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Echelon Used to Capture Terrorist

An anonymous reader writes "Echelon was used to track and capture Khalid Sheikh Mohammed." Ahh, bitter sweet victories. The article kind of explains what Echelon is, and pretty much says that those disposable phones really don't have much security at all.

7 of 497 comments (clear)

  1. Re:So, is Echelon good now? by gmuslera · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Well, if arsenic is used to kill a killer, is good?

    Tools not have moral, only the ones that use them. But give a tool like that to someone paranoic and it will be bad, very bad.

  2. Don't believe everything you read by tkrotchko · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Just because it on the internet doesn't make it so.

    Just because a government spokesman says it doesn't make it so.

    If your mother tells you that the stork brought you, it doesn't make it so.

    Always remain skeptical and ask yourself why they want everyone to have this information.

    --
    You were mistaken. Which is odd, since memory shouldn't be a problem for you
  3. Not Echelon. COLD, HARD CASH. by MightyTribble · · Score: 5, Insightful


    It seems it was a tip-off, not Echelon, that ultimately led to Mohammed's capture. Read the article, and you'll see that some lucky Al-Quayda grunt turned coat and pocketed a cool $25 million dollars.

    It's in the US's interests to hype Echelon ("Woooo! We can seeeeeee you!") rather than admit they really got their man through good old fashioned bribery and traitors. Sure, Exchelon helped once they KNEW THE GUY'S STREET ADDRESS. But it was pretty much useless until they were told where to look.

    Still, good catch. Here's hoping there's another footsoldier of god out there who'll take $25mil in small bills in exchange for Osama's current location.

  4. It is a new world we live in by EvilTwinSkippy · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I remember when stories like this were science fiction fodder.

    People, we live in a new world. The same technology that allows us to expose the dirty laundry inside of corrupt organizations can also be used to expose and dirty laundry in your hamper.

    The rules of the game have changed. You can no longer sit back and wonder if someone can see what you are doing, good or bad. They either can observe your actions directly, or they can retrieve the records to reconstruct the event. Political parties now have databases of everything someone has said in public, and can quickly cross reference even the most obscure quote. Sportscaster have massive databases of player statistics and can call up on a whim every dropped ball or missed catch.

    What begs the question in my mind, is what are the rules of courtesy? When do you draw the line between what can be retrieved and what should be retreived. Too many people assume that just because you can do something you are compelled to do it. That is a fallicy that was first recognized by the greeks.

    --
    "Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival."
    --Dr.W.Edwards Deming
    1. Re:It is a new world we live in by Moofie · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Hey, as long as I can monitor the cell phone conversations of the top FBI brass, the Legislature, the intelligence community, that's just fine. If we're going to have a transparent society, that's groovy baby.

      But we're not. The people making these decisions want THEIR privacy, they just find MINE inconvenient.

      --
      Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!
  5. Re:Hate the tech, love the results by pe1rxq · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Trying to protect your ass by continuously 'inspecting' it is not was most people want....

    Jeroen

    --
    Secure messaging: http://quickmsg.vreeken.net/
  6. In the words of Ani DiFranco... by rfischer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...any tool can be a weapon, if you just hold it right.