Monthly Archives: August 2013

$652 million project ‘GENIE’: U.S. conducted 231 ‘offensive cyberoperations’

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“The revelation is based on a classified intelligence budget provided to the paper by fugitive leaker Edward Snowden, as well as on interviews. Under a $652 million project code-named ‘GENIE,’ US specialists hack foreign computer networks to secretly put them under American control.  This involves placing ‘covert implants’ in computers, routers and firewalls, it said, adding that by year’s end ‘GENIE’ is projected to control at least 85,000 ‘malware’ plug-ins in machines around the globe.  US intelligence services make ‘routine use’ of government-constructed malware around the globe that ‘differs little in function from the ‘advanced persistent threats’ that US officials attribute to China.'”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/08/31/under-652-million-project-code-named-genie-u-s-conducted-231-offensive-cyberoperations-washington-post/

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The Syria vote: Britain’s new mood

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“”There is no evidence that British public opinion has turned isolationist. There is plenty of evidence that it is fed up with the debilitating post 9/11 years of national sacrifice, with the humiliating excesses of US national security policy (not least its abuses of human rights and surveillance), with the unequal burden-sharing among allies and, above all, with the failures of policy. Iraq casts a very long, very dark shadow. As a result, right from the start of its spiralling civil war, Syria has felt like a sacrifice too far. When the latest call to arms came, though it came from a respected American president and was provoked by clearly intolerable war crimes, the answer was a clear one. Enough.”

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/30/syria-vote-britains-new-mood-editorial

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Australian spies participating in global deal to tap undersea cables

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“The British Government Communications Headquarters is collecting all data transmitted to and from the UK and Northern Europe via the SEA-ME-WE-3 cable that runs from Japan, via Singapore, Djibouti, Suez and the Straits of Gibraltar to Northern Germany. Singaporean intelligence co-operates with Australia in accessing and sharing communications carried by the SEA-ME-WE-3 cable which lands at Tuas on the western side of Singapore Island. Access to this major international telecommunications channel via Singapore’s government-owned operator SingTel and the country’s Defence Ministry has been a key element in an expansion of Australian-Singaporean intelligence and defence ties.”

http://www.inverelltimes.com.au/story/1738542/australian-spies-in-global-deal-to-tap-undersea-cables/

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UK Asked New York Times To Destroy Edward Snowden Documents, Request Ignored

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“The British government has asked the New York Times to destroy copies of documents leaked by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden related to the operations of the U.S. spy agency and its British partner, Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), people familiar with the matter said.  The British request, made to Times executive editor Jill Abramson by a senior official at the British Embassy in Washington D.C., was greeted by Abramson with silence, according to the sources. British officials indicated they intended to follow up on their request later with the Times, but never did, one of the sources said.”

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130830/14580024368/uk-asked-new-york-times-to-destroy-edward-snowden-documents-ny-times-ignored-request.shtml

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Glenn Greenwald’s Partner ‘Was Carrying A Stunning Amount Of Sensitive Documents’

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“The Daily Telegraph’s David Barrett tweeted out some of the details from the statement made Friday by Oliver Robbins, deputy national security adviser for intelligence, before U.K. judges. ‘The material seized is highly likely to describe techniques which have been crucial in life-saving counter-terrorist operations, and other intelligence activities vital to U.K. national security,’ Robbins said. ‘The compromise of these methods would do serious damage to U.K. national security and ultimately risk lives.’ The government told The Guardian newspaper that it had ‘no confidence in their ability to keep the material safe.'”

http://www.businessinsider.com/david-miranda-glenn-greenwald-documents-national-security-2013-8

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Syrian Electronic Army: If U.S. Attacks ‘We Will Target All of It’

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“I contacted the group — or at least the people claiming to be part of the group — to ask a few questions and exchanged a series of emails with them. In response, the group followed me on Twitter and responded to one of my direct messages. This only proves the same people that control the Twitter account also control syrian.es.sy@gmail.com.  Below, I pasted my full email correspondence with the group. My questions are printed in bold text. The answers from the alleged Syrian Electronic Army (SEA) representatives are completely unedited.”

http://mashable.com/2013/08/30/syrian-electronic-army-interview/

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Deadly Cyberattacks Highlight the Need for a Cybersecurity Upgrade

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“The Sayano-Shushenskaya hydro-dam disaster was a cyberattack. You can characterize it as an accident in the nature of ‘friendly fire.’ But overall, this cascading wave of destruction was triggered by a bad computer command.  Sayano-Shushenskaya demonstrates the immense scope of destruction that can come from cyberattacks. Indeed, per Gen. Alexander, only nuclear bombs and other weapons of mass destruction can cause more damage, faster, over wider areas. [..] In a speech at the National Press Club, Napolitano stated that the U.S. ‘will, at some point, face a major cyber event that will have a serious effect on our lives, our economy and the everyday functioning of our society.'”

http://dailyreckoning.com/deadly-cyberattacks-highlight-the-need-for-a-cybersecurity-upgrade/

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Hacker: US government tricked Anonymous into attacking foreign targets

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“Just as a former member of Anonymous accuses the United States government of coercing hackers to do their dirty work in America’s cyberwars, the sentencing hearing for the group’s alleged ex-ringleader has been mysteriously delayed yet again. News has surfaced that the hacker-turned-informant who compromised the underground movement for the FBI and helped facilitate Hammond’s arrest will remain free for now.  Hector Xavier Monsegur, a single father from New York involved with a number of high-profile hacks carried out by Anonymous and its offshoots, pleaded guilty to a dozen criminal counts two years prior and stands to face more a maximum sentence of more than 124 years.”

http://rt.com/usa/anonymous-sabu-hammond-sentence-910/

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Microsoft and Google to sue over U.S. surveillance requests

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“The companies announced the lawsuit on Friday, escalating a legal battle over the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (Fisa), the mechanism used by the National Security Agency (NSA) and other US government agencies to gather data about foreign internet users. Microsoft’s general counsel, Brad Smith, made the announcement in a corporate blog post which complained of the government’s ‘continued unwillingness’ to let it publish information about Fisa requests.  The companies denied the NSA had ‘direct access’ to their systems but said they were legally unable to disclose how many times they have been asked to provide information on users.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/08/31/microsoft-and-google-to-sue-over-u-s-surveillance-requests/

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Snowden reveals US intelligence’s black budget: $52.6 billion on secret programs

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“Despite the hefty cost of operating the secret operations amid sequestration, excerpts from the summary leaked by Snowden show that the US still has significant setbacks keeping it from achieving its intelligence goals.  For one, the disclosure in and of itself demonstrates the intelligence community’s inability to prevent sensitive information from being leaked.  For those nations of upmost interest, the intelligence community is investing heavily on ‘offensive cyber operations’ launched by the CIA and NSA to hack foreign competitors, steal data and sabotage servers, at a time when, domestically, so-called cybercriminals are prosecuted at an alarming rate for comparably less harsh crimes.”

http://rt.com/usa/snowden-leak-black-budget-176/

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