Re: [PEN-TEST] Datacenter Wiring

["Stiles, Robert" <bob.stiles () TGSLC ORG>]

Just a footnote to the pressurized conduit - an old school telephony guy I
spoke to said ALL the wiring used to be in pressurized conduits, essentially
to protect the paper insulation.  In case of a leak, an alarm would go off,
the pressurized gas would keep water from leaking in, and he would have to
hunt around with stethoscope on a stick device to locate the leaking pipe.

-----Original Message-----
From: McGann, J [mailto:shadowjcm () MINDSPRING COM]
Sent: Saturday, October 21, 2000 1:52 PM
To: PEN-TEST () SECURITYFOCUS COM
Subject: Re: [PEN-TEST] Datacenter Wiring


At 10:14 AM 10/21/2000 -0400, Drew Simonis wrote:
> Tom Litney wrote:
> > > This is a topic that I fear many of us do not take seriously because
> it is
> > > not a "geek" topic - physical security.
> > .....
> > > stonewall
>
> (...)
>
> >   My initial question was attempting to solicit an opinion from you, the
> > experts.  Disregarding for a minute the hardware on either side of the
wire
> > and whether all traffic should be encrypted questions but focusing in on
> > just the physical wire security.  You have been approached by one of
your
> > clients who is building a datacenter.  They are asking your opinion on
how
> > they should wire it to provide the best security against
> penetration.  Which
> > method would you recommend?  Are you a wire walker or a wire hider?  And
> > why?
>
>
> I suppose I am a wire hider.  I think a nice steel conduit is a heck
> of a lot better than any other solution Ive heard.  And get this twist
> I've heard about:  presurizing the conduit.  Charge that pipe up with
> an inert gas, and if the conduit is broken, for any reason, an alarm is
> generated.  I can't think of a more secure way to protect my cables,
> can you?

There are some other solutions out there: for example the NSA/DOD approved
Cylink Corporation product that puts a fiberoptic wire across the cable
pipe.  When the pipe is knocked too hard or cut into, the vibration is
detected by the FO wire and an alarm sounds.  Similar to Drew's
pressurization suggestion above.  The alarms can be set to ignore
vibrations up to a certain level so as not to create too many false
alarms.  This is a great solution for situations where you are running wire
under ground between buildings on a business campus.


Peace, Jamie

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