Former AT&T technician Mark Klein Statement re: NSA Taps

[coderman]

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/1,70621-0.html

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Wiretap Whistleblower's Statement

12:25 PM Apr, 07, 2006

Former AT&T technician Mark Klein has come forward to support the
EFF's lawsuit against AT&T for its alleged complicity in the NSA's
electronic surveillance. Here, Wired News publishes Klein's public
statement in its entirety.

Full story: Ex-AT&T Worker Tells Of NSA Op
[ http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,70619-0.html?tw=wn_index_1 ]

Statement: Mark Klein, April 6, 2006
My background:

For 22 and 1/2 years I worked as an AT&T technician, first in New York
and then in California.
What I observed first-hand:

In 2002, when I was working in an AT&T office in San Francisco, the
site manager told me to expect a visit from a National Security Agency
agent, who was to interview a management-level technician for a
special job. The agent came, and by chance I met him and directed him
to the appropriate people.

In January 2003, I, along with others, toured the AT&T central office
on Folsom Street in San Francisco -- actually three floors of an SBC
building. There I saw a new room being built adjacent to the 4ESS
switch room where the public's phone calls are routed. I learned that
the person whom the NSA interviewed for the secret job was the person
working to install equipment in this room. The regular technician work
force was not allowed in the room.

In October 2003, the company transferred me to the San Francisco
building to oversee the Worldnet Internet room, which included large
routers, racks of modems for customers' dial-in services, and other
equipment. I was responsible for troubleshooting problems on the fiber
optic circuits and installing new circuits.

While doing my job, I learned that fiber optic cables from the secret
room were tapping into the Worldnet circuits by splitting off a
portion of the light signal. I saw this in a design document available
to me, entitled "Study Group 3, LGX/Splitter Wiring, San Francisco"
dated Dec. 10, 2002. I also saw design documents dated Jan. 13, 2004
and Jan. 24, 2003, which instructed technicians on connecting some of
the already in-service circuits to the "splitter" cabinet, which
diverts some of the light signal to the secret room. The circuits
listed were the Peering Links, which connect Worldnet with other
networks and hence the whole country, as well as the rest of the
world.

One of the documents listed the equipment installed in the secret
room, and this list included a Narus STA 6400, which is a "Semantic
Traffic Analyzer". The Narus STA technology is known to be used
particularly by government intelligence agencies because of its
ability to sift through large amounts of data looking for
preprogrammed targets. The company's advertising boasts that its
technology "captures comprehensive customer usage data ... and
transforms it into actionable information.... (It) provides complete
visibility for all internet applications."

My job required me to connect new circuits to the "splitter" cabinet
and get them up and running. While working on a particularly difficult
one with a technician back East, I learned that other such "splitter"
cabinets were being installed in other cities, including Seattle, San
Jose, Los Angeles and San Diego.
What is the significance and why is it important to bring these facts to light?

Based on my understanding of the connections and equipment at issue,
it appears the NSA is capable of conducting what amounts to
vacuum-cleaner surveillance of all the data crossing the internet --
whether that be peoples' e-mail, web surfing or any other data.

Given the public debate about the constitutionality of the Bush
administration's spying on U.S. citizens without obtaining a FISA
warrant, I think it is critical that this information be brought out
into the open, and that the American people be told the truth about
the extent of the administration's warrantless surveillance practices,
particularly as it relates to the internet.

Despite what we are hearing, and considering the public track record
of this administration, I simply do not believe their claims that the
NSA's spying program is really limited to foreign communications or is
otherwise consistent with the NSA's charter or with FISA. And unlike
the controversy over targeted wiretaps of individuals' phone calls,
this potential spying appears to be applied wholesale to all sorts of
internet communications of countless citizens.
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