Eriks Rugelis wrote:
On the other hand, if your environment consists of a large number (100's) of potential tapping points, then you will quickly determine that in-line taps have very poor scaling properties. a) They are not rack-dense b) They require external power warts c) They are not cheap (in the range of US$500 each) d) Often when you have that many potential tapping points, you are likely to be processing a larger number of warrants in a year. An in-line tap arrangement will require a body to physically install the recording equipment and cables to the trace-ports on the tap. You may also need to make room for more than one set of recording gear at each site.
This is a feature, not a bug. Law enforcement is required to pay -- up front -- all costs of tapping. No pay, no play.
Large-scale providers will probably want to examine solutions based on support built directly into their traffic-carrying infrastructure (switches, routers.)
You should be watchful for law enforcement types trying dictate a 'solution' which is not a good fit to your own business environment. There are usually several ways of getting them the data which they require to do their jobs.
Whatever they are willing to pay for -- a good fit for the business environment is the largest effort and highest cost, as the overhead and administrative charges should enough to be profitable. -- William Allen Simpson Key fingerprint = 17 40 5E 67 15 6F 31 26 DD 0D B9 9B 6A 15 2C 32