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Analysis: Google-NSA partnership part of broader trend

February 22, 2010 by intelNews Leave a comment

Google

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
We reported last week the apparent alliance between the Google Corporation and the US National Security Agency, which is the main US government organization tasked with communications interception, as well as communications security. The partnership, which began soon after Google’s decision to close down its venture business in China, where its operations came repeatedly under cyber-attack, has caused considerable controversy among civil liberties advocates. But an op-ed in the US-based Federal News Radio website describes it as the beginning of a new trend, which is likely to intensify. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with China, computer hacking, corporate espionage, cybersecurity, energy networks, Google, Internet, News, NSA, United States

News you may have missed #0286 (Internet edition)

February 15, 2010 by intelNews Leave a comment

Email trojan targeted at US .gov, .mil accounts. A Trojan-containing email, which is spoofed so that it appears to have been sent by the US National Intelligence Council, appears to have been directed solely at US government and military email accounts.
Analysis: Smuggling secret information through VOIP. Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) systems use a series of protocols to essentially create an open, unmediated link between two computers. VOIP applications also provide a way to make sure the packets are ordered quickly and correctly. And that’s a goldmine for anyone trying to send hidden messages.
ACLU concerned about Google-NSA partnership. Google corporation has turned to the US National Security Agency for assistance in warding off cyberattacks. But the American Civil Liberties Union is among several organizations that view the partnership as “troubling”.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with ACLU, computer hacking, cyberespionage, cybersecurity, Google, Internet, News, news you may have missed, NSA, steganography, United States, US National Intelligence Council, VOIP

News you may have missed #0286

February 14, 2010 by intelNews 1 Comment

More on CIA spies working for corporations. Author Eamon Javers provides more information about his new book, in which he examines the increasing phenomenon of CIA agents working for private corporations on the side.
Rio Tinto spy controversy thickens. Anglo-Australian mining company Rio Tinto says it is “extremely worried” about four of its staff, who were arrested last July by Chinese authorities and have now been formally charged with espionage.
Court keeps White House spy emails secret. Two weeks ago, US President Barack Obama declared in his State of the Union address that “it’s time to require lobbyists to disclose each contact they make on behalf of a client with my administration or Congress”. This does not appear to apply to telecommunication industry lobbyists, who campaigned in favor of facilitating warrantless communications interception through the National Security Agency’s STELLAR WIND program.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Australia, Barack Obama, book news and reviews, China, CIA, corporate espionage, Eamon Javers, energy resources, espionage, lawsuits, lobbyists, News, news you may have missed, NSA, operation STELLAR WIND, Rio Tinto, Stern Hu, telephony industry, Terrorist Surveillance Program (STELLAR WIND), UK, United States

Obama extends ‘war on terrorism’ theater to Yemen

February 1, 2010 by intelNews 2 Comments

Sa’dah rebels

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
Think what you like about Barack Obama. The fact is, his administration is currently overseeing the most rapid expansion in the nine-year history of Washington’s so-called ‘war on terrorism’. The operations theater of this ever-expanding war now includes territories deep inside Pakistan (not just near the Afghan borderlands), as well as parts of Saudi Arabia and Yemen. With respect to the latter, intelNews is one of a handful of specialized outlets that began paying attention to US involvement there before the US airstrikes of last December, which in the eyes of the Arab world, formalized America’s military presence in the country. As predicted at the time, the strikes, which were accompanied by a Saudi military invasion of Yemen, became a rallying cry for both Sunni and Shiite Islamists in the Yemen-Saudi border, and have caused increased activity by both Shiite (Sa’dah insurgency) and Sunni (al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, known as AQAP) militants. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Afghanistan, al-Qaeda, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Ali Abdullah Saleh, AQAP, Barack Obama, CIA, Joint Special Operations Command, JSOC, News, NSA, Obama Administration, Pakistan, Sa'dah insurgency, Saudi Arabia, United States, War on Terrorism, Yemen

Comment: Are Clinton’s Cyberattack Protests Hypocritical?

January 27, 2010 by intelNews 1 Comment

Hillary Clinton

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS* | intelNews.org |
The Chinese have accused the US government of hypocrisy in criticizing Beijing for its alleged role in organized hacking attacks, which recently drove Google to abandon its operations in China. Speaking last Thursday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton argued that “[c]ountries or individuals that engage in cyberattacks should face consequences and international condemnation”. But a subsequent editorial in government-owned The People’s Daily essentially said that China is not the only country that engages in cyberwarfare; the US does it too. Is this true? Most likely, yes. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with China, computer hacking, cyberespionage, cybersecurity, cyberwar, Cyprus, economic espionage, former Yugoslavia, Hillary Clinton, Iran, Joseph Fitsanakis, NSA, Russia, Slobodan Milosevic, United States

Cash register ringing for NSA’s corporate suitors

January 18, 2010 by intelNews 1 Comment

NSA HQ

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
The decision by the US National Security Agency to build 5.8 million square feet of data-storage and office space by 2029 has drawn mixed reactions by intelligence observers. But for businesses in northern Utah, where the NSA is preparing to build a million-square-foot facility, at Camp Williams, it’s party time, in the middle of a crippling word-wide economic recession. The gigantic government Agency, which is tasked with worldwide communications surveillance, as well as communications security, will build the billion-dollar facility within the next two years, and is already consulting with building contractors. But how does one do business with the notoriously secretive NSA? Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Camp Williams (Utah), databases, intelligence outsourcing, lobbyists, Maryland, News, NSA, Shawn Justice, United States, Utah

Comment: Is There a ‘DNA Problem’ in US Spying?

January 5, 2010 by intelNews 8 Comments

Sam Tanenhaus

By IAN ALLEN* | intelNews.org |
The controversy of the apparent ineffectiveness of US intelligence agencies to uncover the so-called Christmas Day bomb plot has reignited the discussion about the operational shortcomings of the US intelligence community. Sam Tanenhaus, editor of of The New York Times Book Review, has authored an interesting commentary, in which he delves into some of what he sees as the design deficiencies in American intelligence.

US court upholds NSA’s refusal to admit or deny wiretap data

January 3, 2010 by intelNews Leave a comment

The Glomar

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
A US federal appeals court has concluded that the National Security Agency can refuse to admit or deny it possesses information about the US government spying on lawyers representing Guantánamo prison detainees. The decision by the 2^nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in New York relates to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request under a civil liberties lawsuit challenging post-9/11 warrantless surveillance operations by US agencies. The latter typically respond to most FOIA requests by confirming or denying possession of information relating to particular requests, and then by proceeding to either deny release, or release selected segments of the requested data. It is rare for an agency to refuse even to acknowledge the existence of information sought through FOIA. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with CIA, civil liberties, Cold War, domestic intelligence, FOIA, Glomar Explorer, Glomar response, government secrecy, Guantánamo Bay Detention Camp, Hawaii, history, intelligence legislation, lawsuits, maritime intelligence, New York, News, NSA, Project JENNIFER, United States, USSR, warrantless communications interception

News you may have missed #0231

December 24, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Chinese honey trap methods net another victim. This time it was M.M. Sharma, an Indian diplomat posted with India’s mission in China, who reportedly had an affair with “a Chinese female spy”. She managed to gain access to his personal computer and “peruse [classified] documents without any restraint”. London’s ex-deputy mayor, Ian Clement, must feel better knowing he is not alone.
NSA’s $1.9 billion cyber spy center a power grab. Extensive –if a little ‘light’– analysis of the US National Security Agency’s planned new data storage center in Utah, by Chuck Gates of Deseret News.
Connecticut police spying on Democratic Party activists? Kenneth Krayeske, a political activist and free-lance journalist is suing the Connecticut State Police, claiming that officers engaged in “political spying [by using] cloaked Connecticut State Police addresses [to] subscribe to e-mail bulletin boards and lists […] that contain political information relating to the Green Party, the Democratic Party” and independent political activists.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Analysis, Camp Williams (Utah), China, civil liberties, Connecticut, Connecticut State Police, databases, Democratic Party (US), domestic intelligence, espionage, Green Party (US), honey traps, Internet, Kenneth Krayeske, M.M. Sharma, News, news you may have missed, NSA, Pakistan, political activism, Utah

News you may have missed #0208

December 7, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Georgia denies entry to Russian ‘spies’. Georgia has denied entry to a delegation of Russian scholars from the Russian State Archive and the Center for Caucasian Research at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. It’s the second time this year that the Georgians have accused Russian researchers of being spies.
US monitors China’s hiring of foreign journalists. A report by the Open Source Center of the US Directorate of National Intelligence notes that China has been hiring a growing number of foreign reporters to serve as overseas correspondents.
Audio interview with NSA’s information assurance director. Dickie George, technical director of information assurance at the US National Security Agency, has given a rare audio interview to GovInfo Security. The first part of the interview is available here. The second part will be posted in a few days.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with academic freedom, Center for Caucasian Research at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, China, Dickie George, espionage, Georgia, information security, Moscow State Institute of International Relations, News, news you may have missed, NSA, Russia, Russian State Archive, US DNI Open Source Center

US government urged to release data on social networking spying

December 4, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Facebook

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
An Internet watchdog has filed a court complaint to force the US government to disclose how its law enforcement and spy agencies monitor social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter. IntelNews regulars have known since October that the CIA has invested in a private software company specializing in monitoring online social media, such as YouTube, Twitter and Flickr. Additionally, we have previously reported on persistent rumors that the National Security Agency, America’s communications spying outfit, is actively monitoring popular social networking sites in order to make links between individuals and construct maps of who associates with whom. Now the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) wants to find out the extent to which US intelligence and law enforcement agencies are secretly monitoring social networking sites on the Internet. Read more of this post

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NSA bugging more widespread than thought, says ex-analyst

November 26, 2009 by intelNews 3 Comments

Wayne Madsen

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
A former NSA analyst and US Navy intelligence officer has alleged that the National Security Agency’s (NSA) domestic spying program was more widespread than originally thought, and that it was authorized by the Bush Administration prior to 9/11. Wayne Madsen, who authors the Wayne Madsen Report, says the NSA consulted with US telecommunications service providers about aspects of its STELLAR WIND program in as early as February 27, 2001, several months prior to the events of 9/11. STELLAR WIND was a massive domestic surveillance program involving spying on US citizens. Under the guidance of the office of the US Attorney General, the NSA was systematically allowed to circumvent the standard authorization process under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) Court, composed of 11 federal judges, and thus conduct what is known as warrantless wiretapping within the United States, which is illegal. Read more of this post

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Privacy concerns as NSA admits “helping” Microsoft

November 20, 2009 by intelNews 2 Comments

Richard Schaeffer

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
Security experts raised privacy concerns after a US National Security Agency official revealed that the Agency collaborated with Microsoft during the development stage of Windows 7. The revelation was made in a prepared statement by NSA information assurance director Richard Schaeffer, before the US Senate’s Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security, which operates under the Judiciary panel. Speaking during a hearing on cybersecurity on November 17, Schaeffer acknowledged that the NSA drew on its “unique expertise and operational knowledge of system threats and vulnerabilities to enhance Microsoft’s operating system security guide”. Schaeffer ‘s prepared statement is available on video here (forward to 32^nd minute). Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with communications interception, domestic intelligence, Electronic Privacy Information Center, Marc Rotenberg, Microsoft, News, NSA, Richard Schaeffer, United States, US Senate Committee on the Judiciary, US Senate Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security, Windows 2000, Windows 7, Windows 9X, Windows Vista, Windows XP

News you may have missed #0190

November 19, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Indicted Liberian leader continues to allege CIA complicity. Former Liberian President, Charles Taylor, who is being tried at The Hague for war crimes, said his rebel group, the National Patriotic Front of Liberia, exchanged information with the CIA, and continued to do so into his presidency. Talylor has made similar allegations before, but the US media is ignoring it.
Debate on who should protect US computer networks continues. Cyber experts and intelligence officials continue to debate about whether the National Security Agency is the best-suited US agency for protecting the country’s critical computer networks from cyberattacks.
Case of Pakistani ‘spy’ arrested in India gets thicker. A Pakistani man arrested in India just as he was set to board a flight to Saudi Arabia, using a fake passport, “was a leader of some bigger ring spread across central and western Uttar Pradesh”, according to Indian officials. Meanwhile, the Delhi Police has arrested two more individuals in connection with the case.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Aamir Ali, Africa, Charles Taylor, CIA, cybersecurity, cyberwar, Delhi Police, espionage, First Liberian Civil War, India, Liberia, News, news you may have missed, NPFL (Liberia), NSA, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, travel documentation, Uttar Pradesh (India)

News you may have missed #0185

November 16, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Article claims US employed cyberwar in 2007. A cover story in the Washington-based National Journal claims former US President George W. Bush authorized the National Security Agency to “launch a sophisticated attack […] on the cellular phones and computers that insurgents in Iraq were using to plan roadside bombings”. IntelNews regulars will remember that we had suspected as much.
Somali suicide bomb recruiter had US residency. Somali Mohamud Said Omar, who was arrested a week ago in Holland on suspicion of recruiting youth in Minneapolis for suicide missions in Somalia, has a US green card, Dutch media reported Friday.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed trial a huge challenge for US judiciary. The alleged 9/11 mastermind’s case poses the question of how to deal with what is likely to be an extremely large body of classified evidence that the prosecution will want to present.