Wikileaks Publishes FBI VoIP Surveillance Docs

An anonymous reader writes "The folks on wikileaks have published a new interesting and shocking report: FBI Electronic Surveillance Needs for Carrier-Grade Voice over Packet (CGVoP) Service. The 88 paged document, which is part of the CALEA Implementation Plan was published in January 2003 and describes in detail all needs for surveillance of phone calls made via data services like the internet. Wikileaks has not published any analysis yet, so maybe some of the techies hanging around this end of the internet are interested in taking that one on."

Comments

Why is this shocking?

[MyNameIsFred]

I'm trying to figure out why the summary calls this document "shocking." Interesting yes, shocking no. It is well known that the law requires VOIP providers to maintain a capability for law enforcement agencies to wiretap. This requirement has been around for years, and is completely consistent with older "Plain Old Telephone Service." Its not like CALEA is hidden. You can find its website with a quick google. The author of the summary seems to be conflating CALEA with the dustup with the Bush administration and unlawful wiretaps. They are separate issues. Conflating them helps no one.

Old

[RockMFR]

This was leaked at least 4 years ago.

Re:paradigm shift

[Anonymous Coward]

Recording police interrogations is a manifestly good thing. It ensures, among other things, that the police can't simply beat you until you confess.

Surveillance of public servants and surveillance of the general populace aren't even remotely similar.

Re:PGPfone, where are you?

[CNeb96]

It was replaced by zphone http://www.zfoneproject.com/ alive and kicking and better.

Q: What is Zfone?

A: Zfone is my new secure VoIP phone software which lets you make secure encrypted phone calls over the Internet. The ZRTP protocol used by Zfone will soon be integrated into many standalone secure VoIP clients, but today we have a software product that lets you turn your existing VoIP client into a secure phone. The current Zfone software runs in the Internet protocol stack on any Windows XP, Mac OS X, or Linux PC, and intercepts and filters all the VoIP packets as they go in and out of the machine, and secures the call on the fly. You can use a variety of different software VoIP clients to make a VoIP call. The Zfone software detects when the call starts, and initiates a cryptographic key agreement between the two parties, and then proceeds to encrypt and decrypt the voice packets. It has its own little separate GUI, telling the user if the call is secure. It's as if Zfone were a "bump on the cord", sitting between the VoIP client and the Internet. Think of it as a bump in the protocol stack.

Re:Congratulations...

[smolloy]

It's frightening that you think leaking information "about legal and non-controversial wire taps" is "borderline treason". If this really is as boring as you think, then why would millions need to be spent to undo any damage, why would the US gov start legal action, and why would there need to be an internal investigation?

Re:paradigm shift

[scionite0]

Obama has done nothing to show that he would be any different then the others but you are willing to cut him a pass because you don't know.

Senator Obama's qualifications Include a J.D. in constitutional law from Harvard, He was a lecturer of constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School, and he worked as a community organizer and later as a lawyer representing community organizers on voting rights and discrimination issues.

So yeah I think that there is some evidence that he might have a better understanding of and respect for the constitution of the United States of America.

this can be confirmed with a simple wikipedia search or set of google searches (or by reading his first book, Dreams from My Father).



Just because something is not yet proven does not mean that no evidence exists.