IDG News Service - A NSA spying tool is configured to snoop on an array of privacy programs used by journalists and dissidents, according to an analysis of never-before-seen code leaked by an unknown source.

The code, published as part of investigation by two German broadcasters on Thursday, contains tracking specifications for XKeyScore, a powerful NSA program that collects and sorts intercepted data.

XKeyScore came to light in documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, but some observers believe the latest information -- which adds greater detail on how the agency monitors people trying to protect their privacy online -- may have not come from the documents he passed to journalists.

The broadcasters, Norddeutscher Rundfunk and Westdeutscher Rundfunk, did not reveal their source for the code but claimed in a report that former NSA employees and experts "are convinced that the same code or similar code is still in use today,"

The report describes how the code enables XKeyScore to track users connected to The Onion Router, known as TOR, a network that encrypts data traffic through random servers in order to obscure identification of a web surfer.

TOR, a project initially started by the U.S. Navy, is considered a critical privacy enhancing tool and one that has hampered NSA surveillance in the past.

The report contends the NSA is monitoring two TOR servers in Germany. One is run by Sebastian Hahn, a 28-year-old computer science student at the University of Erlangen. The server, known as a Directory Authority, a critical part of TOR's infrastructure, supplies a list of relays in the network to computers connecting to the network.

The NSA's collection of metadata about people connecting to the server puts those people at risk, the report quoted Hahn as saying.

The NSA also tracks the use of non-public TOR relays, which are supplied to users upon request in countries known to actively block TOR relays, such as in China and Iran, the report said.

Other rules in the code indicate the agency is tracking people who visit public websites for privacy-related projects including the TOR Project; Tails, a privacy-focused portable operating system; and the Linux Journal website, the report alleged.

See original here:
Secret code indicates NSA tracks privacy tool users

By Harmeet Shah Singh and Ben Brumfield, CNN

updated 3:38 PM EDT, Wed July 2, 2014

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

(CNN) -- India has summoned a senior U.S. diplomat over reports the United States authorized its National Security Agency to spy on the ruling party, the BJP, an official said Wednesday.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity.

According to the latest disclosures by NSA leaker Edward Snowden published by the Washington Post on Monday, the NSA obtained legal authorization to spy on the BJP in 2010, when it was the opposition party.

The BJP, or Bharatiya Janata Party, came to national power in May in an electoral landslide.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court approved a broad certification for spying abroad in 2010, which included a list of 193 countries to concentrate on, the Post reported.

The Post reported that the list was a recommendation and that the agency was not required to spy on all of them.

The approval permitted the NSA to intercept communications through U.S. companies related to targets on the list, the report said.

See the rest here:
India summons U.S. diplomat over report of NSA spying ...

Reuters

EYES CLOSED: Anti-spying protesters outside the US Department of Justice in Washington, DC.

Endorsement of the NSA's internet surveillance programs by a bipartisan privacy board has deeply disappointed civil liberties activists while providing a measure of vindication for beleaguered US intelligence officials.

James Clapper, director of national intelligence, welcomed the conclusion by the independent Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board that the National Security Agency's internet spying on foreign targets in the US has been legal, effective and subject to rigorous oversight to protect the rights of Americans.

Activist groups panned the report as a dud.

It was a dizzying turnabout for a privacy board that in January drew criticism in the other direction for branding the NSA's collection of domestic calling records unconstitutional.

As they unanimously adopted their 190-page report, the five board members - all appointed by President Barack Obama - sought to explain their largely favourable conclusions about surveillance programs that have provoked worldwide outrage since former NSA systems administrator Edward Snowden revealed them last year.

At issue is a spying regime, first definitively disclosed in Snowden documents last year, under which the NSA is using court orders to obtain foreign customers' emails, chats, videos and texts from Google, Facebook and other US tech companies under a program known as PRISM. The documents also showed that the agency is intercepting foreign data as it transits fiber optic lines in the US

Yahoo, Apple, Microsoft, Twitter and Facebook did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Google and LinkedIn declined to comment.

The reputations of American technology companies have suffered abroad over the perception that they cannot protect customer data from US spy agencies. Last week, the German government said it would end a contract with Verizon over concerns about network security.

See the original post:
Privacy group gives NSA spying thumbs-up | Stuff.co.nz

Reuters

EYES CLOSED: Anti-spying protesters outside the US Department of Justice in Washington, DC.

Endorsement of the NSA's internet surveillance programs by a bipartisan privacy board has deeply disappointed civil liberties activists while providing a measure of vindication for beleaguered US intelligence officials.

James Clapper, director of national intelligence, welcomed the conclusion by the independent Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board that the National Security Agency's internet spying on foreign targets in the US has been legal, effective and subject to rigorous oversight to protect the rights of Americans.

Activist groups panned the report as a dud.

It was a dizzying turnabout for a privacy board that in January drew criticism in the other direction for branding the NSA's collection of domestic calling records unconstitutional.

As they unanimously adopted their 190-page report, the five board members - all appointed by President Barack Obama - sought to explain their largely favourable conclusions about surveillance programs that have provoked worldwide outrage since former NSA systems administrator Edward Snowden revealed them last year.

At issue is a spying regime, first definitively disclosed in Snowden documents last year, under which the NSA is using court orders to obtain foreign customers' emails, chats, videos and texts from Google, Facebook and other US tech companies under a program known as PRISM. The documents also showed that the agency is intercepting foreign data as it transits fiber optic lines in the US

Yahoo, Apple, Microsoft, Twitter and Facebook did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Google and LinkedIn declined to comment.

The reputations of American technology companies have suffered abroad over the perception that they cannot protect customer data from US spy agencies. Last week, the German government said it would end a contract with Verizon over concerns about network security.

Original post:
Privacy group gives NSA spying thumbs-up

This is the board's second report on NSA spy programs

A U.S. privacy board recently said that the National Security Administration's (NSAs) data collection methods have been effective for security purposes, but also treading on U.S. citizens' privacy in some instances.

According to Reuters,the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board -- whichis an independent government agency established in 2004 that advises the U.S. president and Congress on counter-terrorism operations -- said in a recent report thatthedata collection programallowed the government to collect foreign intelligence "quickly and effectively."

However,some parts of the program have pushed into "constitutional unreasonableness" when it comes to the privacy of U.S. citizens, according to the board.

The board also offered some recommendations so that the program could balance privacy, civil rights and national security better than before.

The NSA has had the spotlight ever since former NSA contractor Edward Snowdenblew the cover on its surveillance programs early last year, which consisted of bulk data collection from sources like phone records, where the government took on a "collect now, filter later" approach.The agency has said that the bulk data collection was meant toidentify terrorist threats, but was discovered that the data of Americans has been collected without any clear evidence of terrorist links.

A presidential review panelmade 46 recommendations regarding greater restraint on the NSA's surveillance programs in December 2013, where one of themajor recommendationsinvolved the elimination ofbulk collection of phone call records.

Source: Reuters

Read the original here:
Report: NSA Spying Program Effective But Pushes Into "Constitutional Unreasonableness

Overbearing Gov #39;t Killing Freedom
David shifts his coverage to the headlines covering the latest on NSA spying on private citizens, the P.R.I.S.M. Program that started the scandal and what we...

By: THElNFOWARRlOR

The rest is here:
Overbearing Gov't Killing Freedom - Video

NSA Spying declared legal by board appointed by Obama
A controversial spying program managed by the National Security Agency is legal, according to a board appointed by President Obama. The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board gave their...

By: NextNewsNetwork

More:
NSA Spying declared legal by board appointed by Obama - Video

The National Security Administration (NSA) headquarters campus in Fort Meade, Maryland.

Image: Patrick Semansky/Associated Press

By Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai2014-07-02 17:00:30 UTC

The NSA Internet spying programs, including PRISM, have been "valuable and effective" in protecting the United States, according to a new report by a U.S. independent government privacy watchdog published on Wednesday.

The bipartisan Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) found that the NSA's collection of Internet data is line with the constitutional and has been key to disrupting terrorist attacks in the U.S. and abroad. The 191-page report focused on Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, the legal basis for NSA's PRISM and other Internet surveillance programs designed to vacuum large amounts of Internet-based communications.

The report, which focused on the programs' effectiveness and whether they strike a balance between protecting American national security and honoring citizens' civil liberties, can be considered a win for the NSA and the intelligence community. In January, another report by the PCLOB found that the NSA bulk phone metadata collection program, used to collect the phone records of virtually all Americans, was illegal and had a "minimal" impact on stopping terrorism.

PRISM and the other Internet surveillance programs, on the other hand, had some impact, according to the report. In 20 cases, Internet surveillance "was used in support of an already existing counterterrorism investigation," while in another 30 cases, the surveillance "was the initial catalyst that identified previously unknown terrorist operatives and/or plots."

In the past, the NSA claimed its Internet surveillance programs had helped foil more than 50 terrorist attacks. This claim was debunked in January by another independent study, this one by the New America Foundation.

The board, which is comprised five members appointed by President Barack Obama, found that, in general, the programs have "reasonable" safeguards to protect American's privacy rights, but some elements push the surveillance "close to the line of constitutional reasonableness." In particular, the board was concerned about the amount of Americans' data these programs collect "incidentally" and by the rules that allow the NSA and the CIA to search through that data.

Privacy and civil liberties advocates criticized the report, saying it failed to address the NSA's warrantless wiretapping of Internet communications.

Link:
U.S. Privacy Watchdog Says NSA Spying Is 'Valuable and Effective'

Freedom Attacked By Overbearing Government
David shifts his coverage to the headlines covering the latest on NSA spying on private citizens, the P.R.I.S.M. Program that started the scandal and what we can expect for the future of our...

By: TheAlexJonesChannel

View original post here:
Freedom Attacked By Overbearing Government - Video

The Bharatiya Janata Party was one of the six non-US political parties across the globe that the National Security Agency received official permission in 2010 to covertly spy upon, according to the latest document released by former NSA contractor-turned whistleblower Edward Snowden.

According to The Washington Post, the other five political parties that the NSA had authority to spy upon were Lebanon's Amal which has links to Hezbollah, the Bolivarian Continental Coordinator of Venezuela with links to FARC, Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, and National Salvation Front as well as the Pakistan People's Party.

The report comes as preparations are underway for a summit meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama in Washington in September-end this year after nearly a decade America denied Modi a visa and blacklisted him.

The US denied Modi a visa in 2005 over the Gujarat riots, in which over a 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed.

Modi was the Gujarat chief minister when the riots occurred and the US state department invoked a little-known law passed in 1998 that makes foreign officials responsible for "severe violations of religious freedom" ineligible for visas.

Read: Waiting for Greenwald - why India can't stay mute on NSA spying

After the swearing-in of Modi, who led the BJP to a spectacular victory in the general election, Obama in a message vowed to work closely together with the Indian PM "for years to come".

Obama was quick to acknowledge Modi's "resounding" victory in the general elections and extended an invitation to him to visit Washington.

According to top-secret documents Snowden published through the Post on Monday, the US' Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (Fisa) court gave the NSA broad leeway in conducting surveillance upon not only these six political parties but also a list of 193 foreign governments including India and only four countries were off-limits under this programme.

"The United States has long had broad no-spying arrangements with those four countries - Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand," the Post reported on Monday.

See original here:
US spy agency bagged court approval to spy on BJP, India ...