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Data Center Raid About Unpaid Telco Fees

Posted by timothy on from the that's-what-they-want-you-to-believe dept.

craig writes "CBS11 News reports that the raid on Core IP networks is in the result of an investigation into unpaid telco access fees paid by CLECs and VoIP carriers to terminate calls on their networks. They also report that this raid is linked to the March 12th raid on Crydon Technology's datacenter, which also hosted VOIP providers. Anyone in the telco business will tell you access fees to other carriers are a total mess and lots of carriers have unpaid balances out there. It gives you the feeling that the FBI is acting as a collection agency for AT&T and Verizon."

4 of 174 comments (clear)

  1. Now that we don't have a website... by innocent_white_lamb · · Score: 5, Informative

    During the raid, CMG's owner, Joe Condit, says his website and business went down. "It's crippled us completely. Now that we don't have a website, we have no business, and a lot of speakers are without representation."
     
    Without saying that this raid should have occurred in the way that it did, what's stopping this guy from setting up a webserver elsewhere and getting his business back online?
     
    In an emergency, I'm pretty sure I could have a basic but "adequate" webserver for most small businesses up and running on just about any Internet connection within about 6 hours, even if I had to buy a new computer to install it on and find another Internet connection. Point the DNS records to the new address and he's back in business.
     
    He would be in exactly the same situation if the colo building burned down. Why risk your business that way? If it's important to you, back it up and have some idea of what you're going to do if it goes down.

    --
    If you're a zombie and you know it, bite your friend!
    1. Re:Now that we don't have a website... by ximenes · · Score: 4, Informative

      A lot of places are not prepared for a complete site loss. They may be very redundant within the site, with multiple hosts and backups and redundant power / AC / networking, but not have a single piece of equipment not located at that colocation center.

      Consider that even if they did have off-site backups (which are really the bare minimum, although a lot of small operations overlook it anyway), they probably don't physically possess any equipment to run it on or have an agreement with another colocation center to put that equipment in.

      So right now they need to put an order in with Dell and Cisco and whoever to get duplicate equipment (that they probably don't have a budget for), find another colo on short notice, wait for the equipment to arrive (1-2 weeks), do the physical installation work, and then restore all of their systems types from backups that may or may not represent the complete bare metal system image.

      Most disaster recovery plans only account for disasters within a finite period of time (the power goes out for a few hours) or for partial losses (you lose 2 of 4 web servers), because redundancy is the most expensive part of any computer deployment.

    2. Re:Now that we don't have a website... by innocent_white_lamb · · Score: 4, Informative

      Consider that even if they did have off-site backups (which are really the bare minimum, although a lot of small operations overlook it anyway), they probably don't physically possess any equipment to run it on or have an agreement with another colocation center to put that equipment in.
       
      This sounds like a very small business that probably doesn't require Cisco gear and all the trimmings. A cable modem with a static IP and a computer purchased at Staples to run Centos, Apache and sendmail would carry the load for at least a short time. The owner could run it in his living room.
       
      Even if it's slow, it's better than being out-of-business.
       
      Once he's online again in any fashion at all, he has bought himself the time to find a "real solution", if he even requires one.

      --
      If you're a zombie and you know it, bite your friend!
  2. This is from the CEO of the company.... by RagnarIV · · Score: 5, Informative

    index
    Matthew Simpson
    Core IP Networks LLC

    Dear Customers,

    Today at 6:00am, the FBI conducted an unwarranted early morning raid of our 2323 Bryan Street Datacenters, on the 7th and 24th floors.

    I received a phone call at 6:05am from our NOC that the entire network was powered off. I called Capstar Commercial and TELX, our landlord, and was told that the FBI was in the datacenter with a search and seizure warrant. I asked that the agent in charge call me immediately.

    I received a call 15 minutes later from FBI Agent Allyn Lynd. Mr. Lynd would not tell me why he raided our datacenter or what he was looking for. He also accused me of hiding inside my house in Ovilla, Texas. I was actually in Phoenix, Arizona when this happened. I told him that, and he told me that he was "getting the dogs" after me, and hung up on me. I found out from an employee that there were 15 police cars and a SWAT team at my home in Ovilla.

    The FBI has seized all equipment belonging to our customers. Many customers went to the data center to try and retrieve their equipment, but were threatened with arrest.

    Neither I, nor Core IP are involved in any illegal activities of any kind. The only data that I have received thus far is that the FBI is investigating a company that has purchased services from Core IP in the past. This company does not even colocate with us anywhere, much less 2323 Bryan Street Datacenter.

    Currently nearly 50 businesses are completely without access to their email and data. Citizen access to Emergency 911 services are being affected, as Core IP's primary client base consists of telephone companies.

    If you run a datacenter, please be aware that in our great country, the FBI can come into your place of business at any time and take whatever they want, with no reason.

    I can be reached for further comment at: mnsclec@gmail.com
    Further information will be given as it becomes available.

    Yours,
    Matthew Simpson
    CEO, Core IP Networks, LLC

    direct link: http://sites.google.com/site/mnsclec/index //Just made an account to post this.