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[kitz]

An engineer works on a fibre-optic network. GCHQ appears to have intercepts placed on most of the fibre-optic communications cables in and out of the UK.

In essence, an internet buffer is a little like Sky+, but on an almost unimaginably large scale. GCHQ, assisted by the NSA, intercepts and collects a large fraction of internet traffic coming into and out of the UK. This is then filtered to get rid of uninteresting content, and what remains is stored for a period of time – three days for content and 30 days for metadata.

/snip/

GCHQ appears to have intercepts placed on most of the fibre-optic communications cables in and out of the country. This seems to involve some degree of co-operation – voluntary or otherwise – from companies operating either the cables or the stations at which they come into the country.

More info
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/jun/21/how-does-gchq-internet-surveillance-work

So now you know.

[broadstairs]

Not wanting to go into the rights and wrongs on this, it always surprises me that folks are themselves surprised that this goes on. GCHQ (aka the Cabbage Patch) has been doing this for years on radio traffic (including phones) etc so why be surprised they are doing it on the Net?

Stuart

[kitz]

I think everyone has a damn good idea that they are monitoring key words/items/people.

It was the information on buffering (and relating it to sky plus) that I thought may be interesting.  I don't know if some recall  the debate a few years back regarding the powers that be wanting ISPs to store certain info such as emails etc.

[waltergmw]

Gentlefolk,

I suppose I should not be surprised at the crass stupidity of most publicity merchants.
Not only have BT been crowing about fibre broadband which is nothing of the kind, but they now even claim a photograph of standard Twisted pairs in IDC blocks with an insertion tool is some sort of a fibre operation !

Kind regards,
Walter

[guest]

Menwith Hill has existed for a very long time and some of the extent of the telephony "tapping" which went on there has leaked into the public domain. I suggest you have a read and try to avoid jibes about "tinfoil hats" and "conspiracy loonies". You may find that hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Mastering the Internet is an extension of that and things like RIPA with its compulsion to disclose keys and prevent you telling anyone (even your employer) laid the ground for what the Guardian is "revealing" now about GCHQ - whcih frankly isn't any surprise at all.

The GPO (and BT subsequently) did a lot of research into tapping optical fibres - amusingly at one point in time people believed that you'd be able to detect tapping on optical fibres through various means.

Some of us have signed the act in the past and hence can't say much on certain things even though we have no current knowledge of techniques/activities.

I can say that the genie has been out of the bottle in the UK since 1996 (RIPA white paper IIRC) for IP comms and for a lot longer than that on telephony.

The difference now is that the processing power (without building a 150MW power station - no joke, that's required for the main NSA installation) means that they can drill down much much MUCH further into data without requiring human assessment.

You surely didn't think deep packet inspection was funded commercially to stop "pirates" and help the "good guys" have decent internet?

[Black Sheep]