CT-ISG: Tracing VoIP Calls Through The Internet

George Mason University, Fairfax VA

Investigators

Abstract

Proposal 0524286 CT-ISG: Tracing VoIP Calls Through The Internet Xinyuan Wang, George Mason University In order to combat crime and terrorism, law enforcement agencies (LEA) need wiretap and call identifying capability to conduct lawful electronic surveillance. However, the proliferation of VoIP calls has imposed significant new challenges in providing the same call-identifying and wiretap capability as that exist in traditional circuit-switched networks. For example, VoIP calls could be setup by proprietary signaling protocols, and the VoIP traffic could easily be encrypted by publicly available encryption software. The objective of this project is to investigate how VoIP calls can be effectively identified and traced in the Internet and develop efficient tracing methods with sound scientific foundation. The research activities will be focused on (1) developing a new form of call-identifying information for VoIP calls that is applicable to any VoIP call no matter what VoIP signaling protocols are used; (2) establishing the quantitative tradeoff models and the ultimately achievable call-identifying capability in the presence of adversary; (3) developing proof of concept prototype that can transparently embed unique call-identifying information to VoIP calls at real-time. The outcome of this research will help to answer fundamental questions about the technical feasibility of identifying VoIP calls, and provide the necessary scientific and engineering foundations for a critical but currently missing capability in the fight on crime and terrorism.