British Telecom is using a rabit to fight back against cable thieves.
Rather than being a small furry animal, rabit – rapid assessment BT incident tracker - is a new technology that alerts the telco’s control centers and police of any attack on its broadband and telephone network in the UK. The operator is deploying the technology to combat growing numbers of cable thefts. Arrests made in the past eleven months stand at 446 – nearly on-par with the total number (480) made in 2010.
The technology detects when communications are disconnected, and tracks the break to street level. Luke Beeson, general manager of security at BT, says trials have already proven successful because the telco can “inform the police of the exact location of malicious network attacks.”
British Transport Police deputy chief constable Paul Crowther predicts the technology will “significantly improve police response times to cable theft,” and result in a “sharp reduction in the disruption caused,” by the activity.