The name of these broadband street cabinet connectors, and are they secure

ArchitectureSecurity

http://i.stack.imgur.com/InaQQ.jpg

Can anyone help enlighten me, do these connectors have a formal name/standard? These are found in a street side ISP broadband cabinet for residential customers in the UK. Would I be correct in thinking that each of these cables goes direct to a customers home?

Would it not be quite trivial then to initiate a physical Man-in-the-middle attack against a specific target? What is the purpose of all the 'messy' wiring to the right of the pic?

Best Answer

"Connectors"??? The blue distribution block? (possibly a distribution amp) The little "caps" -- actually terminators? Or the RG-59 compression crimps on the cables?

It's as secure as the cabinet. (which is often not that secure) Almost everything on a cable network these days is encrypted, so a physical tap wouldn't do as much good as you might think. And it's all a shared medium anyway, anyone on that block can see everyone else's traffic.

The mess on the right appears to be analog POTS lines, but could be anything.