Russian diplomats lingering near fiber optic cables

Thu Jun 1 18:02:46 UTC 2017

There must be a perfectly logical explanation....  Yes, people in the 
industry know where the choke points are. But the choke points aren't 
always the most obvious places. Its kinda a weird for diplomats to show up 
there.

On the other hand, I've been a fiber optic tourist.  I've visited many 
critical choke points in the USA and other countries, and even took 
selfies :-)

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/06/01/russia-spies-espionage-trump-239003

In the throes of the 2016 campaign, the FBI found itself with an 
escalating problem: Russian diplomats, whose travel was supposed to be 
tracked by the State Department, were going missing.

The diplomats, widely assumed to be intelligence operatives, would 
eventually turn up in odd places, often in middle-of-nowhere USA. One was 
found on a beach, nowhere near where he was supposed to be. In one 
particularly bizarre case, relayed by a U.S. intelligence official, 
another turned up wandering around in the middle of the desert. 
Interestingly, both seemed to be lingering where underground fiber-optic 
cables tend to run.

According to another U.S. intelligence official, “They find these guys 
driving around in circles in Kansas. It’s a pretty aggressive effort.”

It’s a trend that has led intelligence officials to conclude that the 
Kremlin is waging a quiet effort to map the United States’ 
telecommunications infrastructure, perhaps preparing for an opportunity to 
disrupt it.