Debugging the Greek wiretapping scandal

[Matt Blaze]

Vassilis Prevelakis and Diomidis Spinellis just published (in IEEE  
Spectrum) a
terrific technical analysis of the recent Greek cellular  
eavesdropping scandal.
It's available online at
     http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/print/5280

In 2005, it was reported that over a hundred Athens cellphones,  
mostly belonging
to politicians (ranging from the mayor to the prime minister), were  
being
illegally wiretapped. The culprit hasn't been found, but there's  
plenty of
fodder for speculation, including mysteriously missing records,  
suspicious suicide,
and, as Prevelakis and Spinellis point out, an intriguing  
technological mystery.
The case dramatically illustrates the real-world risks of incorporating
"lawful intercept" interfaces into network infrastructure; they  
become inviting
targets for abuse.

I comments further on my blog, at
    http://www.crypto.com/blog/hellenic_eavesdropping/

-matt





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