Black fax

Use

Black faxes have been used to harass large institutions or government departments, to retaliate against the senders of junk faxes, or merely as simple pranks.

The basic principle of a black fax can be extended to form a black fax attack. In this case, one or more sheets are fed halfway through the sender's fax machine and taped end to end, forming an endless loop that cycles through the machine. Not only can solid black be used, but also images that will repeat endlessly on the receiver's machine until its toner runs out.

History

The introduction of computer-based facsimile systems (combined with integrated document imaging solutions) at major corporations now means that black faxes are unlikely to cause problems for them. On the other hand, the ability of computer modems to send faxes offers new avenues for abuse. A program could be used to generate hundreds of pages of highly compressed, pure black – or huge volumes of relevant-looking, original, non-repeating high-black-density junk, just as effective but far more difficult to counteract – and send them very quickly to the target fax machine.

Black faxes are similar (in both intention and implementation) to lace cards.

References

References

1. (2014). "The Dark Net: Inside the Digital Underworld". Random House.
2. (February 17, 2011). "Investigators Pursue the Internet Activists of Anonymous".
3. (October 6, 2012). "Hackers turn to 'low-tech' fax in protesting cybercrime law".
4. (November 30, 2012). "Anonymous Hackers Swat At Syrian Government Websites In Reprisal For Internet Blackout".
5. (2014). "The Terrorization of Dissent: Corporate Repression, Legal Corruption, and the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act". Lantern Books.