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An early phreaking tool, the blue box is an electronic device that simulates a telephone operator's dialing console. It functions by replicating the tones used to switch long-distance calls and using them to route the user's own call, bypassing the normal switching mechanism. more...

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The most typical use of a blue box was to make free telephone calls. ("Black Boxes" enabled one to receive calls which would be free to the caller.) Blue boxes no longer work in most western nations, as the switching system is now digital and no longer uses in-band signaling. Instead, signaling occurs on an out-of-band channel which cannot be accessed from the line you are using (called Common Channel Interoffice Signaling (CCIS)).

The blue box got its name because the first such device confiscated by Bell System security was in a blue plastic case.

History

In 1955, the Bell System Technical Journal published an article entitled "In Band Signal Frequency Signalling", which described the process used for routing telephone calls over trunk lines with the then current signalling system, R1. The article described the basics of the inter-office trunking system and the signalling used. This, while handy, could not be used in and of itself, as the frequencies used for the Multi-Frequency, or "MF", tones were not published in this article.

In 1964, the other half of the equation was revealed by the Bell System Technical Journal: another article was published containing the frequencies used for the digits that were used for the actual routing codes. With these two items of information, the phone system was at the disposal of anyone with a cursory knowledge of electronics.

However, contrary to numerous stories, before finding the articles in the Bell System Technical Journal it was discovered by many, some very unintentionally and to their annoyance, that some Bell System trunks could be reset by a 2600 Hz tone. Famous phone phreaks such as Joe Engressia (known as Joybubbles) and "Bill from New York" trained themselves to whistle 2600 Hz (which would reset trunks). They also learned how to route phone calls by causing trunks to flash in certain patterns.

With the ability to blue box, what was once individuals exploring the telephone network started to develop into a whole sub-culture. Famous phone phreaks such as John Draper (also known as Captain Crunch), Mark Bernay, Al Bernay, Joe Engressia, Evan Doorbell, Bill from New York, and Ben Decibel used blue boxes to explore the various 'hidden codes' that were not dialable from a regular phone line.

Some of the more famous pranksters were Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs, founders of Apple Computer. On one occasion Wozniak dialed Vatican City and identified himself as Henry Kissinger (without imitating Kissinger's German accent) and asked to speak to the Pope (who was sleeping at the time).

Blue boxes were not just the domain of "pranksters" and "explorers"; others (such as the Mafia) used blue boxes solely to make free phone calls for criminal purposes.

Read more at Wikipedia.org