DarkGovernment

A Glimpse Into NSA Monitoring Capabilities

NSA routing internet data thru Amsterdam to monitor U.S. websites and e-mail

Questions remain whether Bush admin approval of Verizon’s MCI takeover was quid pro quo for providing email-phone records to NSA for White House enemies list

Super-secret 5th generation Watercooled Cray computers used by NSA to tap into dial-up, DSL and high-speed broadband internet connections which have satellite voice recognition and keystroke monitoring capabilities

An internet routing plot plan verifying the exact travel of website data has revealed that stories and other communications e-mailed from a Pennsylvania computer to be posted at a server in Tulsa, Oklahoma are first routed into Denver / Colorado Springs and then across the Atlantic to Amsterdam, Holland, back through Denver and then to the hosting server in Tulsa.

The discovery was made by the webmaster for TomFlocco.com after becoming curious about the internet route taken by the data and the length of time it took to post a new story when the data only had to travel over the webmaster’s phone line across the state to the hosting server in Tulsa.

After contacting a U.S. intelligence source, we were told that Department of Justice (DoJ) investigators have identified an Israeli intelligence internet provider in Amsterdam as a co-conspirator with both the National Security Agency (NSA) and Verizon-MCI in the ongoing Bush administration spy intrusion into the private and personal lives of millions of Americans without their previous knowledge or permission.

Another federal agency official with long-time experience and impeccable credentials told us, “MCI is an NSA shadow company. Just remember that MCI equals NSA and you’ll always be correct in your research and investigation.”

On February 14, 2005, Verizon announced its intention to purchase MCI for $6.7 billion, after which the company became involved in a strained bidding war with Qwest Communications.

MCI investors sharply criticized the Verizon takeover which was recently finalized; but federal prosecutors probing NSA spying will have reason to subpoena Verizon regarding whether the Bush administration’s approval of Verizon’s MCI takeover had anything to do with the company’s willingness to provide private phone and email records to the NSA to spy on U.S. citizens.

U.S. intelligence sources within the Special Operations Group (SOG) are reporting that NSA computers have been downloading financial and personal files of all American citizens as a result of upgrades to the Echelon satellite network and software program which is part of the Prosecutor’s Management Information System (PROMIS).

SOG says the NSA has a “7-10 second lead time” which effectively affords the agency the opportunity to delay the release of currency, stock and bond sales transactions permitting a criminal advantage to agency officials and other high-level associates who game the system of the world’s financial markets to steal investment capital from both U.S. and foreign citizens throughout the world.

Personal phone service shut down after posting story

A TomFlocco.com phone call on Friday to Verizon seeking comment for this report on why the company provided personal phone records to the NSA without the knowledge or permission of its customers resulted in a “no comment” response from a Verizon spokesperson identifying herself only as Mrs. Singh: “We are not able to comment on whether we have cooperated with the NSA in this matter since this is a classified issue; but we’re confident that we are within the law. We are protecting your privacy but we cannot comment further.”

When we asked whether Verizon would deny helping the NSA to spy on Americans, Mrs. Singh’s response was “we cannot comment on that.”

We also asked to speak to the Verizon legal or security departments, or even the consumer public relations department for a comment; but we were told “We appreciate that this matter is causing concern among our customers but it will not be possible for you to speak to either group. We cannot comment on whether we cooperated with the NSA because it’s classified.”

Later that afternoon, wide news reports indicated that Verizon was sued for $5 billion for illegally providing phone numbers and records to the NSA without the knowledge or permission of Verizon customers.

On Saturday evening after the Friday call to Verizon, we posted a short new story, “Phone companies help NSA spy on personal computers for enemies list” in the IN BRIEF box at TomFlocco.com.

After the story was posted, our personal office hard-line telephone service with Verizon was shut down at about 1:30 am Sunday morning with that office line remaining out of service for over 23 hours before this story was posted online.

Internet IP address logs from this writer’s computer firewall security system provide evidence that the Department of Defense (DoD) is conducting surveillance, since logs show DoD internet identification numbers during specific occasions while we conducted phone interviews with intelligence agents and other sources, and also while reports were being researched and word processed for stories regarding White House crime family activities.

NSA spying on dial-up, high-speed internet e-mail and websites for ‘enemies list’

A U.S intelligence source wishing to remain anonymous but who has direct knowledge of the operations said U.S. cable internet corporations have joined the widely-reported telephone company operations to assist in compiling the largest database in history on American citizens while “using super-secret 5th generation Cray computers to tap into dial-up, DSL and high-speed broadband internet connections which have satellite voice recognition and keystroke monitoring capabilities.”

This is the first indication that the NSA is also monitoring websites and personal e-mail communications of American citizens without their knowledge or permission.

The government official said “the voice patterns and voice print recognition comes from the original Inslaw systems which are hooked up to E-Systems Dallas voice recognition software and linked over to the NSA.”

The long-time agent added that “part of the reason they are spying on Americans is to create an ‘enemies list’ of those critical of George W. Bush,” adding “the monitored phrases and words trigger networks of contacts between people around the country who are inter-related to other activists regarding issues such as the Iraq War, NSA spying, illegal immigration and critical reporters.”

The unnamed official also told us “the U.S. and foreign intelligence community has been using lead bags for the purpose of preventing satellite surveillance and physical reconnaissance ever since the Bush administration commenced a national spy program.”

On condition of anonymity, the source added, “driver’s licenses are already set up with chips for future use in capturing financial, medical and other personal and/or private records and information for use by the Bush administration and Congress to maximize tax compliance, national identification or for potential political purposes.”

NSA/Treadstone spy-death lists?

The Bush spy program enemies list “would be used to organize groups for internment camps—particularly the big camp being developed in northeast Yuma county, Arizona where most of the ‘problem patriots and activists’ would be housed if Mr. Bush is allowed to remain in power during another major terrorist or biological event,” said the unnamed federal agent.

An October 27, 2001 report in the Houston Chronicle confirmed the existence of secret surveillance lists, and that NSA lawyers ordered a massive shredding program of the names and phone numbers of innocent Americans in late October, 2001; but the NSA made copies of the unlawful list, according to two former U.S. officials.

Federal prosecutors will likely have interest in the fact that the NSA reportedly mailed the list to then Under Secretary of State and current White House Chief of Staff John Bolton who emailed the list to Treadstone Space #77 in Colorado.

“All political critics of the Bush or Clinton families have had their names, phone numbers and addresses stored by the NSA at Treadstone Space #71/77,” said national security expert Thomas Heneghan, who confirmed another federal agent’s assertion that the NSA is being assisted by MCI regarding the Bush administration spy operation on the American people.

“#77 is the Colorado division of # 71 in New York State which is also linked to secret FBI Division 5 operations connected to both the Bush and Clinton families without the knowledge of U.S. citizens,” added Heneghan.

The national security watchdog said “the Bush-Clinton crime families are planning a bird flu pandemic as an excuse for a temporary martial law government to cover up ongoing corruption and crimes committed against the American people.”

A flu pandemic would allow Mr. Bush to suspend constitutional rights and round up patriot critics on the NSA/Treadstone death-spy list where they could transport innocent U.S. citizens who are politically outspoken to internment camps in locations such as the one in Yuma county, referred to earlier by another federal agent.

Heneghan added that U.S. Senate Leader and GOP presidential candidate William Frist and House of Representatives Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi are both aware of the Treadstone death list and also the Bush administration spy operations conducted by the NSA—both overseas and in the United States.

Representative Rahm Emanuel (D-IL-5) was identified by Heneghan as “an Israeli intelligence operative in Congress who actually carries copies of the updated [NSA/Treadstone] death-spy list to his office each day,” raising questions as to whether alleged operatives loyal to foreign governments are only welcome in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Tags: computers, NSA, spying, wiretapping

Quantum Computers Coming Closer

This is the dream of the NSA, the quantum Computer and the promise of breaking any code in a matter of minutes,
Quantum computing , it is said will be the final step that ushers in the “computational singularity”

The strange world of quantum mechanics can provide a way to surpass limits in speed, efficiency and accuracy of computing, communications and measurement, according to research by MIT scientist Seth Lloyd.

Quantum mechanics is the set of physical theories that explain the behavior of matter and energy at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It includes a number of strange properties that differ significantly from the way things work at sizes that people can observe directly, which are governed by classical physics.

“There are limits, if you think classically,” said Lloyd, a professor in MIT’s Research Laboratory of Electronics and Department of Mechanical Engineering. But while classical physics imposes limits that are already beginning to constrain things like computer chip development and precision measuring systems, “once you think quantum mechanically you can start to surpass those limits,” he said.

“Over the last decade, a bunch of my colleagues and postdocs and I have been looking at how quantum mechanics can make things better.” What Lloyd refers to as the “funky effects” of quantum theory, such as squeezing and entanglement, could ultimately be harnessed to make measurements of time and distance more precise and computers more efficient. “Once you open your eyes to the quantum world, you see a whole lot of things you simply cannot do classically,” he said.

Among the ways that these quantum effects are beginning to be harnessed in the lab, he said, is in prototypes of new imaging systems that can precisely track the time of arrival of individual photons, the basic particles of light.

“There’s significantly greater accuracy in the time-of-arrival measurement than what one would expect,” he said. And this could ultimately lead to systems that can detect finer detail, for example in a microscope’s view of a minuscule object, than what were thought to be the ultimate physical limitations of optical systems set by the dimensions of wavelengths of light.

In addition, quantum effects could be used to make much-more-efficient memory chips for computers, by drastically reducing the number of transistors that need to be used each time data is stored or retrieved in a random-access memory location. Lloyd and his collaborators devised an entirely new way of addressing memory locations, using quantum principles, which they call a “bucket brigade” system. A similar, enhanced scheme could also be used in future quantum computers, which are expected to be feasible at some point and could be especially adept at complex operations such as pattern recognition.

Another example of the potential power of quantum effects is in making more accurate clocks, using the property of entanglement, in which two separate particles can instantaneously affect each other’s characteristics.

While some of these potential applications have been theorized for many years, Lloyd said, experiments are “slowly catching up” to the theory. “We can do a lot already,” he said, “and we’re hoping to demonstrate a lot more” in coming years.

Tags: computers, memory chip, MIT, quantum computer, quantum mechanics, science

Busted Hacker May Get Job With Cops

Nine months ago Whitianga teenager Owen Walker faced the possibility of extradition by the FBI for cyber crime. Yesterday he walked free from the High Court in Hamilton with the prospect of a career with the New Zealand police or an overseas computer company before him. In an extraordinary move backed by police, Justice Judith Potter discharged the 18-year-old without conviction on some of the most sophisticated cyber crime seen in New Zealand. Walker’s solemn, nervous expression gave way to a delighted smile as he heard the decision, while the small group of family and friends who accompanied him to court looked thrilled and relieved. Outside the court, Walker and his supporters had little to say about the decision and his future, but his mother, Shell Moxham-Whyte said she hoped he would remain in New Zealand.

The decision follows months of international investigation and the first prosecution of its kind in New Zealand. Prosecutions in the United States and the Netherlands have also resulted.

In April Walker pleaded guilty to six charges including accessing a computer for dishonest purpose, damaging or interfering with a computer system, possessing software for committing crime, and accessing a computer system without authorization. The crimes carry maximum sentences of up to seven years’ imprisonment.

Crown prosecutor Ross Douch acknowledged in court that Walker had gained limited financial benefit from his activities and although he had the ability to use his botnet for fraudulent activity, he had not done so.

He raised the prospect of a discharge without conviction in court and disclosed that the police were interested in using his skills.

Walker’s lawyer Tony Balme said a discharge would enable Walker to offer his very considerable talents to law enforcement agencies.

“If he has a clean record, he would be able to engage in that activity on the right side of the law - a poacher turned gamekeeper scenario.”

Through family encouragement, Walker had made considerable gains in terms of socialisation and maturity in recent months, he said. A psychologist confirmed that he suffered from mild Aspergers Syndrome, a form of autism, but some of those symptoms had recently disappeared.

Justice Potter referred to an affidavit received from Walker yesterday in which he said he had received approaches about employment from large overseas companies and interest from the New Zealand police.

Walker’s offending was serious but fortunately stopped before it went too far, she said. He was not motivated by criminal intent or maliciousness but by his intense interest in computers and his ability to achieve amazing things. He had an outstanding future and a conviction would stand in his way.

Ordering him to pay his share of the damage to Pennsylvania University’s computer system of $9526, relinquish computer-related assets to the police and pay costs of $5000 at a minimum of $400 a month, she discharged him and wished him well.

Later Waikato crime services manager Detective Inspector Peter Devoy welcomed the sentence as a positive outcome and was unconcerned about the possible lack of deterrent. He declined to elaborate on any plans to employ Walker. It was a matter of potential interest rather than actual interest, he said.

National manager of the police’s e-crime laboratory Maarten Kleinjtes said Walker had some unique ability and was at the top of his Game.

Tags: computers, cyber terror, cybercrime, cyberwarfare, hacker, new zealand, owen walker

Incredible Recent Botnet Growth

An announcement from F-Secure warned that malware is growing faster than ever before, while Marshal’s TRACE team claims that the volume of malicious spam in circulation has more than tripled in one week.

Marshal fingered the Srizbi botnet as the chief culprit, currently responsible for 46 percent of all spam sent, helping malicious spam figures jump from 3 to almost 10 percent of all spam traffic so far in June.

TRACE team lead threat analyst, Phil Hay, said that Srizbi’s criminal controllers are currently on a major expansion drive.

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Srizbi is duping recipients by including the first part of their e-mail address in the subject line with the suggestion that they look “stupid” in a video, luring them to a Web site to view the video where they are exposed to malware.

Marshal said Srizbi is also targeting social networking sites like Classmate.com, luring victims to dodgy sites with the promise of messages from long lost school friends. A Flash video player link is presented to the victim, which downloads an executable file that infects their computer.

“This kind of social engineering tactic is nothing new,” said Hay.

“What is significant is the rapid increase in the volume. It once again demonstrates the incredible power and dominance that the major spamming botnets have over e-mail traffic. Very few legitimate businesses could triple their e-mail capacity at the push of a button. But this is the advantage that the illegal control of thousands of computers gives the spammers. “We see Srizbi as one of the biggest threats to Internet users today. Users should be wary of e-mails that make personal offers such as online friend connections or include inflammatory personalized subjects such as ‘you look stupid in this video’, particularly if they don’t recognize the sender,” he said.

According to F-Secure’s security summary for the first half of 2008, the unprecedented growth in malware is due to the packing, encryption, and obfuscation of existing families of trojans, backdoors, exploits and other threats now being done with “industrial efficiency”.

The number of malware detections has grown by almost half a million since the end of the year, jumping from 500,000 total detections to 900,000.

“I have a nasty feeling that the situation is getting worse, not better”, says Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer for the security vendor.

F-Secure cited targeted malware attacks such as the classmates.com con that Marshal reported as key growth areas for dodgy software peddlers over the past six months.

Targeted malware attacks typically involve the attacker profiling their victim and sending an e-mail using the recipients name, title, job function and a subject field related to the victim’s position in order to trick them into opening something they would normally expect to receive via e-mail.

Targeted malware attacks against political or military organizations also increased, such as an e-mail attack against human rights and pro freedom of Tibet groups that aimed to install malware on their PCs that would allow their political opposition to spy on their actions.

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F-Secure’s half-yearly security summary also looked at emerging mobile phone threats such as Jailbreaking, growth in SQL injection attacks, and the risks emerging around third party applications like Adobe Flash.

Tags: botnet, computers, malware, Security, spam, srizbi

The Computational Singularity

Take a cross section of any class, religion or culture and you will find the wish to transcend death.

Bear that history in mind as you consider the creed of the singularitarians. Many of them fervently believe that in the next several decades we’ll have computers into which you’ll be able to upload your consciousness—the mysterious thing that makes you you. Then, with your consciousness able to go from mechanical body to mechanical body, or virtual paradise to virtual paradise, you’ll never need to face death, illness, bad food, or poor cellphone reception.

Now you know why the singularity has also been called the rapture of the geeks.

The singularity is supposed to begin shortly after engineers build the first computer with greater-than-human intelligence. That achievement will trigger a series of cycles in which superintelligent machines beget even smarter machine progeny, going from generation to generation in weeks or days rather than decades or years. The availability of all that cheap, mass-­produced brilliance will spark explosive economic growth, an unending, hypersonic, tech­no­industrial rampage that by comparison will make the Industrial Revolution look like a bingo game.

At that point, we will have been sucked well beyond the event horizon of the singularity. It might be nice there, on the other side—by definition, you can’t know for sure. Sci-fi writers, though, have served up lots of scenarios in which humankind becomes the prey, rather than the privileged beneficiaries, of synthetic savants.

But the singularity is much more than a sci-fi subgenre. A lot of smart people buy into it in one form or another—there are versions that dispense with the life-everlasting stuff. There are academic gatherings and an annual conference at Stanford. There are best-selling books, audiotapes, and videos. Scheduled for release this summer is a motion picture, The Singularity Is Near, starring the actress Pauley Perrette and a ­gaggle of aging boffins who’ve never acted in a movie. (Without any apparent irony, the picture’s producers call it “a true story about the future.”)

There’s also a drumbeat of respectful and essentially credulous articles in the science press. Unlike stories about UFOs or zero-pollution energy sources, singularity stories don’t exact from editors a steep payment in self-respect. That’s because of the impressive attainments—albeit usually in fields unrelated to neuro­science or biology—of some of the people who chirp about mind uploading and nanomachine organ repair. The leading spokesman for the life-everlasting version of the singularity is the entrepreneur and inventor Ray Kurzweil, who’s also behind the movie The Singularity Is Near and a recent book of the same title.

Why should a mere journalist question Kurzweil’s conclusion that some of us alive today will live indefinitely? Because we all know it’s wrong. We can sense it in the gaping, take-my-word-for-it extrapolations and the specious reasoning of those who subscribe to this form of the singularity argument. Then, too, there’s the flawed grasp of neuroscience, human physiology, and philosophy. Most of all, we note the willingness of these people to predict fabulous technological advances in a period so conveniently short it offers themselves hope of life everlasting.

This has all gone on too long. The emperor isn’t wearing anything, for heaven’s sake.

The singularity debate is too rarely a real argument. There’s too much fixation on death avoidance. That’s a shame, because in the coming years, as ­computers become stupendously powerful—really and truly ridiculously powerful—and as electronics and other technologies begin to enhance and fuse with biology, life really is going to get more interesting.

With a few exceptions, we found people who are not on record as either embracing singularity dogma or rejecting it.

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Tags: brain, computers, computing, consciousness, singularity