Category Archives: NSA Spying

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? The NSA

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NSA Director Keith Alexander is on the guest list for the White House state dinner.

President Barack Obama has been fending off international criticism about the NSA spying on foreign leaders, but French President Francois Hollande must not mind as much, as NSA Director Keith Alexander is on the guest list for Tuesday's banquet honoring the visiting leader.

It might not have been a good idea to have Alexander drinking wine in the same dinner party if the guest instead was German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has beenoutraged in recent months following reports that the NSA monitored her phone.Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff canceled her state visit to the U.S. in 2013 following reports that the NSA spied on her phone calls.

[ALSO:White House Calls on Colbert and Cooper for French Fling]

No reports have indicated whether the NSA monitored Hollandes phone calls, but the French president seemed at ease speaking about U.S. surveillance during a joint news conference with Obama on Tuesday. Hollandes visit with Obama is an effort by the two leaders to show a stronger international partnership following tensions that spiked during the Bush administration, when France refused to join the U.S. in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Hollande said during the news conference on Tuesday that he and Obama are increasing their partnership in the fight against terrorism and "mutual trust has been restored" between the leaders following the NSA spying reports.

"Mutual trust must be based on respect for each other's country, but also based on the protection of private life, of personal data," Hollande said.

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Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? The NSA

A Deeper look into NSA spying: Watch Jacob Applebaum Videos

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This post originally appeared on securitycurrent.

The reactions to the depth and scope of the NSAs surveillance apparatus has varied from ho-hum, thats their job, to OMG its the end of the world as we know it! Somewhere in the middle is the slow-boil rage that is going to transform the IT industry.

If you are of the ho-hum mindset that is perplexed at the outrage, even looking down at those that are so naive in their surprise at NSA surveillance, you should watch these videos of Jacob Applebaum.

Applebaum is a security researcher best known for his involvement with the anonymizing Tor network but also famous for breaking Apples File Vault encryption system. He came under the spotlight for his advocacy of Wikileaks, which reportedly led to his Twitter account being subpoenaed by the US Justice Department in 2010. Applebaum has been subject to numerous detentions at US borders; every travelers nightmare expectation. He believes that he is under constant surveillance and that his apartment in Berlin, where he resides now, was subjected to a black-bag job.

With that as background watch this presentation at the recent Chaos Computing Conference in Germany. Applebaum itemizes some of the more spooky capabilities of the NSA that appeared in a seminal article in Der Spiegel the same day. It was an article that he helped write as he is one of the few technical people who has had access to the trove of Snowden documents.

[Note: Contains Classified Material]

Watch it to the end. Your lack of surprise will begin to turn to shock.

Next watch this meeting which occurred at the Whitney Museum of Art in April, 2012, well before the Snowden June 6 revelation of the NSAs secret collection of meta data from Verizon. Jake Applebaum interviews Bill Binney, one of the ThinThread whistleblowers. ThinThread was a data capture and analysis project of the NSA that was abandoned post 9/11 in favor of TrailBlazer.

Binneys presentation skills are no match for Applebaums but pay particular attention to the clips they show of Congressional testimony. Remember, this is prior to Snowden.

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A Deeper look into NSA spying: Watch Jacob Applebaum Videos

Debate over NSA spying makes for political odd couples

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The debate about whether to continue the dragnet surveillance of Americans' phone records is highlighting divisions within the Democratic and Republican parties that could transform the politics of national security.

While some leading Democrats have been reluctant to condemn the National Security Agency's tactics, the GOP has begun to embrace a libertarian shift opposing the spy agency's broad surveillance powers a striking departure from the aggressive national security policies that have defined the Republican Party for generations.

The lines are drawn but not in the traditional way. The Republican National Committee, civil libertarians like Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and liberals like Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren are on one side of the debate. Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, Democratic former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and the House and Senate leadership are on the other side, defending the Obama administration's surveillance programs as necessary to prevent terrorism.

The split in each party could have practical and political consequences ahead of the 2014 midterm elections and the 2016 presidential contest.

Congress may address government surveillance this spring in one of its last major moves before members head home to focus on the November elections. But if Congress punts the surveillance debate to this time next year, it would resurface just as the presidential primary campaigns are beginning.

At issue is the bulk collection of millions of Americans' phone records, authorized under Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act. Details of the program were secret until June when a former NSA systems analyst, Edward Snowden, leaked classified documents that spelled out the monumental scope of the government's activities. The bulk collection provision in the law is set to expire June 1, 2015, unless Congress acts to renew or change the program sooner.

More than a decade after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Americans have become less willing to support invasive surveillance tactics in the name of national security. Recent polls show a sharp decline in public support for the NSA programs created under George W. Bush and continued under Obama.

The Obama administration justifies the surveillance program, in part, by pointing to Congress' continued approval and support. But the president also has called for some changes in an effort to win back public trust that would provide more privacy protections and transparency but not end the program completely.

Clinton, the overwhelming Democratic favorite should she seek the presidency, has been virtually silent on the NSA debate for months. Last fall she called for a full, comprehensive discussion about the practices but also defended the surveillance: From my own experience, the information-gathering and analyzing has proven very important and useful in a number of instances, she said. A Clinton spokesman declined further comment last week.

Paul, a prospective Republican presidential hopeful and tea party favorite, contrasted Clinton's position with his own aggressive opposition to Bush-era intelligence programs, as polls suggest that a growing majority of Republicans tea party supporters in particular are deeply skeptical of the federal government.

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Debate over NSA spying makes for political odd couples

NSA Spying Highlights Political Divide

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WASHINGTON (AP) The debate about whether to continue the dragnet surveillance of Americans' phone records is highlighting divisions within the Democratic and Republican parties that could transform the politics of national security.

While some leading Democrats have been reluctant to condemn the National Security Agency's tactics, a growing number of Republicans have begun to embrace a libertarian shift opposing the spy agency's broad surveillance powers a striking departure from the aggressive national security policies that have defined the Republican Party for generations.

The lines are drawn but not in the traditional way. The Republican National Committee, leaders of the party's libertarian wing like Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and liberals like Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren are on one side of the debate. And Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, Democratic former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and the House and Senate leadership are on the other side, defending the Obama administration's surveillance programs as necessary to prevent terrorism.

The split in each party could have practical and political consequences ahead of the 2014 congressional elections and the 2016 presidential contest.

Congress may address government surveillance this spring in one of its last major moves before members head home to focus on the November elections. But if Congress puts off the surveillance debate to this time next year, it would resurface just as the presidential primary campaigns are beginning.

At issue is the bulk collection of millions of Americans' phone records, authorized under Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act. Details of the program were secret until June when a former NSA systems analyst, Edward Snowden, leaked classified documents that spelled out the monumental scope of the government's activities. The bulk collection provision in the law is set to expire on June 1, 2015, unless Congress acts to renew or change the program sooner.

More than a decade after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Americans have become less willing to support invasive surveillance tactics in the name of national security. Recent polls show a sharp decline in public support for the NSA programs created during the administration of Republican President George W. Bush and continued under Democratic President Barack Obama.

The Obama administration justifies the surveillance program, in part, by pointing to Congress' continued approval and support. But the president also has called for some changes in an effort to win back public trust that would provide more privacy protections and transparency but not end the program completely.

Clinton, the overwhelming Democratic favorite should she seek the presidency, has been virtually silent on the NSA debate for months. Last fall she called for a "full, comprehensive discussion" about the practices but also defended the surveillance: "From my own experience, the information-gathering and analyzing has proven very important and useful in a number of instances," she said. A Clinton spokesman declined further comment last week.

Paul, a prospective Republican presidential hopeful and favorite of the small government tea party movement, contrasted Clinton's position with his own aggressive opposition to Bush-era intelligence programs, as polls suggest that a growing majority of Republicans tea party supporters in particular are deeply skeptical of the federal government.

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NSA Spying Highlights Political Divide

Chicago-based law firm responds to report of NSA spying

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Chicago-based law firm, Mayer Brown says there is "no indication" that any spying occured "at their firm" in regrads to NSA spying and surveillance.

Mayer Brown, the Chicago-based law firm cited in a weekend report about National Security Administration spying, has issued a statement that stops short of an outright denial that its communications were under surveillance but says there is no indication that any spying occurred at the firm.

Citing a February 2013 document obtained by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, the New York Times on Sunday reported that the NSA was notified that the Australian Signals Directorate, its Australian government counterpart, was conducting surveillance of trade talks, including communications between Indonesian officials and an American law firm that the Indonesians had retained for help in the trade talks.

According to the document, the NSA was alerted by the Australian agency that information covered by attorney-client privilege may be included in the surveillance, but that after consulting with the NSA counsels office, the Australians were able to continue to cover the talks, providing highly useful intelligence for interested U.S. customers.

The document did not identify the law firm, but Mayer Brown was advising the Indonesian government at the time, according to the New York Times. Records filed with the U.S. Senate indicate that the firm lobbied in 2012 on behalf of the Specialty Tobacco Council in Winston-Salem, N.C., and the Indonesian clove cigarette maker P.T. Djarum.

Responding to the report, Mayer Brown said in a statement late Sunday night: There is no indication, either in the media reports or from our internal systems and controls, that the alleged surveillance occurred at the firm.

Asked by the Tribune whether the firm was saying that there was no evidence of spying at the firm, or that there was no evidence of spying of the firm, a Mayer Brown spokesman responded: At the firm.

The Mayer Brown statement also said, Nor has there been any suggestion that Mayer Brown was in any way the subject of the alleged scrutiny. Mayer Brown takes data protection and privacy very seriously, and we invest significant resources to keep client information secure.

The issue of who was the subject or target of the surveillance may be important because the NSA is not allowed to target Americans for warrantless surveillance, but it can intercept communications between Americans and foreign intelligence targets abroad, including attorney-client conversations.

The NSA would not comment specifically on the case, but said that the intelligence agency has procedures in place to protect the privacy of Americans.

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Chicago-based law firm responds to report of NSA spying