carrier scanner

1 definition found

carrier scanner - Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (26 May 2007) :

  carrier scanner
  
     <security> (Or "wardialer") A program which uses a modem to
     dial a series of phone numbers (say, from 770-0000 to
     770-9999), and keeps a log of what phone numbers answer with a
     modem carrier.  The results of such a search were generally
     used by people looking to engage in random mischief in
     random machines.
  
     Since the 1980s, wardialers have generally fallen into disuse,
     partly because of easily available "caller ID" technology,
     partly because fax machines are now in wide use and would
     often be logged as a carrier by a wardialer, and partly
     because there are so many new and more interesting venues for
     computerised mischief these days.
  
     (1997-03-16)