[194785] in North American Network Operators' Group
Re: Russian diplomats lingering near fiber optic cables
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Brandon Vincent)
Thu Jun 1 14:32:31 2017
X-Original-To: nanog@nanog.org
In-Reply-To: <DE8A5BAF-348A-4A9A-9262-E7CAB7FB1EEC@puck.nether.net>
From: Brandon Vincent <Brandon.Vincent@asu.edu>
Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2017 11:32:28 -0700
To: nanog@nanog.org
Errors-To: nanog-bounces@nanog.org
DO NOT ANCHOR OR DREDGE is a pretty good indicator.
On Thu, Jun 1, 2017 at 11:05 AM, Jared Mauch <jared@puck.nether.net> wrote:
>
>> On Jun 1, 2017, at 2:02 PM, Sean Donelan <sean@donelan.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>> There must be a perfectly logical explanation.... Yes, people in the in=
dustry know where the choke points are. But the choke points aren't always =
the most obvious places. Its kinda a weird for diplomats to show up there.
>>
>> On the other hand, I've been a fiber optic tourist. I've visited many c=
ritical choke points in the USA and other countries, and even took selfies =
:-)
>>
>>
>> http://www.politico.com/story/2017/06/01/russia-spies-espionage-trump-23=
9003
>>
>> In the throes of the 2016 campaign, the FBI found itself with an escalat=
ing problem: Russian diplomats, whose travel was supposed to be tracked by =
the State Department, were going missing.
>>
>> The diplomats, widely assumed to be intelligence operatives, would event=
ually turn up in odd places, often in middle-of-nowhere USA. One was found =
on a beach, nowhere near where he was supposed to be. In one particularly b=
izarre case, relayed by a U.S. intelligence official, another turned up wan=
dering around in the middle of the desert. Interestingly, both seemed to be=
lingering where underground fiber-optic cables tend to run.
>>
>> According to another U.S. intelligence official, =E2=80=9CThey find thes=
e guys driving around in circles in Kansas. It=E2=80=99s a pretty aggressiv=
e effort.=E2=80=9D
>>
>> It=E2=80=99s a trend that has led intelligence officials to conclude tha=
t the Kremlin is waging a quiet effort to map the United States=E2=80=99 te=
lecommunications infrastructure, perhaps preparing for an opportunity to di=
srupt it.
>
> Seems it would be easier to just pay for a subscription to a service like=
FiberLocator or similar.
>
> They could just dial 811 as well and request the locates happen.
>
> - Jared
