RE: Here's how to get on the NSA's radar screen

["Richard M. Smith" <rms () computerbytesman com>]

Here's how the Weekly Standard explained NSA's monitoring program:

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/006/569wwiwx.a
sp?pg=2

Beginning in early 2002, the National Security Agency began monitoring
telephone numbers and email addresses discovered in the computers, cell
phones, and address books of captured al Qaeda operatives, and it has
continued to do so, following resultant leads into an expanding, digital
network of terrorism suspects. Even by Risen's account, an overwhelming
majority of the program's targets are located overseas--currently "about
7,000 people" abroad, along with "about 500" other people they've contacted
here in the States. Just the same, because nowadays "many purely
international communications--telephone calls and email messages from the
Middle East to Asia, for example--end up going through telecommunications
switches that are physically based in the United States," eavesdropping on
any call so routed "might be a violation of the regulations and laws
restricting the NSA from spying inside the United States." 

Richard

-----Original Message-----
From: funsec-bounces () linuxbox org [mailto:funsec-bounces () linuxbox org] On
Behalf Of Fergie
Sent: Wednesday, January 11, 2006 7:43 PM
To: mattmurphy () kc rr com
Cc: funsec () linuxbox org
Subject: Re: [funsec] Here's how to get on the NSA's radar screen

Not sure that is necessarily correct, but hopefully any unlawful 'broad-net'
trolling of information will be brought to light (or
not):

[snip]

For 20 years, Tice worked in the shadows as he helped the United States spy
on other people's conversations around the world.

"I specialized in what's called special access programs," Tice said of his
job. "We called them 'black world' programs and operations."

But now, Tice tells ABC News that some of those secret "black world"
operations run by the NSA were operated in ways that he believes violated
the law. He is prepared to tell Congress all he knows about the alleged
wrongdoing in these programs run by the Defense Department and the NSA in
the post-9/11 efforts to go after terrorists.

[snip]

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Investigation/story?id=1491889

- ferg


-- Matthew Murphy <mattmurphy () kc rr com> writes:

Perhaps not for the case of general-purpose filtering, as Richard
incorrectly suggests is taking place.  I do agree that an American
government blindly filtering through data on its own citizens without any
reasonable suspicion what-so-ever would be a huge no-no.

However, in the case of the specific wiretap order issued by Bush (if what
I'm hearing reported in the media is accurate -- a leap of faith to be
sure), it seems only 500 taps were authorized.  It hasn't been very clear as
to whether this is tapping up to 500 people who happen to be communicating
simultaneously, or 500 specific individuals.

[snip]



--
"Fergie", a.k.a. Paul Ferguson
 Engineering Architecture for the Internet  fergdawg () netzero net or
fergdawg () sbcglobal net  ferg's tech blog: http://fergdawg.blogspot.com/


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