Just a normal network upgrade for Omantel? Big Brother gets even smarter

One of the many great things I like about Oman is the sophistication and pragmatic efficiency of our Internal Security & the ROP. (In fact, I think the ROP are the most polite and truly friendly police force I have ever met in my many travels)

It's one of the reasons why, to be frank, I feel far, far safer in Oman than in London or New York (or Dubai). Myself and many of my friends already assume that all electronic and phone communications are monitored by the authorities for the purposes of assuring high risk criminal activity (such as terrorism) can be nipped in the bud. I consider myself ‘one of the good guys’ and therefore feel that such surveillance is for my own protection. It's also for that reason I am at pains to ensure my blogging is within the law of the Sultanate, and more importantly within the spirit of the law. (However, I must admit the law is so vague and ill-defined in some places that its difficult to know exactly where the line is.)

I’ve also assumed for years that the American NSA computers have been reading every single email on the planet, including mine. I'll admit that several people have said they think I’m a bit paranoid. But have you seen Enemy of the State…?!?

I guess the following may put all this into context.

New Scientist reported this month that Siemens, the German telecoms conglomerate, have developed a comprehensive surveillance system for computer guided linked eavesdropping across telephone calls, email and internet activity, bank transactions and insurance records. And also that the company had sold the system to over 90 countries and companies. And, of course, Oman does a lot of telecoms business with Siemens…

What’s perhaps more worrying is that companies and non-security professionals are starting to be able to use this stuff. I don’t mind the professionals at Internal Security having access to this stuff, but I hope it is extremely well controlled so it can’t be used by insufficiently authorised and controlled people….

Snoop software makes surveillance a cinch
09:00 23 August 2008
NewScientist.com news service
Laura Margottini
“THIS data allows investigators to identify suspects, examine their contacts, establish relationships between conspirators and place them in a specific location at a certain time."

So said the UK Home Office last week as it announced plans to give law-enforcement agencies, local councils and other public bodies access to the details of people's text messages, emails and internet activity. The move followed its announcement in May that it was considering creating a massive central database to store all this data, as a tool to help the security services tackle crime and terrorism.

Meanwhile in the US the FISA Amendments Act, which became law in July, allows the security services to intercept anyone's international phone calls and emails without a warrant for up to seven days. Governments around the world are developing increasingly sophisticated electronic surveillance methods in a bid to identify terrorist cells or spot criminal activity.
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German electronics company Siemens has gone a step further, developing a complete "surveillance in a box" system called the Intelligence Platform, designed for security services in Europe and Asia. It has already sold the system to 60 countries.

According to a document obtained by New Scientist, the system integrates tasks typically done by separate surveillance teams or machines, pooling data from sources such as telephone calls, email and internet activity, bank transactions and insurance records. It then sorts through this mountain of information using software that Siemens dubs "intelligence modules".

This software is trained on a large number of sample documents to pick out items such as names, phone numbers and places from generic text. This means it can spot names or numbers that crop up alongside anyone already of interest to the authorities, and then catalogue any documents that contain such associates.

Once a person is being monitored, pattern-recognition software first identifies their typical behaviour, such as repeated calls to certain numbers over a period of a few months. The software can then identify any deviations from the norm and flag up unusual activities, such as transactions with a foreign bank, or contact with someone who is also under surveillance, so that analysts can take a closer look.

Included within the package is a phone call "monitoring centre", developed by the joint-venture company Nokia Siemens Networks.

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Nokia Siemens says 90 of the systems are already being used around the world, although it hasn't specified which countries are using it. A spokesman for the company said, "We implement stringent safeguards to prevent misuse of such systems for unauthorised purposes. In all countries where we operate we do business strictly according to the Nokia Siemens Networks standard code of conduct and UN and EU export regulations."

Samdup argues that such systems should fall under government controls that are imposed on "dual-use" goods - systems that could be used both for civil and military purposes. Security technologies usually escape these controls. For example, the EU regulation on the export and transfer of dual-use technology does not include surveillance and intelligence technologies on the list of items that must be checked and authorised before they are exported to certain countries.

Interesting then, isn’t it, that earlier this year, Omantel announced a seemingly innocuous systems upgrade deal with Nokia Siemens Networks… And if you were running security in Oman, wouldn’t you want the latest and greatest systems? And I’m sure Siemens would sell it to Oman no problemo. So, make sure you're polite on the blog comments please!
AME Info

Oman Mobile strengthens partnership with Nokia Siemens Networks
Oman: Monday, April 28 - 2008 at 12:29 PRESS RELEASE
Oman Mobile Telecommunications, the country's leading mobile operator has appointed Nokia Siemens Networks to consolidate and improve its network quality and coverage, while launching new services such as EDGE in the rural areas.
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And Stefan Sieber, Country Director Oman, Nokia Siemens Networks adds: 'This project shows Nokia Siemens Networks' continued commitment to the partnership with Oman Mobile. We are providing support for the business of Oman Mobile by bringing in more efficiency into the network and allowing new revenue streams, e.g. via mobile internet in the rural areas.'

Of the two licensed mobile providers operating in the country, Oman Mobile with almost 1.6 million subscribers has the larger 60% share of the market. Nokia Siemens Networks began its association with the leading GSM Operator as early as 1996 by supplying Core, Radio, Intelligent Network and Value-Added-Services products.

ATM Scammers in Oman, Naughty Syrians, Oman telcom probably bugged by German Intelligence

A few nice stories.

Criminals Scamming ATMs in Oman
First a report has been issued by the British Embassy in Oman yesterday that some pretty sophisticated devices are being used by criminals to scam your ATM card details, after which they clone your card and can empty your account. Here’s a picture of a ‘plate’ used on top of the real ATM keyboard to record your pin. Watch out!

Please be aware of ATM card frauds using skimming devices in ATMs in Muscat. These are of course also found in the UK and many other places. Please find attached a picture of one part of the device. The other element is a plastic card reader added to the machine’s card slot.

Syrians Very Naughty Boys
Remember that mysterious surgical bombing of Syria by Israeli jets last year? And the denials from all sides? The Economist had a great article last week, describing how the Americans have finally released information detailing their evidence that the installation taken out by the Israelis was actually a North Korean designed reactor specifically for producing weapons grade plutonium. It just shows how big brother is watching. The Economist: Oh what a tangled web they weave

The shadowy half-life of Syria's supposedly non-existent nuclear reactor.
“TOTALLY undocumented and untrue”, thundered Syria this week at a meeting in Geneva of the signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). “A fantasy”, fumed Syria's man at the United Nations last week. Since America released photographs taken inside and outside the building that was later bombed without explanation by Israeli jets in early September last year, it has been Syria's denials that have strained credulity. However it is still unclear where exactly the tangled web of intrigue surrounding the discovery that Syria was secretly building a nuclear reactor, in an otherwise deserted canyon east of the Euphrates river, will now lead.

Ironically, the most damning pictures were taken shortly after the Israeli raid. Syria's frantic efforts to destroy what was left of the building, remove tell-tale components and bulldoze earth over the site briefly laid bare its purpose to any passing satellite: construction of a gas-cooled, graphite-moderated nuclear reactor that lacked the power lines and other paraphernalia to hook up to an electricity grid and was ill-suited to research. It was, however, ideal for making plutonium for bombs—and could have produced enough for one or two within a year once it was fuelled up and operating, said the CIA's director, Michael Hayden, this week.


Just as damningly—says the Bush administration—Syria had turned to North Korea to help realise its nuclear ambitions. The almost-completed reactor was a clone of the one North Korea built for itself at Yongbyon, and whose plutonium extracted from the reactor's spent fuel-rods was used.

Germans Bugging Oman for Years?
On a related big brother story, remember how Siemens were busted bribing Telecom Officials around the world to win contracts, including it seems likely, Oman. (That’s in addition to the widely reported – outside Oman naturally - Ericsson bribe of the then Omani Telecommunications Minister see earlier post).

It is reported that Siemens installed sophisticated communication intercept wiretapping equipment for the Oman Government [Hi guys!], and therefore the German Intelligence Agency (the BND) have probably been reading all our emails and texts ever since. Business Week report

The scope of the Siemens affair is staggering and centers on a current estimated €1.3 billion ($2.1 billion) in dubious payments—mostly in bribes to secure business for the company. Indeed, the company is believed to have paid bribes around the world often amounting to between 5 and 10 percent of a deal's value, and in some cases as much as 30 percent.

The Germans had fallen behind in terms of technical innovation and, as a bookkeeper in one division put it, many were convinced bribes were the only way the company could score big contracts abroad. In some divisions, executives became convinced that without bribes it would be impossible to get contracts in many countries, including Vietnam, Thailand, the Arab world and large swaths of Africa, Iran and other states.
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Close Ties with Foreign Intelligence Service
The current SPIEGEL report also details Siemens' allegedly close working relationship with the German foreign intelligence service, the BND. Because the company manufactured virtually every type of high tech product, it served as the BND's virtual house supplier for technology—providing wiretap-proof mobile phones as well as reconnaissance tools. The relationship is said to have been extremely important to the BND because it was interested in getting hold of the access codes to wiretapping systems Siemens had sold to countries all around the world, including Russia, Egypt and Oman.