more on serious threat models

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject:        Re: [IP] more on serious threat models
Date:   Sat, 04 Feb 2006 01:04:11 -0500
From:   Kulesh Shanmugasundaram <kulesh () isis poly edu>
To:     dave () farber net
References:     <43E3C794.9040701 () farber net>



well, from information available at [from www.schneier.com/blog/]:
http://betabug.ch/blogs/ch-athens/288

it seems the "interceptors" simply monitored calls to and from a list of 
numbers. and when they came across those calls the interceptors simply 
converted those point-to-point calls to a conference call to include the 
caller, callee, and the prepaid phones. i think this should work with 
any telephone system with conference capabilities. pretty clever.

kulesh.



Dave Farber wrote:
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject:     Re: [IP] more on serious threat models
> Date:     Fri, 03 Feb 2006 14:49:34 -0500
> From:     Matt Blaze <mab () crypto com>
> To:     dave () farber net
> References:     <43E39D56.9050506 () farber net>
>
>
>
> I don't interpret that as "anti-American"; both articles made
> clear that the US Embassy was one of the TARGETS of the tap.
> The fact that the "interceptors" were found to be near the
> embassy strengthens the case that the embassy was a target and
> seems quite relevant to the story.
>
> By the way, it's not at all clear from the story just what was
> going on or how "high tech" the attack would have to be. What does
> "diverting" to a prepaid mobile mean?  Here's a possibility:
> they "social engineered" or otherwise compromised the target account
> to assigned it a new telephone number and forward the old number
> to a prepaid account they control.  The "interceptor" box acts
> as a "man in the middle" that receives calls at this prepaid account
> and forwards them back to the target's "new" number (all the
> while recording the content).
>
> Such an arrangement would allow interception of incoming calls (but
> not outgoing calls, unless they managed to get those forwarded
> as well somehow -- perhaps there's a GSM feature that can do that,
> too).  Cumbersome, but has the advantage to the attacker of not
> requiring any custom software or features on the switch or
> cryptanalysis of the over-the-air interface, just garden-variety
> subscriber account compromise and cobbling together a couple of
> off-the-shelf GSM handsets.
>
> -matt
>
> On Feb 3, 2006, at 13:13, Dave Farber wrote:
>
> > -------- Original Message --------
> > Subject:     RE: [IP] serious threat models
> > Date:     Fri, 03 Feb 2006 13:01:41 -0500
> > From:     Atkinson, Robert <rca53 () columbia edu>
> > To:     dave () farber net
> >
> >
> >
> > It's interesting to see The Guardian's relentless anti-Americanism  come
> > through in this story.  The AP reports:
> >
> > "An investigation showed that these mobiles had been used in a central
> > Athens area where many foreign embassies are located, though Mr.
> > Roussopoulos refused to speculate on whether foreign agencies might be
> > involved."
> >
> > The Guardian article is almost identical to AP's, except it says:
> >
> > "The government revealed that the phone tappers used interceptors  traced
> > to the vicinity of the US embassy."
> >
> >
> > Bob
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Dave Farber [mailto:dave () farber net] Sent: Friday, February  03, 
> > 2006 12:08 PM
> > To: ip () v2 listbox com
> > Subject: [IP] serious threat models
> >
> >
> >
> > -------- Original Message --------
> > Subject:     serious threat models
> > Date:     Fri, 03 Feb 2006 08:38:09 -0800 (PST)
> > From:     Gregory Hicks <ghicks () well com>
> > Reply-To:     Gregory Hicks <ghicks () well com>
> > To:     declan () well com, dave () farber net
> > CC:     ghicks () cadence com
> >
> >
> >
> > From: "Steven M. Bellovin" <smb () cs columbia edu>
> > Date: Thu, 02 Feb 2006 21:28:31 -0500
> >
> > I hate to play clipping service, but this story is too important  not to
> > mention.  Many top Greek officials, including the Prime Minister, and
> > the U.S. embassy had their mobile phones tapped.  What makes this
> > interesting is how it was done: software was installed on the switch
> > that diverted calls to a prepaid phone.  Think about who could manage
> > that.
> >
> > http://www.guardian.co.uk/mobile/article/0,,1701298,00.html
> > http://www.globetechnology.com/servlet/story/RTGAM. 20060202.wcelltap0202
> > /BNStory/International/
> >
> >
> >         --Steven M. Bellovin, http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~smb
> >
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------
> > I am perfectly capable of learning from my mistakes.  I will surely
> > learn a great deal today.
> >
> > "A democracy is a sheep and two wolves deciding on what to have for
> > lunch.  Freedom is a well armed sheep contesting the results of the
> > decision." - Benjamin Franklin
> >
> > "The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they
> > be properly armed." --Alexander Hamilton
> >
> >
> >
> >
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