Discovering NSA Code Names Via LinkedIn

Okian Warrior writes with this news as reported by TechDirt: "The Washington Post revealed some of the code names for various NSA surveillance programs, including NUCLEON, MARINA and MAINWAY. Chris Soghoian has pointed out that a quick LinkedIn search for profiles with codenames like MARINA and NUCLEON happens to turn up profiles like this one which appear to reveal more codenames: 'Skilled in the use of several Intelligence tools and resources: ANCHORY, AMHS, NUCLEON, TRAFFICTHIEF, ARCMAP, SIGNAV, COASTLINE, DISHFIRE, FASTSCOPE, OCTAVE/CONTRAOCTAVE, PINWALE, UTT, WEBCANDID, MICHIGAN, PLUS, ASSOCIATION, MAINWAY, FASCIA, OCTSKYWARD, INTELINK, METRICS, BANYAN, MARINA.' TRAFFICTHIEF, eh? WEBCANDID? Hmm... Apparently, NSA employees don't realize that information they post online can be revealed."

Comments

A fleeting moment of rich irony.

[Picass0]

>> "Hmm... Apparently, NSA employees don't realize that information they post online can be revealed."

I admit to laughing at this.

Re:A fleeting moment of rich irony.

[Bob the Super Hamste]

First thing I thought was pay back is a bitch.

Re:A fleeting moment of rich irony.

[icebike]

>> "Hmm... Apparently, NSA employees don't realize that information they post online can be revealed."

I admit to laughing at this.

Or perhaps these are designed and planted to attract people interested in these acronyms and program names to lure them into some sort of trap, or merely to record who looked at these profiles.

Ah, ok, I'll go take my meds now. Latr, but remember: fcsjkeaw jlcekfw6eh ae nasje ki4tsvt!

Re:A fleeting moment of rich irony.

[Cenan]

There are at least two confirmed idiots working for the NSA [1], it's not that much of a stretch to think there's more where they came from.

Re:A fleeting moment of rich irony.

[SJHillman]

People will keep looking until they find something. Give them what they wanted to find and they'll stop looking.

Re:A fleeting moment of rich irony.

[Anonymous Coward]

I would love someone to make a site where we can collect and collate public information about NSA and other government employees.

Re:A fleeting moment of rich irony.

[Cenan]

Congress will keep looking until it's too much like work and they give up. Give them anything and they'll stop looking. From there it's just the whistleblowers that are left

Fixed to reflect new data.

Re:A fleeting moment of rich irony.

[Will.Woodhull]

These idiots have some level of access to the assets that the NSA is developing.

And that is reason enough to shut the NSA down completely, and charge its career bureaucrats with criminal negligence wrt corruption of the US Constitution which they are supposed to be protecting.

If the NSA can allow these idjits to mess around, then how many of their other, more intelligent, personnel have found ways to make a little cash on the side by selling the kind of stuff Snowden has given away?

Re:A fleeting moment of rich irony.

[dywolf]

first thing i thought was red herring

Re:A fleeting moment of rich irony.

[fustakrakich]

"Recruiters"... That's like their HariKrishna department, right?

Re:A fleeting moment of rich irony.

[Anonymous Coward]

First thing I thought was pay back is a bitch.

Yeah, because knowing there's a project called "DISHFIRE" is so utterly helpful to figuring out what they're doing. Because we all live in conspiracy theorist wish fulfillment movies where this one grizzled screwball is screaming about how he knew there was something called "DISHFIRE", and why didn't we believe him before, and now we can stop it... somehow... whatever it is.

On a side note, though, "DISHFIRE" is an incredibly hilarious name for just about any project.

Re:A fleeting moment of rich irony.

[pegr]

Submitted earlier with a better headline. (sigh)

No, the gotcha is not revealing project code names. Why post code names if the names are secret? The gotcha is...(ahem)

REVEALING THE NAMES OF ANALYSTS WITH ACCESS TO TOP SECRET PROJECTS!

Re:A fleeting moment of rich irony.

[richlv]

wikileaks might accept such a collection...

Re:A fleeting moment of rich irony.

[ganjadude]

Pretty much. Once we have the names of a program. we can submit FOIA requests on them. thats one of the catch 22s with FOIA. you have to know what you are looking for, you cant just say "I want all the info on the NSA spying on americans" you need to say" I want all information on codenameA codenameB codenameC." will they give it? doubtful but its a start.

Re:A fleeting moment of rich irony.

[Cenan]

The woman who runs the blog elaborates on that in a later post, she says they claimed they have 55 years of experience between them at the NSA. They're recruiters in the sense that they work for NSA and were assigned to go there, not that that is all they do.

Re:A fleeting moment of rich irony.

[Dishevel]

fcsjkeaw jlcekfw6eh ae nasje ki4tsvt!

Hey!

This is /.
ROT 13 and its multiples are the only acceptable encryption types to be used here.
So.
ROT 0
ROT 13
ROT 26
ROT 39 and so on.
Get your semi effective encryption out of here.

Re:A fleeting moment of rich irony.

[Razgorov Prikazka]

>first thing i thought was red herring ...And then you changed your linkedin profile, and posted this huh?

Re:A fleeting moment of rich irony.

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, because knowing there's a project called "DISHFIRE" is so utterly helpful to figuring out what they're doing. Because we all live in conspiracy theorist wish fulfillment movies where this one grizzled screwball is screaming about how he knew there was something called "DISHFIRE", and why didn't we believe him before, and now we can stop it... somehow... whatever it is.

The names are mostly random because they don't necessarily bear any resemblance to the projects.

But having a publicly-trawlable bunch of data that links real-world humans, their real-world qualifications, and the projects that they've been read in on, however, is precisely the sort of social graph that an adversary could use to figure out what the codenamed projects are actually all about.

If there are dozens of cunning linguists and digital signal processing experts working on DEATHSTAR, and all the people who list MSPACMAN happen to have oceanography backgrounds or prior experience at companies that make precision optics, it doesn't take a genius to see that despite their names, DEATHSTAR is the project that's more likely to be NSA Line Eater, and MSPACMAN the project that involves sharks with frickin' lasers on their heads.

Re:A fleeting moment of rich irony.

[1s44c]

I laughed until I realized that these are the people who have legal permission to force IT giants to do whatever they want.

The world is screwed.

Re:A fleeting moment of rich irony.

[1s44c]

DISHFIRE is just the NSA's experimental fast dishwasher project. It cost $10 Billion and doesn't actually work.

Or it might actually be something to do with satellite dishes.

Re:A fleeting moment of rich irony.

[Sir_Sri]

REVEALING THE NAMES OF ANALYSTS WITH ACCESS TO TOP SECRET PROJECTS!

That, and a lot more is easy to find now that the NSA data centres are off in the middle of no where.

When your major work is done in major metropolitan places this is hard, but in bluffdale Utah this is super easy. Look for the expensive houses on the land registry and being publicly listed. Anyone who doesn't have any obvious source of a big income works on something important at either camp williams or the NSA data centre. You have their house, spouse(s), kids, kids schools everything. All with public information.

Small towns are incredibly easy to infiltrate for this sort of thing. If you want to know who is most vulnerable all you need is the local pimp and an employee at the local credit union and you can find everything you need about enough people in the town to get everything you want.

There are other things you could look for too. Who has the fastest internet service, who gets a lot of computer parts packages from newegg etc. Who frequents the expensive restaurants, who drives the newest most expensive cars? If you want to figure out who the special forces guys are in any western country, go to the city where their training base is are and look for sports cars. (Gurkha's obviously not until recently as they weren't paid enough for sports cars).

Re:A fleeting moment of rich irony.

[Anonymous Coward]

I was performing the job of cunning linguist just last night, but I work on Ms. Pacman, not the death star.

Re:A fleeting moment of rich irony.

[dkf]

first thing i thought was red herring

My first thought was "anchovy" (and so my second thought was "pizza!") but then I read the list again more carefully.

Re:A fleeting moment of rich irony.

[Whorhay]

It's even more asinine than that. You have to specify the document exactly that you want. So if you want a copy of an email you need to specify the subject, to and from, time and date, and who knows what else. If there is anything that does not match exactly they can reply that no such document exists and leave it at that.

Re:A fleeting moment of rich irony.

[mysidia]

The NSA is exempt from the FOIA. You're best off to wait 20 years and submit a Mandatory Declassification Review request.

But unfortunately; i'm sure you can't just use a project codename, you have to request specific documents for the request to be valid.

You can use FOIA requests to ask for list of document names, to inform further requests

Re:A fleeting moment of rich irony.

[Luyseyal]

Heh, someone the other day was trying to convince me about the 1970s speech recognition program. I was rather skeptical. Glad to see I'm not the only one.

-l

Re:A fleeting moment of rich irony.

[adamchou]

Bwahahhaha....

If there are dozens of cunning linguists

ok, I need to grow up

Re:A fleeting moment of rich irony.

[readingaccount]

The world isn't screwed. YOUR country is screwed. And although there are many exports that I enjoy from your country (such as Game of Thrones and Valve games), if it collapses the rest of the world will adapt.

Re:A fleeting moment of rich irony.

[bogjobber]

Bluffdale is a bedroom community for Salt Lake City and Utah county. That Wired story played up the "out in the desert" part for dramatic effect. It's a half mile from a commuter rail station and about a mile from Adobe's Utah campus.

Re:A fleeting moment of rich irony.

[Vintermann]

It isn't just the names that are revealed. You can infer from the profiles quite a bit of information about what these programs are used for. Take quotes like these (from various public posts):

Utilized ANCHORY/MAUI reporting database to correlate and verify target selections.
Utilized AIRGAP for discovery of priority targets within the missions AOI.
Used Marina as a tracking and pattern of life tool on selected targets within the missions AOI.
Used Marina as a raw SIGINT data viewer for detection and analysis of priority targets.
Used HOMEBASE as coordination and tasking tool with other DNI analysts.

Re:A fleeting moment of rich irony.

[jeffkoch]

> dozens of cunning linguists and digital signal processing experts working on DEATHSTAR

Yes, you might be able to deduce the general nature of the program. But specific capabilities are what is important.

Re:A fleeting moment of rich irony.

[romons]

Or, you have located all the crack cooks in the area.

Sounds like FOIA time

[Bob the Super Hamste]

To me this sounds like it is time to file a bunch of freedom of information act requests. The bigger question is what if anything will the media do with this newf ound info.

Re:Sounds like FOIA time

[Anonymous Coward]

They will await further orders from the administration on how best to cover this up.

Re:Sounds like FOIA time

[Anonymous Coward]

What will the media do??? Seriously, did you just get off the bus from Neptune?

The US media will roll right by this and obsess over the latest trial of the century or simply fill air space with feel-good, content free packages about people "making a difference".

Re:Sounds like FOIA time

[alphatel]

To me this sounds like it is time to file a bunch of freedom of information act requests. The bigger question is what if anything will the media do with this newf ound info.

I requested more info for you, here is some you should enjoy
http://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/716069/boozallenhamiltonnsa.pdf

Apparently Booz employees forgot that their cloud documents are.... well, public

Re:Sounds like FOIA time

[pellik]

My bet is they will talk about Snowden some more.

Re:Sounds like FOIA time

[pellik]

That pdf is just someone copy/pasting keywords they recognize but apparently don't understand. For example they are looking for experience with penetration testing, and then the next requirement is pen testing. Reverse Engineering comes up twice in the same list. It's so repetitive that I'm just not sure I can believe this is a legitimate document of any sort.

Re:Sounds like FOIA time

[PopeRatzo]

The bigger question is what if anything will the media do with this newfound info.

Considering how the press reacted to Edward Snowden's revelations, they will probably ask the question, "Should LinkedIn be prosecuted for leaking this information?" and, "Is LinkedIn a traitor?"

Re:Sounds like FOIA time

[canadiannomad]

Obviously they aren't checking LinkedIn enough.... They will need to re-double their efforts to make sure we are safe from the terrororororists. And while they are at it they may have to disappear a few people, since they didn't make it to an enemy state.

Re:Sounds like FOIA time

[dbIII]

From your description it sounds like something that could have been put together by just about anybody in HR on the planet on a bad day. Cutting and pasting while distracted by Facebook games seems to be the job description of many.

Re:Sounds like FOIA time

[turp182]

There are grammatical errors as well, the word "suit" was used when "suite" should have been, my mind tripped over the error.

Are all of these acronyms?

[Arancaytar]

Because if so, how is it even possible for someone at the NSA to get this bored while listening to everyone's phone calls?

Re:Are all of these acronyms?

[SJHillman]

The government retains a crack team of acronymists. They spend days laboring over each acronym making it perfect. Some examples

MANPADS (Man-portable air defense system)
DILDO (Direct Input Limited Duty Officer)
ASSBAG (Airframe Structure Support Boeing Advisory Group)

**I didn't make these up, there are sources for them but that would take more effort than Slashdot is accustomed to. Plus I accidentally closed those tabs already.

Re:Are all of these acronyms?

[Anonymous Coward]

He really DIDN'T make these up. Google works fine: ASSBAG

Re:Are all of these acronyms?

[bunkymag]

Ctrl-Shift-T for future reference

code names are:

[Anonymous Coward]

unclassified

Simple explanation

[Sparticus789]

Project code names are not classified, ever. Every project has a unclassified code name like any of the above which can be used for things like budgeting and frankly, resumes. A guy I know tried to get "FLUFFY BUNNY" approved as a code name, but they denied it. The easy way to tell, is that unclassified code names are single words chosen by a random computer word generator, and the classified code names are always 2 words, chosen again by a random computer word generator.

While this may be interesting, the reality of the Fort Meade area is that any job in intelligence, analysis, or IT with a location of Fort Meade or Annapolis Junction, MD is a NSA job. Some of them even post on Craigslist and one time, I had a Facebook add pop up that said "Want an NSA Clearance?" (not a typo, the company messed up their grammar).

Re:Simple explanation

[TheNinjaroach]

Want an NSA Clearance?

That grammar is not incorrect. Phonetically, the "N" begins with a vowel sound so "an NSA" is correct.

Re:Simple explanation

[heypete]

I had a Facebook add pop up that said "Want an NSA Clearance?" (not a typo, the company messed up their grammar).

According to Purdue, words that start with consonants may be preceded with "an" if they have a "vowel sounds". They give the example of "an MSDS" and "an SPCC". Similarly, words that start with vowels but have consonant sounds use "a".

I'm no expert in grammar, but it seems possible that "an NSA clearance" may be correct.

Any experts want to chime in?

Re:Simple explanation

[H0p313ss]

The easy way to tell, is that unclassified code names are single words chosen by a random computer word generator, and the classified code names are always 2 words, chosen again by a random computer word generator.

That doesn't match my experience, but times change.

Re:Simple explanation

[Sparticus789]

Simple answer, yes. Complex answer, sometimes the project managers want a hip and cool project name so they try to come up with a generic term for their project that is similar to what the project does. The project name has to go through a CAO (classification advisory officer), of which there are 20-25 at any given time. They are always people in positions that can be named to the public, so any name of an individual on the NSA website is a CAO. Like the Director of the NSA or the division chiefs. The CAO determines whether or not the project name gives away too much information about the details of the project.

In all reality, all of those project code names are probably one specific type of information that just came from different sources. Pinwale is e-mails. So one of them is a database of foreign HF intercepts, another is a database of foreign-bound cell phones, one is a database of every phone call made by political opponents of the administration, etc.

Re:Simple explanation

[BForrester]

You're mostly right.
  - "Want a NSA clearance?" is incorrect.
  - "Want an NSA clearance?" is better.
  - "Want NSA clearance?" would be better still. There's no need for an article at all.

Re:Simple explanation

[TheCarp]

I took french in High school, where consonant endings can run into the next word if it beings with a vowel sound (not just letter). In fact, even if the preceeding word has a silent consonant (the french seem to love silent consonants) they will pronounce it to make the connection.... So it always annoys me listening to the local NPR station as the restaurant "Chez Henri" is pronounced "Shay Enri", which would normally be correct for each word but, when taken together it should be pronounced more like a single word "ShayzEnri"

Re:Simple explanation

[Sparticus789]

It was a pretty recent change. Happened after the whole 2005 wiretapping thingy.

Re:Simple explanation

[darthscsi]

So debian release names are unclassified and Ubuntu release names are classified. Makes sense.

Re:Simple explanation

[Sparticus789]

I really wasn't sure, grammar wise. All I knew is that some sub-contractor was so desperate for employees that they posted Facebook ads.

Re:Simple explanation

[Mashdar]

In English, a/an are selected phonetically and are otherwise identical. "An" does not imply plurality (in fact it implies singularity).

Substituting "NSA" for "security" in your examples does make a difference, because "NSA" begins with a phonetic vowel sound, whereas "security" begins with a phonetic consonant.

Articles in English are selected phonetically, not typographically, and thus "an NSA" is correct, whereas "a NSA" is not. This can be confusing to look at, but who ever said English was easy?

Re:Simple explanation

[phantomfive]

If you know the project name, you can make an FOIA request.

Re:Simple explanation

[lgw]

How does "enessay" start with a consonant? "A" or "an" match the sound of the word.

Re:Simple explanation

[Anubis IV]

"Want an security clearance" is incorrect because it produces what is called a "glottal stop": that uncomfortable catching in your throat that you get when two sounds don't flow well together. For instance, if you say "a hour" as they are meant to be pronounced, you'll produce a glottal stop between the "a" and "h". That's why English speakers use "a" and "an" interchangeably depending on what sounds are involved. The "an" is used to avoid the glottal stop in situations where "a" would produce it, which is why proper English would have its speakers say "an hour" rather than "a hour".

Also, as has been pointed out, in English, "a/an" are singular articles that refer to a generic but individual item, whereas "the" refers to a specific individual item. Asking if someone wants "the NSA clearance" would suggest that it was a particular NSA clearance we're talking about, such as my clearance or your clearance. Asking if someone wants "an NSA clearance" would suggest that we're talking about a generic, but singular, NSA clearance, rather than one that belonged to someone already. And, in this case, using "an" instead of "a" is appropriate, since it avoids the glottal stop that occurs when vocalizing "a NSA", since "NSA" begins with a vowel sound.

Re:Simple explanation

[WaroDaBeast]

Chez Henri" is pronounced "Shay Enri", which would normally be correct for each word but, when taken together it should be pronounced more like a single word "ShayzEnri"

It annoys you because you're not familiar with what the letter h actually does in French. Sometimes — remember, this is French, so you'll always have a nice list of exceptions to cram into your brain —, words that begin with an h (1) will mean that there is a glottal stop, word initially.

Try comparing the phrases "sept amis" and "sept héros" and you'll understand what I'm talking about. It's impossible for a native speaker to pronounce the latter "saitero" No, sir, they'll always say "sait'ero".(2)
That weird question mark-looking symbol is the glottal stop I mentioned above. Basically, you block the air going through your throat with your glottis, generating what is called a plosion in linguistics.

If that is still obscure, try comparing with how some English speakers pronounce the word "mutton." While most will say /muh-tn/, some speakers say /muh'n/. You'll know what I'm talking about if you've paid attention to the way British people speak.

I know... French is like, impossible to learn for foreigners. Good thin I'm a native speaker. :D


(1) Quite funny, huh? "An h..." no one would ever want to say "a h."
(2) Because I can't seem to make IPA work in the comments, Ichose to represent the glottal stop with an apostrophe.

Re:Simple explanation

[WaroDaBeast]

You're completely right. Whether we use a or an depends on what sound comes after it. The letter itself doesn't matter, because a letter that is a vowel can sill begin with a consonant sound-wise, and vice versa.

E.g. : "a university" but "an umbrella"

Remember: language is first and foremost spoken. Letters are scriptural elements, and as such, weigh much less in the language balance.

Re:Simple explanation

[a-zarkon!]

That grammar is correct. Phonetically, the "N" begins with a vowel sound so "an NSA" is correct.

FTFY - Grammar police should endeavor to avoid use of the double negative.

Re:Simple explanation

[Em Adespoton]

Technically, "NSA" isn't a word. It's an acronym.

In reality, NSA is one of those terms, like FBI, LASER, MODEM and DVD that are both an acronym and a noun.

As such, the letters are treated as individual words. N is pronounced as "en", which means that "an en ess ay" would be phonetically and grammatically correct.

I think your meaning is correct, but your terminology is a bit fluffy here. In English (as in Romance languages such as French), phonetics trump markup in grammatical use. The letters aren't treated as individual words; the acronym is just treated as a phonetic instead of lexical unit.

This quirk of treating letters as words in acronyms is also why "DVD's" is the correct plural form and "DVDs" is not. Letters of an acronym stand alone. Letters that stand alone are pluralized with an apostrophe-s.

Actually, DVD's is incorrect, as DVD is a noun, and 's on nouns connotes possession by default. Whether you go phonetic (deeveedees) or lexical (DVDs), the plural form has no apostrophe, as apostrophe is used to connote possession in nouns, and alternately as a phonetic marker to indicate absent lexical components in the phonetic transcription (dropped vowels). Thus, "I have many DVDs" is correct, and "The DVD's surface is scratched" is correct. Acronyms are exempt from the contraction clause, as they aren't elisions of two words, but as you say, individual representations of words combined to form a single unit of meaning.

"But wait!" you say: "'Mind your p's and q's' uses apostrophes!" And that's correct. The Chicago style guide (Oxford uses a similar guide, as does APA) states,

Capital letters used as words, numerals used as nouns, and abbreviations usually form the plural by adding s. To aid comprehension, lowercase letters form the plural with an apostrophe and an s.

A good measuring stick for grammatical order of operations is the word "it".

On the other end of things, you often hear idiotic TV announcers using the phrase "an historic". This is not correct, since the word "historic" starts with a consonant-H sound. "An hour" is correct because the H is silent, and the word starts with a vowel sound (it's pronounced like "our").

"This is an historic occasion" is completely correct. Of course, if you pronounce it "This is ahn hisstoric occasion" you're playing in two ballparks at the same time. If you pronounce it "This is an istoric occasion" (as many parts of the world do), you're perfectly fine. Same goes for silent Ys (not Y's, which apart from connoting possession, is also the name of a classic video game).

So, to recap: "An NSA clearance" is correct. "An hour" is correct. "An historic" makes you sound like a tool. And the next retard that uses "impacting" or "impacted" to mean anything other than a collision or a tooth infection gets a bullet.

Would you like your bullets rounded or square?

Re:Simple explanation

[Em Adespoton]

Doh; and after re-reading what I wrote, I'll be the first person to point out that Modem is NOT an acronym; it's short for Modulator-Demodulator and is a contraction -- we should really write it mo'dem or modem' (depending on which style guide you follow).

Re:Simple explanation

[Unordained]

Your explanation is fine, but your example is wrong. The silent 'z' in this case would never make the "liaison". But a silent 't' or 's' might. "Ils sont abondants" would likely be said "ilsontabondan".

Re:Simple explanation

[richlv]

wouldn't "want the nsa clearance" suggest that the is s single clearance to obtain only ?

Re:Simple explanation

[chihowa]

You choose the appropriate article based on how the acronym is pronounced. NSA is pronounced "en es ay", so "an" precedes the "en". NASA is pronounced "na sa", so "a" would precede the "na".

If you pronounced NASA as "en ay es ay", you would use an "an" before it. Try actually saying "a N". It's awkward to say, which is why we say "an N".

Re:Simple explanation

[infinitelink]

: ( Okay: 1. The first IS incorrect. 2. The second is not. 3. The third is not actually better, but an alternative to 2. which, for use of separate grammar, has a totally different meaning. Jus' sayin'. : D

Re:Simple explanation

[godel_56]

You choose the appropriate article based on how the acronym is pronounced. NSA is pronounced "en es ay", so "an" precedes the "en". NASA is pronounced "na sa", so "a" would precede the "na".

NASA is an acronym, but NSA is an initialism. ;)

Re:Simple explanation

[mysidia]

one is a database of every phone call made by political opponents of the administration

Whoa... talk about abuse of power......

sudo make me a sandwich

make: *** No rule to make target `me'. Stop. (What kind of sandwich?)

Re:Simple explanation

[mysidia]

You choose the appropriate article based on how the acronym is pronounced.

That's one style. Abbreviation vocalization.

Word vocalization is also correct.

If you use the first style you get "An NSA ...."

If you use the second style, you look at the first word which is "National", that starts with a consonant sound, so you have "A NSA ...."

Both styles are correct.

What this just goes to show is.... Slashdot's full of grammar Nazis :)

Re:Simple explanation

[turp182]

My kids are terribly confused about C and K when it comes to spelling. It took their frustration for me to realize how difficult English is...

Re:Simple explanation

[mirix]

Modem is a sort of 'syllabic abbreviation'. There aren't too many in english outside of the army/spooks (COINTELPRO for one, to be sort of on topic).

They're more popular in German, Russian, etc. Gestapo, Stasi, vopo, komsomol, spetsnaz, gazprom, etc

I kind of like them because you can infer slightly more of what the thing is/does than through an acronym.

Re:Simple explanation

[gravious]

minor nitpick, re: (1) ... depends if you pronounce h as aitch or haitch - both are current usage where I come from :)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H

Re:Simple explanation

[Vintermann]

sudo make me a sandwich

mysidia is not in the sudoers file. This incident will be reported.

Reported, you hear?!

Re:Simple explanation

[Vintermann]

Interesting. Dishfire is probably older than that, then, since it doesn't sound like a dictionary word.

Database on satellite phones, maybe?

Re:Simple explanation

[WaroDaBeast]

That's gotta be one of the weirdest thing I've read. Well, I realize— WOAH, man! That's a brilliant palindrome you've got in your signature. Briliant and awesome.

So yeah, I realize that, despite having a bachelor's in English, I don't know much about it outside of its American and British dialects.


Congratulations for having surprised the old, blasé dog that I am.

Re:Simple explanation

[Sparticus789]

Some of these programs are OLD! Very old. Like 1970s old.

Re:Simple explanation

[TheCarp]

Really, I could have sworn I remembered that one from class, especially since we made a trip to that very restaurant. Then again, it wouldn't be the only thing I learned in school that later turned out to be in some way incorrect.

Then again, it could just be my memory is bad since it was um, a couple of years ago :)

Re:Simple explanation

[c 0xFF]

But how do you know if NASA is supposed to be spoken as a word or spelled out? For the most part, this is determined by convention, but here's a rule of thumb:

1) Anything that forms an actual word is spoken as a word
2) 2-3 character acronyms are spelled out
3) 4+ character acronyms are spoken as a word

If you're creating long acronyms that can't be spoken as a word (HMMWV comes to mind), expect people to come up with a word that fits (Humvee).

Re:Simple explanation

[cellocgw]

That grammar is correct. Phonetically, the "N" begins with a vowel sound so "an NSA" is correct.

And the math police will point out that "not incorrect" is not identical to "correct." The reason is left as an exercise to the reader.

Re:Simple explanation

[cellocgw]

That grammar is correct. Phonetically, the "N" begins with a vowel sound so "an NSA" is correct.

FTFY - Grammar police should endeavor to avoid use of the double negative.

And the math police will point out that "not incorrect" is not identical to "correct." The reason is left as an exercise to the reader.

sorry -- damn failure to preview, plus /. 's infamous refusal to allow edits.

Re:Simple explanation

[brunnegd]

A vs AN, amazing what rabbit holes discussion groups can wander into. No different than saying THAT when THE would be more appropriate.

Re:Simple explanation

[Mashdar]

Or the when the would be appropriate :)
http://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/the.htm

Black Briar

[Archangel Michael]

Treadstone

Re:Black Briar

[Spy Handler]

Treadstone is all but decommissioned at this point.

But Black Briar... really feel has good traction. It's got legs. It'll run and run.

Missed out the important ones

[Anonymous Coward]

So long as CODE NIGHTMARE GREEN, MAGINOT BLUE STARS, and SCORPION STARE aren't on the list, I'm happy.

Well, happier.

Well, less unhappy.

Re:Missed out the important ones

[lgw]

SCORPION STARE was disappointing anyhow. I want a room where any camera in the panopticon state can be displayed on the wall monitor, and I want a basilisk in that room! Hand camera-weapons just seem so ... everyday.

Re:Missed out the important ones

[GameboyRMH]

GORGON STARE is real.

Re:Missed out the important ones

[KZigurs]

Uhm, these are British codewords. We are discussing the US here, the black chamber have their own codewords.

ARCMAP is not a code name-

[uncwjason]

Awesome! I don't work for the NSA, but I do use ARCMAP....although Esri would prefer it spelled "ArcMap". It's common GIS software, not a NSA program.

Re:ARCMAP is not a code name-

[T.E.D.]

That brings us to three now (ArcMap, Banyan, & NavInt) that are known to not be NSA code names. It would be funny if the entire list was in fact known commercial technical terms and/or government divisions.

Re:ARCMAP is not a code name-

[Em Adespoton]

Well, PINWALE refers to Northrop Grumman's Mission Systems software (not sure which side of the fence that puts it on). Definitely not classified or NSA-centric, but anyone touching a PINWALE system is likely to have some sort of security clearance.

Re:ARCMAP is not a code name-

[oodaloop]

AMHS is not a code name either. It's Automated Message Handling System, a common tool analysts of many kinds use throughout the community (IAA Intelligence Analyst). Intelink is just a website with various tools and info. Kind of silly to list it, IMHO, because everyone should be familiar with it. Job descriptions frequently list tools candidates are expected to use. My resume includes perhaps two dozen. I recognize a few of those names. The name by itself is unclassified. What it does is not. There's nothing wrong with listing them on a job description as long as you don't explain what they do.

Re:ARCMAP is not a code name-

[mysidia]

Awesome! I don't work for the NSA, but I do use ARCMAP....although Esri would prefer it spelled "ArcMap". It's common GIS software, not a NSA program.

But there might be more than one ARCMAP. If you rearrange the letters you get "PAM CAR"

Makes perfect sense.... a mod_car.... CAR module for PAM could have its benefits....

/etc/pam.d/gate auth required pam_car.so plate_models_db=/etc/licenseplate_models_numbers_allow.db

Re:ARCMAP is not a code name-

[Plumpaquatsch]

That brings us to three now (ArcMap, Banyan, & NavInt) that are known to not be NSA code names. It would be funny if the entire list was in fact known commercial technical terms and/or government divisions.

I've been voted down for pointing out that there is a SEO program called TrafficThief.

arcmap

[hackula]

Arcmap is the unofficial name for ESRI's flagship product ArcGIS Desktop.

Re:arcmap

[Anonymous Coward]

Arcmap is the unofficial name for ESRI's flagship product ArcGIS Desktop.

Imagine all the privacy violations ArcInfo is capable of

Re:arcmap

[mjwx]

Arcmap is the unofficial name for ESRI's flagship product ArcGIS Desktop.

Not quite,

ArcMap is a component of ArcGIS. There is an ArcMap.exe.

Re:arcmap

[hackula]

The official name was changed. The implementation in both the software and the marketing materials is extremely slow to catch up though. Source: I work closely with esri on the engineering and business side.

PS: Arcserver is now Arcgis for Server, and Arcgis Online is just called ArcGIS now (they are trying to push the "platform" thing)

Re:arcmap

[mjwx]

The official name was changed. The implementation in both the software and the marketing materials is extremely slow to catch up though. Source: I work closely with esri on the engineering and business side.

PS: Arcserver is now Arcgis for Server, and Arcgis Online is just called ArcGIS now (they are trying to push the "platform" thing)

ArcMap.exe still exists.

Source, I work with ArcGIS, I have it installed on the same desktop I'm writing this on.

Gives me an idea, though

[Anonymous Coward]

I really need a job. So, I figured I could pose as an NSA person. And when a potential employer calls for a reference, they'll just say, "We cannot confirm nor deny that he worked here."

My job description could be ANYTHING. I could make up ANYTHING.

Skilled in intelligence platforms such as: BANANA, MACARONI, METRICS, SAES, SPURIOUS, HEX, SEX, LEXX, PECS.

Programmed in Python, Jython, NSAthon.

Designed and developed a super computer that has broken all records.

Re:Gives me an idea, though

[Anonymous Coward]

Developed a ciphertext-only key-recovery attack on AES-256.

Re:Gives me an idea, though

[Dr_Barnowl]

Developed a plaintext recovery attack for SHA-256

Re:Gives me an idea, though

[Nikker]

Developed Cypertext recovery of all encryption systems to date.

Re:Gives me an idea, though

[1s44c]

Most LOLworthy post so far.

Re:Gives me an idea, though

[TeknoHog]

Skilled in intelligence platforms such as: ... HEX, SEX, LEXX, PECS.

I also listen to Hux Flux and read Henry Miller when I'm not driving my Lexus.

minority report

[beefoot]

> Used a variety of tools and data to provide advanced threat warnings to American civilian, government, and military personnel He can't possible be thinking of getting a better job with that line on his linkedin profile. That's so last-decade.

No. "an" is right.

[Arakageeta]

"The rule is that you use a before words that start with a consonant sound and an before words that start with a vowel sound."

It's all about sound. "N" is pronounced "En." Hence, "an."

Grammar Girl: http://tinyurl.com/nuj8h5a

Re:Just saying Hi!!

[Sponge Bath]

You know who I am.

On the internet, the NSA knows you're a dog.

Re:Just saying Hi!!

[awkScooby]

You know who I am.

Yes, you're a foreigner, until proven otherwise.

POOPOOHEAD

[Anonymous Coward]

FARTKNOCKER, DILLWEED, BUTTMONKEY
etc etc and now some gibberish to get past the filter'ug'ougougui'ivikv'iyf;uy;bljkbknKnkbljgkjbkn:n:HLJjvk/v/k

Re:Someone needs to check their acronyms

[T.E.D.]

BANYAN??? Isn't that the almost extinct government and defence email system, Banyan Vines??

I suspect that's exactly what it is referring to. I noticed at least one other word in that list, (NAVINT), that isn't really a program. NAVINT is just a nice short acronym for Naval Intelligence. It kind of makes me wonder if there isn't some other stuff in there that has nothing to do with classified programs.

Whoever got hold of this communication clearly wasn't really well-versed enough in that kind of work to tell what exactly is a technical term and what is is an actual NSA program.

Re:Someone needs to check their acronyms

[CanHasDIY]

BANYAN???
Isn't that the almost extinct government and defence email system, Banyan Vines??

I was thinking of that hack comedian from the Seinfeld show; you know, the "That's gold, Jerry! GOLD!" guy?

Then I googled it, and found out the character's name is actually Kenny Bania, not Banyan.

Sad now :(

Not the brightest move

[Anonymous Coward]

As has already been mentioned, these code words are not classified. Regardless, I can see how this probably isn't the classiest move from an NSA perspective. I'll bet his profile got him a nice interview with his superiors on using discretion though.
 
Past all that I think this is hilarious, and the timing is cosmic. What will the NSA entertain us with next? I just can't wait.
 
On the side, I wonder how many (if any) potential Snowden types area are lurking in the NSA, ready to explode with the wrong doing they see all around them. I can only hope that there and many and that they do in fact pop.

Re:Not the brightest move

[Will.Woodhull]

On the side, I wonder how many potential Snowden types are are lurking in the NSA, ready to explode with the wrong doing they see all around them.

More disturbing is the realization that there must be others who are like Snowden in terms of access and skills, but are motivated more by individual profit than by altruism. How many secrets of the Snowden type have been sold to whom?

The NSA is a nest of corruption that needs to be burned out, totally destroyed. With those in charge of it sent to prison for allowing such a criminal cesspool to exist within the USA government. These guys have their own secret courts and their own secret laws and lie with impunity to Congress. Why would they not also lie to the White House and the Courts, including their own secret courts?

Re:Not the brightest move

[dbIII]

Even more disturbing is such a military task has been outsourced to a pile of small contracting companies. I'll bet the Chinese government owns a couple of them and have been laughing about it for years.

Re:Disinformation?

[CanHasDIY]

Is this real info or is it disinformation?

My guess is, less than 25% of the terms are real, the rest are well-poison.

Meh

[Impy the Impiuos Imp]

ANCHORY, AMHS, NUCLEON, TRAFFICTHIEF imagine two dozen more, which you will have to, because Slashdot's asinine caps filter prevents them. Then imagine the following in all caps for sarcastic effect:

imagineabootsteppingonahumanfacedotdotdotforever

Re:Michigan

[Impy the Impiuos Imp]

Wtf is right. We haven't gotten this much attention since the Great Lakes Avengers branch.

But he lacks one skill

[Hentes]

All these skills and he still didn't figure out how to turn off capslock.

Re:But he lacks one skill

[Anonymous Coward]

All these skills and he still didn't figure out how to turn off capslock.

Perhaps he is SHOUTING THE ACRONYMS.

Re:Just saying Hi!!

[Quirkz]

Everyone's a foreigner to somewhere, right?

Re:bULL...

[Geirzinho]

On the other hand ANCHORY is an actual NSA system (http://www.fas.org/irp/program/disseminate/anchory.htm)

I guess they use both COTS and in-house developed software at NSA too...

Re:Michigan

[GameboyRMH]

I thought the most telling names were FASCIA and BANYAN.

FASCIA: Immediately makes me think it has something to do with face recognition

BANYAN: Named after a parasitic tree that grows in the cracks of other trees. Uh huh...

Re:Michigan

[GameboyRMH]

Addendum: And I guess ASSOCIATION is too obvious for mention, that's naming as straightforward as an old Microsoft product.

RE: Irony as now google is your pal

[Anonymous Coward]

google

site:.linkedin.com (FASTSCOPE|WEBCANDID|Dishfire|PINWALE)

Re: Irony as now google is your pal

[Em Adespoton]

If you look at the results of that list, you'll see that almost all of them are contractors. Still useful info.

Re: Irony as now google is your pal

[Em Adespoton]

Digging a little deeper, if you refactor the contents of those search results, you get a VERY complete picture of what's going on... for example, PINWALE is the code name for Mission Systems, developed for the Military by Northrop Grumman. Most of the people who developed the system appear to be on LinkedIn :)

That's just a taste; anyone good at graph theory and data mining could probably put together quite a dossier of people and projects based on the public info available through LinkedIn/Google.

Re:Michigan

[CTachyon]

I thought the most telling names were FASCIA and BANYAN.

FASCIA: Immediately makes me think it has something to do with face recognition

BANYAN: Named after a parasitic tree that grows in the cracks of other trees. Uh huh...

FASCIA is actually a real word: the name for the thin sheets of connective tissue that bundle other tissues into tubes. It's not uncommon for someone with arch support problems to pull or tear a muscle fascia in their foot. More ominously, fasciae have previously made it into the news by way of "flesh-eating disease" (necrotizing fasciitis), which is where a bacterial infection (esp. strep or staph) breaches the superficial fascia and uses it to spread quickly under the skin, faster than the immune system can pin it down and mount a credible threat.

Re:Michigan

[GameboyRMH]

I actually thought of the word from this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascia_(car)

OMIGOD prosecute them all

[WOOFYGOOFY]

Because this THIS is revealing state secrets for personal gain, which is worse, much worse than what Manning, Snowden Tice , Drake , Klein, Binney , Kiriakou

http://www.businessinsider.com/nsa-whistleblower-william-binney-was-right-2013-6

Tice,
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/01/21/687340/-Exposed-NSA-Watching-Everything-on-Anyone-Illegally-Updated-x3#

Drake,
http://www.whistleblower.org/action-center/save-tom-drake

Kline,
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9135645/The_NSA_wiretapping_story_nobody_wanted

Kiriakou
http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2013/05/29/imprisoned-cia-torture-whistleblower-john-kiriakou-pens-letter-from-loretto/

Conclusion: you have to be extremely naive or engagged in a career enhancing self-serving thinking process to imagine that universal spying on ordinary Americans won't be used to in the basest way control the internal political trajectory of the nation by the next group of people like Cheney PErle Rumsfeld and Bolton.

Yes something very bad could and probably will happen . Yes we will lose relevant information by not constantly tapping all Americans , The but alternative path is worse. When bad actors get involved, there are often no good paths left.

the NSA does whatever policy makers tell them to do without getting all "philosophical" or "speculative" about whether it's exactly or even slightly legal or not. That's what we know for certain. Anyone able to worm themselves into a position of power - from the analyst level on up, has God power over The Database Of Guilt. Unelected officials - Perle Rice Rumsfeld Abrams Bolton Cohen etc can and will commandeer that database for their own illegal purposes and the NSA will comply because that's what they do. It may already be happening.

This is 100% unacceptable. This is no-go no-matter-what territory.

Re:OMIGOD prosecute them all

[Vintermann]

engaged in a career enhancing self-serving thinking process

That's a nice description of the problem. One of the ever growing tumors of any opaque bureaucracy.

I can just imagine the interview

[reluctantjoiner]

Interviewer: Tell me an example of when X happened and how handled it?

AC: Sorry, that information is unavailable.

Re:I can just imagine the interview

[cellocgw]

Interviewer: Tell me an example of when X happened and how handled it?

AC: Sorry, that information is unavailable.

It's only funny until it happens to you. Try working on restricted programs (classified or simply company secrets/proprietary) and then giving a decent interview response to "what have you done related to XXX subject?"

Re:Just saying Hi!!

[RabidReindeer]

Everyone's a foreigner to somewhere, right?

We prefer the term "potential enemy combatant".

don't realize that information can be revealed...

[Culture20]

Or those tools aren't secret. They're just not public knowledge.

Poor idiot will loose his job

[ad5mqesj]

These are all Unacknowledged programs - meaning their very existence (and code name in most cases) is classified. Posting a public resume listing them is a fairly serious infraction which should result in loss of clearance, loss of employment - and under Obama and Holder the very real possibility of FBI persecution, criminal prosecution, and jail time. Of course, it's always possible these are some sort of Counter Intelligence red herrings, designed to smoke out possible spies. In any case someone is either very stupid, or so clever they outsmarted themselves.

Paste that into Google and this is what you get.

[hazeii]

Kinda surprised this isn't linked yet (as all you need to do is paste the string into Google)

Make of thiswhat you will.

(Do I worry about being woken at 3 in the morning with a gun in my face? Well, yes, I do).

Paste that into Google and this is what you get.

[hazeii]

Kinda surprised this isn't linked yet (as all you need to do is paste the string into Google)

Make of this what you will.

(Do I worry about being woken at 3 in the morning with a gun in my face? Well, yes, I do).

It's probably not all that secret

[mysidia]

There are online references to many; maybe all these names to be found.

ANCHORY www.fas.org/irp/program/disseminate/anchory.htm Jan 29, 1998 - ANCHORY, formerly known as the SIGINT Online Intelligence System, is an NSA database of SIGINT-derived information. Access to the ...

DODIIS AMHS (Automatic Message Handling System) www.fas.org/irp/program/disseminate/amhs.htm Jan 26, 2000 - The Automated Message Handling System (AMHS) provides a user-friendly means to send and receive messages via the Automated Digital ...

http://www.truthliesdeceptioncoverups.info/search/label/Nucleon

Mainway - which predominantly collects unstructured telephone metadata; and,
Marina - which predominantly collects unstructured internet metadata; and,
Nucleon - which analyzes spoken words and emails; and,
Prism - which obtains and analyzes digital data obtained straight from the servers of major telecommunications and internet providers

ArcMap - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ArcMap main component of Esri's ArcGIS suite of geospatial processing programs, and is used primarily to view, edit, create, and analyze geospatial data.

DISHFIRE - http://beyondsof.com/sigint-analyst-tsscici-poly-cied-arcgis-arcview-googleearth/

PINWALE - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinwale

OCTSKYWARD- https://www.google.com/search?q=OCTSKYWARD&aq=f&oq=OCTSKYWARD&sugexp=chrome,mod=17&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

INTELINK - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelink

Re:Someone needs to check their acronyms

[mirix]

And here I was, thinking Bayan.

THAT YOU FUCKER

[ynp7]

"...happens to turn up profiles like this one which appear to reveal more codenames..."

Is it really impossible to find a single motherfucker left on the fucking Internet who knows when to use "which" and when to use "that"?

Re:Michigan

[mellyra]

FASCIA doesn't make me think of any scary diseases ;) - what it reminds me of is:

muscle diagram - Fiber cable diagram #1, Fiber cable diagram #2

Re:Someone needs to check their acronyms

[Vintermann]

Or maybe they just quoted the lot? Seriously, you don't have to be some sort of marine grunt to know what abbreviations like NAVINT means.

MARINA, ANCHORY, COASTLINE

[Dabido]

Well, if that is all it takes to look like you've been on important projects, then I'm adding these to my resume, BEACHBUM, SURFERDUDE, SUNBATHER, SNORKLER, SCUBADIVE, SUNBURN, BOARDSHORTS, WETSUIT, JETSKI, SURFBOARD, YACHTCLUB ... Oh, yeah! I'm 1337 G0v3rnm3n7 \/\/0r|eR!!!