2026-07-31 21:00 UTC
@SteveBellovin@infosec.exchange @wendynather@infosec.exchange
at some point, i was bitching about techs never knowing what was on any pair in a manhole reliably and how they just checked if a pair seemed active and taking that instead if the provisioned pair turned out to be in use.
mike o'dell heard me and told me about the phone companies' consideration of inventorying all that stuff. i'm trying to remember the analogy but something like "easier to count the grains of sand on the beach"...
i can't even contemplate what rebuilding from scratch would take, in terms of time, materials, and cost.
Replies (2)
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@wendynather@infosec.exchange 2026-07-31 21:04
@paul_ipv6@infosec.exchange @SteveBellovin@infosec.exchange Ah, good old Mike O’Dell!
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@ChampersBE@mastodon-belgium.be 2026-07-31 21:18
@paul_ipv6@infosec.exchange @SteveBellovin@infosec.exchange @wendynather@infosec.exchange The connection database of the carrier I worked at was *massive*. From fiber patches in the DC over splices in the manholes to every single strand of wire on every single Krone block in the street cabinets was in there. And if it wasn't, it was madness.