The National Security Agency temptation was an itch I couldn’t resist. NSA’s telephone service was provided through a phone company switch in Laurel, Maryland, which we had already gained access to. Directory assistance listed the agency’s public phone number as 301 688-6311. After randomly checking out several numbers with the same prefix, I proceeded on the reasonable hunch that NSA was assigned the entire prefix. Using a test function for switch technicians called "Talk & Monitor," I was able to set up a circuit to listen to random calls in progress. I popped in on one line and heard a man and a woman talking. Hardly able to believe I was actually listening in on the NSA, I was thrilled and nervous at the same time. The irony was great—I was wiretapping the world’s biggest wiretappers.