It turns out that information flowing through the submarine cable is intercepted and sold to intelligence agencies
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The interception of communications by intelligence agencies such as the US National Security Agency (NSA) has been widely reported, but the specific method has not been clarified very much. However, it turned out that the software 'CyberSweep ' that intercepts the signal of the submarine cable of the optical fiber technology company ' Glimmerglass ' in Northern California is provided to government agencies, and using this software Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, Facebook By analyzing the contents of software and Twitter, it became clear that it is possible to obtain information at a 'sufficient level to take action'. Glimmerglass acknowledged the intelligence agency's name in its customer list, but refused to provide details.
Glimmerglass Intercepts Undersea Cable Traffic for Spy Agencies | corpwatch
https://www.corpwatch.org/article/glimmerglass-intercepts-undersea-cable-traffic-spy-agencies
Jeffrey Richelson, Senior Researcher at the National Security Archive of the United States, once said, 'Advances in information technology are advances in the ability to'collect information'.' Former CIA employee Edward Snowden, who exposed the 'PRISM' issue that the U.S. government was collecting public information on , leaked to the British Guardian, and it was stated that the NSA was intercepting submarine cables. However, the specific method has not yet been clarified. However, in 2009, the amount paid to the British Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) from the NSA's budget increased significantly to $ 25 million, where the GCHQ is located in North Corn, where many submarine cables land. It has been revealed to be in Bude on the wall.
If it is true that the GCHQ and NSA are using Glimmerglass's submarine cable interception system, it is consistent with what WikiLeaks has revealed, and privacy experts say, 'NSA is Glimmerglass. If you're using this technology, it supports Mr Snowden's claim that the government is accumulating communications for the general public. ' An NSA spokesman declined to answer CorpWatch's question about glimmerglass and submarine cable interception. In addition, Glimmerglass staff did not respond to interviews by email or phone.
◆ Cyber attack solution 'Cyber Sweep'
'CyberSweep can help you find potential and dangerous people, both known and unknown, by converting the optical signal of the cable into a' data source 'and aggregating it,' Glimmerglass said on its website. increase. Also, in the company's presentation material published by WikiLeaks, this technology is described as a 'paradigm shift', and on the fifth page of the material, 'CyberSweep is a mobile / fixed terminal communication, call, movie, Internet, It is explained as 'a cyber security solution that crosses multiple terminals mutually' that intercepts all communications of Web2.0 and social networks. And the software is said to be used at the 'submarine landing base', the point where the submarine cable lands.
On the next page, page 8, Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, Facebook, and Twitter are examples of actual collections, followed by four pages of actual screenshots. The content is based on the Facebook interaction of a fictional character 'Jonh Smith', and the profile of this person and his 'acquaintance' are connected by arrows indicating the connection, and how often they interact with each other. It is displayed on the screen. The person displayed can be identified by photo, username and ID, and the content of the chat is also displayed in detail in a separate window.
There is also a screen that shows the connections with multiple acquaintances on Facebook.
There is also an explanation that allows you to view the call record and listen to the call, as well as a demonstration of intercepting webmail and chat content.
I'm wondering who is using this system, but in the movie on the Glimmerglass website, 'American information agencies have been using this product for the past five years. It was described as 'interception of submarine cable communications,' but no details were given. In the movie, 'Information management efforts are a challenge to the handling of'light'', and 'Glimmerglass technology gives customers complete control over the flow of vast amounts of information.' It is stated that. This explanation is consistent with what Snowden revealed in The Guardian.
◆ Intercept all signals
According to a document released by Snowden, NSA Vice Admiral Keith Alexander visited a facility in the United Kingdom in 2008 to discuss a signal interception project. The leaked document reveals that the three-year trial has ended and the NSA's $ 25 million budget has been put into the infrastructure of the Cyber Development Center in Bued and has been rapidly strengthened. With the help of an NSA analyst who visited Bude, the ' Tempora Project ' was launched, and in the fall of 2011, signal interception devices were installed on 200 submarine cables, and the project includes at least BT. Seven companies have been found to be involved: Group (British Telecom), Global Crossing, Interroute, Level 3, Viatel, Verizon Business and Vodafone Cable. The Tempora project recorded 600 million calls and 21 petabytes of data per day over a three-day period. Many of them were removed in a process called 'Massive Volume Reduction' to reduce storage capacity, but empty metadata such as 'who called who' was removed in 30 days. It has been saved across. Snowden's document states that GCHQ now holds more data than the NSA, which is handled by more than 250 NSA analysts, '300 analysts.' It has been. The UK has fewer cumbersome surveillance regimes than the US, so analysts can rest assured that they will analyze the information more deeply. Over the last five years, 'GCHQ's access to' light 'has increased at a rate of 7,000%,' said Tempora staff. 'NSA shifts to text-based communications such as cross-border email' by 'cloning some communication links' in an interview with 'senior intelligence officers' conducted by The New York Times. I'm doing it. '
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◆ Interception of 'light'
It is estimated that 90% of transatlantic telecommunications is via submarine cables. Especially in Skype, it is known that even if it is a communication between Asia and Africa, it goes through a geographically unrelated Atlantic cable. This is very convenient for intercepting communications. The history of cable communications began in 1858 when the United Kingdom installed it to support communications with foreign territories. Initially, copper wire was used as the material for the cable, but since the 1980s it has been replaced by optical fiber. The oldest submarine optical cable was the 'Atlantic-8' laid by AT & T in 1988, connecting Bude and Tuckerton, NJ at a communication speed of 280 Mbps. With the latest cable, 'Yellow / Atlantic Crossing 2,' the communication speed is as high as 640 Gbps, which is equivalent to 7.5 million two-way communication lines. These cables run around the seabed for hundreds of thousands of kilometers in all directions, landing at a certain point on the ground and connecting to communication equipment.
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To increase the speed and accuracy of communications, carriers break data into smaller 'packets' that flow through a 'redundant fiber optic network' and demodulate them again at the landing site, which at the same time makes it easier to intercept signals. Will be made to. This is where Glimmerglass technology comes into play. In September 2002, the company began shipping 'a breakthrough technology that enhances the accuracy of data communications that route through multiple optical cable networks.' The patented '3D Micro-Eloctro-Mechanical-System (3D-MEMS) mirror array' is a diameter of 210 gold-coated mirrors mounted on a fine hinge structure made on a single crystal silicon wafer. It is a part of about 1 mm. Each mirror can be controlled from anywhere in the world, allowing it to intercept or reflect light signals.
Glimmerglass's system is from ' System 100 (entry model with 96x96 fiber port and 100Gbps communication capacity, 3 system rack size entry model)' to ' System 600 ' with 192x192 ports, and 12 racks. There are a wide variety of products such as 'System 3000'. This information cable system allows you to control the destination of signals without impacting user traffic. The company also introduces a system called 'IOS' that can be combined with 3D-MEMS, and provides a solution that can monitor and intercept signals by combining with Cybee Sweep.
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A document from WikiLeaks states, 'Service providers can use the capabilities of IOS to select signals and deliver information to law enforcement agents. Agents will have faster access to information. Not only the data but also the 'light' itself can be obtained for thorough analysis. ' Glimmerglass has not denied that the equipment can be used to intercept information, and it appears that it is actually being used for that purpose.
'If you want to monitor telecommunications, it must be done at the'light'level,' said a Glimmerglass executive. 'If our system is installed in an operation center in a country, it will be possible to monitor where in / out the information is in / out of the fiber optic network. Once the wavelength of light is extracted. For example, you will be able to drastically identify the 'partner of interest'. ' 'Our 3D-MEMS technology used by governments and agents helps us collect information from various sensors, satellites, and submarine cables,' he said. 'In some countries, it's legal. It is used for a laid-back interception. '
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◆ Change the fiber boom to gold
Glimmerglass has grown well on the wave of the fiber optic boom. Initially, the company sold testing and measuring instruments to companies such as Cisco and Sandvine, but the recession in the telecommunications industry prevented it from succeeding at that time. The company has since succeeded in turning to profit from software that controls optical switching, and has signed contracts with AMS-IX, Europe's largest Internet exchange company, and Cable & Wireless in the United Kingdom. In September 2005, Glimmerglass Networks won a bid for $ 769,600 in communication support equipment from the US Navy's Naval Sea Systems Command without competition. By 2010, Glimmerglass CEO Robert Lundy had successfully expanded his 'legal interception system' business to seven countries, including Germany, Israel, the United Kingdom, and Asia, outside the United States. It has expanded.
◆ Are these companies a factor in invading privacy?
Many human rights groups have criticized such 'data sales'. Also, this type of data collection is against the law that protects personal privacy. Human rights experts said, 'This is not only contrary to Article 4 of the US Constitutional Amendment (prohibition of illegal search and foreclosure), but also to Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I point out.
The most important question will be, 'At what level are carriers involved in this information interception, and are information companies like Glimmerglass helping build the system?'
'The Tempora program would not have been possible without the collusion of submarine cable providers,' said Eric King, a representative of the British charity Privacy International. 'At what level such companies are collecting information. It is necessary to know whether the protection of personal information is compatible. '
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