Sniffing Fiber Optics!!!

The idea of tapping fiber optic cables aren't new but I was surprised to find out how easy and cheap it was to do from this article. Apparently you can do with less than $1000 of equipment.

The funny thing about it is that I can clearly remember when I did my bachelors degree, lecturers always stress on how secure fibre optics is and that it cannot be tapped like copper wires. This perception sends out a totally wrong message and people tend to forget about the physical security of fibre optics unlike the copper wires. Thus under the wrong assumption, they pay less attention to secure the information sent over fiber channels with encryption.

This articles shows how easy it is to do and also suggests the use of encryption or a fiber intrusion detection device. One particular Fiber Optic IDS stated in the whitepaper is the INTERCEPTOR.

Article: Protect your network against fiber hacks
Whitepaper: Fiber Optic Intrusion Dete ction Systems