---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <oa2e4c$7ep$1@panix2.panix.com> Date: 11 Mar 2017 22:09:00 -0500 From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: With Jews nationwide watching, the FBI works to crack the tough case of a telephone culprit In article <o9c4vu$4eb$1@gal.iecc.com>, John Levine <johnl@iecc.com> wrote: >In article <20170303111911.GA29159@telecom.csail.mit.edu>, >>> Or a spoofed legitimate phone number used by somebody behind multiple >>> VOIP hops (whatever *that* is... but it's the reason cited in the >>> letters I get from the Pennsylvania AG's office explaining why they >>> cannot prosecute Do-Not-Call-List violations). >> >>Frankly, that sounds like a bureaucratic brush-off. I suggest you make >>some noise. > >Unfortunately, it's real. VoIP gateways can send arbitrary junk. I >have an account with a VoIP provider that happens to be in Europe, and >I can send pretty much any calling number I want. Yes, but the VoIP gateway has a record of your IP address when that call was made, and that gateway is likely in a country with an INTERPOL agreement. It's possible to loop through multiple gateways, leading to an awful lot of footwork being required. But the police have people on staff whose job it is do that footwork. VoIP systems make it harder to track down callers, but in no way impossible. --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ Message-ID: <F630B8F5-42F0-40BD-A038-3222811DF91A@roscom.com> Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2017 21:43:56 -0500 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> Subject: Malware found preinstalled on 38 Android phones used by 2 companies By Dan Goodin A commercial malware scanner used by businesses has recently detected an outbreak of malware that came preinstalled on more than three dozen Android devices. An assortment of malware was found on 38 Android devices belonging to two unidentified companies. This is according to a blog post published Friday by Check Point Software Technologies, maker of a mobile threat prevention app. The malicious apps weren't part of the official ROM firmware supplied by the phone manufacturers but were added later somewhere along the supply chain. In six of the cases, the malware was installed to the ROM using system privileges, a technique that requires the firmware to be completely reinstalled for the phone to be disinfected. https://arstechnica.com/security/2017/03/preinstalled-malware-targets-android-users-of-two-companies/ ------------------------------ Message-ID: <oa6anq$g8a$1@panix2.panix.com> Date: 13 Mar 2017 10:35:38 -0400 From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: FCC chair wants carriers to block robocalls from spoofed numbers Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> wrote: >The FCC in 2015 made it clear that voice service providers can offer >call blocking tools to customers, but commissioners said at the time >that more needed to be done about Caller ID spoofing. FCC Chairman >Ajit Pai has now scheduled a preliminary vote for March 23 on new >rules designed to solve the problem. We already have plenty of rules that have no technical means of enforcement to deal with robocalling. What makes anyone think that adding more is going to help anything? --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ Message-ID: <F1921F04-0B49-4D57-A5F9-85111ABEB4D1@roscom.com> Date: Sun, 12 Mar 2017 15:33:12 -0400 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> Subject: In tiny town, phone service comes with customer service By Thomas Farragher RICHMOND - She is a tiny woman with a wide smile and a memory sharp enough to keenly recall those pesky rumors about her old job in this former Massachusetts mining town on the New York border. But Nancy Benedict wants you to know that she was no snoop. "Did I listen in?" she asked, repeating the question. "Not really intentionally. But you had to listen in to see if they were through talking." https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/03/11/tiny-town-phone-service-comes-with-customer-service/6vTRTAPeOoZ5VSGSDuTGaP/story.html ------------------------------ Message-ID: <oa6avc$dbn$1@panix2.panix.com> Date: 13 Mar 2017 10:39:40 -0400 From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: FCC grants emergency "unblocking" of CNID to Jewish Centers HAncock4 <withheld@invalid.telecom-digest.org> wrote: >On Saturday, March 4, 2017 at 5:49:26 PM UTC-5, danny burstein wrote: > >> The Federal Communications Commission today issued an emergency >> temporary waiver to Jewish Community Centers and [the] telecom- >> munications carriers [which] serve them to allow these entities >> and law enforcement agencies to access the caller-ID information >> of threatening and harassing callers. > [snip] >> ***** Moderator's Note ***** >> Cops are schooled and experienced at evaluating both context and >> capability, which is why they are given the job of evaluating "threat" >> calls, and they should be the first line of defense, not the second. > >I'm confused: What happened to the *57 Call Trace feature? The >information gathered by that was never available to consumers, >but was given to law enforcement. Also, I thought that information >was the more reliable ANI, not caller-ID. Could someone elaborate >on current practice? Dialing *57 gets the ANI sent to law enforcement. The ANI is the outgoing number at the VoIP gateway. The law enforcement people then send a subpoena to the gateway operators to look through their logs to find the IP address of the caller. If they are lucky that IP address is the caller's machine, if more likely the are unlucky it turns out to be a proxy server in China somewhere. At this point INTERPOL has to get involved in order to request logs from the proxy server, if the proxy server can be found, and if the operator of the proxy server hasn't shut it down and moved it to another hotel room.... --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ Message-ID: <56826b60-b50b-4bc8-ad0f-916b8d5543c9@googlegroups.com> Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2017 12:58:33 -0800 (PST) From: HAncock4 <withheld@invalid.telecom-digest.org> Subject: History--Bell System television work in 1957 The Bell System ran several ads in Billboard magazine touting its contribution to broadcasting. Billboard covered the entertainment industry. On 8/12/1957, pg 15, Bell noted it's high speed broadband switching facilities that allowed advanced setup. https://books.google.com/books?id=XCEEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA70&dq=billboard%20august%2012%201957&pg=PA15#v=onepage&q=bell%20telephone&f=false On 3/9/1957, pg 16, Bell noted its automatic protection switching that instantly switched a bad TV channel to a backup so fast that the changed wasn't noticed. https://books.google.com/books?id=LyAEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA67&dq=billboard%20march%209%201957&pg=PA16#v=onepage&q=bell%20telephone&f=false Also, back on 3/11/1944, an article describes the future plans of Bell and others to implement television transmission facilities to allow coast-to-coast broadcasting. https://books.google.com/books?id=bQwEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA7&dq=billboard%20coaxial%20cable&pg=PA7#v=onepage&q=billboard%20coaxial%20cable&f=false On all of these, you can scroll through the entire magazine. Interesting business history. ------------------------------ ********************************************* End of telecom Digest Thu, 16 Mar 2017