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"Dude, That's What They Want."

From Wired's Threat Level:

A U.S. government office in Quantico, Virginia, has direct, high-speed access to a major wireless carrier's systems, exposing customers' voice calls, data packets and physical movements to uncontrolled surveillance, according to a computer security consultant who says he worked for the carrier in late 2003.

That consultant is a man named Babak Pasdar, who outlined the accusation in an an affidavit (pdf) for the Government Accountability Project. Pasdar does not name the wireless carrier, but Wired reports that "his claims are nearly identical to unsourced allegations made in a federal lawsuit filed in 2006," which names Verizon Wireless.

In the affidavit, Pasdar says that he was hired by the carrier in 2003 to do a major security overhaul, a taxing job that was going relatively smoothly, having covered more than 300 sites, until he asked why the overhaul seemed to be skipping one location, which the carrier consultants called the "Quantico Circuit." Quantico, Virginia is home to the FBI Academy and the bureau's electronic surveillance operations.

When Pasdar asked the company's security consultants about the location, he only got smiles. And when he insisted that the location be covered by the same security procedures as the others, one of the consultants replied "I don't think that is what they want." When he asked "Who?" the consultants didn't respond. Then the company's security director appeared to demand that Pasdar "move on" and "forget about the circuit" or he'd be fired.

In a later conversation, Pasdar asked a company consultant if he didn't think "it is unusual for some third party to have completely open access to your systems like this?"

To which the consultant responded, "Dude, that's what they want." That's all Pasdar was able to learn.

Pasdar's account is reminiscent of that given by Mark Klein, the former AT&T technician who's affidavit about the NSA's room at AT&T's Folsom Street Facility has provided the basis for the Electronic Frontier Foundation's suit against AT&T, with the notable difference that Klein was able to do a lot more snooping.


Comments (7)

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Pasdar's account is reminiscent of that given by Mark Klein, the former AT&T technician

No it isn`t reminiscent at all. The short version this is clearly about access to call data records. (AKA phone bills)

And if wired is thinking about the same case I am thinking about then claim was not unsourced, it was sourced to a Sy Hersh story quoting an unnamed consultant claiming... well *exactly* the same thing. IIRC the similarities include the same security grievances and how this consultant learned about this line. I guess I am thinking about this article.

It may be there only very few people talking about these things. Imagine that.

Its a kind of weird Threat Level missed that since I got the claims of this lawsuit from them (pdf, page 23). I will try to post an argument about why this isn't like the Mark Klein evidence at all later.

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I wonder if "they" will still want it after the 2008 election.
~

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Welcome to Soviet Russia, now sit down and shut up Comrade!
America isn't it swell!!

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I wonder if Bush will back-channel all kinds of info--like the kind of illicit stuff to be gleaned via this fascinating relationship with Verizon, or whether we're about to start a third war with Iran--to the McCain campaign. God knows Bush needs him in place.

If I were Bush that's what I'd do.

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By the numbers:

According to Babak Pasdar's affidavit the FBI has a 45 Mbps line into the carrier's switch. If each voice channel uses 8 - 13 kbps then the whole line could simultaneously tap 3,500 - 5,500 calls; not 3,500-5,500 lines but simultaneous calls.

According to Bush, immunity is to protect the telcos against "billion dollar lawsuits". I think the EFF is asking up to $13,000 for each person whose line was tapped illegally. At $13,000 each one billion dollars pays 76,923 people. So by his own admission over 75,000 people were illegally wiretapped.

RTI,

Between NOVA's rather interesting demographics and all the intelligence and biodefense-related entities in Prince William and Fauquier Counties, this reeks.

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Wow, Pasdar was my landlord two years ago. Good on him for letting us all know what was going on. Odd that right after he figured out all of this high tech surveillance stuff, we couldn't escape the low-tech phone-tapping of living right below him in a house with very little insulation. Still, good job Babak!

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