Slashdot Mirror
Verizon Central Office Heist Spoiled By 911 Outage
Qbans writes with a link the NYTimes story on a foiled robbery attempt at a Verizon Central Office in White Plains, New York, snipping "The plan seemed simple enough. The building had been cased and the burglars knew exactly what they wanted - advanced computer circuit panels that could be sold on the black market for hundreds of thousands of dollars." Qbans points out that this story parallels a previous story on how equipment was (successfully) stolen last May. Update: 11/27 22:01 GMT by T : Reader Dave C contributes a link to coverage at the registration-free JournalNews.com.
someone is stealing my telephone equipment!
This was on NANOG at like 8am. Subscribe to NANOG for the latest networking news.
Nanog.. News for Network Geeks.
And they would have got away with it, if it wasn't for those meddling kids!
blackmarket == ebay??
So they tried to steal the same exact stuff at the same exact location, twice? Catch me once, shame on you... catch me twice, shame on me! Glad they caught them...
Eureka Science News - automatically updated
Registration free link, thanks to Google
The plan seemed simple enough. The building had been cased and the burglars knew exactly what they wanted - advanced computer circuit panels that could be sold on the black market for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The night before Thanksgiving, about 8 p.m., they entered the Verizon building in White Plains undetected and set to work.
But as the criminals removed the panels, they soon triggered problems across Westchester County. Most problematic, 911 systems across the region began to crash. By the time some 150 panels were removed, roughly 25,000 people had lost 911 service.
At 9:51 p.m., the White Plains Police received a call alerting them to the fact that there might be a problem at the Verizon building. Still unaware that burglars were at work inside, a patrol car rolled up to the site, according to Inspector Daniel Jackson.
"Literally, the two guys were walking out the door," Mr. Jackson said. They were carrying two large boxes when the officer shouted for them to stop. The men dropped the stolen boxes, fled on foot and were eventually run down by the officer and arrested, Mr. Jackson said.
The two men were identified in a criminal complaint as Larry D. Davis, 43, of Brooklyn, and Gailican Phillips, 34 of Manhattan.
They have been charged with conspiracy to commit interstate shipment of stolen property, a federal crime with a maximum sentence of five years in jail, according to the complaint.
Mr. Jackson said that the burglary itself was not as disturbing as the widespread effect it had on the 911 system.
The police are working with the F.B.I. and the Department of Homeland Security on the case. Terrorism has been ruled out as a possible motive.
Although the burglary occurred in the Verizon building, the stolen equipment belonged to some half-dozen other telecommunications companies that use the premises to house part of their operations. No Verizon customers were affected, a company official said.
Dan Diaz Zapata, a spokesman for Verizon, said the building had many levels of security - from video cameras to security badges to on-site guards - and that the company was cooperating with local and federal authorities. Mr. Zapata said that Verizon had redundancy capabilities built into its system that would have prevented a theft of their own equipment from having such a wide impact.
Mr. Jackson said that there had been a theft at the building once before, in 2003, and the police had reason to believe one of the two men involved Wednesday also took part in that operation. He would not elaborate on other details in that case. However, much less was stolen then.
According to the complaint filed in Southern District of New York, the circuit boards ranged in value from $5,000 to $70,000 each and, all told, were worth in excess of $1 million. The plan was to deliver them to an unnamed co-conspirator who, in turn, planned to sell them to an unnamed company in California, according to the complaint.
"There apparently is a strong, robust black market for this stuff," said a federal law enforcement official, who insisted on anonymity for fear of saying something that would compromise the investigation.
There have been two other similar burglaries in New York City and New Jersey in recent years, according to Mr. Jackson. Those thefts were much smaller in scale.
National Infrastructure Coordination Center of the Department of Homeland Security is also working with local police because of concern that the 911 system could be relatively easily compromised.
After arresting the two men and photographing the stolen circuit panels, the police returned them to the companies that owned them. Once reinstalled, the 911 problems ended, and by 7 a.m. the system was back to normal, Mr. Jackson said.
Police said the panels that were stolen were each about the size of a legal pad and are used by telecommunications companies to transmit data and connect calls. There is an industry standard for the panels and they can easily be transferred from one computer to another.
Potential buyers of the panels on the black market range from small telecommunications companies to overseas clients, the police said.
For any telecommunications equipment used by the government and connected to the public telephone network, I would expect each component to have a network requestable serial number. That would quickly reduce the black market value for such components in a way similar to mobile phones
Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
...are there really that many calls for emergency assistance, or are they basing it on a people-per-exchange basis?
and WHO do you call when 911 don't respond?
http://www.frugle.co.uk/
Yes, I'm aware these two are criminals and their only real motive is a pretty solid 6-digit paycheck, but it takes a considerable lack of conscience to pull off such a stunt.
They likely weren't aware that this affected the 911 systems, but if they were, you're dealing with someone who really does live for the almighty dollar and lets the consequences be damned. Kind of scary.
Ghostbusters!
Tip: Save time by hitting the return key instead of clicking on "search"
Find web pages that contain the term "www.nytimes.com/2004/11/27/nyregion/27theft.html"
Sorry, no information is available for the URL www.nytimes.com/2004/11/27/nyregion/27theft.html
If the URL is valid, try visiting that web page by clicking on the following link: www.nytimes.com/2004/11/27/nyregion/27theft.html
(Yeah, I didn't feel like checking my post either)
It would be cool if it didn't suck.
Interesting that someone wishes to steal this stuff.
Doubly interesting that theres obviously a market for this equipment.
Is it analgous to the theft of The Scream? Authorities must have a fair idea of the potential recipients from the get go. Be it international or not.
In post Patriot Act America, the library books scan you.
Does this mean that the telecommunications companies using the Verizon premises are not Verizon customers? Is that what it says on the rent check?
If you think deeply enough, you will have no single direction for your outrage.
Google cache
Hey moron! T-Mobile is owned by Verizon.
If someone died as a result of not having 911 services, these guys could be in even bigger trouble.
He's stealing the 911 machine! Call 911!
"The men dropped the stolen boxes, fled on foot and were eventually run down by the officer and arrested, Mr. Jackson said." Wait... they had them in boxes and when the officer showed up they dropped them?? It doesnt mention any of them being damaged...
Wrong. T-Mobile is a division of Deutche Telekom.
"The police are working with the F.B.I. and the Department of Homeland Security on the case. Terrorism has been ruled out as a possible motive."
at least it wasn't terrorists. i mean oh my fucking god what if it was terrorists taking out our 911 system. i mean the cruelty, given that they flew airplanes into some big ugly buildings of ours killing oh like 3000 people on 9/11. i mean, it's not like we haven't killed hundreds of thousands of people "for" it by now.
thank god, tom ridge was on the case, and made sure it wasn't terrorists. thank fucking god.
the real question is, how is the case any different if it was terrorists? why should it be? besides the fact they've lost all legal rights according to ashcroft et. al.?
"brxref
Use bugmenot's firefox extension and avoid time wasting forms. http://bugmenot.com/
Why does /. even allow links to sites like the NY Times which require PITA registration? A moments search on Google or Google News almost always turns up unrestricted options. Try the NY Post for this story.
finally someone talking some sense in this chat room
Federal conspiracy charges were filed in White Plains yesterday against two men whose alleged attempt to steal 150 circuit boards from a Verizon building Wednesday night disrupted 911 emergency service across the county for about seven hours.
oops - I'm sure they weren't interested in disrupting 911 service across state lines to make it a Federal "conspiracy" charge. Sounds like they will be made an example of and will likely end up in federal "pound-me-in-the-ass" prison.
There is much cruelty in the universe, John.
Yeah, we seem to have the tour map.
"There apparently is a strong, robust black market for this stuff," said a federal law enforcement official, who insisted on anonymity for fear of saying something that would compromise the investigation.
Maybe I'm confused here, but how does giving your name out compromise the investigation? I'm tired of all these federal officials who insist on being anonymous and hidden. Shouldn't LEO's be forthright and honest?
"The police are working with the F.B.I. and the Department of Homeland Security on the case. Terrorism has been ruled out as a possible motive."
It seems to be absolutely ridiculous that terrorism should even be mentioned as a cause. It was already stated that the boards were worth a chunk of money and were going to be sold. Thank god terrorism has been removed as a possible cause. Why can nobody just steal stuff to make money anymore?
You have to follow the twisted money trail. A little effort and research unveils a wealth of information about this. This page directly says, and I quote: "Verizon(VZ) ... which owns T-Mobile"
man slaughter 2 at most.
MARIJUANA, SHROOMS, X: ONLINE?! - E
I know its an American saying but in (British) English, that would imply mowing them down with the patrol-car.
I'd have to say 'Fair Play' to that
Ripping an new rectum in the fabric of spacetime.
Most computer items of any price are for sale on ebay (even very expensive network switches and routers). What kind of cards were these and the one in NYC? I assume they are re-selling to other telcos. Wonder why you never see them on ebay.
Gotta read it all the way through friend: "BellSouth (BLS) and SBC (SBC), which co-own Cingular, will release their earnings next week. Verizon (VZ), which co-owns Verizon Wireless with Vodafone (VOD), is on tap to report earnings on Oct. 28. And Deutsche Telekom, which owns T-Mobile, is scheduled to report its latest results in November."
why the mod down? he's exactly right.
Hopefully not murder.
You could then say that if someone in the office spilled a drink on the board, fried it knocking out 911, that they were now subject to murder charges.
Of course, my counter argument would be that if 911 was so important, why didn't the government protect it better? Come on, putting it all in one office? Unmanned?
> conspiracy to commit interstate shipment of stolen property
... So this Verizon building is exactly on the state border ? They got cauched at the door - whers this shipment and conspiracy ?
>Terrorism has been ruled out as a possible motive.
You people live in a one big lie, dont you ? There were two thieves, they stole something, and all you can read is "this was not a terrorist act THIS TIME", but it was a "conspiracy"! And "interstate shipment"!
Go grab those torrents.
I'd like to hear some specifics on exactly what kind of "circuit boards" they were stealing. Give us telecom nerds the details!
Verizon != Verizon Wireless, if equipment is stolen from the White Plains Verizon office, it will have nothing to do with cell phone service.
The reason they could be hit with murder charges is that, if in the comission of a felony someone dies as a result, you are guilty of murder. So if you rob a store with guns, the police show up and shoot your partner, you are guilty of murder since your comission of the felony was the proximate cause of the death.
Not all states have laws like that, but many do. Since they were comitting a felony, they could be charged.
Now someone who spills coffee on the boards by accident isn't comitting a felony, they are making a mistake. The most they could be charged with is manslaghuter for gross neglience (since there is no situation where liquids should be anywhere near the equipment) however in all likelyhood they'd not be charged, just fired by the company and sued by the victim's family.
Why don't you read the moderation score before posting. You sound like a bloody idiot. His starting score is -1, with an Informative boost to 0.
So STFU!
About 10 years ago I got a tour of the Tellus facility in Alberta, at that time Alberta Government Telephone. My uncle was one of the senior telcom engineers there so he arranged the whole thing. Security was fairly impressive going through the front, getting checked in and our visitor badges and everything. However, as we were walking around, he opened a door to the alley and noted often people would prop it open so they could duck out and back in.
This i, unfortunately, often the case. Security is well intentioned, but isn't completely thought through and has holes in it. Also, you'd be amazed what social engineering and some confidence can get you. If you act like you are supposed to be somewhere, it's amazing how peopel will just assume you are.
A couple years ago I was working for network operations on campus and we were upgrading the speed of building links, which involved a swap of the media converters. Most buildings we just go and get access to the room with our keys, since it's a dedicated room. However for the campus police, it's back in the 911 room with the other equipment. So when we went the staff member (I was a student) had his telcom ID and we both had university ID and driver licenses. The manager was by the phone if a verification call was needed.
We walked into the lobby, and it looked to be quite a secure location. All the doors were locked, all the glass was bulletproof. We went over to the window for the 911 call centre and told them we were form telecom and needed to get at the network gear. They said "ok" and let us in, took us to the closet, let us in there, and left us alone with all the 911 gear (and our switch). No ID was checked.
Well these guys are certinaly not "pros" the proper response would have been to stop, look around like your clueless. Then after saying hello to the officer nicely, while acting slightly confused about his presence, assure him that you know about the problem but didn't know it was effecting 911. Then say I guess I got hurry up and get back to working on it. Explain a solar flare caused a power surge and now your having to replace the circuits... and you decided to take them to the offsite storage facility to make sure you get the correct replacements.
Think of it as the difference between arson on an abandoned warehouse catching the security guard, or the homeless man, versus leaving the stove on by accident. One is an accident, one is a crime. I hope a crime that causes additional harm means more severe charges.
I am, and always will be, an idiot. Karma: Coma (mostly effected by
If you'd actually got off your lazy ass and put the {br} tabs in, so it didn't end up as a SINGLE DAMN UNREADABLE PARAGRAPH, I might have believed you weren't karma whoring.
Now that's what I call the geek version of the story!
This article scares the hell out of me. Not because some dudes broke into a building and stole some stuff -- that's to be expected. It's because removing a few isolated pieces of equipment managed to paralyze the county's 911 system. Seriously -- do they actually run tests to see what happens if they pull the plug?
The rule for redundancy is that you've gotta have the equipment in more than one place. The redundant equipment shouldn't have been in the same building, let alone the same town.
A few years ago, an underground steam explosion knocked out the main phone and power stations for my area (both of which were stupidly placed smack next to each other). Because of the way the network was designed, phone service was not interrupted at all and the power went out for about 10 minutes. This was from an explosion which completely severed the connections to both buildings. THIS IS HOW IT SHOULD WORK.
-- If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done? - Uli's moose
Verizon Wireless has to terminate their traffic on the PSTN somewhere, why not at a Tandem office?
I'd be willing to bet they were stealing line cards from CLEC coloc chassis, which would totally kill the phone/DSL service from the CLEC's clients. Instead of saynig "25,000 people lost phone service" I'm guessing they said "25,000 people lost access to 911, which meant they could have DIED!"
.bombs, the market is fairly flooded with carrier gear. Unless it's zero day goods, the value on this crap drops like a rock.
Too bad there aren't more tech details.
And I guess the people from NYT haven't tried to sell this type of equipment. Given the gluttony of
PS: Portmaster 4 for sale, contact me off list.
Southeastern Virginia REPRESENT!
Identity theft would have been safer and more profitable. Get credit cards in names of wealthy people, grab the cash advances, and retire in Bimini.
As for registration, can you spell P-R-I-N-C-I-P-A-L? There are enough other annoyances in life. Why put up with the avoidable ones?
(2 ea) 5 years federal pen
Their disregard for others is only matched by political buffoons who disarm law abiding citizens and expect them to survive criminal incidents long enough to call 911 and wait for cops to get off their donut laden fat asses to come do their public servant pay grade jobs.
What is so surprising about this incident is that cops actually showed up in time to catch the perpetrators. I guess that multi-thousand dollar circuit boards are more important than human lives to the cops as well.
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves
Apparently from the story, one of the criminals was probably involved in a previous heist at the same location. He was so greedy, he had to try and "double dip" and paid the biggest price for it. Now he's caught red handed--I'd like to see him weasel his way out of this.
Linux at home
...but you know just as well as I do that the chances of those guys moving a million dollars worth of hot, specialized telco electronics solely in the state of New York is next to nil. It's not like they stole dvd players. Besides, isn't there a federal law regarding the availability of 911 service? At the minimum, they interrupted emergency service, which I think is federal, though I don't know for sure. Trumped up charges do happen dude, but these seem completely inline with the crime. besides, if they don't pan out, it's not federal anymore. woo.
"advanced computer circuit panels that could be sold on the black market for hundreds of thousands of dollars."
Who exactly are they selling these to? Other phone companies??
Coder's Stone: The programming language quick ref for iPad
This theft affected us in the middle of nowhere at exactly that time. When the telco reported 'vandalism', we were mildly interested in the backstory. Never thought it would result in a NY times story.
New Jersey sucks. Please check badges, people.
but it was a "conspiracy"! And "interstate shipment"! ... So this Verizon building is exactly on the state border ? They got cauched at the door - whers this shipment and conspiracy ?
from the article:
According to the complaint filed in Southern District of New York, the circuit boards ranged in value from $5,000 to $70,000 each and, all told, were worth in excess of $1 million. The plan was to deliver them to an unnamed co-conspirator who, in turn, planned to sell them to an unnamed company in California, according to the complaint.
That second sentance explains it. They, as in more than one, planned, as in conspiracy, to steal the boards in NY and sell them in CA, as in interstate shipment.
Dork.
If Mr. Edison had thought smarter he wouldn't sweat as much. --Nikola Tesla
"I'm still curious as to how they got past the guards"
What guards? Why does everyone assume there were guards? No one mentioned there were guards onsite except some slashdotards.
Many switches have no security onsite--no one is guarding the place.
Costs too much money.
Alarm system w/ 24x7 A/V monitoring much cheaper. Some use live A/V to control access from another site, perhaps from the RCC itself.
Dan Diaz Zapata, a spokesman for Verizon, said the building had many levels of security - from video cameras to security badges to on-site guards - and that the company was cooperating with local and federal authorities.
Those guards.
500GB of disk, 5TB of transfer, $5.95/mo
tags.
They are tags, not tabs
You should have reported the car as stolen and been, er, 'blissfully unaware' that your wife had anything to do with it.
...though they probably would have flubbed the investigation anyway. But at least you'd be able to get a police report and file an insurance claim.
Then the cops would have investigated grand theft, tracked down your wife, figured out what she did and arrested her for the forgery and theft.
These guys were caught because of stupidity and greed.
They were in the building, pulling cards that were in active use, for about TWO HOURS. According to the article they arrived around 8pm, and the police didn't get a report that there might be a problem at that building until 9:51. Sometime after that, the police car arrived at the building, where they caught the guys walking out.
It makes me wonder about how much more successful an intelligent thief could be -- these guys made an earlier hit on the same building, which went smoothly (and they took much less)... so they got greedy and overconfident. And paid for it by getting caught in a stupid way (um, these boards are in use; people's phone service *will* be affected; no, you don't want to hang around all night).
Don't these guys watch any movies? How classic is that mistake?
It was burglarized in August 2003, and similar robberies occurred this year at telephone facilities in New York City and New Jersey.
I think you mean BURGLED.
or perhaps thefted or robberised ?
SURELY NOT!!!!!
Thank God, they STOLE the stuff and proved they were true americans ... just slashing the wires would have gotten then terrorism charges.
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur
My father in law is a Manager for SBC Ameritech. I've gotten a tour of a local switching office and was floored by the equipment inside. There was more money (in equipment) in that 1400 square foot room than the bank across the street.
Ever feel like you are driving the getaway car?
Stolen Lives: Killed by Law Enforcement
Name Age Nationality
Jon Webster Pavao 38 Native Hawaiian
June 10, 1998. Pahoa:
Mr. Pavao was shot twice in the chest and killed by an unnamed Hawaii County police officer responding to a domestic violence call at his girlfriend's house. Cops claim Mr. Pavao pointed a gun at the officer after threatening to kill himself. But three family members who witnessed the incident said that Mr. Pavao did not threaten the officer. They said he had a gun at his side for about two minutes before the officer shot him without provocation. They also said that Mr. Pavao had told the cop that the gun was broken. They offered to match their lie detector test results against the officer's -- an offer that was declined. It was later determined that the victim's gun was not loaded. Mr. Pavao is survived by his wife, his mother, two brothers, two sisters, three children and two grandchildren. His girlfriend, Linda Sadino, described him as a sweet man, happy because he just learned she was pregnant with his baby.
Fortunato "Junior" Barques III 37 Filipino
May 5, 1998. Haleiwa:
Mr. Barques was shot twice in the back by Honolulu Police Officer Mark D. Boyce. He was shot after walking away from the cop after a car stop for suspicion of car prowling. The officer alleged that Mr. Barques reached for a gun. Mr. Barques' gun was found still secured in its holster, and a cell phone was lying on the ground near his body. There were no other known witnesses. Mr. Barques died of his injuries on July 5, 1998. Police claimed they recovered marijuana and crystal methamphetamines in his car. His attorney said the drugs were planted by the police. Mr. Barques, who had no criminal record, was a vegetable farmer. Born in Honolulu, he is survived by his wife Jodi, his son, three daughters, his parents, four brothers, three sisters, and both his grandmothers. His family said, "Junior was a kind and gentle man who meant harm to no one. He was a son of Hawaii who loved it, [the] people and the land. He will be missed by those who knew him and loved him."
Antonio Revera 26 --
April 22, 1998. Honolulu (Oahu Correction Center):
Prison guards beat Antonio while transferring him from the medical unit to his cell. He was later found dead in his cell, and his death was classified as a homicide. No guards have been charged.
Rodney "Banks" Laulusa 30 Samoan
January 22, 1998. Honolulu (Palolo Valley Homes):
At least twenty shots were fired at Rodney by three Honolulu police officers; 14 bullets were removed from his body. A community activist described what happened, "...a police car was parked diagonally across Ahe Street blocking my way. Everything around me seemed normal...I asked the nearest person around my car 'What's going on?" This person I later found out was Rodney Laulusa. He answered, "I don't know." I noticed a knife in each hand but didn't give it another thought because he seemed normal and friendly. Also I know a lot of Samoan men cook. The knives looked like kitchen knives to me. I thought he was out of the nearby apartment because he was asking the same question I was asking, 'What's going on.'" As Rodney walked away from the community activist's car, five or six police cars entered Ahe street, parking on the sidewalks and lawns. They moved quickly towards Rodney, who stood nervously in the middle of the street. People were yelling at the cops, "Don't shoot!" The cops ordered Rodney to drop the knives and then opened fire. They continued firing even after Rodney was on the ground. One witness told how police continued to fire into Rodney's back as he lay face down in the street. The cops would not let his family go to help him. It was raining and they didn't cover him. Official reports show it was only three minutes from when the police got a call about a man in the street with knives to when Rodney lay dying in the street. The police claim they tried to disarm Rodney by talking to him but he charged them. Every non
Theser are almost always inside jobs by an employee or ex who knows exactly what it there and what is marketable. Silicon Valley has been plagued by these for decades, particularly in commodity hardware manufacturing. A stick of memory chips can go for several hundred dollars.
Terrorism has been ruled out as a possible motive.
Please, someone tell me you haven't all been indoctrined into the Bush Family Groupthink that every single crime that goes on anywhere in the whole damn country has some sort of terrorist motive? The homeless guy stealing apples from the grocery store isn't a terrorist sleeper agent, the guy behind the counter that short-changes you in Wal-Mart is not an Islamic fundamentalist hell-bent on destroying the West, and two bungling jackasses stealing computer equipment are not committing an act of jihad - if Osama bin Laden was going to get at America again, you really think he'd do it by stealing circuit panels? You don't seem to understand that Al-Queda chooses it's targets to make a statement - hence the targetting of the military and financial hearts of America on 9/11. They're not going to waste their time disrupting a few 911 calls in some little county in southern NY. Trust me, they've got more important things to do.
Americans, please, a little note from the rest of the world - there are some people out there that are more than capable of being anti-social without being part of some Islamic doctrine to convert you all to Sharia. Stop screaming 'terrorist' anytime anything kicks off, it's called 'crying wolf'. How many of you out there now automatically think 'terrorism' when something you don't like happens? I've nothing against Americans, but there does seem to be a rich vein of groupthink running through you guys just at the moment...
Dealing with lawyers would be a lot less tedious if they all looked like Casey Novak.
See here
Article 218 - [If, by means of an intentionally committed physical attack, a person causes another person bodily injury or damage to his health, and he can be regarded as being responsible for these consequences of the attack through intent or negligence, he shall be [...]1) imprisoned for up to 3 years, or fined if there are particular mitigating circumstances.
My other UID is 1337