AT&T collaborates on NSA spying through a web of secretive buildings in the US

techcrunch ^ | Taylor Hatmaker

[BenLurkin]

AT&T data facilities in the U.S. are regarded as high-value sites to the NSA for giving the agency direct “backbone” access to raw data that passes through, including emails, web browsing, social media and any other form of unencrypted online activity. The NSA uses the web of eight AT&T hubs for a surveillance operation code-named FAIRVIEW, a program previously reported by The New York Times. The program, first established in 1985, “involves tapping into international telecommunications cables, routers, and switches” and only coordinates directly with AT&T and not the other major U.S. mobile carriers.

AT&T’s deep involvement with the NSA monitoring program operated under the code name SAGUARO. Messaging, email and other web traffic accessed through the program was made searchable through XKEYSCORE, one of the NSA’s more infamous search-powered surveillance tools.

...

The data exchange between AT&T and other networks initially takes place outside AT&T’s control, sources said, at third-party data centers that are owned and operated by companies such as California’s Equinix. But the data is then routed – in whole or in part – through the eight AT&T buildings, where the NSA taps into it. By monitoring what it calls the “peering circuits” at the eight sites, the spy agency can collect “not only AT&T’s data, they get all the data that’s interchanged between AT&T’s network and other companies,” according to Mark Klein, a former AT&T technician who worked with the company for 22 years.

The NSA describes these locations as “peering link router complex” sites while AT&T calls them “Service Node Routing Complexes” (SNRCs). The eight complexes are spread across the nation’s major cities, with locations in Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C.

[BenLurkin]

It's 'on behalf of the common good' no doubt.

[Thank You Rush]

What we don’t know is pretty scary. Are we better off knowing or not knowing? I guess the government thinks IT is better off knowing EVERYTHING. I have to wonder about the employees in any of those places. How well are they investigated? Reminds me of the credit card center in upstate NY that employs Muslims from the Islamberg compound.
Can’t find that particular piece of info right now....
Have never understood why any of their compounds around the country are allowed. I see one member was arrested there on gun charges - at least they didn’t burn the whole compound down like they did in Waco...That would be a big NO NO!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamberg,_New_York

[DIRTYSECRET]

Remember that secret room in that building in SF. It’s now protected by human excrement outside.

[waterhill]

When I was working on fuel systems, AT&T wanted a colonoscopy before I did anything for them. It was way easier to get into federal reservations/bases.

But, from recall Perot Systems was pretty thorough as well

[InABunkerUnderSF]

Remember that secret room in that building in SF

Spear Street, about block down from Google. Wonder why that would be?

[Steely Tom]

AT&T collaborates on NSA spying through a web of secretive buildings in the US

The next Trump synthetic scandal?

[Lurkinanloomin]

The Kenyanesian Usurper has turned our government against US.

[bmwcyle]

AT&T have always been a branch of the government.

[Jumper]

The buildings may be of high value, but the valuable router infrastructure is underground, hardened and had to damage with bombs or EMP.

[GOP Poet]

bookmark

[catnipman]

i have a good friend who quit Juniper Networks because they wanted him to work on classified NSA backdoors for AT&T backbone equipment ...

[Blueflag]

1. ALL the networks (IP, cellular and PSTN) provide feeds to DHS ... and thus the NSA. This isn’t actually an ATT-only thing.
2. Recall there used to be ONLY Ma Bell (ATT), which was split by Judge Green, and is now re-formulating/ coagulating. So this goes WAY back in US history. But again, ALL the networks do this. ALL of them.
3. The US networks have legal permission to analyze netflows, but *DO NOT* inspect the content of customer traffic. PERIOD. *IF* the network is contracted by the customer to do inspection, that’s OK. HOWEVER, the gummint takes raw feeds ...

FD: I work in the business.

[pepsi_junkie]

In DC, back in the early 90s, I’d go to DC for business a lot and near the Pentagon we would drive past this huge windowless bunkerlike AT&T building with a bunch of antennae on top and joke that we should speak in whispers because they’re clearly listening. Turns out they were, as I’m pretty sure that is the building in DC that they mention.

[proxy_user]

More and more internet traffic is encrypted.

FR is not, but if the NSA wants to read our posts, all they have to do is type in the URL>

[subterfuge]

All the big tech companies are in bed with big guv.

[BenLurkin]

Otnay toay orryway.

Eeway illway oozeyay odecay.

[Pearls Before Swine]

Remember that secret room in that building in SF. It’s now protected by human excrement outside.

Warren Buffett says one thing to look for in evaluating a business is whether it is surrounded by a protective moat. /S

[Roccus]

33 Thomas St. NYC

https://www.google.com/search?q=33+thomas+st.+nyc+image&rlz=1T4GGNI_enUS569US569&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwirnqif5vHbAhUBUKwKHXICC7cQsAQIKA&biw=1366&bih=639#imgrc=_&spf=1530032258382

[daltec]

Could be, but if you were traveling down the hill towards the Pentagon (Columbia Pike), you are most likely talking about an AT&T networking facility with a CLLI code of ARTNVACKT20.

A lot of info has been scrubbed from the ARTNVACKT20 page on my go-to site for Cold War infrastructure, but as I recall reading, this building was originally the main hub and control center for AUTOVON communications coming up from the Pentagon. It's now used as a fiber hub, and appears to be connected directly to the nuclear-hardened underground facility in Dranesville. (Now THAT is a scary site.)

I used to work in a building right next door to ARTNVACKT20. If you walked down the sidewalk on the west side of the building, in the late afternoon, the setting sun would reveal a little of what was inside behind those massive shielded openings that look like windows. You could see that the floors inside did not line up with these "windows." You could also see rows of large shapes lined up inside -- I took these to be ancient mechanical network switches, that would be just too costly to remove. But that is total speculation on my part.

One thing that is totally NOT speculation is that the building is highly secure. An interesting feature is that there are what appear to be two secured entrance/exit facilities, some ways from the building proper. This suggests that there is at least some of the facility is underground.

Closer to the building itself, there is also what appears to be a very large platform elevator. It's in a covered area but does not communication with the above-ground building itself -- in other words, it only goes DOWN.

Make of that what you will, but here in the DC area, many fascinating relics of the Cold War remain -- some still in active (but secret) use.

ARTNVACKT20:

[RinaseaofDs]

There are TWO in Everett, WA.