User manual

140
PhoneSweep Terminology:
Term Definition
Anomaly An “anomaly” is a PhoneSweep result that is not consistent and should be
investigated. For instance, if a phone number is answered once with “carrier”
(answered by a modem) but later on answered by a human voice, this is an
anomaly and may indicate an unauthorized modem.
Brute force password
guessing
“Brute Force” username password guessing means that PhoneSweep will call a
remote number, and offer one of its assigned username/password pairs.
Compromised or
Penetrated
A system has been “compromised” or “penetrated” if PhoneSweep was able to
guess a valid username and password for that system.
PhoneSweep A program developed by Sandstorm Enterprises (www.sandstorm.net) to
search for modems within a set of phone numbers. PhoneSweep can attempt to
identify systems attached to remote modems as well as attempting to find areas
of poor security by guessing common usernames and passwords.
Scan or Sweep A PhoneSweep “scan” or “sweep” is a series of calls to a list of assigned
numbers to search for modems, and possibly to attempt to penetrate those
modems.
Username/password
recycling
If PhoneSweep is “recycling” usernames and passwords, then it will attempt to
brute force its entire list on each modem that it finds. If it is not recycling, it
will use each username/password pair on its list only once.
Call Response States:
Call response
state
Explanation
Busy This phone number was always busy when dialed. If a busy number is later
redialed and is not busy, it is listed under the other category.
Carrier The remote phone number responded with a carrier signal; an electronic signal that
indicates a computer is attached to the other end. A carrier signal means that
electronic data transfer between two computers is possible, which may mean that
network-based security can be evaded. Numbers with “carrier” are also referred to
as numbers with modems attached.
Fax A fax machine answered the remote phone line.
Ring Timeout If your modem can detect when a remote phone number is ringing, PhoneSweep
will record calls that ring past a limit as “Ring Timeout”. The ring limit varies
based on the time period during which the phone number was called.
Screened A phone number is “screened” if the first part of the number is “9911” or “911”.
Screening is designed to prevent accidental calls to emergency numbers in certain
countries, including the United States and Canada.
Timeout PhoneSweep has timeout settings that vary depending on the time period in which
the phone number was dialed. If the remote number is not ringing (or your modem
cannot detect rings), and nothing answers the phone, the call times out.