IP: more on : BBC Online 2/10/99: "Global spy network revealed"

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

> Date: Wed, 3 Nov 1999 12:25:34 -0800
> To: farber () cis upenn edu
> From: Ari Ollikainen <Ari () Packetcom com>
> Subject: Re: IP: BBC Online 2/10/99: "Global spy network revealed"
>
> > > Inside is the world's most sophisticated eavesdropping technology, 
> > > capable of listening-in to satellites high above the earth.
> > >
> > > Facility is said to be capable of 2m intercepts per hour
> > > The base is linked directly to the headquarters of the US National 
> > > Security Agency (NSA) at Fort Mead in Maryland, and it is also linked to 
> > > a series of other listening posts scattered across the world, like 
> > > Britain's own GCHQ.
> > >
> > > The power of the network, codenamed Echelon, is astounding.
> > >
> > > Every international telephone call, fax, e-mail, or radio transmission 
> > > can be listened to by powerful computers capable of voice recognition. 
> > > They home in on a long list of key words, or patterns of messages. They 
> > > are looking for evidence of international crime, like terrorism.
>
>         As usual, I have to point out that this seems to be directed to
>         the Great Unwashed and gullible mass audience such that the truth
>         seems to have wandered off "Out of Here"...
>
>         TransAtlantic telephone conversations are NO LONGER carried
>         via satellite (and haven't been for some 20 years!). Neither
>         is FAX traffic nor much else that's two-way...with the exception
>         delay insensitive data traffic that's generally part of someone's
>         alternate/overflow routing scheme.
>
>         "2m intercepts per hour" is hardly amazing as a capability at the
>         end of this decade wherein AT&T is specifying 2-4 million Peak
>         Busy Hour call completions for their toll switches.
>
>         Since this Echelon story keeps surfacing without any added detail,
>         I have to wonder what is the REAL story regarding monitoring of
>         international communications...
>
>
>
>
>        Ari Ollikainen                       Packetcom Inc.
>        650.849.3623                         2800-A West Bayshore Rd.
>        Ari () packetcom com                    Palo Alto, CA 94303

_____________________________________________________________________
David Farber
The Alfred Fitler Moore Professor of Telecommunication Systems
University of Pennsylvania
Home Page: http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~farber
Email: farber () cis upenn edu

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