serious threat models

[Peter Gutmann]

"Steven M. Bellovin" <smb at cs.columbia.edu> writes:

>What makes this interesting is how it was done: software was installed on the
>switch that diverted calls to a prepaid phone.  Think about who could manage
>that.

Just in case people think the answer is "The MIB", it's actually "Any kid with
a bit of technical knowledge".  Susan Dreyfus' book "Underground", for
example, documents hackers playing around inside cellular phone switches in
Europe.  So although the target list looks like a typical intelligence agency
hitlist, it could also have been done by a joyriding teenager interested in
listening in on what politicians, the military, and journalists were saying
and hearing.

(Yes, I know the evidence points at the MIB, but that doesn't automatically
mean it was them).

Peter.

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