Nsa Contractor Identifies Himself As Source

[boomerangutang]

One result of these major breaches - like Wikileaks and Snowden, is the "Need to Know" parameters get constricted. In other words, whereas before, perhaps x number of agents/agencies/bosses might be kept abreast of a notable development (bomb making cell, etc.) now, things must surely have tightened up considerable. Many fewer people are apprised, and far fewer people can access such info. Not just inter-agency within the US, but also with overseas contacts.

If there are some bad people planning some evil deeds, I'd like pertinent agencies to know about it.

The other side of the equation is; it only takes one screwball to let the cat out of the bag. An example in Thailand: Every time farang experts arrange to bust some dealer (in endangered animal products, for example), the farang know to tell as few Thai as possible, because sensitive info can so readily get leaked, and the bad guys forewarned - and split.

[Publicus]

This goes well beyond domestic surveillance programs and matters of personal privacy.

The theft of this classified vital information and its publication by the Washington Post strikes directly at the national and global security of the United States and its allies throughout the world.

It tells the CCP-PRC, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Syria and everyone else what the United States does and how it does it, what its intelligence priorities are, its successes and its failures.

It is a betrayal of the United States and its allies throughout the world.

It says we spend $52 billion a year on national security, how we spend it, which agencies get how much money, the employees of the agencies and what they do etc etc etc.

Snowden should be tried and shot. And I'm not sure about the Washington Post, which technically also has violated the Espionage Act.

Washington Post Publishes Top Secret 2013 US Intelligence 'Black Budget' Leaked by Snowden

The Washington Post has published the U.S. intelligence community's top-secret "black budget" after obtaining it from former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden.

Barton Gelmman and Greg Miller note that the 178-budget summary "maps a bureaucratic and operational landscape that has never been subject to public scrutiny," adding that it "details the successes, failures and objectives" of the 17 U.S. spy agencies.

In constant dollars, it was roughly twice the estimated size of the 2001 budget and 25 percent above that of 2006, five years into what was then known as the “global war on terror.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/us-intelligence-communitys-top-secret-black-budget-2013-8#ixzz2dNoPEybF

Edited August 29, 2013 by Publicus

[Gomyway]

It made me “The damage, on a scale of 1 to 10, is a 12,” said a former intelligence official.

http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/08/29/20234171-snowden-impersonated-nsa-officials-sources-say

[lomatopo]

U.S. spy network’s successes, failures and objectives detailed in ‘black budget’ summary

The $52.6 billion “black budget” for fiscal 2013, obtained by The Washington Post from former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, maps a bureaucratic and operational landscape that has never been subject to public scrutiny. Although the government has annually released its overall level of intelligence spending since 2007, it has not divulged how it uses the money or how it performs against the goals set by the president and Congress.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/black-budget-summary-details-us-spy-networks-successes-failures-and-objectives/2013/08/29/7e57bb78-10ab-11e3-8cdd-bcdc09410972_story.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/national/black-budget/

[lomatopo]

It is interesting that the U.S. Government has not tried to get a temporary restraining order to prevent news organizations like The Washington Post, who clearly are in possession of top secret/classified documents, which Mr. Snowden allegedly passed to them, from publishing any details?

Or why has the U.S. Government not chosen to get a search warrant to look for and recover these documents from the traitorous organizations?

It seems like the U.S. Government is behaving very irresponsibly in not bringing these traitors to justice.

With the Pentagon Papers, leaked by the man (Daniel Ellsberg) whom Henry Kissinger, President Nixon’s National Security Advisor, called, “ the most dangerous man in America, who must be stopped at all costs”, the Government sought an injunction first against the New York Times, then the Washington Post, from publishing these leaked, top-secret documents. Ultimately ~ seventeen daily newspapers started publishing details of the Pentagon Papers, and the Supreme Court essentially sided with the New York Times.

After the Supreme Court decision, President Nixon (he taped everything ) can be heard saying:

“I want to tell you that I was so damn mad when that supreme court had to come down. First, I didn't like the decision. Unbelievable, wasn't it? You know, those clowns we got on there, I tell you, I hope I outlive the bastards.”

[F430murci]

Didn't Putin say Snowden could stay if he did not leak any more information?

The articles I have seen in last couple if days indicate that Snowden was signing on as high ranking NSA officials and that he took some really sensitive stuff. I am sure Putin is loving his new reading material.

[SinglePot]

Didn't Putin say Snowden could stay if he did not leak any more information?

The articles I have seen in last couple if days indicate that Snowden was signing on as high ranking NSA officials and that he took some really sensitive stuff. I am sure Putin is loving his new reading material.

Yes. good point. I wonder what the answer is.

[simple1]

It is interesting that the U.S. Government has not tried to get a temporary restraining order to prevent news organizations like The Washington Post, who clearly are in possession of top secret/classified documents, which Mr. Snowden allegedly passed to them, from publishing any details?

Or why has the U.S. Government not chosen to get a search warrant to look for and recover these documents from the traitorous organizations?

It seems like the U.S. Government is behaving very irresponsibly in not bringing these traitors to justice.

With the Pentagon Papers, leaked by the man (Daniel Ellsberg) whom Henry Kissinger, President Nixon’s National Security Advisor, called, “ the most dangerous man in America, who must be stopped at all costs”, the Government sought an injunction first against the New York Times, then the Washington Post, from publishing these leaked, top-secret documents. Ultimately ~ seventeen daily newspapers started publishing details of the Pentagon Papers, and the Supreme Court essentially sided with the New York Times.

After the Supreme Court decision, President Nixon (he taped everything ) can be heard saying:

“I want to tell you that I was so dam_n mad when that supreme court had to come down. First, I didn't like the decision. Unbelievable, wasn't it? You know, those clowns we got on there, I tell you, I hope I outlive the bastards.”

The newspaper is obviously already collaborating with US security representatives.

"The Post is withholding some information after consultation with U.S. officials who expressed concerns about the risk to intelligence sources and methods. Sensitive details are so pervasive in the documents that The Post is publishing only summary tables and charts online"

[lomatopo]

New Snowden documents allege U.S. spying on Brazil, Mexico

By Vincent Bevins and Tracy Wilkinson

September 2, 2013, 2:54 p.m.

SAO PAULO, Brazil --New documents leaked by former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden allege that Washington spied on the presidents of Mexico and Brazil, further complicating relations weeks before Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff’s state visit to the United States.

http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-ff-snowden-spying-brazil-mexico-20130902,0,5101419.story

US-Brazil tensions flaring after report that NSA spying program targeted Brazil’s president

By Associated Press, Published: September 2 | Updated: Tuesday, September 3, 6:41 AM

RIO DE JANEIRO — The Brazilian government condemned a U.S. spy program that reportedly targeted the nation’s leader, labeled it an “unacceptable invasion” of sovereignty and called Monday for international regulations to protect citizens and governments alike from cyber espionage.

In a sign that fallout over the spy program is spreading, the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo reported that President Dilma Rousseff is considering canceling her October trip to the U.S., where she has been scheduled to be honored with a state dinner. Folha cited unidentified Rousseff aides. The president’s office declined to comment.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/report-nsa-directly-spied-on-brazil-mexico-leaders-mapped-communications-with-aides/2013/09/01/e5e5505c-1376-11e3-b220-2c950c7f3263_story.html

Brazil, Mexico summon U.S. ambassadors over espionage reports

Sao Paulo, Brazil (CNN) -- Brazil and Mexico summoned U.S. ambassadors Monday after media reports that the United States had spied on their countries' presidents.

"Without prejudging the veracity of the information presented in the media, the Mexican government rejects and categorically condemns any espionage work against Mexican citizens in violation of international law," Mexico's foreign ministry said in a statement.

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/09/02/world/americas/brazil-mexico-nsa-spying/

[lomatopo]

How the NSA Misleads the Public Without Technically Lying

The Wall Street Journal published an important investigation last week, reporting that the National Security Agency (NSA) has direct access to many key telecommunications switches around the country and “has the capacity to reach roughly 75% of all U.S. Internet traffic in the hunt for foreign intelligence, including a wide array of communications by foreigners and Americans.” Notably, NSA officials repeatedly refused to talk about this story on theirconference call with reporters the next day. Instead the Director of National Intelligence and the NSA released a statement about the story later that evening.

http://gizmodo.com/how-the-nsa-misleads-the-public-without-technically-lyi-1238670780

[Sing_Sling]

Oh dear . . . it seems some people don't like being spied on by their friends. Strange that.

I hope the blowback from all of this is massive - the arrogance displayed by the US in this regard is simply astounding

[lomatopo]

Nowadays it is probably newsworthy to report on someone/something the NSA hasn't spied on?

Report: NSA spied on Al Jazeera

The National Security Agency appears to have spied on Arab news network Al Jazeera, according to a Der Spiegel review of documents leaked by whistleblower Edward Snowden.

The NSA also spied on Russian airline Aeroflot, another entity listed has having "high potential as [a source] of intelligence."

Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/319875-report-nsa-spied-on-al-jazeera#ixzz2dmegG4Sd

[lomatopo]

(Perhaps even scarier? The militarization of the police in America is an emerging hot topic, what with outright legalized murder/assassination and seizure of property.)

Drug Agents Use Vast Phone Trove, Eclipsing N.S.A.’s

For at least six years, law enforcement officials working on a counternarcotics program have had routine access, using subpoenas, to an enormous AT&T database that contains the records of decades of Americans’ phone calls — parallel to but covering a far longer time than the National Security Agency’s hotly disputed collection of phone call logs.

“I’d speculate that one reason for the secrecy of the program is that it would be very hard to justify it to the public or the courts,” he said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/02/us/drug-agents-use-vast-phone-trove-eclipsing-nsas.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Synopsis of the Hemisphere Project:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/09/02/us/hemisphere-project.html

Edited September 3, 2013 by lomatopo

[lomatopo]

Report: Secret budget cited 4,000 NSA leaks

Secret intelligence budget files provided by National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden show that the surveillance agency warned in 2012 that it planned to investigate up to 4,000 reports of possible internal security breaches, according to a new disclosure published Thursday.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57600678/report-secret-budget-cited-4000-nsa-leaks/

[lomatopo]

(At least someone is making a buck on this. )

NSA paying U.S. companies for access to communications networks

The National Security Agency is paying hundreds of millions of dollars a year to U.S. companies for clandestine access to their communications networks, filtering vast traffic flows for foreign targets in a process that also sweeps in large volumes of American telephone calls, e-mails and instant messages.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-paying-us-companies-for-access-to-communications-networks/2013/08/29/5641a4b6-10c2-11e3-bdf6-e4fc677d94a1_story.html

[lomatopo]

CIA finds 1 in 5 flagged job applicants come from Hamas, Hezbollah, al Qaeda

An estimated one-fifth of a subset of all applicants for Central Intelligence Agency positions had significant ties to the terror groups Hamas, Hezbollah and al Qaeda, a newly released document from NSA leaker Edward Snowden’s collection revealed Monday.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/sep/2/cia-finds-1-5-job-applicants-hail-hamas-hezbollah-/

And those are the ones we know about.

[SinglePot]

Is Snowden on Twitter?

I'm missing the regular updates on what he's having for breakfast.

[F430murci]

Is Snowden on Twitter?

I'm missing the regular updates on what he's having for breakfast.

You mean what Sergi is having breakfast. Perhaps these are all controlled leaks by Russia in the name of Snowy. Afterglow, Putin made it very clear Snowy could only stay if he did not leak. These leaks seem very purposeful as far as subject matter.

[FDog]

Didn't Putin say Snowden could stay if he did not leak any more information?

The articles I have seen in last couple if days indicate that Snowden was signing on as high ranking NSA officials and that he took some really sensitive stuff. I am sure Putin is loving his new reading material.

Yes. good point. I wonder what the answer is.

That answer could be that he isn't releasing any more documents or information. He may have already released everything and those that are publishing it are going through it to only release information that won't cause direct harm to operatives.

For other posters jumping up and down about Wikileaks being in Putin's pocket, has Wikileaks published anything on this?

[SinglePot]

Don't know. What's that other hero Assange having for breakfast.

Greenwald and Miranda.

Cosy.

[Publicus]

PUTIN: Snowden Is A 'Strange Guy' Who Is In For A Tough Life

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden, who received asylum in Russia, is a "strange guy" who condemned himself to a difficult fate.

"You know, I sometimes thought about him, he is a strange guy," ex-KGB spy Putin said in an interview with state-run Channel One television.

"How is he going to build his life? In effect, he condemned himself to a rather difficult life. I do not have the faintest idea about what he will do next," Putin said

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/putin-snowden-is-a-strange-guy-who-is-in-for-a-tough-life-2013-9#ixzz2dz24I9lL

Edited September 5, 2013 by Publicus

[lomatopo]

Secret Documents Reveal N.S.A. Campaign Against Encryption

The N.S.A.'s Sigint Enabling Project is a $250 million-a-year program that works with Internet companies to weaken privacy by inserting back doors into encryption products. This excerpt from a 2013 budget proposal outlines some methods the agency uses to undermine encryption used by the public.

The agency works with companies to insert back doors into the commercial products. These back doors allow the agency, and in theory only the agency, to gain access to scrambled information that it would not be able to view otherwise.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/09/05/us/documents-reveal-nsa-campaign-against-encryption.html?_r=0

[Scott]

A post containing only a quote has been deleted along with replies.

Edit:

Re-posting a deleted post, will get you suspended. Do NOT post a quote only. It will be deleted.

[mania]

The U.S. government contends that the bulk collection of U.S. phone records is authorized by section 215 of the PATRIOT Act.

If this is their contention, then it is time to abolish this hastily concocted overreaching document with its inappropriate name, aka: Patriot Act

How can a piece of work that so totally tramples the Constitutional Laws that this country is founded on be allowed to stand

for over a decade. It is one thing to hastily claim a need in a moment of terror, it is another to keep it for over a decade as a tool to do things

such as these against US citizens. It is time for this Patriot Act to be seen for what it is & destroyed

How can every call that every American makes or receives be relevant to a specific investigation?"

Edited September 6, 2013 by mania

[lomatopo]

Brazil tries to elude NSA with new cables, satellite

Angered by recent revelations that the United States spied on its emails and phone calls and even its president, Brazil's government is speeding up efforts to improve the security of its communications - and hopefully keep more of its secrets under wraps.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/05/us-usa-security-brazil-spying-idUSBRE98411420130905

[lomatopo]

N.S.A. Foils Much Internet Encryption

By NICOLE PERLROTH, JEFF LARSON and SCOTT SHANE

Published: September 5, 2013

The National Security Agency is winning its long-running secret war on encryption, using supercomputers, technical trickery, court orders and behind-the-scenes persuasion to undermine the major tools protecting the privacy of everyday communications in the Internet age, according to newly disclosed documents.

The agency has circumvented or cracked much of the encryption, or digital scrambling, that guards global commerce and banking systems, protects sensitive data like trade secrets and medical records, and automatically secures the e-mails, Web searches, Internet chats and phone calls of Americans and others around the world, the documents show.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/06/us/nsa-foils-much-internet-encryption.html?pagewanted=all

[lomatopo]

Barack Obama raises possibility of new legislation to curb NSA powers

Barack Obama has raised for the first time the prospect of new legislation to limit the powers of the NSA, the US spy agency caught up in controversy over the sweep of its surveillance operations.

Answering a question at a joint press conference with Swedish prime minister Frederik Reinfeldt on Wednesday, Obama said there were "legitimate questions" about the NSA. He said existing laws may not be sufficient to deal with advances in technology that have allowed the NSA to gather much more data than before.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/04/barack-obama-nsa-powers-laws

[lomatopo]

Hundreds of Pages of NSA Spying Documents to be Released As Result of EFF Lawsuit

In a major victory in one of EFF's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits, the Justice Department conceded yesterday that it will release hundreds of pages of documents, including FISA court opinions, related to the government’s secret interpretation of Section 215 of the Patriot Act, the law the NSA has relied upon for years to mass collect the phone records of millions of innocent Americans.

In a court filing, the Justice Department, responding to a judge’s order, said that they would make public a host of material that will “total hundreds of pages” by next week, including:

[O]rders and opinions of the FISC issued from January 1, 2004, to June 6, 2011, that contain a significant legal interpretation of the government’s authority or use of its authority under Section 215; and responsive “significant documents, procedures, or legal analyses incorporated into FISC opinions or orders and treated as binding by the Department of Justice or the National Security Agency.”

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/09/hundreds-pages-nsa-spying-documents-be-released-result-eff-lawsuit

[Scott]

A post commenting on moderation has been deleted.

[lomatopo]

Microsoft and Yahoo voice alarm over NSA's assault on internet encryption

Two of the world's biggest technology companies, Microsoft and Yahoo, expressed deep concern on Friday about widespread attempts by the US and UK intelligence services to circumvent the online security systems that protect the privacy of millions of people online.

Microsoft said it had "significant concerns" about reports that the National Security Agency and its British counterpart, GCHQ, had succeeded in cracking most of the codes that protect the privacy of internet users. Yahoo said it feared "substantial potential for abuse".

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/06/yahoo-nsa-gchq-decryption-abuse