Datamining the NSA

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Posted by Zonk on Friday March 4, 2005 @03:11AM from the turnabout-is-fair-play dept.

elmartinos writes "With official permission from the data protection committee in the Austrian Office of the Federal Chancellor, quintessence (an association for the re-establishment of information civil rights) has data mined an extensive mailing list related to the Biometric Consortium, which is part of the NSA. Heise (Google translation) writes that a quintessenz activist was able to get access to the mailing list through social engineering, and used a PHP script to extract 1GB worth of data. Quintessenz is using the open source tool Weka for data mining, and Kea for text mining. The first chapter of the gathered information is available online."

26 of 236 comments (clear)

Axis of Evil by Anonymous Coward · 2005-03-04 03:14 · Score: 5, Funny

Oh, great.
Now we're going to end up with a hundred thousand troops in Austria. Thanks!
1. Re:Axis of Evil by Anonymous Coward · 2005-03-04 03:42 · Score: 1, Funny
  
  Well, we are going to rename NK to 'Holy Land 2: Electric Boogaloo' and encourage Isreali settlers to head on over and carve themselves off a slice.
2. Re:Axis of Evil by harmonica · 2005-03-04 04:20 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Oh, great. Now we're going to end up with a hundred thousand troops in Austria. Thanks!
  
  But the troops will have Strudel and Schnitzel instead of Falafel. That is quite an improvement.
  
  If you make Ahnuld commander, Austrians will welcome the invasion whole-heartedly. They sure like their Arnold. And if I remember 1938 correctly, they'll welcome anyone anyway.
  
  Yes, it's a bit flamebait-y, but you can learn something if you follow the Wikipedia link.
3. Re:Axis of Evil by wolf31o2 · 2005-03-04 06:54 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Have you not figured this out yet?
  
  For Arnold to become the president, an amendment would have to be ratified to the Constitution. This could be avoided pretty easily by invading and annexing Austria. Once Austria becomes a part of the United States, Arnold could become president, all without involving that whole changing the Constitution thing in the way.
Obviously... by BJZQ8 · 2005-03-04 03:14 · Score: 3, Funny

Obviously then, Open Source Software should be banned for national security reasons!
1. Re:Obviously... by Anonymous Coward · 2005-03-04 04:46 · Score: 1, Funny
  
  ...or the NSA should be banned for security reasons.
Skip the Translation by The+Angry+Mick · 2005-03-04 03:16 · Score: 1, Funny

Mother of God, that's got to be one of the worse translations I've ever tried to read.

--
I'm not tense. I'm just terribly, terribly, alert.
Dear Sir... by gowen · 2005-03-04 03:16 · Score: 3, Funny

We are the Feds. And as soon as we can game access to your slashdotted server, we're coming after you.

Yours,
J. Edgar Hoover (deceased)

--
Athletic Scholarships to universities make as much sense as academic scholarships to sports teams.
Not smart by SlayerofGods · 2005-03-04 03:16 · Score: 4, Funny

How smart is it to make a fool of the NSA?
I mean look how fast they made their server disappear.

--

Technology, the cause of and solution to all of life's problems.
1. Re:Not smart by MathFox · 2005-03-04 03:52 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  I am pretty sure that the US Navy is attempting to plot a course to the Austrian coast for one if its battleships in an intimidation attempt. ;-)
  
  --
  extern warranty;
  main()
  {
  (void)warranty;
  }
2. Re:Not smart by Laur · 2005-03-04 04:15 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Since when does Austria have a coast?
  About as long as you've had a sense of humor.
  (That's a joke son)
  
  --
  When you lose something irreplaceable, you don't mourn for the thing you lost, you mourn for yourself. - Harpo Marx
Re:Was. by Anonymous Coward · 2005-03-04 03:17 · Score: 1, Funny

In other news:

The NSA counters dissemination of its secrets by /.ing all information sites.
In related news: by zardor · 2005-03-04 03:22 · Score: 4, Funny

In related news, Austria was today added to the members of the "Axis of Evil"

--
-- We don't understand software, and sometimes we don't understand hardware, but we can *see* the blinking lights
1. Re:In related news: by Anonymous Coward · 2005-03-04 03:52 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  In related news, Austria was today added to the members of the "Axis of Evil"
  
  What a ridiculous idea! Austria could never produce anyone truly evil!
Comment removed by account_deleted · 2005-03-04 03:31 · Score: 3, Funny

Comment removed based on user account deletion
As if they'd so that. by Nailer · 2005-03-04 03:45 · Score: 4, Funny

In other news, the US will declare war on Australia in six months time.
1. Re:As if they'd so that. by Brendor · 2005-03-04 05:36 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  Yes, that's the joke. It's dismally common among north american* english speakers to [hear|read] "Australia" when someone [says|writes] "Austria", mostly because they've never heard of Austria
  Guilty as charged.
  But what's sad about this is that I've been to Austria, specifically Vienna. And I still thought the story was about Australia until I started reading comments about Schwarzenegger . . .
My own datamining experiment by duffbeer703 · 2005-03-04 03:46 · Score: 5, Funny

I've conducted extensive analysis of a top-secret message board called "Slashdot". Slashdot is known to be regularly visited by employees of many government agencies, including military and espionage organizations.

Based on my expert analysis of the message traffic, I have determined:

1998-2000 - Using supercomputing VA-Linux beowulf clusters and drawing upon the grit-making skills of Natalie Portman, the NSA was doing bad things.

2000-2003 - Mr. Goatse and Tubgirl complete the VA-Linux transition to OSDN and formulate the Slashdot/NSA/CIA business plan:
1. Take distgusting pictures
2. Utilize legacy hot grits(tm) technology
3. ???
4. Profit!

2004-present - RIAA sues everyone. The universe is safe.

--
Conformity is the jailer of freedom and enemy of growth. -JFK
Re:Good grief by Blue-Footed+Boobie · 2005-03-04 03:47 · Score: 2, Funny

This if often downplayed, but as you can see this might be a serious security problem.
Yawn...wake me when the get the NOC list...

--
DAMN YOU OCTODOG! DAMN YOU TO HELL!
What the hell? by mcc · 2005-03-04 03:50 · Score: 5, Funny

This slashdot blurb is the most dense collection of buzzwords I think I've seen in months. I try to make sense of it and all I can see is "Linux crypto hackers open sourced the BSD Microsoft monopoly!"

I think it has its own gravitational field

--
Irritable, left-wing and possibly humorous bumper stickers and t-shirts
Re:Good grief by Deekin_Scalesinger · 2005-03-04 03:53 · Score: 2, Funny

Whatever they do, I wanna join. Simply so I can put on my resume "member of the Biometric Consortuim". If they ask what that is, I'll simply explain that it is associated with the NSA and I cannot say any more than that. After which I would let them know it would REALLY be in their best interests to offer me a position...

--
"As the intrepid kobold companion continues his journey, he begins to wonder... if priests raises dead, why anybody die?
Superhaxxor starter kit by tigeba · 2005-03-04 04:07 · Score: 5, Funny

1. Sign up for "secret NSA mailing list" at http://www.biometrics.org/html/listserv.html

2. Read archives

3. Super haxxor!
Re:NSA not that secret. by WormholeFiend · 2005-03-04 04:10 · Score: 2, Funny

Well that's not what I *read* in Paranoia Magazine...

You might want to check your sources of information there, buddy.
NSA can relax by ndogg · 2005-03-04 05:34 · Score: 2, Funny

At least the NSA can relax now. The slashdotting is melting the server right now.

--
// file: mice.h
#include "frickin_lasers.h"
I am mining State Department data! by wsanders · 2005-03-04 05:46 · Score: 2, Funny

For example, just yesterday I was informed that it is still relatively unsafe to travel to Liberia. I also know it is unsafe to travel to Iraq.

http://travel.state.gov/travel_warnings.html

--
Give a man a fish and you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish, and he'll say "WHERE'S MY FISH, YOU IDIOT?"
Re:As a citizen, you had better care ... by Anonymous Coward · 2005-03-04 05:50 · Score: 1, Funny

"One of the roles of nonconformists and artists it to push us and remind us question authority. If you don't, you end up in 1984 or Animal Farm."

No. 1984 and Animal Farm are both about what happens when you question some authority.

-Anonymous Phil

PS. Liberals are people who can read 1984 and Animal Farm and still think it doesn't mean them.