Saint 2600 Hz, Church Father of the Injectors

Patron of long-distance phone lines, phreakers with a whistle, and every bug that confuses data and control.

Life

In November 1954 the Bell System Technical Journal described the in-band signalling of long-distance phone lines: the control tone travelled on the same channel as the voice. Whoever whistled 2600 Hz into the handset could seize a trunk and call for free. From this came the blue boxes, the phreakers and the founding idea of every injection bug: when data and commands flow together, sooner or later someone confuses them on purpose.

Prayer

O Saint 2600 Hz, father of every injection, let our channels keep data and commands apart. Amen.

How to celebrate

Celebrated by separating the control channel from the data channel, in memory of those who learned it too late.

Where voice and command travel together, someone whistles.