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That's all very true unless he can hack through an unprotected PBX switch in some small office.

This happened to our ol'buddy Matt Drudge a few years back. He had all the numbers, etc., that he needed to confidently publish something with a good source.

Problem was it was a hack job and he barely removed the information in time to keep Sidney Blumenthal from crying foul. Sid probably did the deed himself, or maybe one of his little buddies Billzo had hired into the Secret Service.

These days there are fewer and fewer unprotected PBX's. That's because funny little foreign guys in the narcotics business find them and place all their long distance calls over them. Best place to look for one would be a small business with a suite of 5 or 6 offices in a rundown office building. Walk down the halls on any of the mid-level floors, find a name, and go from there. Uh, do that hacking from remote FUR SHUR.

If and when I MUST do something like this, I use a couple of "trusted" friends who are prepared for "layer one"....smack on the bottom of the ole protocol stack....the PHYSICAL layer. It's a killer I tell you. What's needed in this case is a friend who is a couple of states away who can fax this from a relatively safe location, and then be prepared for anybody that might come looking for him.

Not everybody knows people like this. Don't call me lucky to have such friends either. The favor "reciprocates" sometimes. :-) Ah well...such is the world we live in. Treat your friends well...be cautious, stay armed, but trust God above all.

Yep. Got friends like that myself.

One was my super when I was in the AF and trained me in these actions. When some jerk would get under his skin he had a bud in Europe that he would send the guy's payroll jacket to. (Yes, I'm so old we still used paper pay jackets when I was in the AF) His bud would turn it around and send it right back of course. The thing is, a couple pay periods would have passed by the time all this was transacted. Holey joes traveling between squadron admin types don't move with the greatest of speed.

The lesson rarely had to be repeated.

I learned quickly that this circuitous route was the best manner to use when it was necessary to draw attention to various illegal/unethical activities. Especially if the suspect behavior involved persons of higher rank. Read: "Never talk to the IG or OSI on your own base."

And your point about those favors having to be repaid is also very true. If used properly it is used rarely and can be devastatingly effective.