FBI VoIP docs leaked (again!)

WikiLeaks has published the FBI's "Electronic Surveillance Needs for
Carrier-Grade Voice over Packet (CGVoP) Service." The document leak coincides with the debate over wiretapping and telco immunity now underway in the Congress and elsewhere. The House held its first secret meeting in 20 years on Friday and passed the FISA wiretapping bill, but toughened up the legal requirements and pulled out the telco immunity provisions. Under the House amendments, carriers will have to argue their case before a Federal judge.

The document is marked for official use only and is 88 pages long. But before anyone gets too excited about WikiLeaks leaking security sensitive documents, the same document has been sitting on public web sites [1] for three years. The document itself is nothing controversial other than it details--in painstaking detail--just how many points of technical surveillance are needed to monitor a VoIP call.

The Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) originally excluded the monitoring of computer-based communications but after being petitioned by the FBI the Federal Communications Commission ruled in 2005 that broadband-service providers and interconnected VoIP providers be covered by CALEA. Significantly instant messaging, web boards and site visits are not covered.

In recent times the German police have complained about the difficulty of tapping Skype calls because of the tight encryption used by Skype.

For more:
- WikiLeaks FBI VoIP surveillance document [2]
- 2005 leak [1] of FBI document
- House passes FISA bill Article [3]

Related articles:
FierceTelecom has been covering the telco immunity debate in full detail [4]
Skype baffles German Police Article [5]