RE: Backbone Infrastructure and Secrecy

["Vandy Hamidi" <vandy.hamidi () markettools com>]

http://www.thebunker.net/

-----Original Message-----
From: Eric Kuhnke [mailto:eric () fnordsystems com]
Sent: Wednesday, July 09, 2003 3:48 PM
To: nanog () merit edu
Subject: Re: Backbone Infrastructure and Secrecy



I recall reading, last year, about a "Cyber Bunker" outside London UK which is being offered as colo to major banks.  
The banks were raving praise about it.  This facility is an ex-RAF centralized radar control site, buried dozens of 
feet underground w/ thick concrete and designed to withstand nuclear weapon overpressure.  Blast doors, EMF shielding, 
dual-redundant air filtered generators, the works.

The people who bought it and turned it into a colo neglected to mention one thing:  It's in the middle of a farm field 
with a single homed fiber route to Telehouse Docklands. 

Anyone have a backhoe?  *snip*

DIVERSE ROUTES, people!

At 05:30 PM 7/9/2003 +0100, you wrote:

> Michael.Dillon () radianz com wrote:
> > However we can work to spread out the infrastructure more so that it
> > is harder for terrorists to find a single point of failure to attack.
> > If they have to coordinate an attack on 3 or 4 locations, there is an
> > increased probability that something will go wrong (as on 9/11) and
> > one or more of their targets will escape total destruction.
>
> I hate to be a doom sayer, but any chump with a couple of tools and
> rudimentary knowledge can lift manholes, cut cables and jump to another
> location in minutes. No amount of diversity could defend against a concerted
> attack like that unless you start installing very special low-level routes
> away from street level into many many buildings. Maybe you guys in the US
> are historically more paranoid, but London is just covered in single points
> of major failure for telecoms.
>
> Protecting the switching centres (IP or voice) looks great, but walk a few
> hundred feet and all senblence of physical security breaks.
>
> Peter