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FBI Quietly Forms Secretive Net-Surveillance Unit
An anonymous reader writes with this snippet from CNET: "CNET has learned that the FBI has formed a Domestic Communications Assistance Center, which is tasked with developing new electronic surveillance technologies, including intercepting Internet, wireless, and VoIP communications. 'The big question for me is why there isn't more transparency about what's going on?' asks Jennifer Lynch, a staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil liberties group in San Francisco. 'We should know more about the program and what the FBI is doing. Which carriers they're working with — which carriers they're having problems with. They're doing the best they can to avoid being transparent.'"
Just a guess, but maybe they want the unit to remain secretive?
Nothing to see here. Move along.
'The big question for me is why there isn't more transparency about what's going on?' asks Jennifer Lynch, a staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil liberties group in San Francisco.
What are you talking about? This is the most transparent administration in history! (Source )
Who is, I suspect, no longer anonymous to the FBI...
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
The basic problem, of course, is that if they were to do this out in the open so that people knew what was being monitored and how, they would do something to maintain their privacy and, according to the latest FBI Local Terrorist pamphlet, anyone who is overly concerned about their personal privacy is likely a terrorist. Add to that anyone who uses cash for their purchases, who questions authority and who claims their rights under the Constitution and you can lock up the majority of the public as local terrorists. They don't need to be charged, just detained long enough to put them into one of the hundreds of thousands of pre-made plastic coffins stacked up in FEMA yards for "just such an emergency."
'The big question for me is why there isn't more transparency about what's going on?' asks Jennifer Lynch.
There's no point in being part of a secret organization if you tell everybody about it.
Because #^â& you! Obama is el presidente for life. That's why.
Since one of the FBI's mandates is stopping police corruption, I assume that they will be monitoring the personal communications of police officers rather than the personal communications of persons with unfavorable political opinions.
That would be reasonable, wouldn't it?
Who cares? They're about 30 years too late to the punch compared to the NSA. Their entire office is going to be staffed by a single ticker-tape machine being sent whatever the NSA deems useful to the FBI.
Apparently ,if the newsclowns know about it they just want to put the word out. "Beware, we are gonna find out what you're doing and bust you"
Pretty stereotypical of them. Kind of like a narc with long hair, a moustache' and white dress shoes expect them to speak real l33t in the forumz and show off their "hep" attitude toward mp3z, warez, and kiddie pr0n.
How obvious could they be?
*Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
This appears to be the Justice department budget request for the project.
http://www.justice.gov/jmd/2012factsheets/docs/fy12-national-security.pdf
Time to spend more time improving Tor
https://www.torproject.org/
Peter AI6PG
Uncle Sam is watching YOU.
Would this be their "Whisper Net?" ;)
They're coming.
Being opaque/translucent would suck. Wouldn't they want to be transparent, so that users don't see them or their effects on the network?
I can see it now -- suspect gets a text that says "WE'RE IN YOUR VoIP PHONE, MONITORING YOUR PHONE CALLS, LOVE, THE FBI." Oh yeah, gonna catch a lot of crooks that way.
coding is life
This center isn't about obtaining intelligence without a warrant, it's about executing a warrant that the FBI has obtained. An old (and I mean old) wiretap involved nothing more than a wire recorder and a pair of alligator clips at Ma Bell's central office. This center appears to be tasked with devising ways to execute surveillance warrants when the suspect is using technology that doesn't currently have "hooks" to tap.
What good is a packet trace if you can't turn the hex into useful data? How do you handle roaming VOIP? Are there currently "hooks" in the system for intercepting cellular data? You get the idea...
Now, none of that means that this technology won't be put to nefarious ends after it's developed, but the stated intent is benign enough.
And why would you want them to be transparent?
Do people not realize that the mafia and other corrupt people and institutions likely have their dirty fingers poking into any organization looking to take them down.
Of course, there is the problem with corruption within these organizations being a possibility as well.
We need saints running these things!
Are they any VoIP providers that offer SRTP or other encrypted protocols? I have never seen a provider that offers encryption in any form (well, except for crappy Skype).
The thing is, encryption is actually more important over VoIP than a hardline because VoIP has no laws whatsoever protecting privacy (line taps, etc).
Why not give them even more power? I'm sure they'll be responsible and won't abuse it.
If the FBI wants to watch all the data, then:
- They should just pay for all the hosting, backups and bandwidth.
- Include surveillance in the terms of service.
- Then offer the services to everyone for free.
...just lumping together "mp3z, warez and kiddie pr0n" outs you as a federal agent.
What's so quiet or secretive about this? It was in the public budget request, the FBI has confirmed its existence, they've posted public job announcements. You want a press release?
NSA, AT&T and the NarusInsight Intercept Suite
http://cryptogon.com/?p=877
High-Traffic Colluding Tor Routers in Washington, D.C., and the Ugly Truth About Online Anonymity
http://cryptogon.com/?p=624
we are the enemy
So after they establish this bit of nonsense are they going to be empowered to put netizens on double secret probation?
Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'
who else cannot wait some studio to make this into a crime procedural?
Who's gonna pay for all this shit?
Anybody would think that the USA is the only country doing this, The UK government is years ahead of the states in citizen surveillance. How do you think they caught the London underground and bus bombers so quick in the 90's, all this came from UK experience they had with the IRA Bombings of Manchester and other cities in the 80's The only thing the UK government are sort of now is cameras inside peoples homes, then they can do a 24/7/365 surveillance on every citizen.
Not a too US President administrations ago we saw on ABC-CBS-NBC the FBI Director of the time walking and talking of their newest 'CyberSecurity Terminals' which at the time were Commador PET terminals that were already some 20 years old. The sceen staged for the folks in Omaha, show the C-PETs with K-Mart Business Suit clothed FBI agents 'maning' the C-PET terminals. Only this was, the C-PETS were powered, as in, 'turned on' but without a hard drive or ethernet connection were just glowing blue screens. I guess that the 'K-Mart Business Suit' clothed FBI agents had 'super secret vision' to peer through the blue haze to see the bad guys and evil doer 'lectroids lirking on the edge of the 8th dimension.
FBI is a farce ! XD
LoL
Your examples are comically ironic considering you are trying to justify FBI actions, given that the weight of evidence is in: "Time and again, the FBI concocts a Terrorist attack, infiltrates Muslim communities in order to find recruits, persuades them to perpetrate the attack, supplies them with the money, weapons and know-how they need to carry it out — only to heroically jump in at the last moment, arrest the would-be perpetrators whom the FBI converted, and save a grateful nation from the plot manufactured by the FBI."
http://www.salon.com/2011/09/29/fbi_terror/singleton/
Your examples are comically ironic considering you are trying to justify FBI actions, given that the weight of evidence is in: "Time and again, the FBI concocts a Terrorist attack, infiltrates Muslim communities in order to find recruits, persuades them to perpetrate the attack, supplies them with the money, weapons and know-how they need to carry it out — only to heroically jump in at the last moment, arrest the would-be perpetrators whom the FBI converted, and save a grateful nation from the plot manufactured by the FBI."
http://www.salon.com/2011/09/29/fbi_terror/singleton/
Oh yea, sure they planned the For Hood shooting. Maybe they were also behind Little Rock recruiting office shooting, the Seattle Jewish Federation shooting, and the Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar SUV attack too - all of which were carried out by Muslim American Citizens. You know, you appeasers make me nearly as sick as Muslims do themselves. Next I expect the equivocation of "but Christians draw nasty cartoons", or US soldiers shot a terrorist so we should be allowed to blow up your citizens.
The extra z was accepted lingo in the piracy scene.
Fifteen years ago.
Just a little out of date, that's all.
Did this story fall through a time portal from about 20 years ago?
Or the white dress shoes...
*Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
The battlefield today is in the mind. With acts like the patriot act the only way to subdue dissent is to give a reason to fear what is going on. Its called the problem-reaction-solution model and the powers that be have used it for generations. Its ok you're too ignorant to see it happening, a solid third of the public is in the same boat as you, the other third have 'identification with the aggressor' tendencies, and the remaining third are seen as killjoys of the enterprise of aggressive incompetence and all the ego boosts and emotional pacifiers it affords.
How long did it takes before they stop trying to listen all telephone calls? Oh wait they still do
It isn't like the FBI is doing anything new here....just that they have an official department for it. Carnivore was scanning email since the 90s. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnivore_(software)
then they have nothing to hide.
So what are they doing wrong?
FBI
The FBI has no need to let leak information of any of their projects, and when information is leaked that story is probably a mere percentage of the truth and intentionally leaked so we don't focus on the big picture of what they are doing. The jurisdiction and rights granted to the FBI give them more power than most law-abiding citizens could not handle responsibly/logically if they tried. I have great respect for an agency such as the FBI and am very grateful for the services they provide for our country, but the fact that I have accepted that I will never know what is going on behind closed doors there led me not to trust them (And all the negative stories don't help). I would not doubt if this "Net-Surveillance" has been going on for years behind closed doors and will continue to do so, their knowledge and power will simply keep growing and they will never release the full story as to what it is they do. I will always be mindful and respectful of authority, but not when that authority has almost no authority. Just a thought. By no means am I certified to talk about what the FBI does, even if I knew what it was they do. Apologies for any offense.
If the Doors of Perception were cleansed, everything would appear as it is. Infinite. -Aldous Huxley
Both of you are being blinded by your preconceptions.
None of the examples of terrorist plots given by Chrisq were FBI instigated plots (not sure about the Brooklyn Bridge one though). On the other hand, the FBI does have a long track record of borderline entrapment (e.g. the Christmas Bomb plot in Portland, OR in 2010(?)).
But, and this is the crucial part, all of those plots were carried out by Americans, just like the OK City bombing, the Unabomber bombings, and the stand-offs at Ruby Ridge and Waco. The FBI, as a law enforcement agency tasked with investigations on US soil, as subsequently overwhelmingly of US citizens, has a duty to the people to uphold the Constitution. There are legitimate threats*, but that doesn't mean we need a secret police.
*I happen to think our perception of these threats is wildly exaggerated. We are far more scared of, and devote far more money to, terror attacks than their frequency and lethality deserve.
Ceci n'est pas un sig.
We've got something going on in Phoenix lately that reeks of an FBI plot: they're called the "flashlight bombs". People are finding flashlights in odd places, like in a park, and then when they pick them up and turn them on, they explode, injuring the handler and anyone nearby (the news reports don't say how severe the injuries are). I think one went off yesterday at a Goodwill collection center. The whole thing reeks of being a plant; real terrorists would make bombs far more powerful than this, and planted in crowded places to kill lots of people, not some puny bomb that only injures the one person that unsuspectingly picks it up in an uncrowded place. I wouldn't be surprised if the whole thing was being orchestrated by our government just to keep us scared of "the terrorists" and willing to sacrifice our civil liberties.
And I am sure this is all at a minimal cost to the tax payers. Nothing like spending money we don't have on stuff we don't need.
AS LONG AS THEY USE IT TO GET THE BASTARD TELESCAMERS WHO KEEP CALLING MY CELL.
I'm not sure we have devised a punishment I'm not willing to impose of the fucking bastards.
That's about ALL I can say here, nothing against YOU personally either (In fact, I've often read your posts & commended you on their insights + information you extoll). This time also? Well... I've got to admit you don't sound unfounded, sad to say.
* IF you're correct though? Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me @ all...
I.E.-> Things are getting pretty "nuts" lately's why, & the "powers that be" are reacting, the ONLY way they know how (more changing laws for more "control" etc.) - to me, that's a CLEAR SIGNAL things are getting "outta control" in fact, but... what do I know, right?
I can only TRY to survive the madness N lunacy...
APK
P.S.=> I can only hope that one day we get REALLY TRULY "GOOD" LEADERS (because everything comes from "the top" out there & starts @ home too)... working class guys, not "rich men's puppets" or the rich/wealthy themselves, because I am seeing them behave as no way before it in MY existence @ least (near 1/2 century now) - what do I *think* is the cause? The stockmarket & greed... the want for "MORE POWER/MORE CONTROL" because they KNOW they're running the machine w/out oil & ruining it, but 'who cares, I got MINE' seems to be the order of the day... pitiful and sad! apk
the early days. When Google grew to be a predominant search engine, a backdoor deal was made with the feds. The FBI has access to any searches, email, etc. without a court order. The Feds also have a backdoor entry with Facebook. Here's the kicker, facial recognition software is used to data mine information. If your mugshot is in a national database, then they can monitor your posts and your friends posts on FB to help build a profile on you. College IT Departments get approached by the FBI all the time to install "security systems" on the edge of their network to "protect" them. This isn't to protect the college infrastructure, this is actually used to gleen information about activity of those who have access to network on campus. It's all part of project Echelon. Project Echelon has been in place for a long time.
Yes, terrorists usually take responsibility, the whole point is to send a message.
I think this is a serial bomber who simply takes delight in hurting people, or as you suggest, a Munchhausen FBI mission.
..is worse than America ? Phew.
It is a fact that most police- and other security-type of employees are actually unemployed. So what can they do ? Simple, make their own work. So "Child Porn" and "Copyright Infringement" safely belongs into the Public Works Scheme category.
Don't forget there is lots of pork in the technology side of this. All the SIGINT vendors ejaculate in the vision of deeply inspecting all internet packets. That would be a trillion dollar business, worldwide.
When all of Germany had a nasty secret police it quickly started WW2. Communist Germany then also had a quite effective secret police and a quite efficient economy - by socialist standards. By capitalist standards, East German industry was effectively dead and producing almost nothing useful on free world markets. So their secret police was excellent in suppressing anything economically efficient.
Your argument is a BIG FAIL.
American industry is moving into the crapper by the day while the security apparatus is growing more complicated and overarching also every day. So very much like eastern Germany. Their SIGINT was on par with NSA/CSS then, but their industry was only going due to capitalist west germany granting huge credit lines.
See
http://manfred-bischoff.de/index1.htm