Demon Dialer Review
Review by The Devil's Advocate
We Got It
It arrived, inconspicuously enough, in a plain brown wrapper; the Hack-Tic postmarking was enough to inform us of its contents. This was the device that everyone was talking about, this was the box to end all boxes, this was the technology that had corporate and government authorities shaking worldwide, this was the ultimate phone phreaker's tool, the Rainbow Warrior, the God Box, the Demon Dialer. Hack-Tic has responded to AT&T's invitation to "reach out and touch someone" by offering a gem for just such a purpose.
The kit included two printed circuit boards (one for the actual Demon Dialer and the other for the keyboard), a bag of miscellaneous electronic parts (no miniatures, micros, or surface-mounts), another bag containing 13 push-button switches, a piece of anti-static foam holding two integrated circuits (the MC68HC705C8P/DD heart of the Demon Dialer and the LM386N3 amplifier), and two instruction manuals (one for Construction & Hardware and the other for Operation & Software). The entire kit comes in a VHS cassette tape box.
Our first observation was that the kit did not include a number of parts that would be needed for final assembly. Missing was a chassis to mount the Demon Dialer in, a speaker to connect the Demon Dialer to, a 25- or 9-pin connector for serial interfacing (yes, the Demon Dialer is quite capable of this!), and a battery snap or holder for the batteries. We were extremely disappointed that the kit did not come with these parts, as they are not superfluous but absolutely essential for the operation of the Demon Dialer. In addition, it can take some time to order the requisite parts from electronics firms, and this additional wait can be frustrating to anyone who has assembled the Demon Dialer and wishes to test it. Fortunately, we at 2600 were able to find some spare parts around the office, although the aesthetics of our Demon Dialer suffered from our impatience.
We Built It
Constructing the Demon Dialer was easy. Unlike the earlier versions which used difficult-to-solder surface-mounted devices, the new model practically snapped together, and will offer no serious challenges for anyone who knows how to solder. The Construction & Hardware Reference Manual was clear and concise, explaining the soldering pitfalls of each part, what to avoid, and how to troubleshoot. We found it comforting to know that, with the exception of the main chip, the parts to the Demon Dialer are easily obtainable in case of any major soldering catastrophe.
Naturally, you will need a soldering iron rated for 30 watts or less, as well as rosin core solder. Expect to take two hours to solder the boards, and another hour to mount the boards, battery, and speaker into the chassis. Mounting can take quite some time as you must cut holes in the chassis to allow the keys to poke through from the inside. A template is provided to make this job easier.
At first glance, the Demon Dialer may not seem to be big, but once you add the speaker and battery, you will find that everything adds up. Although Hack-Tic claims that a fully assembled Demon Dialer will fit inside a king-sized cigarette box, you will find that the device will need at least a 2" by 2" by 1" chassis, and this is assuming that you are using the thinnest speaker and 6 volt battery that money can buy.
We Turned It On
The Demon Dialer has 13 keys:
Pressing the Shift key powers up the device, which responds with a short upward tone sweep. At this point, the device will act like a regular Touch-Tone dialer in all respects. In order to access any special features, you must first enter a unique password that is included with the kit. Failure to enter the correct password upon immediately powering up the Demon Dialer means that you must wait 30 seconds until the device powers down before you can try again. And just how secure is this password protection? According to the manual:
"The program in [the main chip] (which also contains your password) is protected by a security-bit that tells the processor not to allow the outside world to read the contents of its PROM. We do not know of any methods to read the contents of a security-bit protected PROM short of probing on the surface of the chip itself... In other words, it is very hard for someone who does not know the code to prove that your device is anything but an ordinary DTMF-dialer."
According to Hack-Tic, the passwords are not archived anywhere so you should not forget what it is. In addition, you should be careful when entering the password as the Touch-Tones will sound and can be decoded. Because the password is burnt into the PROM, it cannot be changed, although you can turn the password protection on or off anytime, but only after you have access to the special features. When the password protection is turned off, the Demon Dialer will automatically power up in the mode where it was last left. You will find this useful when you are programming macros, as this can take some time and the device will often power down while you are thumbing through the manuals.
If you don't want to wait 30 seconds for the device to power down, you can immediately power down by pressing ^ * ^ * (Shift, Star, Shift, Star). (Anyone who doesn't know the password cannot do this unless you turn password protection off.) You may also wish to connect your own on/off power switch to keep the unit from accidentally powering up when something brushes against the Shift key. Simply wire your own switch in series with either the positive or negative lead of the battery. The only drawback to using your own switch is that the Demon Dialer will lose everything you programmed in RAM every time the power is disconnected.
The password protection was included in the software with Americans in mind. If you are "caught" with the Demon Dialer, it will be up to the authorities to prove that what you have is nothing more than a regular Touch-One dialer. We were detained in just such a situation when U.S. Customs Inspector Kaufman (badge number 29439) decided to expand his limited technical prowess by inquiring into the device. We explained that the "thing with buttons" was a dialer (no lie there!) and that we used it to access our voice mail system (among other things). After thoroughly playing with the Demon Dialer, Kaufman accepted this explanation with little more than a veneer of suspicion, and should be happy to know that his ignorance in not confiscating the Demon Dialer is what made this review possible. From all of us at 2600, thank you Inspector Kaufman!
We Played With It
The Demon Dialer has a total of 12 modes, as well as a number of special functions. Switching from one mode to another is easy, and it doesn't take long to learn where everything is.
Each mode number is followed by its attributes.
The Demon Dialer, also sports a macro mode that allows any combination of the above modes, nesting, aliasing, pausing, and retry. You could for instance set up a macro to Red Box, wait until a key is pressed, Blue Box a particular number, wait until a key is pressed, play another macro, wait until a key is pressed, and then retry. The mode is extremely flexible and easy to use. The Demon Dialer can store up to 10 different macros, even after the device powers down.
The user programmable mode is by far the most powerful feature of the Demon Dialer. This mode gives you total control, allowing you to program a series of any tones and pauses you want. You choose the number of tones (zero, one, or two), the duration of each tone (in milliseconds, up to one second), and the volume level of each tone (from 0 to -15 dB of full volume) for up to 22 keys (you get the extra keys by using the Shift key). You can also define the timing type so that your program is played-while-pressed. This is the mode that makes the Demon Dialer a true Rainbow Box. We programmed a North American dial tone, busy signal, fast busy, and off-hook signal with no problems.
The Demon Dialer also offers some other features called Special Functions. These include a device initialization (clears the RAM), RAM Frequency Index Numbers (FIN) programming, time template programming, guard tone programming, frequency stepping, continuous sweep, password protection on/off, number scan, and power off.
We Approve
The $250 price tag of the Hack-Tic Demon Dialer is stiff, especially considering that it lacks a chassis and does not even come assembled. However, a few facts should be kept in mind before we judge the Demon Dialer as a nice but overpriced toy.
First of all, to call the device a "dialer" at all is really a misnomer; it is a computer complete with its own CPU, ROM, and RAM. Although it may not seem like a computer because the output is audio and not video, it is still quite capable of performing amazing feats considering its size.
Secondly, because the Demon Dialer is programmable, we cannot even begin to list what it is ultimately capable of. With a little imagination, the Demon Dialer would be excellent for social engineering. We have not had the time to fully explore its practical uses, but we will welcome ideas and suggestions from our readers.
Finally, the Demon Dialer is one of a kind in terms of its capabilities. Hack-Tic did not design this device to sell it; they are hackers and designed this device to use. You can therefore be assured that they are not holding back on anything. As further proof of this, the software that came with the original Demon Dialer has since been updated.
We at 2600 would like to see the price go down not because the Demon Dialer is overpriced, but because the high price is steep for many hackers, and therefore makes the Demon Dialer exclusive. We would ultimately like to see the technology available to everyone, as it is truly a tool of exploration and not just another box to defraud phone companies.
If you are considering purchasing the Demon Dialer, but are not sure whether it is worth it, then consider that it is ultimately a phone phreaker's tool. Those who come into contact with phones and phone equipment on a regular basis will find the Demon Dialer to be invaluable. Because it is designed to handle phone systems around the world, frequent travelers will also find the device to be an invaluable companion, and will use it to its full potential.
If all you are looking for is a Red Box to defraud your local payphone, then you may want to look elsewhere. On the other hand, if you are searching for the phone phreaker's equivalent of an all-terrain vehicle, then you just may want to test drive this rocket.