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Feds Have a High-Speed Backdoor Into Wireless Carrier

Posted by samzenpus on from the all-the-better-to-snoop-with dept.

An anonymous reader writes "An unnamed U.S. wireless carrier maintains an unfiltered, unmonitored DS-3 line from its internal network to a facility in Quantico, Virginia, according to Babak Pasdar, a computer security consultant who did work for the company in 2003. Customer voice calls, billing records, location information and data traffic are all allegedly exposed. A similar claim was leveled against Verizon Wireless in a 2006 lawsuit."

4 of 229 comments (clear)

  1. Re:CALEA by faedle · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This is precisely what this is.

    NEWS FLASH: EVERY wireline and wireless carrier has facility like this between their central offices and Quantico, Virginia. I can tell you for an absolute fact that a medium-sized cable company operating in the Rocky Mountain region has similar facilities between their main office and the FBI Academy, because I helped install it.

    Welcome to the world post-CALEA.

  2. Re:CALEA by faedle · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Because the FBI Academy in Quantico is the clearinghouse for the FBI for all CALEA wiretaps, and acts as a "one-stop shop" for carriers wishing to comply with the law.

    Use the Goog. It's your friend.

  3. Re:CALEA by statemachine · · Score: 3, Interesting

    If you read the article, you'll notice that it isn't some "wire-frame guy" but a security consultant hired to specifically address network security. So he'd have access to all the routers and their ACLs and other firewalling hardware, which would allow him to make such a judgement.

  4. It doesn't add up by Derling+Whirvish · · Score: 4, Interesting
    My BS detector is pinging.

    the transmission line provided the Quantico recipient direct access to all content and all information concerning the origin and termination of telephone calls placed on the Verizon Wireless network as well as the actual content of calls. The contents of my cell phone calls made locally intracity west of the Mississippi DO NOT get routed through a single line on the east coast that terminates at Quantico. It's absurd to think that all of Verizon's cell calls are routed to that link. Occam's razor.