Wired Mag's "Threat Level" reports:
Large Asian Country Hires Firms to Build Nationwide ISP and Phone Surveillance System
from Threat Level by Ryan Singel
Two little known companies in the Homeland Security Complex announced they have landed a contract with an unnamed major Asian country to design and install a country-wide data retention system capable of storing and searching trillions of internet and phone transactions.
Retentia, which claims to store more than two trillion records on behalf of a single customer, will provide the software, while Xalted will do the systems integration. The companies says the contract will be approximately $40 million when it is finalized at the end of the year.
"The increase in global terrorist activities underscores the need for our technology," said Ian Rice, the CEO of Intelligentias, Retentia's parent company. "Our proven Retentia Data Retention solution can assist Law Enforcement and Government Agencies in identifying, apprehending and prosecuting terrorists and criminals faster and better than any one else."
Retentia's marketing material says the company sells data retention software to ISPs, telcos and government agencies around the world, allowing them to capture and store information for years, including who you talk on the phone, where you are when you place a call, and what websites you visit. They claim to capture and store billions of telephone and web surfing records every day and that their customers can find a single record among trillions of phone and web surfing records in a matter of minutes.
[...]
Full at -
<http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/09/large-asian-cou.html>
.d.