From the security point of view, only Internet traffic is carried out to effectively monitor the traffic at the Cable Landing Station in the country. The following are the set guidelines issued by the DoT, i.e., the Department of Telecommunications. These regulations must be observed by every licensed submarine cable landing station in India.
Data Traffic Flow through the Cable Landing Station
A Cable Landing Station must ensure that only Internet data traffic is carried through, not call or voice internet traffic. A CLS must also monitor from all security angles, both online and offline. CLS must capture, store, and retrieve all the data on every traffic class. This data traffic may include the Internet, image, video, audio, etc., and each can be specified by various attributes, such as destination, recipient, sender, keywords, etc.
The Cable Landing Station must arrange for Government-authorized agencies to monitor all types of traffic that pass through its terminals. The data traffic might include any of the following:
- Raw Data
- FAX
- Speech
- Video
- Multimedia
Data must be available in both interactive as well as non-interactive modes. Lastly, the CLS must ensure the data monitoring takes place based exclusively on the following parameters:
- Keywords
- Key Expressions
- IP
- E-Mail Addresses of initiating or terminating subscribers
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Traffic Filtering Mechanism of Cable Landing Station (CLS)
Every Cable Landing Station must scan the entire traffic passing through its gateway. Also, It must filter the traffic per the keywords or key expressions and addresses defined by the National Security Agencies.
The CLS must store the filtered data traffic in the memory or directory the National Security Agencies provided. Each must have a defined monitoring requirement. Before storing the monitored data information, the CLS must segregate and store the data in the directory in different files and folders.
Also, the CLS must decode and store the filtered information so that a direct hard copy of the following can produce:
- FAX
- data
- audio/video tapes of the speech
- video recording
The CLS must create a log of recorded information for each agency in the directory of the concerned security agency. The log must display the details like the date/time of recording and the record numbers.
CLS Monitoring Centre
Every Cable Landing Station must provide the following in its Monitoring Centre:
- Dedicated Space
- Memory
- Directory
- Storage
The CLS must also ensure that the Monitoring Agencies possess access to the Monitoring Center Computer, and this access the CLS must provide through any one of the following:
- PSTN line
- ISDN line
- Dedicated Lines (Cable pair or Optical link)
Also, the CLS must provide an adequate number of interfaces at the monitoring centre to Facilitate Remote Access for National Security Agencies.
Remote Accessing in a CLS
Every Landing Station must ensure Remote Accessing or a Log-in facility for National Security Agencies. The CLS must secure these facilities with unique passwords, and each security agency must have a unique password. This access password must be editable afterwards by the concerned security agency. The Submarine Landing Station must also ensure the data monitoring facility of the same traffic to more than one security agency at the same time.
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Office Space of a Landing Station
Every Landing Station must build an office space of size 20 x 20 square feet. The space must be equipped with an adequate uninterrupted power supply and proper air-conditioning. The office space must also be physically safe and secure. It must be accessible only to the CLS personnel authorized by the concerned Telecom Authority. Lastly, the CLS must avail of the Office space at each location free of cost.
