===
[[Image:Phrack.png|right|thumb|''Phrack'' logo used on ''Phrack'''s website.]]

Since 2001 Phrack has been edited under the alias Phrackstaff.

In 2005, it was announced that ''Phrack'' was to come to an end, with the 63rd issue as its last. To commemorate ''Phrack'''s final appearance, the issue was to be a hardback edition, released simultaneously at the [[DEF CON]] and [[What the Hack]] conventions on July 29. An e-zine version of the release followed on August 1. The European printer for the hardcopies of ''Phrack'' to be distributed at Defcon refused to fulfil the order once they realized that they were printing a hacking book. Two [[University of Arizona]] students filled the gap and printed between 100 and 200 copies of ''Phrack'' 63 in time for release at Defcon 13. The copies of ''Phrack'' 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 of ''Phrack'' 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|date=November 2023}}

Issue 63 told readers to "expect a new release",<ref name="p63.1">{{Cite journal |title=Introduction |journal=Phrack |issue=63 |pages=1 |author=Phrack Staff |date=2005-08-01 |url=http://phrack.org/issues.html?issue=63&id=1#article }}</ref> 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).<ref name="p64.1">{{Cite journal |author=The Circle of Lost Hackers |title=Introduction |journal=Phrack |issue=64 |pages=1 |date=2007-05-27 |url=http://phrack.org/issues.html?issue=64&id=1#article }}</ref> TCLH released issue #65 of ''Phrack'' on April 11, 2008 and issue #66 on June 11, 2009 and so on upto [https://phrack.org/issues/71/1 latest release] of #71 on '''2024-08-19''' by Phrack Staff.
==Content==
''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.<ref name="thomas"/>

In the 1990 [[National Computer Security Conference]], Sheldon Zenner and [[Dorothy Denning]] suggested that ''Phrack'' articles contained the same factual content in computer and security magazines, but differed in tone.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.phrack.com/issues.html?issue=32&id=7|title= Phrack Magazine |website=phrack.com}}</ref>

===Notable articles===
''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.
* "\/\The Conscience of a Hacker/\/ (aka the [[Hacker Manifesto]])" by [[Loyd Blankenship|The Mentor]] has been an inspiration to young hackers since the 1980s, having been published in the 7th issue of ''Phrack''.
* "Smashing The Stack For Fun And Profit"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.phrack.org/issues.html?issue=49&id=14#article|title= Phrack Magazine |website=phrack.org}}</ref> by [[Elias Levy|Aleph One]], published in issue 49, is the "classic paper"<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=165600196 |title=Busted Buffer: How To Prevent It |first=Andrew |last=Conry-Murray |magazine=InformationWeek |date=2005-07-04 |access-date=2008-01-20 }}</ref> on [[stack buffer overflows]], partly responsible for popularizing the vulnerability.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vnunet.com/itweek/comment/2086023/worms-unhappy-returns |first=Neil |last=Barrett |title=Worms: many unhappy returns |publisher=IT Week |date=2003-11-05 |access-date=2008-01-20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080830082912/http://www.vnunet.com/itweek/comment/2086023/worms-unhappy-returns |archive-date=2008-08-30 }}</ref>
* "The Art of Scanning" by [[Gordon Lyon|Fyodor]], published September 1, 1997 in Issue 51 introduced the [[nmap]] Internet scanning tool.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://phrack.org/issues/51/11.html| date=1997-09-01|publisher=Phrack|title=The Art of Scanning}}</ref>

===Regular features===
Several regular columns are present in most issues of ''Phrack'', such as:
* Prophile - a profile of an influential individual from the hacking underground.
* Loopback - answers to emails received by the phrack staff.
* Phrack World News - a compilation of reports on the latest counter-culture events.
* International Scenes - a compilation of testimonies from hackers around the world focusing on national and international activities.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commonscatinline}}
* {{official|http://www.phrack.org }}
* [http://www.textfiles.com/magazines/PHRACK/ the entire run of ''PHRACK'' on textfiles.com]
*[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Phrack_63_Hardcover.pdf Phrack 63 Hardcover PDF]

[[Category:1985 establishments in Texas]]
[[Category:Hacker magazines]]
[[Category:Irregularly published magazines published in the United States]]
[[Category:Magazines established in 1985]]
[[Category:Magazines published in Austin, Texas]]
[[Category:Works about computer hacking]]