“Today
there has been an important development in an ongoing investigation, in
conjunction with the police, as a suspect has now been arrested. Whilst we are
pleased with this development, unfortunately we cannot comment further due to legal
constraints that could compromise the ongoing police investigations.”
Digicel Official
statement on the hacking on their MINSAT and DWS Databases as reported in The
Jamaica Star, Saturday January 26th 2013
Voicemail
is now back in the news as it appears Telecom Provider Digicel’s woes are just
beginning to manifest over the past weekend, forcing me to publish yet another
article on my blog, as Digicel’s in the news, all for the wrong reasons.
This
as they’ve decided to roll backon Saturday January 26th 2013 earlier
upgrades to Voicemail in response to pressure from the OUR (Office of Utilities
Regulation) as noted in the article “Digicel
reverts to old Voicemail system”, published Saturday
January 26, 2013 5:22 am, The
Jamaica Gleaner. In the process, Telecom Provider
Digicel has also apologized to the people of Jamaica described in the article “Digicel
says Sorry”, published Sunday January 27th 2013, The Jamaica Gleaner.
This
after the OUR had told Telecom Provider Digicel to
address their problems on Friday January 18th 2013 as it related to
routing calls to Voicemail as stated in the article “OUR
wants Digicel to address Voicemail glitches”, published
Friday January 18, 2013 | 8:52 am, The
Jamaica Gleaner.
Telecom
Provider Digicelresponded
by January 21st 2013 by forming an internal Technical Committee
which, strangely, recommended and put in place the short term fix of improving
the Voicemail Network as stated in the article “Digicel
faces deadline”, Published Monday January 21, 2013, The Jamaica Gleaner.
Coincidentally,
a lone 30 year old Database Hacker who’d breached Digicel’s MINSAT and DWS
Databases, potentially exposing details of Phone numbers, Call records and
possibly Credit Card information in both the Prepaid and Postpaid Accounts, was
arrested on Saturday January 26th 2013 as a suspect in the crime as reported in “Digicel
hacked”, published Saturday January 26, 2013, The Jamaica Gleaner
and “ONE
ARRESTED FOR DIGICEL HACKING”, published January 26
2013, The Jamaica Star.
People,
take note of these timelines! They’re important as to what’s gonna happen next!
No
news on how long the unknown suspect hacker’s been at it or where he works,
save to say the investigation been ongoing and most likely more arrests are in
the offing. Most likely too, based on my sources, it may be related to
confessions to avoid an extended prison sentence given 26 year old Philpott
Martin, a computer specialist who’d hacked Digicel’s MINSAT and DWS Databases before
and his subsequent granting of a Bail Extensionin August 2012 as stated in the
article “Digicel
fraud accused gets bail extension”, published Thursday,
August 23, 2012, The
Jamaica Observer.
For
those with really short memories, Mr. Philpott Martin, a Computer Science
student at the UTECH (University of Technology) was before the Resident
Magistrate’s court in August 2009 for Hacking into Digicel’s MINSAT and DWS
Databases. The Jamaican Police, based on tipoff from Telecom Provider Digicel,
has done after investigations that revealed he’s accessed Digicel’s MINSAT and
DWS Databases at his workplace.
Mr.
Philpott Martin then used said access to
defraud Telecom Provider Digicelof
some JS$10 million in Call Credit over a two (2) year period as stated in the
article “Accused
cyber scammer allegedly rips off Digicel $10m in Call credit”,
published Friday, August 28, 2009 BY PAUL HENRY Observer
staff reporter, The Jamaica Observer.
It’s
alledged that Mr. Philpott Martin even went further and used the information in
the Database to hack into Banking Networks in the Cayman Islands and the USA,
based on the fact that he may have used the Credit Card information obtained
from Digicel’s MINSAT and DWS Databases to gain access to those Bank Accounts.
The
Jamaican Police, however, erred by having a Telecom Engineer access the
Philpott Martin’s personal computer at his residence in the Oaklands Apartment
Complex, effectively evidence tampering as stated in the article “Man
accused of hacking Digicel system denied bail”, published
August 28th 2012, The
Jamaica Star.
But
it gets spookier, dear reader, based on the reasoning of my anonymous source.
Dear reader, note the timelines! They’re important to the explanation of what’s
really shaking down here!
The
Jamaican Police may have also gained access to a copy of Digicel’s MINSAT and
DWS Databases, as to access it requires getting Court ordered Subpoenas and the
police may have seized the opportunity to make a copy onto a Thumb drive, so
says my source.
MINSAT
Database is an Ericsson Database that used on all of their Mobile Telecom
Equiptment and provisions the settings for each phone user’s account, be they
Prepaid or Postpaid. DWS keeps track of call records in terms of who a
particular subscriber calls and who called them. Both of them are thus very
valuable Databases.
Making
it easy for his lawyer, Tom Tavares-Finson to argue that his client, charged
with three (3) counts of simple larceny and one (1) count of conspiracy to
defraud, may have been in fact, set up by Telecom Provider Digicel and the Jamaican Police in a bid to gain access to Digicel’s
MINSAT and DWS Databases for nefarious purposes.
After
all, albeit Mr. Philpott Martin had access to Digicel’s MINSAT and DWS
Databases at his workplace while recycling of Used Mobile Phone Card Voucher
Numbers, he must have had inside help from within Telecom Provider Digicelto
get access to Live Phone Card Voucher Numbers.
According
to my source,Mr. Philpott Martin is merely a scapegoat for the real criminal as
the workers at his company received Used and New Mobile Phone Card Voucher
Numbers sealed and they have no access to that Database to know which is which,
making Telecom Provider Digicel’s
actions look suspicious.
His
case has an interesting connection to this recently accused 30-year old, as
based on my confidential sources there’re a few connections; they BOTH worked
at the same company and had unfettered access to Digicel’s MINSAT and DWS
Databases. Also the Jamaican Police may have made yet another illegal copy of
the now updated Digicel’s MINSAT and DWS Databases for ongoing investigative
purposes, a Database small enough to fit on a standard sized DVD or a 8GB
Thumbdrive.
The
Jamaican Police had also arrested some more persons of interest related to
Philpott Martin’s infamous hack and it’s my preposition that this most recent
hack’s related to his getting a Bail Extension in August 2012 as stated in the
article “Digicel
fraud accused gets bail extension”, published Thursday,
August 23, 2012, The
Jamaica Observer.
Most
likely, he’ll soon be facing extradition requests form the Cayman Islands and
the US of A later this year as more details of this fresh attack on Telecom
Provider Digicel’s
Network come to light. Thus more confession from Mr. Philpott Martin may be
forthcoming, revealing a nest of Hackers right here in Jamaica, as he’s
not Lone Gunman; he’s got company.
Just
for the record, it ain’t me; I hack Telecom Networks as noted in my Geezam article
entitled “How
to access any WEP or WPA/WPA2 Wi-Fi Network that has a password”not
Databases; that’s IT (Information Technology) peeps!
Not
surprising these trains of eventsare in synchrony, as despite the apparent disconnect,
they’re very much connected. People, again, take note of these timelines!
They’re really important as to what’s
gonna happen next, as Digicel’s MINSAT and DWS Databases are a treasure trove
for any hacker!
This
latest hack’s related to the malcontent about Digicel’s Voicemail as it’s the
aggressive side of complaints from the Jamaican people to the CACU (Consumer Advisory Committee on Utilities), an
arm of the CAC (Consumer Affairs Commission) since September 2012 with regards
to phone calls being routed to Voicemailas reported in “Mobile
users complain about Voicemail charges”, published Friday
September 14, 2012 10:41 am, The
Jamaica Gleaner.
Apathy
for anything happening to Telecom Provider Digicel
is at an all-time high. Most Jamaicans, who give tacit support to Scammers,
Local and International, are of the opinion, based on the mutterings of many
CSA (Customer Service Agents) and TES (Technical Engagement Specialists) within
ACCENT Marketing, that Telecom Provider Digicelhad
it coming.
Most
likely this 30 year old person is well known among the IT peeps in the Canteen
on the 5th Floor of ACCENT Marketing andmay in fact be another UTECH
Computer Science Student and may be known among the mainly Panasonic and ASUS
TES, his name whispered in hushed tones of reverence as he’s probably admired
as some kind of Modern Day Robin Hood.
It
was inevitable they’d be hacked,they quietly agree sotto voce, nodding and argueing over Pizza Hut and Burge King
mealsbetwixt lunchroom conversations. Knowledge about Digicel’s MINSAT and DWS
Databases was already floating around.
It’s
common knowledge among the many escaped refugees, “Secret” CSA’s fromthe evil
Garrison of a Call Center that called FullGram Solutions as noted in my blog
article entitled “Digicel
cuts 120 Call Center Jobs - Fullgram Solutions to benefit as Antonio Graham
speaks of an AEPP future by the Ocean”.
I
even wrote an article mentioning Digicel’s MINSAT and DWS Databases and what
they’re used for as per my blog
article entitled “How
to Register your SIM Card and get the PUK1 and access Digicel’s Phone Calling
Records”. Many
Jamaicans were upset that Telecom Provider Digicel
appeared to be robbing them, as whenever they’re unable to get through to the
Called party, the Call is routed to Voicemail and they’re charged for the Call.
But
Telecom Provider LIMEwas
similarly affected by the rate decline, but it would seem that they’ve chosen
to deal with it differently, even making money from it as reported in my
blog article entitled “LIME
reports Voice Traffic up 71% in Second Quarter of 2012AD - ACS-Xerox loses
contract to TELUS International as LIME becomes Mavado Money Changer”.
Telecom
Provider LIME’s
level of Dropped Calling on their Network has increased, thus the level and
nature of complaint with regards to their GSM Voice Network was different. This
assessment is based on my cursory anecdotal experience, as it appears Telecom
Provider LIME
has no problem with Call Routing. Instead of terminating a Call on Voicemail
and charging you in the process, Telecom Provider LIME merely drops
the Call once the Cell sites become congested.
Thus
there’s been an increase in Drop Call on Telecom Provider LIME’s GSM Voice
Network since the Rates have gone down, as many time when I try to make calls
on my LIME Mobile phone while at work at ACCENT Marketing on the 5th
Floor of the Citibank Building, where our Canteen is located, the Call just
unceremoniously drops, leaving me unable to make the Call due to congestion on
their Network.
The
REAL reason for the Voicemail Routing problem was due to the fact that unlike Telecom
Provider LIME,
Telecom Provider Digicel has been refusing to upgrade its GSM Voice Networks backhaul
i.e. the Network of Microwave RBS (Radio Base Stations) that interconnect their
GSM BTS (Base transceiver Stations). Fiber Optic Backhaul’s best in a move to
mimic Telecom Provider LIMEin
order to properly handle the increase in Voice Traffic and eventually 3G Data
Traffic.
This
due to the natural result of the Cross Network and On-Net calling rates from
JA$10 to JA$2.89 as explained in my blog
article entitled “LIME
and Digicel Networks routing Callers to Voice Mail - Hit and Run Advertising
while Test out Free Voice Calling”.
So
again, Telecom Provider Digicel is best served by taking the recommendation of
my blog
article entitled “LIME
and Digicel Networks routing Callers to Voice Mail - Hit and Run Advertising
while Test out Free Voice Calling” and monetizing Voicemail
via Advertising.
In
reality, giving back people money that’s stolen from them, Brown Dawg Style, is
the best way to really say sorry and placate the masses slowly migrating to
Telecom Provider LIME Network over the next three years as noted in my blog
article entitled “LIME
and Digicel Networks routing Callers to Voice Mail - Hit and Run Advertising
while Test out Free Voice Calling”.
They
can also take their cue from Telecom Provider LIMEand upgrade
their Microwave RBS (Radio Base Stations) to Fiber Optic for their Mobile
Network’s Backhaul as part of their long Term Data Service Strategy.
Despite
any perceived expense of such an upgrade, it’ll be worth it in the future. 2013,
the Year of the Snake, has been declared as the Year of Data by bothTelecom Provider
LIME
and Triple Play Provider FLOW in the article “2013:
A year for data”, published Wednesday, January 09, 2013
by Camilo Thame
Business Co-ordinator, The Jamaica Observer.
Now
that the knowledge of about Digicel’s MINSAT and DWS Databases being hackable
is known, more hacks in protest over Telecom Provider Digicel’s unfair
practices on their GSM Network are sure to happen as most Hackers will see it
as A
Good Day to Die Hard (2013).
Keep
following my blog posts folks. More to come as this case unravels and this
Modern Day Robin Hood’s identity is revealed in Court when he’s taken in for
charges to be laid in the Resident Magistrate’s Court.In the meantime, I‘ll
keep in contact with my sources.
