Voice Escrow System

[tcmay@netcom.com (Timothy C. May)]

> Darn! They publicized a great spoof!

No, what CERT did was to illegally reveal a technique developed by law
enforcement, for the "LEAF" field (Law Enforcement Audio Field):

> The CERT Coordination Center has learned of several vulnerabilities
> affecting Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Sun) operating systems. Three
...
> III. /dev/audio Vulnerability
> 
>      This vulnerability affects all Sun systems with microphones. This
>      includes all versions of SunOS 4.1.x including 4.1.1, 4.1.2, 4.1.3,
...
>      A. Description
> 
>         /dev/audio is set to a default mode of 666. There is also no
>         indication to the user of the system that the microphone is on.
> 
>      B. Impact
> 
>         Any user with access to the system can eavesdrop on conversations
>         held in the vicinity of the microphone. 

This was all built-in to SunOS as part of the "Voice Escrow System."
RCA developed the special "Nipper" chip for the audio portion, DEC
handle the file transfer part with the "Pipper" chip, The Navy did
their part with the "Flipper" chip, and the whole thing was overseen
oby the Reagan Administration as the "Gipper Program."

Currently the "Data Superhighway" version is being supervised by Al
Gore and his wife, hence the "Tipper" chip.

--Tim

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