[194929] in North American Network Operators' Group
Re: Russian diplomats lingering near fiber optic cables
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Gordon Cook)
Sun Jun 11 11:38:21 2017
X-Original-To: nanog@nanog.org
From: Gordon Cook <cook@cookreport.com>
In-Reply-To: <alpine.BSF.2.20.1706011356240.54313@cnex.qbaryna.pbz>
Date: Sun, 11 Jun 2017 11:38:17 -0400
To: Sean Donelan <sean@donelan.com>
Cc: "nanog@nanog.org list" <nanog@nanog.org>
Errors-To: nanog-bounces@nanog.org
Hi Sean
You and I first met when i was at OIA about 1992 LOONG TIME ago
Always thought of you as brilliant collector of info as well as analyst =
there of=20
this question of yours is absolutely brilliant
look at the responses (more) than 45!!!
> On Jun 1, 2017, at 2:02 PM, Sean Donelan <sean@donelan.com> wrote:
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> There must be a perfectly logical explanation.... Yes, people in the =
industry 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.
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> On the other hand, I've been a fiber optic tourist. I've visited many =
critical choke points in the USA and other countries, and even took =
selfies :-)
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> =
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/06/01/russia-spies-espionage-trump-2390=
03
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> In the throes of the 2016 campaign, the FBI found itself with an =
escalating problem: Russian diplomats, whose travel was supposed to be =
tracked by the State Department, were going missing.
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> The diplomats, widely assumed to be intelligence operatives, would =
eventually 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 bizarre case, relayed by a U.S. intelligence official, =
another turned up wandering around in the middle of the desert. =
Interestingly, both seemed to be lingering where underground fiber-optic =
cables tend to run.
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> According to another U.S. intelligence official, =E2=80=9CThey find =
these guys driving around in circles in Kansas. It=E2=80=99s a pretty =
aggressive effort.=E2=80=9D
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> It=E2=80=99s a trend that has led intelligence officials to conclude =
that the Kremlin is waging a quiet effort to map the United States=E2=80=99=
telecommunications infrastructure, perhaps preparing for an opportunity =
to disrupt it.
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