Return-Path: <sentto-279987-2968-1003175012-fc=all.net@returns.onelist.com> Delivered-To: fc@all.net Received: from 204.181.12.215 by localhost with POP3 (fetchmail-5.1.0) for fc@localhost (single-drop); Mon, 15 Oct 2001 12:44:08 -0700 (PDT) Received: (qmail 20561 invoked by uid 510); 15 Oct 2001 19:43:15 -0000 Received: from n32.groups.yahoo.com (216.115.96.82) by 204.181.12.215 with SMTP; 15 Oct 2001 19:43:15 -0000 X-eGroups-Return: sentto-279987-2968-1003175012-fc=all.net@returns.onelist.com Received: from [10.1.4.54] by n32.groups.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 15 Oct 2001 19:43:32 -0000 X-Sender: fc@big.all.net X-Apparently-To: iwar@onelist.com Received: (EGP: mail-7_4_1); 15 Oct 2001 19:43:32 -0000 Received: (qmail 61298 invoked from network); 15 Oct 2001 19:43:30 -0000 Received: from unknown (10.1.10.26) by l8.egroups.com with QMQP; 15 Oct 2001 19:43:30 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO big.all.net) (65.0.156.78) by mta1 with SMTP; 15 Oct 2001 19:43:29 -0000 Received: (from fc@localhost) by big.all.net (8.9.3/8.7.3) id MAA10264 for iwar@onelist.com; Mon, 15 Oct 2001 12:43:16 -0700 Message-Id: <200110151943.MAA10264@big.all.net> To: iwar@onelist.com (Information Warfare Mailing List) Organization: I'm not allowed to say X-Mailer: don't even ask X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.5 PL1] From: Fred Cohen <fc@all.net> Mailing-List: list iwar@yahoogroups.com; contact iwar-owner@yahoogroups.com Delivered-To: mailing list iwar@yahoogroups.com Precedence: bulk List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:iwar-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com> Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2001 12:43:16 -0700 (PDT) Reply-To: iwar@yahoogroups.com Subject: [iwar] [fc:NYT:.Attacks.Expose.Telephone's.Soft.Underbelly] Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit NYT: Attacks Expose Telephone's Soft Underbelly By Simon Romero, NY Times, 10/15/2001 <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/15/technology/15PHON.html">http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/15/technology/15PHON.html> Joseph Pennell, the prolific illustrator who often depicted the cityscape of Lower Manhattan in his prints, called the New York Telephone Building "the most impressive modern building in the world" when it was completed in 1926. How antiquated it now seems. The 32-story structure at 140 West Street, one of the city's first Art Deco skyscrapers, is now owned by New York Telephone's descendant, Verizon Communications (news/quote). And the heavy damage the building sustained on Sept. 11 underscores the vulnerability of communications networks operated by Verizon and other telephone companies - sprawling systems that rely heavily on critical hubs. In the days after the Sept. 11 attacks, it became commonplace to comment on how well the Internet performed because it was designed to route traffic around damage. But the telephone network, including the dedicated data lines that are used by big corporations, financial institutions and others, does not have the Internet's self-detouring abilities. When they work, the telephone network's voice and data lines can be superior in quality and carrying capacity to the Internet. Yet when the telephone network is damaged, it cannot heal itself. And while Verizon has worked almost around the clock the last month to restore operations at 140 West Street and service to its customers, the company has indicated that significantly reducing the building's network vulnerabilities would require more time or money than Verizon is willing to expend. Verizon's building was near the north tower of the World Trade Center and next door to 7 World Trade Center, which collapsed several hours after the attacks. Falling rubble and steel girders tore into 140 West Street, which housed one of the nation's busiest telephone central office switching stations. When fully operable, it serves a customer base comparable in number with all the telephone lines in a city the size of Cincinnati. After electric power for the building was interrupted, service was temporarily disrupted for more than 300,000 telephone lines and 3.6 million high-capacity data circuits, many serving the New York Stock Exchange, large financial institutions and other companies in lower Manhattan. A gaping hole was torn in a seventh-floor exterior wall, exposing and damaging huge communications switches dedicated to the information needs of the banking company J. P. Morgan Chase. In the last month, Verizon has labored to restore service or provide new service for customers that have moved to other parts of the city or to New Jersey. Virtually all of the fiber optic lines and copper strands that had wound their way under the streets and sidewalks and into 140 West Street are being replaced. Some circuits have been rerouted to other Verizon central offices in Lower Manhattan. "The ideas we previously had about diversifying our networks have become much more important," Lawrence T. Babbio Jr., Verizon's vice chairman, said in an interview last week as he led a small group of journalists on a tour of 140 West Street. Until last month, the most obvious reasons for network disruptions were natural disasters like hurricanes or floods. Now, though, Verizon and other telephone companies must worry about the possibility of physical attacks on their installations. Mr. Babbio warned last week that significant harm could be done to the nation's communications system if terrorists destroyed the 50 or 100 most important central offices. Verizon, which is the dominant telephone company on the Eastern seaboard and operates in 30 states overall, is seeking to increase security at its central offices, where it is required by federal law to lease network access to its competitors. After Mr. Babbio issued his warning last week, competitors said they would resist tighter security measures if it made it more difficult for them to conduct operations within Verizon's central offices. Beyond physically shielding their switching centers, phone companies can protect their communications networks from direct attacks or peripheral damage from nearby attacks by routing voice and data traffic to other parts of their own networks or those of other companies. But Mr. Babbio said that it would take Verizon five years to build alternate pathways for all the telephone lines that wind their way into and out of the New York Telephone building. And Verizon has no plans to do so. The reason may be a simple cost- benefit analysis. Despite its primacy to Lower Manhattan's communications network, the central office at 140 West Street accounted for less than 1 percent of the traffic on Verizon's nationwide network. "So much of the activity on networks takes place at dispersed locations," said Roy A. Maxion, a system scientist at Carnegie Mellon University. "But the fact remains that we're vulnerable even after putting redundancy systems in place due to the physical nature of connecting to our networks. The issue should be what level of risk you're willing to live with." Assuming they are willing to spend the money, business customers can achieve redundancy, or surplus and backup capacity, by running cables to several different central offices or, in some cases, by using several different communications carriers. Several of Verizon's competitors, in fact, have benefited from the disruptions by signing up new customers in Lower Manhattan. "Identifying potential failures in networks is not easy," said Joe Flach, vice president of the Eagle Rock Alliance, a consulting company that provides advice on disaster planning. "The most important thing to avoid is putting all of your eggs in one basket." Only after Sept. 11 did executives from the financial services industry in Lower Manhattan come to realize just how many of its eggs were in that one 75-year-old building. Mr. Babbio recalled having to explain the situation at a meeting in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday, Sept. 12, at the Park Avenue offices of the investment bank Bear, Stearns. Executives and government officials present included Richard A. Grasso, chairman of the New York Stock Exchange; Harvey L. Pitt, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission; Richard S. Fuld, chief executive of Lehman Brothers (news/quote); John A. Thain, a president of Goldman Sachs (news/quote); and Peter R. Fisher, under secretary for domestic finance at the Treasury Department. The group was not happy when Mr. Babbio said how long it might take to restore basic service. Mr. Grasso had been hoping to reopen the stock exchange on Thursday or Friday. The following Monday now seemed ambitious. "It was not an easy meeting," recalled Mr. Babbio, who spoke with the group immediately after visiting the disaster site, where his clothes had picked up the odor of smoke and ash. "I smelled awful after coming back from downtown. No one wanted to sit next to me." ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Pinpoint the right security solution for your company- Learn how to add 128- bit encryption and to authenticate your web site with VeriSign's FREE guide! http://us.click.yahoo.com/yQix2C/33_CAA/yigFAA/kgFolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> ------------------ http://all.net/ Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : 2001-12-31 20:59:55 PST