"NeuStar" is one of the telecom spying "technology enablers" for the NSA

In a nutshell, NeuStar keeps track of call routing, phone numbers and maintain "maps" of the phone networks and their interconnections that are purchased by the NSA to identify where to "tap-in".

"A Stock Worth Spying On"
http://www.forbes.com/home/businessinthebeltway/2006/05/11/spy-stock-neustar-cz_ms_0511neustar.html

NeuStar (nyse: NSR), a Sterling, Va.-based company that raised $605 million in a June 2005 initial public offering, holds the exclusive contract through 2011 to keep electronic records of nearly 200 million phone numbers in North America. AT&T, Verizon, and BellSouth --the three companies at the core of the domestic eavesdropping saga involving the National Security Agency-- are all customers of NeuStar.

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Large international telecom companies, frequently the target of requests by the NSA, for customer data, can call on NeuStar for crucial information, such as identifying which local network a phone call originates from--a simple task made difficult by the de-regulation of phone service. Every time the company dips into its registry of phone numbers, it collects an estimated $1 fee. "We cannot confirm or deny any activities related to national security," says Michael Warren, vice president of fiduciary services at NeuStar. "We have access to customer billing systems, but we will not respond to any request made without a lawful demand." The majority of surveillance demands the company receives come from the FBI.

However dicey for politicians, this line of business bodes well for NeuStar’s shareholders. Last Friday, the company reported a 46% increase in first-quarter net income equaling $18.3 million, while revenue surged 32% to $76.2 million. A pair of stock analysts revised their price targets upward for shares, which have already risen to $36 from $28 over the past eight weeks. With net margins of 21%, this niche is nothing to sneeze at, true. But at current levels, the trailing 12-month price-to-earnings multiple is at twice the overall market average, according to Morningstar.

Is Wall Street slurping on a surveillance play? Hard to say based on comments from Jeffrey Ganek, chief executive at NeuStar. Ganek tells Forbes.com that he doesn't think the data his company provides is "relevant to NSA surveillance activities," but adds, "we do provide the directory of routing information that telecommunications service providers use, and we also help perform the administrative and operations processes required of them in response to subpoenas and court orders."

It's Not Just Call Data Records: Some Telcos Let the NSA Tap Into Fiber Using Narus BlackBoxes.

An information security expert, Bruce Schneier, talks about observations leading to this probability that the NSA is tapping directly into Internet backbone fiber.

More about what the Narus box can do HERE at DailyKos.

More info about Narus HERE.

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