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AT&T Offers $250k Reward To Find the California Fiber-Optic Ripper
An anonymous reader writes: AT&T have offered a $250,000 reward to anyone providing information leading to the arrest and conviction of what appears to be a serial disruptor of fiber-optic connections in California. The latest incident has taken place in Livermore in the San Francisco Bay Area, where an individual thought by the FBI to possess expert knowledge and specialist tools severed a critical AT&T cable, gaining access to the enclosure via a manhole. The attack precedes 11 previous ones in California in the preceding twelve months.
death penalty
Every adventurer's career has to begin somewhere. Why not have it be through tracking down a fugitive in the obligatory sewer level?
Since AT&T was obviously not using those fiber lines properly to begin with.
No, "The attack is preceded by 11 previous ones", not precedes them!
Just take a look through the list of people laid off by AT&T in the past year.
APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
*sigh*
The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
Personally, I am a bit disappointed that the reward wasn't 256k.
My god, he has access to time travel as well!
It's these guys! Can I have my money now?
There shouldn't be critical cables. There should be redundant paths to make the network tolerant to any individual cut.
I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
As a californian, 250k might not seem like a lot, but with that kind of cash you could afford to water the lawn AND take a shower after!
Good people go to bed earlier.
From the producers of Crime Scene: Scene of the Crime
Cutting communications lines is a particularly difficult type of terror attack to prevent. Anyone who has ever worked around vital communication lines knows where they are and breaking those lines can be quite easy. Catching such a person may take quite some time and expense. Let's hope this is not the scheme of some foreign enemy.
That 250,000 tax free? shirt, if they tax it at 33% plus local tax fees/wage taxes/city tax/amusement tax. The Government has to get a piece of the pie too.
Jack of all trades,master of none
Maybe those layoffs weren't such a cost-saver after all!
Hi Jack!
*sigh*
It's not a mistake, it's a clue. A good one. Clearly, the perp is a time-traveller, which really narrows down the list of suspects.
Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
And, he's probably gay. From the summary:
* The latest incident has taken place in the San Francisco Bay Area
* Gained access to the enclosure via a manhole
I mean, comeon. Right?
Seriously? Find a pole marked in orange (or in this case, manhole). Take the bolt-cutters to the only armored cable on the pole / in the hole. Make sure to repeat at least a few feet away to make it virtually impossible to splice cleanly.
This doesn't take "expert knowledge and specialist tools", any moron could do it.
Now, doing it without blinding yourself with a 40W IR laser beam...
I know one of the guys who installed most of the fiber in this area, and I also know Ham radio operators (who are very conscious about communications), and their independent conclusions are that "someone" is testing the fiber paths for redundancy in planning for a widespread fiber attack at some future point in time.
I meant your mobile site. It's almost as hopeless as me
work in progress
I know how I could generate work for myself. Just sayin. OK I confess it was me.
would up vote but no karma....
For that much money I'd cut some lines and then turn myself in!
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
You forgot "competitors".
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
Millions of dollars of business isn't running through the copper cable pictured in that second link either.
A severed fiber cable picture isn't exactly hard to find, why don't "journalists" make a bit of effort?
"The attack precedes 11 previous ones in California in the preceding twelve months."
What does the attack precede?
Could AT&T have used that money to filter MMS messages carrying Android malware devivered via StageFright? If so, then who at AT&T made the decision to abandon their paying customers in favor of protecting their (gl)ass?
The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
Or anyone on the do not call list this is still getting phone calls.
I wonder if this sort of thing is getting more common. We've been seeing a lot of fiber breaks, attributed variously to "rodent chew," "car striking utility pole," and "wind damage," but all in a relatively small area for one set of connections, and I've heard of similar coincidental clusters of breaks in other areas. Nobody wants the bad press of admitting to sabotage, and unless its something obvious like a cut armored cable, its easy to attribute it to some random accident. Or I could just be paranoid, but that is what they pay me for.
"We don't care, we don't have to...we're the phone company." -- Ernestine (Lily Tomlin)
Another NSA related video from Laugh-In from about 1970.
Tracking this guy down could make a cool numbers episode.
Just set up a security camera and catch them in the act.
AT&T Offers $250k Reward To Find the California Fiber-Optic Ripper
His name is Jack... Jack the Ripper.
I don't think you have a firm grasp on the word "monopoly".
The latest incident... precedes 11 previous ones... in the preceding twelve months.
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
+1, So Very True
-- Sent from a computer.
"The attack precedes 11 previous ones..."
So, wow, we may have much more to worry about after this time-traveling alien has finished probing the weaknesses in our infrastructure.
I don't think you have a firm grasp on the word "monopoly".
Actually, I do. There are a few competitors to AT&T in California.....Sprint, T-Mobile, and U.S. Cellular come to mind.
I doubt it's any of them, frankly, it's more likely to be some disgruntled jackass or former employee.
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...