Rebels hacked, rewired Libya's cell network for their own use

Rebels hacked, rewired Libya's cell network for their own use

Posted on 4/15/2011

A compelling story from Wall Street Journal reporters Margaret Coker and Charles Levinson details how Libyan rebels - with help from individuals and governments supportive of their cause and without help from some equipment suppliers - rewired a portion of Libya's cellular-communications network to allow the rebels to communicate with each other.

The WSJ article states, "engineers hived off part of the Libyan cellphone network ... and rewired it to run independently of the regime's control." The article explains that the country's telcommunications infrastructure is built in a star topology, the center of which is Tripoli, allowing Colonel Moammar Gadhafi's government to control phone and Internet access. Libyan rebels had been without telecommunications access of any kind and were resorting to flag-waving during battles with government forces, the article says, before help from outside of Libya aided them.

The story details the efforts of Libyan-born, American-raised telecom executive Ousama Abushagur, who currently resides in Abu Dhabi. It reads a little like a work of international-espionage fiction, describing telecom-equipment provide Huawei's contract with the nation of Libya and refusal to supply equipment to the rebels as well as the roles of neighboring countries and their telecommunications companies in the hacking effort.

Read More...
http://www.cablinginstall.com/index/blogs/blog-display/blogs/cim-blogs/cabling-blog/post987_4997026249104215843.html?cmpid=EnlCIMApril182011

Resources and Information for Cabling Professionals

Troubleshooting VoIP's 5 biggest challenges A free webinar offered by Fluke Networks explains what can go wrong and how you can solve it. Read more >>

Tips for choosing overhead or underfloor pathways In the data center each method has its pros and cons. Information from CommScope helps sort out the good and bad. Read more >>

How digital signage can be a campus moneymaker New paper details the benefits of dynamic place-based media, including how educational campuses can use it to generate revenue. Read more >>

News and Analysis

How Libyan rebels rewired, hijacked country's cell network Wall Street Journal story reads like a tale of international espionage that resulted in wireless communication among fighters. Read more >>

Lawsuit filed against IP camera manufacturers Software developer ObjectVideo says Bosch, Samsung and Sony infringe its patents on analytics capabilities. Read more >>

AFL donates nearly $50k to Japan relief efforts Employee contributions were matched by the organization, whose parent company is based in Tokyo. Read more >>

PoE extender wins 'best-product' award at security expo Berk-Tek's OneReach system was honored as the top Network Support Solution product at ISC West. Read more >>

New Products

Broadcast connector has 20-dB return loss Belden's latest Brilliance product is a BNC connector for coaxial cable in broadcast and audio/visual applications. Read more >>

Anchor for roof-mounted conduit and cable tray Snake Feet is a ballasted anchor that is part of a support system for photovoltaic cabling infrastructure. Read more >>

KVM manager fits in the palm of a hand Raritan's one-port device takes up zero U of rack space and delivers secure access to data center servers. Read more >>

Market Insight

For now, structured cabling fends off AOCs in data centers Research report from LightCounting says active optical cables are victims of data center managers' copper mindset. Read more >>

For plastic optical fiber, telecom is out and other applications are in Information Gatekeepers says markets like automotive, industrial and medical provide greater opportunity than telecom does. Read more >>

Ethernet/IP overtaking mobile-backhaul market According to Infonetics, migrations from 2G to 3G incorporate IP and Ethernet as cost-effective backhaul technologies. Read more >>

Don