<nettime> The NSA copies the entire Internet traffic, 2006

[nettime's historian <nettime@kein.org>]

Wiretap Whistle-Blower's Account

http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2006/04/70621
04.07.06

Former AT&T technician Mark Klein has come forward to support the EFF's 
lawsuit against AT&T for its alleged complicity in the NSA's electronic 
surveillance. Here, Wired News publishes Klein's public statement in its 
entirety.

Statement: Mark Klein, April 6, 2006

My background:

For 22 and 1/2 years I worked as an AT&T technician, first in New York 
and then in California.
What I observed first-hand:

In 2002, when I was working in an AT&T office in San Francisco, the site 
manager told me to expect a visit from a National Security Agency agent, 
who was to interview a management-level technician for a special job. 
The agent came, and by chance I met him and directed him to the 
appropriate people.

In January 2003, I, along with others, toured the AT&T central office on 
Folsom Street in San Francisco -- actually three floors of an SBC 
building. There I saw a new room being built adjacent to the 4ESS switch 
room where the public's phone calls are routed. I learned that the 
person whom the NSA interviewed for the secret job was the person 
working to install equipment in this room. The regular technician work 
force was not allowed in the room.

In October 2003, the company transferred me to the San Francisco 
building to oversee the Worldnet Internet room, which included large 
routers, racks of modems for customers' dial-in services, and other 
equipment. I was responsible for troubleshooting problems on the fiber 
optic circuits and installing new circuits.

While doing my job, I learned that fiber optic cables from the secret 
room were tapping into the Worldnet circuits by splitting off a portion 
of the light signal. I saw this in a design document available to me, 
entitled "Study Group 3, LGX/Splitter Wiring, San Francisco" dated Dec. 
10, 2002. I also saw design documents dated Jan. 13, 2004 and Jan. 24, 
2003, which instructed technicians on connecting some of the already 
in-service circuits to the "splitter" cabinet, which diverts some of the 
light signal to the secret room. The circuits listed were the Peering 
Links, which connect Worldnet with other networks and hence the whole 
country, as well as the rest of the world.

One of the documents listed the equipment installed in the secret room, 
and this list included a Narus STA 6400, which is a "Semantic Traffic 
Analyzer". The Narus STA technology is known to be used particularly by 
government intelligence agencies because of its ability to sift through 
large amounts of data looking for preprogrammed targets. The company's 
advertising boasts that its technology "captures comprehensive customer 
usage data ... and transforms it into actionable information.... (It) 
provides complete visibility for all internet applications."

My job required me to connect new circuits to the "splitter" cabinet and 
get them up and running. While working on a particularly difficult one 
with a technician back East, I learned that other such "splitter" 
cabinets were being installed in other cities, including Seattle, San 
Jose, Los Angeles and San Diego.

__ What is the significance and why is it important to bring these facts 
to light?

Based on my understanding of the connections and equipment at issue, it 
appears the NSA is capable of conducting what amounts to vacuum-cleaner 
surveillance of all the data crossing the internet -- whether that be 
peoples' e-mail, web surfing or any other data.

Given the public debate about the constitutionality of the Bush 
administration's spying on U.S. citizens without obtaining a FISA 
warrant, I think it is critical that this information be brought out 
into the open, and that the American people be told the truth about the 
extent of the administration's warrantless surveillance practices, 
particularly as it relates to the internet.

Despite what we are hearing, and considering the public track record of 
this administration, I simply do not believe their claims that the NSA's 
spying program is really limited to foreign communications or is 
otherwise consistent with the NSA's charter or with FISA. And unlike the 
controversy over targeted wiretaps of individuals' phone calls, this 
potential spying appears to be applied wholesale to all sorts of 
internet communications of countless citizens.


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