NSA Targeting Domestic Computer Systems

The NSA was originally supposed to handle foreign intelligence, and leave the domestic spying to other agencies, but Presto Vivace writes with this bit from CNET: "'The National Security Agency's Perfect Citizen program hunts for vulnerabilities in 'large-scale' utilities, including power grid and gas pipeline controllers, new documents from EPIC show.' 'Perfect Citizen?' Who thinks up these names?" "The program is scheduled to continue through at least September 2014," says the article.

Comments

Imperfect citizens

[davidwr]

'Perfect Citizen?' Who thinks up these names?"

Answer in subject line.

Re:Imperfect citizens

[K. S. Kyosuke]

I believe that "Perfect Citizen" is the English version of the Russian "novy sovetsky chelovek".

Re:Imperfect citizens

[NoNonAlphaCharsHere]

The same kind of people who dreamed up "Operation Enduring Freedom". At least they got the "Enduring" part right.

Re:Imperfect citizens

[Runaway1956]

I can't speak for AC, but a lot of things in life are different than a video portrayal. Automobile accidents, for instance. I don't watch television much at all, but the most catastrophic accident on television is - just a little messy. Being a first responder even at a relatively minor accident can be unsettling. I've tossed my lunch at major accidents, and had a hard time falling asleep that night. Few people can appreciate an injury as simple as a broken leg, until they put their hands on that broken leg, and can feel how the bone grinds away, cutting muscle and other tissue as it does so.

Naturally, I've never lived through what AC posted. No concentration camps for me, but I can sort of imagine the difference from what we've seen in movies and television. Very different, indeed.

Re:Imperfect citizens

[GumphMaster]

+1 for the sig... best chuckle I've had all morning :)

Multiple missions, people seem to forget that.

[Anonymous Coward]

People seem to forget that Intelligence gathering is only part of NSA's mission.
They are also tasked with ensuring the security of the nations computers, cryptosystems and more recently critical infrastructure. But people will believe what they want to believe, so any more when people ask me if stuff in Enemy of the State is accurate I tell them 100%. They're not likely to believe that no, it could actually take weeks-months to get reliable intel data and it's usually generated by some analyst that's 17-25 years old sitting in some windowless building with a crappy computer.

Re:Multiple missions, people seem to forget that.

[budgenator]

i seriously doubt it would take hours to get intel on joe blow,with all of the technology and power of the government they would know you from seed to coffin in an hour or less.

They can assemble a lot of raw data pretty quickly, but so can anybody; for example I applied for credit at Dell they ask which street I had lived on, one was arround the corner from where I presently lived, two were out of the blue, and the correct answer was where I had lived 40 years ago when I was 10 years old! What we have to remember is raw data isn't information, it's a lot easier to take a person of interest and assemble a dossier from available data, than it is to take the raw data and deducing who the person of interest is. Even with the incredable resources the law enforcement and intelligence agencies have, most cases are broken through serendipity.

Some perspective

[HangingChad]

>hunts for vulnerabilities in 'large-scale' utilities

It's not like they're spying wholesale on American citizens...wait, they're already doing that, too.

I think the whole foreign/domestic spy division is pretty much gone at this point. Not saying it's right, just the reality.

Dual responsibility

[PPH]

The NSA is tasked with collecting intelligence from foreign sources as well as securing US government information systems from attack. As the private entities listed are components of our nation's critical infrastructure, keeping them secure is probably a good idea. I wouldn't wait for Siemens and its ilk to step up to this task.

Its probably not a perfect separation of government, private industry, domestic and foreign intelligence tasks. But since the NSA has the expertise, I say let them help out. Its not like operating utilities and other infrastructure companies isn't already subject to extra regulation and oversight. Its just a shame the SEC/CFTC doesn't keep as close an eye on our banks.

Re:Q&A

[spire3661]

"By your actions, sir, you are risking the future of the human race!" "To guarantee the American way of life... I'm willing to take that risk." ~Spies Like Us

Re:NSA is domestic, you idiots.

[Trepidity]

That's not what its charter says, which restricts it to "foreign intelligence or counterintelligence" and prohibits the NSA "acquiring information concerning the domestic activities of United States persons".