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Analysis: The changing landscape of communications intelligence

April 27, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS and IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
Joseph Fitsanakis and Ian Allen have authored a new scholarly paper on communications intelligence, focusing specifically on the use of telephony intelligence in the 2008-2009 Israel-Gaza conflict. The paper, entitled Cell Wars: The Changing Landscape of Communications Intelligence, is available (.pdf) on the website of the Research Institute on European and American Studies. We argue that the 2008-2009 Israel-Gaza conflict featured a series of innovative approaches to communications intelligence, which included utilizing civilian telephone networks to achieve tactical and psychological objectives. The “cell war” between the IDF and Hamas is indicative of an ongoing global struggle between asymmetrical insurgents and state actors to control large-scale telecommunications structures. “Cell wars” have been taking place for quite some time in Iraq, Somalia, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Syria, and several other nations, including the United States. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with 2008-2009 Israel-Gaza conflict, Gaza Strip, Hamas, Ian Allen, IDF, Israel, Joseph Fitsanakis, Palestine, RIEAS, telecommunications, telephony

Article on formerly unknown Soviet spy published

April 24, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

George Koval

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
On November 2, 2007, some of Russia’s most senior military and intelligence officials gathered at the Kremlin to honor a Soviet spy whose name was until then completely absent from the annals of espionage history. Russian defense minister Anatoly Serdyukov and Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) chief Valentin Korabelnikov were among several officials who joined Russian president Vladimir Putin to pay tribute to George Koval. Koval was an American citizen born in Iowa to immigrant parents from Belarus. In 1932, Koval, his parents and two brothers, all of whom were US citizens, moved back to the then rapidly developing Soviet Union to escape the effects of the Great Depression. It was there that the young George Koval was recruited by the GRU, the foreign military intelligence directorate of the General Staff of the Soviet Armed Forces. He received Soviet citizenship and returned to the US through San Francisco in October 1940. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Anatoly Serdyukov, Belarus, Cold War, Delmar, espionage, George Koval, GRU, history, Iowa, Klaus Fuchs, MANHATTAN project, News, nuclear proliferation, sleeper agents, Soviet nuclear program, United States, USSR, Valentin Korabelnikov, Vladimir Putin

Agents fired as probe into Colombian wiretap scandal continues

April 24, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Juan M. Santos

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
Colombia’s Administrative Department of Security (Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad, or DAS) suffered one of the most extensive purges in its history this week, when 22 of its detectives were fired in connection with an investigation into illegal wiretapping. Last January, the scandal-prone counterintelligence service was revealed to have engaged in systematic communications interception against several public figures in Colombian political life. Those targeted included Supreme Court judges, prominent journalists, as well as the chief of the Colombian National Police, former president Cesar Gaviria, and even the minister of defense Juan Manuel Santos. The warrantless interceptions appeared to be part of a concerted effort to discover the “vices and weaknesses” of public figures, including “details about sexual preferences”, extra-marital affairs, and liquor or drug habits. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Alvaro Uribe, Cesar Gaviria, Colombia, Colombian National Police, communications interception, DAS (Colombia), Juan Manuel Santos, News, warrantless communications interception

Comment: AIPAC agents accused of spying may walk scot-free

April 23, 2009 by intelNews 3 Comments

Jane Harman

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
The controversy over Democratic Representative Jane Harman’s alleged telephone deal with a suspected agent of Israel is still raging. One of its unfortunate side effects has been to shift media attention away from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) involvement in the Lawrence Franklin spy case, and focus instead on Washington micro-politicking. But what about the two former AIPAC lobbyists who are technically at the center of the Harman imbroglio? Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with AIPAC, Alberto Gonzales, Ben-Ami Kadish, Benjamin Netanyahu, communications interception, espionage, Hillary Clinton, Israel, Jane Harman, Joseph Fitsanakis, Keith Weissman, Lawrence Anthony Franklin, NSA, Sallai Meridor, Steve Rosen, United States, US Army, US Department of Justice, US Department of State, Uzi Arad

French energy giant denies it spied on Greenpeace

April 22, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

ÉDF's Paris HQ

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
Earlier this month, intelNews reported that senior security officials at France’s state-owned electricity service provider were among several people charged by French authorities with spying on Greenpeace and other environmental groups. Now, several days after the launch of an official investigation into the matter, the company, Électricité de France (ÉDF), continues to blame the scandal on renegade and overzealous security personnel. Speaking to French newspaper Le Monde on April 21, ÉDF’s director of security, Jean-Marc Sabathé, insisted that the company’s senior management had not been consulted about the spying operation. ÉDF has already suspended two security officials, Pierre Durieux and Pierre Francois, who hired private investigations firm Kargus Consultant to infiltrate environmental organizations that oppose the expansion of ÉDF’s nuclear energy reactor plants throughout France. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Électricité de France, computer hacking, cybersecurity, energy resources, France, Greenpeace, Kargus Consultant, News, Pierre Durieux, Pierre Francois, Thierry Lorho

Comment: NSA listened in on Rep. Harman secret phone deal

April 21, 2009 by intelNews 3 Comments

Jane Harman

By IAN ALLEN| intelNews.org |
Representative Jane Harman (D-CA) has been in the limelight since Sunday evening, when veteran national security correspondent Jeff Stein published an article alleging that the Democratic politician struck a quid pro quo deal with a suspected Israeli spy. In the article, Stein cites several unnamed “former national security officials” who say Harman’s incriminating telephone conversation with the suspected Israeli agent was picked up in 2005 by a FISA-authorized NSA wiretap. During the call, the agent asked Harman to pressure US Justice Department officials to show leniency toward two American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) lobbyists, who were arrested in 2005 for receiving classified information by convicted Israeli spy Lawrence Anthony Franklin. The two lobbyists, Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, are still awaiting trial.

Swedish NATO troops covertly approached on Facebook

April 21, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
Members of Sweden’s armed forces serving with NATO’s International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan have been systematically approached via online networking application Facebook, and asked to provide details on NATO’s military presence in the country. According to Sweden’s Dagens Nyheter newspaper, several such incidents have occurred in recent weeks, leading Swedish intelligence officials to the conclusion that the online courting is part of a wider intelligence operation directed against NATO. The incidents have been confirmed by Mårten Wallén, who heads the Information Security Unit of Sweden’s Military Intelligence and Security Service (MUST). Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Afghanistan, Facebook, Internet, MUST (Sweden), NATO, NATO International Security Assistance Force, News, social networking, Sweden

International mercenary cell uncovered in Bolivia

April 20, 2009 by intelNews 5 Comments

Eduardo Flores

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
Last month, the Bolivian government expelled a senior “diplomat” from the US embassy in La Paz, whom it accused of covertly supporting efforts to depose the country’s leftist president, Evo Morales. This past week, Bolivian authorities announced they had foiled operations by a major international anti-government mercenary group operating out of the city of Santa Cruz, a hotbed of anti-government activity in the country’s wealthy eastern provinces. Three of the unit’s members, a Bolivian of Croatian descent, an Irishman and a Romanian, were killed by Bolivian security forces; two others, a Hungarian and another Bolivian of Croatian descent, were captured and are now in custody. What were the plans of the covert unit, and who is behind it? Read article →

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with 1991-1995 Croatian War of Independence, Alvaro Garcia Linera, assassinations, Árpád (or Arpak or Ariad) Magyarosi, Barack Obama, Bolivia, Branko Gora Marinković Jovicević, C-4, Croatia, Eduardo Rózsa Flores, Előd (or Elődöt) Tóásó, Evo Morales, First International Platoon (Croatia), Hotel Las Americas (Bolivia), Hungary, Ireland, Jorge Hurtado Flores, Joseph Fitsanakis, Julio Terrazas, La Paz, Lake Titicaca, Marcos Farfán, Mario Tadik (or Tadić) Astorga, mercenaries, Michael Martin Dwyer, Prvi Internacionalni Vod (Croatia), PVI (Croatia), Romania, Santa Cruz (Bolivia), United States, Victor Hugo Escobar

MI5 looking for new chief scientific adviser

April 18, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
The MI5 is openly advertising for a chief scientific adviser for the first time. Britain’s foremost counterintelligence agency, which is also known as the Security Service, has posted the job advertisement on its website, and is asking interested individuals to submit applications by April 24. It also urges them to exercise discretion by discussing the application “only with [their] partner and/or immediate family”. The brief advertisement describes the “unique and challenging” mission of the new position as “lead[ing] and co-ordinat[ing] the scientific work of the Security Service”. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with counterintelligence, counterterrorism, intelligence recruitment, MI5, MI5 Chief Scientific Advisor, News, UK

More US Muslim groups allege FBI harassment

April 18, 2009 by intelNews 1 Comment

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
Less than a month after Californian Muslim groups accused the FBI of planting informants in mosques and Islamic centers, the Council of Islamic Organizations of Michigan said it has asked the US Attorney General to look into complaints of FBI infiltration of Islamic centers. The group, which represents one America’s largest Muslim populations, accuses the Bureau of engaging in a “fishing expedition” by approaching Islamic center worshippers and asking them to report on activities, including donations, taking place in mosques. In its letter to US Attorney General Erik Holder, the group said the FBI appears to be specifically targeting Muslim immigrants “with pending immigration issues”, asking them to work as informers in return for assistance with their immigration petitions. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Ahmadullah Niazi, American Muslim Task Force on Civil Rights and Elections, California, Council of Islamic Organizations of Michigan, Detroit, domestic intelligence, FBI, Michigan, News, US Muslims

Lebanese arrest second member of Israeli spy ring

April 17, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
Early yesterday morning I wrote that Adib Al-Alam, a retired Lebanese brigadier general who was arrested last Saturday on charges of spying for Israel, was “part of a wider spy ring operating out of the town of Bint Jbeil, in southern Lebanon, and that more arrests are likely to follow before too long”. Several hours later, Lebanese officials announced the arrest of J’ Al-Alam, nephew of Abid Al-Alam, in the town of Naqoura, on charges of spying for Israel. Like his uncle, J’ Al-Alam is a Lebanese Christian and, like is uncle, is rumored to be an employee “in a non-civilian capacity” of Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces (ISF). Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Adib A., Adib Al-Alam, Al-Alam spy ring, counterintelligence, espionage, ISF (Lebanon), Israel, J' Al-Alam, Lebanon, Naqoura (Lebanon), News

NSA tried to spy on US Congress member

April 17, 2009 by intelNews 3 Comments

Thomas Tamm

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
An anonymous intelligence official has told The New York Times that the National Security Agency (NSA) attempted to wiretap the personal communications of a US Congressman without court approval. The gigantic US government agency, which is tasked with worldwide communications surveillance, as well as communications security, believed that the Congressman “was in contact […] with an extremist who had possible terrorist ties and was already under surveillance”, said the paper. NSA agents tried therefore to set in motion a warrantless communications interception operation against the Congressman, while he participated in a “Congressional delegation to the Middle East”, either in 2005 or 2006. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with domestic intelligence, Eric Lichtblau, James Risen, News, NSA, operation STELLAR WIND, Terrorist Surveillance Program (STELLAR WIND), Thomas M. Tamm, United States, US Department of Justice, warrantless communications interception, whistleblowing

Analysis: CIA now operates on its own inside Pakistan

April 16, 2009 by intelNews 1 Comment

Border region

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
Pakistani newspaper The Daily Times has published what is probably the most significant report from Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in recent months. The paper quotes senior Pakistani government officials in arguing that intelligence cooperation and coordination between Washington and Islamabad is now “at its lowest level”. One senior intelligence source describes the present situation as the latest stage in a gradual process of deterioration in relations between the two countries, beginning in 2001-2003, when “relations were good” and intelligence sharing was considerable in scale. As intelNews readers have known since November 16, 2008, these sharing arrangements included CIA-orchestrated airstrikes on Pakistani soil by unmanned drones, which the Pakistani leadership then secretly approved. However, The Daily Times reports that eventually Washington began notifying Islamabad just “minutes before carrying out strikes”. In recent weeks “[t]he level of cooperation has gone so low that the US now even does not intimate Pakistan after a drone strike” (emphasis added,) according to one senior Pakistani security official. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with CIA, covert operations, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Pakistan), intelligence cooperation, Pakistan, Taliban, Tariq Khan, United States, unmanned aerial vehicles, War on Terrorism

Lebanese arrest former general on spying charges

April 16, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
For the past several months, intelNews has been keeping an eye on the intensifying intelligence war between Lebanon and Israel. In late 2008 and early 2009, Lebanese military intelligence agents busted up a number of autonomous Israeli spy rings operating in the country. On Tuesday, an anonymous source inside Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces (ISF) announced the arrest of a retired Lebanese brigadier general on charges of spying for Israel. The arrestee’s identity is not yet known, and Lebanese media have named him only as “Adib A.”. But Lebanese government sources have disclosed that the retired general has admitted spying on behalf of Israel for over a decade, and that he “regularly met with his Israeli contacts at European destinations”. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Adib Al-Alam, Al-Alam spy ring, counterintelligence, espionage, ISF (Lebanon), Israel, Lebanon, News

Canada aggressively infiltrated by spies, claims new report

April 15, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Jim Judd

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) has warned that operations by foreign intelligence agents inside Canada are intensifying. In its annual public report to Canada’s House of Commons, the spy agency says foreign spies operating in Canada are hoping to gain access to military technologies employed by NATO, of which Canada is a member. Foreign operatives are also interested in information on several business sectors ranging from biotechnology and agriculture to oil exploration, aerospace engineering and mining, says the report. The 36-page document, which includes a lengthy introduction by CSIS director Jim Judd, does not mention specific nations as responsible for these operations. But a Reuters report from Canada reminds that China has traditionally been high on CSIS’s list of suspects. Informed observers may recall that in 2005 a Chinese government defector claimed there were at least 1,000 accredited and covert Chinese spies operating in Canada.