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The Telecom Digest for July 21, 2012
Volume 31 : Issue 177 : "text" Format
====== 30 years of TELECOM Digest -- Founded August 21, 1981 ======
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Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the
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Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2012 21:56:47 -0400
From: danny burstein <dannyb@panix.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: wherefore/whencefore Central Office outage reports
Message-ID: <Pine.NEB.4.64.1207192154350.9158@panix5.panix.com>
We just had a central office outage - which wasn't storm related -,
that knocked out tens of thousands of lines, both wired and
the cellular network. Oh, and DSL. And lots of cascading issues.
Including clobbering a 911 PSAP.
Took 15 or so hours to restore. [a]
Anyway... could someone point me to what reports (if any...)
the ILEC and other groups - such as the cellcos - are supposed
to make in these deregulated days and where I could either view
them or make FOIL requests?
- I realize there might be a bit of a time lag, but I'd
like to start the process.
Thanks.
[a] http://www.themorningsun.com/article/20120719/NEWS01/120719712/power-outage-disables-phones
Date: Fri, 20 Jul 2012 00:25:29 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Shared Mobile Data Plans: Who Benefits?
Message-ID: <p062408b4cc2e8d48e54d@[10.0.1.6]>
Shared Mobile Data Plans: Who Benefits?
By BRIAN X. CHEN
JULY 19, 2012
Verizon and AT&T, the two biggest carriers in the United States, are
offering shared data plans, which will allow customers to pay for a
single pool of data and share it across multiple smartphones, tablets
and laptops. The concept of sharing sounds like a nice idea in
principle, but the costs of these plans can tell a different story.
The pricing for the carriers' shared plans is nearly identical. After
doing the math, it turns out that shared data plans are a good value
only for a specific type of customer: A high-income family with
several data-hungry devices and chatty kids who send lots of text
messages.
In other words, the plans offer the most value for people who already
spend a lot to squeeze as much out of their wireless service as
possible, and are not so useful for frugal, casual customers.
"There are very few subsets of people where this will actually be
impactful," says Schwark Satyavolu, chief executive of Truaxis, a
company that offers tools for consumers to manage their utility bills.
Here's a quick breakdown of the math.
...
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/19/shared-data-plans-verizon-att/
Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2012 15:26:01 -0400
From: tlvp <mPiOsUcB.EtLlLvEp@att.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Covert FBI Power to Obtain Phone Data Faces Rare Test
Message-ID: <1qo9x1voqbnof.g6og3i45ji5m$.dlg@40tude.net>
In today's "Latest News from Sophos Security" I read:
> Telecom firm says "No" to FBI surveillance demands
> In a case that has been cloaked in secrecy, a phone company
> is fighting an FBI request to access customer records.
The phone company involved may not be identified, under the obligatory
nondisclosure requirements of the applicable NSL (National Security Letter)
issued early last year, but the full Sophos commentary, at
http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2012/07/19/telecom-fbi-surveillance/
,
and yesterday's WSJ article breaking the news more than a year later, at
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052702303567704577519213906388708-lMyQjAxMTAyMDEwNzExNDcyWj.html
make chilling reading.
--
Avant de repondre, jeter la poubelle, SVP.
Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2012 12:32:35 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Apple tries to block iOS in-app purchase hack, fails
Message-ID: <p06240878cc2de61de8a8@[10.0.1.6]>
Apple tries to block iOS in-app purchase hack, fails
Summary: Apple is working hard to fight the hacking of its In-App
Purchase program for iOS. So far though, the company's attempts have
not deterred Russian developer Alexey Borodin who apparently wants
Cupertino to fix the underlying problem rather than just trying to
block his in-appstore.com service.
By Emil Protalinski
July 16, 2012
Last week Russian developer Alexey Borodin hacked Apple's In-App
Purchase program for all devices running anything from iOS 3.0 to iOS
6.0 (the In-App Purchase program requires iOS 3.0 or later), allowing
iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch users to circumvent the payment process
and essentially steal in-app content. Apple confirmed the workaround
and said it was investigating the issue. Ever since, Cupertino has
been working hard to stop the attack, but it has yet to succeed.
...
Last but certainly not least, Cupertino is transmitting its
customers' Apple IDs and passwords in clear text (Apple assumed it
would only ever be communicating with its own server). The following
information is transferred from your device to Borodin's server: app
restriction level, app id, version id, device guid, in-app purchase
quantity, in-app purchase offer name, app identifier, app version,
your language, and your locale. Whoever operates in-appstore.com
could easily be gathering everyone's iTunes login credentials (as
well as unique device-identifying data) in a classic
man-in-the-middle attack.
...
http://www.zdnet.com/apple-tries-to-block-ios-in-app-purchase-hack-fails-7000000985/
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