Hacked Emails Reveal Dysfunctional Gov Intel Community
by Rachel Marsden via reed 2012-02-29 07:37:35

As promised in December, WikiLeaks has begun to release a stash of documents related to the modus operandi of the "private intelligence" sector, using Texas-based Stratfor as a case study. Claiming to have hacked Stratfor's system to obtain millions of private emails, WikiLeaks has just released the first batch -- and what it suggests about the American intelligence community makes me feel as secure as day-old pizza in a frat house.

The CIA has long used private intelligence firms for "black ops," allowing for plausible deniability in the event that an operation goes pear-shaped and public accountability threatens. But these emails suggest that there's now far more to the incompetence of America's intelligence services than meets the eye.

Apparently the entities charged with keeping us safe now require full-blown lessons from the private sector in how to do their jobs. According to leaked email written by Stratfor's CEO, George Friedman: "We have also been asked to help the United States Marine Corps and other government intelligence organizations to teach them how Stratfor does what it does, and train them in becoming government Stratfors. We are beginning this project by preparing a three-year forecast for the Commandant of the Corps. This is a double honor for us."

Double honor for you; double horror for us! The fact that the Commandant of the Marine Corps "and other government intelligence organizations" might require your expertise in learning how to do what they've historically been entrusted by the public to do does nothing for my sense of security.

Do you know how a lot of these outfits in the thriving private intelligence sector operate? The company CEO, usually a former agency employee who has maintained UMBRA or "Top Secret" clearance, meets with a private or state client to pitch his outfit's services, then passes off the analysis work to some book-smart/sidewalk-stupid naif who has just been dragged kicking and screaming into the real-world workforce after frittering away a good decade or so ringing up a party tour of Ivy League schools on mommy and daddy's AmEx black card. Kids work cheap -- especially trust-funders. With few exceptions, that's who's really doing the work in protecting America's interests.

Continuing with Stratfor's email: "First, the professional intelligence community is acknowledging us as being the gold standard of intelligence. Second, we are being asked to use our honest and unhedged views to support what is for Stratfor -- an American company -- its homeland."

Phew! At least we can rest assured that all this stellar intelligence work is staying "in the family," right?

The email continues:

"Add to this the fact that Turkish Chamber of Commerce ... asked us to preside over their 40th anniversary celebration, and that the Turkish Foreign Minister and Energy Minister will speak at the event, and you can see both our global recognition and our commitment to speak the same words to every country. We can serve the world from the same platform."

Serving the world from the same platform? Speaking the same words to every country? That, I think (or at least hope), is where private intelligence companies and government agencies would differ.

A CIA officer who "serves the world" from his platform is typically put on trial for being a mole. But in the world of private intelligence, national allegiance isn't as important as the almighty dollar. This means that if a report is commissioned by an American client, whether a company or state entity, the same report could also be peddled to a Russian oligarch or Chinese businessman to benefit either those governments or their state-owned companies.

The only safeguards in this entire system are the personal ethics of the individuals involved -- which, it would appear, are tested regularly. According to WikiLeaks, another email from the Stratfor CEO to an analyst looking for information from an Israeli informant about the health of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez instructs: "[Y]ou have to take control of him. Control means financial, sexual or psychological control. ... This is intended to start our conversation on your next phase."

What do you think the odds are that this analyst told her boss to shove it and go sex up the target himself? And therein lies the biggest problem with this whole industry. Most would rather pimp for a paycheck than stand on ethics, and often lack the sophisticated knowledge, wisdom and foresight to realize the implications of their actions and decisions.

© 2012 Chicago Tribune

http://tinyurl.com/85tugjn

We go boo and 'they' jump -- just as it should be!
by Stephanie Rice via bubba 2012-03-02 07:50:33

FBI chief [moron] warns cyber crime on par with terrorism

SAN FRANCISCO — FBI director Robert Mueller warned a gathering of Internet security specialists that the threat of cyber attacks rivals terrorism as a national security concern.

The only way to combat cyber assaults is for police, intelligence agencies and private companies to join forces, Mueller said during a presentation at an annual RSA Conference in San Francisco on Thursday.

"Technology is moving so rapidly that, from a security perspective, it is difficult to keep up," Mueller said. "In the future, we anticipate that the cyber threat will pose the number one threat to our country."

It's essential that private corporations and government agencies across the globe coordinate on cyber crime, Mueller said, in part because nefarious hackers are already forming alliances.

"We must work together to safeguard our property, to safeguard our ideas and safeguard our innovation," Mueller said. "We must use our connectivity to stop those who seek to do us harm."

Gone are the "good old days" of teenage boys hacking into websites for fun, Muller said. Today's hackers are savvy and often work in groups, like traditional crime families.

Private sector computer security researchers have attributed waves of cyber assaults to nations out to steal government or business secrets.

"Once isolated hackers have joined forces to form criminal syndicates," Mueller said.

Those "syndicates" often operate across borders, posing a particular problem for government agencies that are constrained by conflicting justice systems and a lack of coordination with foreign agencies, he said.

"Borders and boundaries pose no obstacles to hackers, but they continue to pose obstacles for global law enforcement," he said.

In a presentation that a subsequent speaker said "really scared the bejeezus out of us," Mueller emphasized an overlap between the violent terrorism the FBI has focused on since September 11 and today's world of cyber crime.

Terrorist organizations like Al-Qaeda and Al-Shabaab in Somalia are "increasingly cyber savvy," he said.

Mueller referenced Al-Qaeda's English-language online magazine and Al-Shabaab's Twitter account, which he says the group uses to recruit and encourage terrorism.

"They are using the Internet to grow their business and to connect with like-minded individuals," he said.

Mueller warned that no company is immune from cyber attack.

He argued that it's in the best interest of private companies to share information about online assaults with government agencies fighting the hackers.

The nation's top cop promised that the FBI would "minimize disruption" and protect the privacy of corporations as it investigated cyber threats.

Companies are often reluctant to report network security breaches out of fear that the publicity could tarnish images in the eyes of customers or erode shareholder confidence.

"Maintaining a code of silence will not serve us in the long run," Mueller said. "For it is no longer a question of 'if' but when and how often."

"We are losing money, we are losing data, we are losing ideas," he added. "Together we must find a way to stop the bleeding."

Copyright © 2012 AFP.

[They are unable to close the ever-widening skill gap - there is nothing really effective they can do except perhaps bring down the entire internet - LOL! "...they grow weaker by the day, as we grow stronger by the minute." We shall see the criminal bastards hang soon enough.]

http://tinyurl.com/7rnmh4u