Feds Have a High-Speed Backdoor Into Wireless Carrier

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."

Wow!

[stratjakt]

If some guy said it, it must be true!

Ghorbaneh Shoma

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

Babak, Agha!

Guess who!

[Ripit]

FTA:

That suit names Verizon Wireless as the culprit.

"Can you hear me now?"

"Yes we can, perfectly clear."

Re:CALEA

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't buy it. If it were legitimate it would be properly logged and controlled.

In an unrelated story....

[Holistic Missile]

....Babak Pasdar, a computer security consultant, has not been seen nor heard from since he left a client site earlier today. His family life was stable and solid - his family suspects foul play. Federal officials suggest that no foul play was involved, and regret that they cannot waste their resources on a missing person who 'probably ran away to start a new life.'

Full story at eleven....

Re:So, what are we doing about it?

[Anonymous Coward]

Backhoe?

Cool

[nurb432]

How do i get one to my house?

Re:Talk is Cheap

[monoqlith]

Hmmm. How about we try to get some?

Go to your Verizon Wireless-serviced cell phone, call a friend in a foreign country, and have a normal conversation, but make sure to throw in a few key "red flag" words and phrases here and there. Examples of "red flags" are:

"Bomb"
"Subways"
"Code Green"
"Statue of Liberty"
"Monuments"
"Airplanes"
"Buildings"
"I hate George Bush and think the Justice Department is a corrupt pile of shit"

Say goodbye to your friend once a few or all of these phrases have been sprinkled into your conversation. Then sit back in your favorite Barca lounger, take out your stopwatch, measure how many minutes it takes for one or more black SUVs to park across from your driveway.

Re:CALEA

[Anonymous Coward]

If you helped install it, then you should learn to shut up on sites like this.

The NSA and FBI are both hiring in the Tech areas

[QuantumRiff]

If your interested in applying, call your mother and tell her.

Re:Talk is Cheap

[Cassius Corodes]

You forgot to add:

terrorist
Same-sex marriages
Nader for president

Re:The NSA and FBI are both hiring in the Tech are

[Anonymous Coward]

Woosh!

Re:And the loyal opposition, the Democrats, will..

[tsotha]

None of the laws in place that force carriers to play ball with the FBI were passed without the support of the Democrats. And I think it's quite reasonable. Whether or not you believe they always do so legitimately, the FBI needs the capability installing wiretaps as part of its mission. If they do so too often, the remedy is legislative, not technical.

And demonizing Bush is wrong and counterproductive. He isn't "evil", and he's not stupid. The guy is focused on preventing the next 9/11. Legitimate arguments can be made over policy, over whether the government ought to be doing this or that, but there are truly evil people in the world, and Bush isn't one of them.

Re:CALEA

[MillionthMonkey]

I'm not impressed either. *I* helped install the secret surveillance system between DNC headquarters and the FBI Washington Field Office.

Re:I say this as a privacy advocate, but

[mjwx]

870122
You have given hours of quality entertainment to the boys here at Langley.

Carry on patriot (and you probably should have that "red thing" looked at by a doctor).

Feds need to read the fine print

[noidentity]

Sure, their backdoor is "high-speed*", but they'll find out it's just burst speed, and their favorite spying protocols get throttled by forged packets saying the party ended the phone call even though they really didn't. They should have listened to us about network neutrality!