Re: Fiber optic vampire taps

["Chris Berry" <compjma () hotmail com>]

> From: "Nick Iglehart" <nick () systemsecuritysolutions com>
> I have a client who has a fiber optic line between two buildings.
> There is no physical security and so they are concerned about someone
> tapping into the fiber line and capturing data.
>
> I read something a while back about tapping fiber optic lines without
> breaking the sheathing and now I can't seem to find anything but
> vague references to it.  I have googled for hours and checked the sf
> archives with no luck.  Anyone have any references to this?  Any help
> is appreciated.

To the best of my knowledge there is no such thing as a vampire or inductive 
tap for fiber optics, the only way to tap into the line would be to cut the 
connection and splice in an optical splitter.  This kind of action would 
manifest itself as a network outage, and change in signal strength.  A 
simple monitor program that tracks the fiber optic connection and warns you 
when it is down should be sufficient security, of course guard dogs and 
Marines armed with SAWs wouldn't hurt either, but that would probably be 
more expensive.

Chris Berry
compjma () hotmail com
Systems Administrator
JM Associates

"Live dangerously, overclock your servers."


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