*** GreenWald/Snowden Discloses Full “MIND CONTROL” Technology Use on Billions of Internet Users! ***
– “Most people agree that it is probably OK to use spy resources to stop guys with bombs but EVERYBODY agrees that it is NOT OK to use spy resources to destroy a political party just because their billionaire’s business interests are different from yours, and because they want to wipe out a business competitor for market advantage. That isn’t governing, that is using mafia tactics against free citizens in order to make more money. Which of these things is happening here? Stopping the bombers or controlling politics for profit?” – Guardian
– “Mind Control” is the manipulation of subliminal messaging to trick you into doing, or thinking things, that you would not have otherwise done, or thought! It works because you can’t notice that it is working!
– Snowden documents reveal that everything you type, text or phone on a dating site, social media site or media sharing site is recorded, indexed, stored and analyzed for “mood manipulation opportunity indicators”, for up to three years.. EVERYTHING!
– Billions of $$ spent, by Silicon Valley on “User Experience Analysts” for “subliminal mind control optimization”. Multiple floors of GOOGLE Building dedicated to “User Experience Research” and “Subliminal User Testing”.
– Google, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, LinkedIn, Youtube involved in combined, shared privacy info Human data-mining. Same $$ people behind all 6.
– Britain is only using the “poor-man’s version” of mind and mood manipulation. Others do it bigger, badder and every second of every day. Experts argue who does it in the worst way: Russia, China, US, Brazil…????
– Shows Facebook claim as “one-time experiment” was lie! Facebook uses mind control hourly.
GCHQ’s dark arts: Leaked documents reveal online manipulation, Facebook, YouTube snooping
Summary: A fresh set of documents leaked by Edward Snowden show how the UK intelligence agency can manipulate online polls and debates, spread messages, snoop on YouTube and track Facebook users.
Charlie Osborne
By Charlie Osborne for Zero Day | July 15, 2014 — 08:10 GMT (01:10 PDT)
Follow @ZDNetCharlie
GCHQ has developed a toolkit of software programs used to manipulate online traffic, infiltrate users’ computers and spread select messages across social media sites including Facebook and YouTube.
The UK spy agency’s dark arts were revealed in documents first published by The Intercept, and each piece of software is described in a wiki document written up by GCHQ’s Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group (JTRIG). The document, which reads like a software inventory, calls the tools part of the agency’s “weaponised capability.”
Some of the most interesting capabilities of the tools on the list include the ability to seed the web with false information — such as tweaking the results of online polls — inflating pageview counts, censoring video content deemed “extremist” and the use of psychological manipulation on targets — something similar to a research project conducted with Facebook’s approval, which resulted in heavy criticism and outrage levied at the social media site.
A number of interesting tools and their short descriptions are below:
ASTRAL PROJECTION: Remote GSM secure covert Internet proxy using TOR hidden service
POISON ARROW: Safe malware download capability
AIRWOLF: YouTube profile, comment and video collection
BIRDSTRIKE: Twitter monitoring and profile collection
GLASSBACK: Technique of getting a target’s IP address by pretending to be a spammer and ringing them. Target does not need to answer.
MINIATURE HERO: Active skype capability. Provision of realtime call records (SkypeOut and SkypetoSkype) and bidirectional instant messaging. Also contact lists.
PHOTON TORPEDO: A technique to actively grab the IP address of MSN messenger user
SPRING-BISHOP: Finding private photos of targets on Facebook
BOMB BAY: The capacity to increase website hits, rankings
BURLESQUE: The capacity to send spoofed SMS messages
GESTATOR: Amplification of a given message, normally video, on popular multimedia websites (YouTube)
SCRAPHEAP CHALLENGE: Perfect spoofing of emails from Blackberry targets
SUNBLOCK: Ability to deny functionality to send/receive email or view material online
SWAMP DONKEY: A tool that will silently locate all predefined types of file and encrypt them on a targets machine
UNDERPASS: Change outcome of online polls (previously known as NUBILO).
WARPATH: Mass delivery of SMS messages to support an Information Operations campaign.
HUSK: Secure one-on-one web based dead-drop messaging platform.
The list, dated from 2012, says that most of the tools are “fully operational, tested and reliable,” and adds: “Don’t treat this like a catalogue. If you don’t see it here, it doesn’t mean we can’t build it.”
“We only advertise tools here that are either ready to fire or very close to being ready,” the document notes.
The release of these documents comes in the same week that the UK intelligence agency’s spying activities are being investigated by surveillance watchdog the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT). Civil liberty groups set a legal challenge against the GCHQ in order to question the legal standing of schemes such as Tempora — a project revealed in the NSA scandal that showed the agency placed data interceptors on fiber-optic cables that carry Internet traffic to and from the UK.
Topics: Security, Government US, Privacy
Charlie Osborne
About Charlie Osborne
London-based Charlie Osborne is a journalist, freelance photographer and former teacher. She holds a degree in Medical Anthropology.
Google+ Follow @ZDNetCharlie
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Dispatches
Hacking Online Polls and Other Ways British Spies Seek to Control the Internet
The secretive British spy agency GCHQ has developed covert tools to seed the internet with false information, including the ability to manipulate the results of online polls, artificially inflate pageview counts on web sites, “amplif[y]” sanctioned messages on YouTube, and censor video content judged to be “extremist.” The capabilities, detailed in documents provided by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, even include an old standby for pre-adolescent prank callers everywhere: A way to connect two unsuspecting phone users together in a call.
The tools were created by GCHQ’s Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group (JTRIG), and constitute some of the most startling methods of propaganda and internet deception contained within the Snowden archive. Previously disclosed documents have detailed JTRIG’s use of “fake victim blog posts,” “false flag operations,” “honey traps” and psychological manipulation to target online activists, monitor visitors to WikiLeaks, and spy on YouTube and Facebook users.
But as the U.K. Parliament today debates a fast-tracked bill to provide the government with greater surveillance powers, one which Prime Minister David Cameron has justified as an “emergency” to “help keep us safe,” a newly released top-secret GCHQ document called “JTRIG Tools and Techniques” provides a comprehensive, birds-eye view of just how underhanded and invasive this unit’s operations are. The document—available in full here—is designed to notify other GCHQ units of JTRIG’s “weaponised capability” when it comes to the dark internet arts, and serves as a sort of hacker’s buffet for wreaking online havoc.
The “tools” have been assigned boastful code names. They include invasive methods for online surveillance, as well as some of the very techniques that the U.S. and U.K. have harshly prosecuted young online activists for employing, including “distributed denial of service” attacks and “call bombing.” But they also describe previously unknown tactics for manipulating and distorting online political discourse and disseminating state propaganda, as well as the apparent ability to actively monitor Skype users in real-time—raising further questions about the extent of Microsoft’s cooperation with spy agencies or potential vulnerabilities in its Skype’s encryption. Here’s a list of how JTRIG describes its capabilities:
• “Change outcome of online polls” (UNDERPASS)
• “Mass delivery of email messaging to support an Information Operations campaign” (BADGER) and “mass delivery of SMS messages to support an Information Operations campaign” (WARPARTH)
• “Disruption of video-based websites hosting extremist content through concerted target discovery and content removal.” (SILVERLORD)
• “Active skype capability. Provision of real time call records (SkypeOut and SkypetoSkype) and bidirectional instant messaging. Also contact lists.” (MINIATURE HERO)
• “Find private photographs of targets on Facebook” (SPRING BISHOP)
• “A tool that will permanently disable a target’s account on their computer” (ANGRY PIRATE)
• “Ability to artificially increase traffic to a website” (GATEWAY) and “ability to inflate page views on websites” (SLIPSTREAM)
• “Amplification of a given message, normally video, on popular multimedia websites (Youtube)” (GESTATOR)
• “Targeted Denial Of Service against Web Servers” (PREDATORS FACE) and “Distributed denial of service using P2P. Built by ICTR, deployed by JTRIG” (ROLLING THUNDER)
• “A suite of tools for monitoring target use of the UK auction site eBay (www.ebay.co.uk)” (ELATE)
• “Ability to spoof any email address and send email under that identity” (CHANGELING)
• “For connecting two target phone together in a call” (IMPERIAL BARGE)
While some of the tactics are described as “in development,” JTRIG touts “most” of them as “fully operational, tested and reliable.” It adds: “We only advertise tools here that are either ready to fire or very close to being ready.”
And JTRIG urges its GCHQ colleagues to think big when it comes to internet deception: “Don’t treat this like a catalogue. If you don’t see it here, it doesn’t mean we can’t build it.”
The document appears in a massive Wikipedia-style archive used by GCHQ to internally discuss its surveillance and online deception activities. The page indicates that it was last modified in July 2012, and had been accessed almost 20,000 times.
GCHQ refused to provide any comment on the record beyond its standard boilerplate, in which it claims that it acts “in accordance with a strict legal and policy framework” and is subject to “rigorous oversight.” But both claims are questionable.
British watchdog Privacy International has filed pending legal action against GCHQ over the agency’s use of malware to spy on internet and mobile phone users. Several GCHQ memos published last fall by The Guardian revealed that the agency was eager to keep its activities secret not to protect national security, but because “our main concern is that references to agency practices (ie, the scale of interception and deletion) could lead to damaging public debate which might lead to legal challenges against the current regime.” And an EU parliamentary inquiry earlier this year concluded that GCHQ activities were likely illegal.
As for oversight, serious questions have been raised about whether top national security officials even know what GCHQ is doing. Chris Huhne, a former cabinet minister and member of the national security council until 2012, insisted that ministers were in “utter ignorance” about even the largest GCHQ spying program, known as Tempora—not to mention “their extraordinary capability to hoover up and store personal emails, voice contact, social networking activity and even internet searches.” In an October Guardian op-ed, Huhne wrote that “when it comes to the secret world of GCHQ and the [NSA], the depth of my ‘privileged information’ has been dwarfed by the information provided by Edward Snowden to The Guardian.”
I wonder if people are afraid to comment here for fear of being monitored by the NSA. At the Guardian 1500 + comments per article was not uncommon.
Gellman should ask an expert (Stasi officer Wolfgang Schmidt):
In a Q&A today, Barton Gellman said that “[China and Russia] do a great deal of surveillance, with an emphasis on controlling domestic dissent that is absent in the files about the NSA”. What is absent, the “controlling domestic dissent” or the “emphasis on controlling domestic dissent”? Slight difference.
He also said, “I am not saying that the government is abusing the power it has accrued. Sometimes the scandal is what’s legal, especially if lawmakers and citizens had no reasonable opportunity to learn what the executive branch believed it was authorized to do.”
Comments like Bart’s are why he’s arguably the most respected voice on the matter. I have never heard him being accused as a wide-eyed idealist/advocate nor have I seen him characterized as an NSA shill. He is impressively dispassionate and just presents the information for us to decide. If you’ve seen him during an interview or debate (e.g. with Mike Hayden), he keeps a poker face the whole time.
Oh what wise and thoughtful men guide us!
I heard a term, ‘organized lying’ that in many ways sums up exactly what our present form of government, world wide, actually encompasses. Are our problems caused by a gross deformity in the intellects of a few very conservative whacko’s who are so afraid of existence that they have to bury everyone else in their grave also? I am afraid that this human problem of ours may be insurmountable while humanity is in its present configuration. We may have to destroy ourselves again to kill this horrible virus of the mind we call capitalism. It is our doom!
Ok, so the intelligence agencies have these tools. That is not surprising.
Where are the documents showing how these tools have been used? Have they been used at all? For what purpose?
You’re Joking, right? If you owned “the Goose that laid the Golden Egg” would you have it spayed/nuetered?
And then there is this matter to consider:
https://www.battleforthenet.com/#home
Home of “1984″ finally coming to life to see how the “Ministry of Truth” is alive and being used against the citizens.
Thanks TI and Mr. Greenwald for publishing this article now.
The lesson here for those that are interested and are not afraid to speak out, is to openly oppose the introduced “make mass surveillance perfectly legal” bills recently submitted in GB and the USA.
Two links are required for explanation…..one here:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/13/edward-snowden-condemns-britain-emergency-surveillance-bill-nsa
USA link to follow.
CISA: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/06/zombie-bill-comes-back-look-senates-cybersecurity-information-sharing-act-2014
I appreciate the heads up, the EFF article is excellent. But what the US legislations does is legalize what I see on a daily basis. Countermeasures are already in place. I can give a list of companies that provide them if you are interested. I’ve already had Phish Labs contact one of the sites where I publish about documents from JP Morgan, and they also asked for “copies of all the hacking tools” on our site. My response was to send a similar request to their partner, Mike Rogers for copies of all the hacking tools on his site. I suppose those “tools” are actually somewhere in GB, it would be nice to have a live copy of that wiki so we can begin to fix the problem.
What we see in server logs every day is proof that corporations already act as if the worst possible version of this law has been enacted. We can not fail to respond.
David Roknich
INDYRADIO
https://indyradio.info
Let go of that archive. Full disclosure is the only way for us to fix the problems. “The document appears in a massive Wikipedia-style archive used by GCHQ to internally discuss its surveillance and online deception activities.” John Young will be glad to help find a place for it, and there are more of us willing to help. – https://indyradio.info
That’s the main reason I Blog on sites like this everyday! Someone has to send a clear message that we’re
holding the people behind the power are accountable for the undermining our laws and our freedom and
the US Constitution. Help stop Intel- terror war waged against the innocents of civilian populations. Started by our own Governments development of it’s criminal organizations NSC, NSA, CIA, DEA, FBI and Congress under the facade of Justice. Accountability is pre amount to justice. All Senior staff of these organizations should be on trial for there lives this is a coup de tat. We have the power of the people and the US Constitution to back us up. They can only rule by consent of the people. Well this people does not consent WHY ARE YOU!
Rise up
It’s easy to code for this, when you have a gun to the head of every corporation. They must think they’re realy smart to modify the bios, OS, client hardware, server hardware, etc. It’s not really a challenge when all 52 cards are flipped open, is it.
We need the names of these individuals who are actually enabling this. They are the true criminals working under the guise of “for the good”. What a crock.
Starts at the President, includes most of the Legislative Branch, and includes the SCOTUS.
Read this: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/06/zombie-bill-comes-back-look-senates-cybersecurity-information-sharing-act-2014
Angry pirate? lol
Could you please make a print icon so that we can print your articles? Just this basic tool would be really helpful to those of us who do not have cellphones, tech toys, use social media and just want to read your words in the privacy of our homes, on a sheet a paper and not on the computer. Thanks. Fan and Luddite.
It is a simple matter to high-lite the text, copy it, then paste it into a text form such as a new email in your mail program, then click print from the file menu above. Need help with that?
Or simply high-lite, then click print from the file menu of your browser.
In the poll above, I would like to vote for “Yes”
In the poll above, I don’t see any other choice
*Top knot graphics … pick a card, any card.
A big F**k You to the NSA?
http://www.theverge.com/2014/7/14/5898323/artist-david-huerta-mails-the-nsa-an-encrypted-mixtape
Just listen. If you do any criminal activity guys do not comunicate through phones or social media. Use old methods like meet up and talk where is no cameras phones or computers around and never ever take any device with you when you go to meet someone and talk about crime.why? Becouse devices can listen your voice they can make photos through your phone and ypu even wont know that until they arest you. And they can see where have you been even if you will take som card out off your phone. So please guys do not use phones for your own safety. When you come back home from serious conversation then you can use phone or computer be patient and you will be unstoppable. I understand that these days is uncomfortable to do crime without phone but think guys Becouse police will catch you if you will do any crime and use phone to comunicate. Without phone you much safer Becouse there will be no evidence about conversations no evidence where have you been walking so yeah phone is only to use it when you living normal life but when you involved in criminal activity never ever use any device to contact anyone. Got it? It is very serious. Avoid prison like you avoid death. And good luck guys.
Ummm, let me get this straight. You are advising people who do “criminal activity”? Like terrorists perhaps?
You do know this is asking for trouble don’t you?
“Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for ’tis better to be alone than in bad company.”
George Washington
So presumably all of Rebbekah Brooks’ deleted emails likely not perished after all?
Please disregard the UK Ebay thing- I was mistaken. it was because there is a link to the UK Ebay in the article.
Phrases like “strict legal and policy framework” and “rigorous oversight” were probably developed by the same brainiacs who thought up euphemistic shit like “enhanced interrogation techniques.” It’s very difficult to find any hope for much-needed government reforms when we have criminal sociopaths like Dick Cheney enjoying his million-dollar-view in Wyoming and Clapper not being prosecuted for perjury, while whistleblowers are methodically disempowered, silenced, and punished.
Once again, thank you Edward Snowden for your sacrifice.
Ok an odd thing that might be related, or maybe there is some kind of odd quirk going on here. I am trying to share this article and link via FB. Those of you familiar with posting on Fb know that when you insert a link, you get a little thumbnail preview of the article linked to, to the site. But when I tried linking to this story as well as a summary story about this on FB, the link only gives the the UK Ebay sight.
Great article and great comments.
A fight is a fight is a fight is a fight is endless comments on the fight.
So let´s fight?
If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear from the use of these techniques. I just need to think of the attempted bomb plots that have been foiled by MI5 thanks to the use of these tools, and am grateful that there is an organisation looking out for the whole of the UK and it’s people.
Good grief! (Face palm)
slave
Search j edgar hoover
We are living in countries that monitor everything we do and the UK is and has been for sometime a Police State!
The Internet is the battleground for information, free speech and telling the narrative of our times. In recent years advocates for social justice have used the Internet to impact the dialogue on issues like the wealth divide, war and to show there is a worldwide revolt against neo-liberal economics. The Internet has been used to organize and mobilize people in revolts throughout the United States and world (see http://www.PopularResistance.org to stay up to date on these activities). During occupy we saw infiltration by government agents and a common tactic was to get control over the social media of an occupy to spread misinformation and confusion. They know how important the Internet is to our work.
The current debate in the FCC over net neutrality, where corporations are pushing for a tiered Internet based on fees will create an Internet divided by wealth. This is another aspect of the effort to prevent the Internet from reaching its full potential as a democratized media space.
This article on manipulation of the Internet by spy agencies, and we should assume the NSA, CIA and corporate spies are doing the same in the US; along with the overall dragnet surveillance that Greenwald et al have previously reported are also efforts to turn the democratized Internet media on its head so it can serve the interests of the power structure.
This is the battleground for free speech in the 21st Century. Social change advocates need to be playing on it and need to be smart about how to make it a democratized media space for generations to come.
Great article, thanks. The link to the full document has been manipulated.
99% sure that I had a run-in with BUMPERCAR while trying to watch a YouTube from George H Smith a while back. I commented on the video at the time since I suspected something like was happening; it was not a subtle experience, it jumped back-and-forth persistently in a way I have not seen before or since. I suspect this happened not so much due to the “terror” material I was viewing but the “terrorist” IE: me who was viewing it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZH1m9AslfkU
Many people have posted here and talked about NSA/GCHQ interference but have you actually attacked ?? I have 5 times the last time earlier today over the space of several years of posting on news websites I now post on a highly political and controversial website that has upset them which is attacked regularly. I have been completely taken off the internet and my PC program scrambled -blocked from the internet- the last main attack several days ago was the exe, program =start.exe which blocked my use pf my PC it took a while to counteract it but the worse thing was one of the companies that use -start.exe is my ISP so back door GCHQ/NSA. It is not a required Microsoft program and in your Windows C folder 70 % dangerous. I hope I am allowed to post this ?
Switch to Linux. Try it out by booting Linux from DVD or USB. It takes some getting use to for somebody that is primarily use to using Windows, but it isn’t harder than learning anything else. Rebuilding a Linux desktop is a snap once you get the hang of the process.
@chronicle – here’s how you proceed, the remind them of the General Public License laws which prohibit this specific kind of behaviour exactly.
NSA (not secret anymore) agency activities at a minimum raise several systemic issues involving basic violations.
These include violations of the U.N. Charter; “unauthorised” and blatantly illegal invasions and/or intrusions into national space; World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreements, in particular the Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS); the International Telecommunication Union Treaty and Conventions; treaties and protocols of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO); the Universal Human Rights Declaration and conventions; and the Vienna diplomatic conventions and codes of behaviour among civilised nations.
Furthermore the General Public License stipulates, that you may not convey a covered work if you are a party to an arrangement with a third party that is in the business of distributing software, under which you make payment to the third party based on the extent of your activity of conveying the work, and under which the third party grants, to any of the parties who would receive the covered work from you, a discriminatory patent license.
Of course we the Public have been reassured that all actions undertaken by the Prime Minister and his Cabinet are Legal and proportionate.
Therefore I just wanted to ask, was it Legal and Proportionate for the Central Intelligence Agency in the United States to fund and train Syrian rebels with over have a million AK-47 Magazines.
Was it Legal and Proportionate to violate peoples privacy on a Global scale with his colleague, who appears to have taken a Sabbatical in the wake of the Daily Mirror hacking scandal. (Steve Hilton) Google employee, furthermore, if its under the GPL it should be therefore available to the Public at large not kept under wraps and used to attack them instead.
And was it Legal and Proportionate to then attempt to cover it all up?
Every one of us should send an email consisting of a page of random characters every day and keep them busy trying to decode it.
The GCHQ has obviously put a lot of work into these systems. I hope their effort is rewarded and they experience much satisfaction from winning many on-line polls. Great Britain is no longer a military power, so it is nice to see they can relive their past glories skirmishing with their enemies on the internet. In fact, this may be a more humane alternative to war. It might even be possible to tweak the software so that everyone perceives themselves as the winner of the on-line polls – a war with no losers.
I now understand why the NSA and GCHQ have invested so much effort infiltrating on-line role playing games. It didn’t make sense that these games would be a hangout for terrorists – they are more concerned with causing havoc in the real world. No, these games represent the future of international competition and Great Britain, thanks to the intrepid GCHQ seems to have a leg up on the competition.
quote”I now understand why the NSA and GCHQ have invested so much effort infiltrating on-line role playing games.”unquote
Says Milpropaganda specialist 47 @ Unit 6, while masquerading as a murderous Fascist from WW11 who, along with his wife, were hung and beaten to death by their fellow citizens..who cheered when finished. ..thank god.
http://www.storyleak.com/us-military-caught-social-media-running-mass-propaganda-accounts/
For your information, propagandists are likely to adopt a more sympathetic persona. I really don’t care if people agree with me, and would actually advise them to disbelieve anything I say, unless it is true (h/t bahhummingbug).
If there were a GCHQ or NSA operative in the comment section, they would probably merely try and disrupt any conversations by using insults.
This is really nothing new or really unknown, except for the expanding scope and the fact of actually having documentation from the agencies (thank you Glenn, for this affirmation.) Meticulous research had demonstrated much of this already (but the intercept gets the facts greater exposure (thank you again Glenn.)
http://ronaldthomaswest.com/2014/04/18/military-sock-puppets-nsa-trolls-cia-shills/
The most interesting aspect (to myself at least) is the ulterior motive .. that is social engineering, a longtime aspect of intelligence agencies clandestine information operations. The question that needs really studied is, how it has come to point where a nations own populace is the target as opposed to a hostile nation’s populace. The short answer is (in my understanding), there are parallel structures these intelligence agencies answer to that fall outside of government oversight in any ‘traditional’ sense. These structures are perhaps best represented in a single name “Monsanto” (however this does not take away from a whole host of other monikers, e.g. Raytheon, Chevron, enter your candidate here … )
I should add here an example of CIA edits of Wikipedia:
http://ronaldthomaswest.com/2014/02/05/intelligence-agencies-wikipedia/
Wikipedia is great place to look up some things, like hydrophonics, perhaps, but certainly not where you’d wish to go for information on intelligence agency personalities
Holy shit. Thanks.
(inserts 30 round magazine into online .50 caliber.)
Flip it to automatic chronicle. Let it rip.
@ Ronald Thomas West
Excellent work and posts. People who frequent the TI comments section should read them.
I particularly like the Intelligence Agencies & Wikileaks piece….get down and dirty with full disclosure of names, places, dates, and times. Although, that is something of the norm for you.
I certainly appreciate your participation in this forum.
Thank you Lyra1, the acknowledgement of the value of my work is much appreciated .. unlike at The Guardian where I am permanently banned
Holy shit. Thanks.
(inserts 30 round magazine into online .50 caliber.)
”That’s like someone getting a warrant to search your home and, in the process, stealing some of your stuff, making a call from your phone pretending to be you, and delivering your naked photos to your neighbor’s house.”
In the context of an operation, such behavior would be alright against highly dangerous individuals. But the totalitarian approach worries me. They must stop screwing up technology in the first place just for the sake of more sabotage options!
So ‘Great’ Britain is like the ‘United’ States, then. Misnamed, to say the least.
I remember watching Air Force One (Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman) when I was a kid, and when the president says to the villain “Have you no honor?” it made quite an impact on me. I was impressed that holding to honor could distinguish what is right, and this insight has helped me immeasurably in all areas of life.
Now we must say to the establishments of the UK and America, probably all the 5 eyes: “Have you no honor?” Their response, considering their actions, would be “We can’t afford it anymore.” This is no small thing, and in psychology it is usually an indication of sociopathic deterioration if expressed by an otherwise functioning adult.
If this attitude that “We don’t need honor because it is impractical” continues to persist – it is already promoted in contemporary Western culture to an alarming degree, and already makes Harrison Ford’s portrayal of a morally focused president an anachronism – the loss is profound, deeply troubling.
Amen! Amen! Amen! When a virtue becomes conditional it ceases to be.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-28237111
Amazing what you can rush through parliament during the world cup…
WG
GCHQ owes its existence to the supposed need to defend Britain from “bad” governments (such as the former Soviet Union) which employ these freedom-crushing tactics.
Make no mistake, the intelligence agencies are there to maintain the status quo, to control public opinion and social engineering of society to serve the interests of the elite. In short they are there to enslave us.
For anyone on the inside, this pre-Snowden interview with NSA whistle-blower Bill Binney is very enlightening in what lengths these crooks are willing to go to keep their power:
http://lucidtree.com/#/surveillance-teach-in/
Kind of off-topic, but not entirely unrelated.
This article has got me thinking about something that has been happening to me for the past month or so. I rarely use my phone, maybe once or twice a day. But when I make a call, as soon as I hang up I have an incoming call. It’s immediate. I’m pretty sure it’s a telemarketer; the prefix is usually the same but the last four digits are different (because I keep blocking the numbers as they come in). I never answer it. It’s just plain odd…someone, somewhere is tapping into my phone and knows when I’m using it.
Telemarketers have been using phony calls (I get these too), where you answer and there’s no one on the other end of the line. They usually hang up after a couple of rings if you don’t answer. The purpose of these phony calls is just to find out what time of day you are most likely to answer the phone. That information is then used by the real telemarketers, who will be sure to call you virtually every single day from there on.
But this is different. Somehow they know when I’m using the phone and when I’m finished. My phone rings before I can set it down. It doesn’t even have to be a phone call. Sometimes the call comes if I pick up my phone to check the web or Facebook. Any sort of activity on my part has at one time or another triggered a call (happens much more frequently after I make a phone call).
I doubt it’s the NSA on the other end of the line, but here I think is what might possibly be another aspect of the monster that they have created. The government’s partnership with the private sector to create back doors and other software features that can be manipulated has put not only the government in a position to abuse these new toys, but the private sector as well. They have as much business spying indiscriminately as the government does, which is to say, they have no business doing it at all.
I have no clue if it’s telemarketers, scammers, or whoever…I’m speculating here. It’s possible, I guess, that the timing of these calls are purely coincidental — possible, yes, but the odds have to be staggering.
Spyes are obsolete , The satellite system is so powerful it can read your mind.You are then grouped by your thoughts.If they see a HOT SPOT then watch out.I hope we can live knowing that everything we think is recorded at the data storage areas. John Bertotto
Baltimore City Paper spoofs Baltimore PD’s fake twitter likes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POD28ozUTeg
The Steering Committee of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press drove off the edge of the earth. What an embarrassment.
This most ridiculous move. They are bananas.
Here is Mr. Rubin, a lawyer employed by Microsoft, thrilled to be on the committee. He should step down. Most of this steering committee needs to take a hike and we need to take it back.
“As the first non-working journalist to be elected to the Steering Committee, I want to emphasize that the Constitution requires … blah blah blah.
Key part is where he says he is the first non-journalist elected. There is a reason non-journalists do not sit on the steering committee. There is a reason corporate executives and others with clear conflicts do not — mustn’t — sit on the Steering Committee.
, – See more at: http://www.rcfp.org/microsofts-rubin-elected-reporters-committee-steering-committee#sthash.IQfRcCoR.dpuf
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, a lawyer who works for Microsoft has joined the Steering Committee of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. No one seems to mind.
And taxpayers have to pay for all this!
Taxation that could go to people in need of help, benefits, housing. etc instead!
Why was SCREAMING EAGLE highlighted in bloody crimson?
There have always been agents provocateur and there have always been disinformation campaigns, but these tools have the potential of taking the game to a whole new level. One only remember the effects of the study Facebook ran a couple of years ago: “Facebook reveals news feed experiment to control emotions” . Just think of how useful they would have been against popular uprisings like, say, OWS . . .Boy, I’ll bet the PsyOps guys are losing their cool thinking about all of the ways these tools can be used . . .
If we could just be blunt…what is the endgame of all this surveillance, psyops and experimental weapons testing? Well climate change is coming and it can’t be stopped. Oil is a finite resource, that is used for everything from, fuel, to cosmetics, plastics…it’s in most domestic products. When it was first discovered, it was a miracle, but the jig is up! The work is divided between two groups, one which wants to use science and capital to address the challenges of the future and another group that believes resource wars, mass dislocation due to climate change and scarcity is the future. This group is trying to secure their safety in a very uncertain future. I suspect they would like the population to decrease to a sustainable 1 billion. Which begs the question, what happens to the rest of us? If you are one of the unlucky .01 percent test population, you already have a taste of what’s in store. Slow kill teams, cancer, depilating harassment…ultimately death for 6 billion people, so that the ultra wealthy and their minions may maintain their lifestyle.
There is another group, equally as wealthy, that is trying to leverage science, finance and medicine against the world’s future challenges, which they do not view as inevitable. Since no one can predict the future with absolute accuracy.
I have on thing to say to the people with wealth and power…Even if the worst is true, wouldn’t you prefer to try…when your immortal soul hangs in the balance. What difference does a year or two make, when you have done the right thing…for you, your children, your grandchildren and the future of humanity.
Obviously, they’ve strayed from surveillance into propaganda. They are no longer defending against threats to the UK, more fighting political battles abroad.
I’M WAITING TILL THEY ADMIT TO INTERFERING IN UK ELECTIONS. Because UK has never elected an anti-surveillance PM, each candidate is demonized before they rise to power.
Why do Sheeple vote, what has ever changed B,liar, Cam,on, in, , like sheep to the slaughter, me what should I care, at 80 yrs old I,m out of here.
you view this as a battle between benevolent and malicious overlords. where are the people? only the people can solve this. stop believing in the concept of leaders. it’s the longest running propaganda campaign in human history. educate yourself, and help us smash the state
SheeeezusHfuckingchrist. Whine, moan, scream, bitch, ..when are you going to get a clue? The solution is so easy a cave man can do it. Read the 16th Amendment and decide whether or not it is the means to subjugate you or not. Then decide what you are willing to do about it. The INCOME TAX is the only way the can NSA exist. PERIOD.
Right. And corporations would never act like this.
you’re right to question the state, but since get hung up on which way they authorize their power — we must simply take it for ourselves
The last page of the document has some programs that are not in the article, which I think are quite interesting. These are software systems which are obviously intended for massive use:
* DEADPOOL: URL shortening service.
* HUSK: Secure one-to-one web based dead-drop messaging platform.
* LONGSHOT: File-upload and sharing website.
And so on.
How would they use these? Data collection and monitoring is one possible use. They could also infect user’s computers with malware.
GG , you continue to amaze, just when you thought the NSA/GCHQ were bad now we find out they are worse. I love your quote “They include invasive methods for online surveillance, as well as some of the very techniques that the U.S. and U.K. have harshly prosecuted young online activists for employing.” Do not do what the NSA does, do what they say? lol. Their hypocritical actions and contempt for our constitutional rights as Americans are truly appalling. From everything we have learned the last year from Edward and the Intercept, is this – http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/09/airport-security-checks-electronic-devices-charged – another way for the GCHQ to illegally obtain peoples personal info from their phones and laptops to then give to the NSA? sure seems like it to me all under the guise of a constantly evolving threat from terrorism. Just as you all have proven time and time again this info from innocent people is useless. It sure did not stop the Boston Bombing and we could go on and on with countless other incidents. All Americans need to make sure when it is election time to vote for the candidates that actually care about our personal freedoms or this Government tyranny will never end.
Easier said than done. We’re manipulated by the politicians at least as much as by the intelligence services.
This gives the five eyes the opportunity to engage in PsyOps (against their own people) more subtly than ever. Remember the results of the experiment Facebook ran in 1012? http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jun/29/facebook-users-emotions-news-feeds – Great tool for dealing with “problems” like OWS . . .
As a blogger I became aware that this was going on. Sites that reported government-sanctioned storylines — or just avoided serious issues a la Mashable — were rewarded by Google. Sites that pretended to challenge government — but in fact had comment section enabling sock puppets — ala Gawker, also fared well. Longtime students of the web saw this with their own eyes.
I was wondering whether in the course of their investigations of the Snowden material, whether Glenn or the others have come across anything where the NSA ever said, “Whoa, this is too radical and extreme; we shouldn’t do this!” I don’t get any sense of discretion or moderation whatsoever. The only limiting factor seems to be the technology at their disposal, and right or wrong does not enter into the equation. This can only end badly without proper oversight and controls, and, to steal a well-known retired coach’s phrase, the only variable is time.
Have seen a number of these in use. For example, got autoresponders from politicians saying “Thank you for your email” when I had sent none. Also from a person on vacation at Macy’s. This was while I lived in NYC and was under intense COINTELPRO-type harassment over something witnessed many years before. US absolutely does this as well.
I also note that the Brits are in the middle of a rather large scandal. Quite the coincidence, allowing carte blanche for JTRIG when MPs are accused of torturing, raping children.
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-28295282
Actually, it was probably the Brits doing it to you, as they often do the NSAs dirty work on US citizens.
If you’re looking for the correct word for this particular phenomenon, try “Sociopathic”.
Right on the money – they are SOCIOPATHS — EVIL SOCIOPATHS. I would like to see some explanation from our elected officials regarding what any of these activities have to do with “national security” or “terrorism.”
“The only limiting factor seems to be the technology at their disposal, and right or wrong does not enter into the equation.”
When funding for yet another contract is the driving imperative, you are unlikely to see any signs of “restraint” in the sales material. I would love to know what percentage of these slide decks were crafted in-house, as a opposed to by/for employees of the contract “security” companies that live off our federal tax dollars.
It amazes me that right or wrong never even enters their thinking.
IMPERIAL BARGE
SILVERLORD
ANGRY PIRATE
WARPARTH (Okay. This one is marginally clever)
Has anyone yet tried to do any linguistic analysis on these program names?
I’ve yet to see one named FARTINGPUPPY, FRAGILEMUFFIN or DAINTYDARLING. Does the intrusiveness or illegality of a program correlate with the machismo quotient of the title?
the angry pirate is a “joke” about unpleasant sexual practices:
http://youtu.be/aG9tyCvh63w
Arson sam is a youtu.be parody of “fireman sam”. http://youtu.be/5xaDQPIuPec
given that both of these things are welsh, i suspect cymdeithas infiltration of gchq.
it’s a shame they took the taff wars stuff down.
WARPARTH (Okay. This one is marginally clever)
Agreed, which is why I decided it must be a spelling error. ;-}
Does the intrusiveness or illegality of a program correlate with the machismo quotient of the title?
So it would seem. I like your names better. I would like to add some of my own submissions for consideration:
FAINTINGFLOWER
POOTINGGENTLEMAN (since you’ve already absonded with ‘fart’)
PERFUMEDBOSOM
GARGANTUANGIRDLE
You’d think a UK-based program (excuse me, “programme”) would use more British code names, and not stuff that sounds like it’s Fort Meade. British-flavoured tags might include things like:
DEAD PARROT
COCKROACH CLUSTER
SPRING SURPRISE
DIRTY VICAR
UPPERCLASS TWIT
SUMMARIZE PROUST
BETTY WINDSOR
HYACINTH BUCKET
CAPTAIN PEACOCK
Say, do I get an MBE out of this?
relying on the good nature of the spies isn’t reliable; assume they’ll stop at nothing.
While we’re on the subject of manipulating political views online, boy howdy are the Israelis all over that one.
Israel student union sets up “war room” to sell Gaza massacre on Facebook
“Organized lying”
Last year a “covert” Israeli government initiative came to light which planned to pay students for spreading propaganda online.
“The whole point of such efforts is to look like they are unofficial, just every day people chatting online,” Israel expert Dena Shunra told The Electronic Intifada.
“But in fact, these are campaigns of organized lying, orchestrated with government-approved talking points and crowdsourced volunteers and stipend recipients,” Shunra added.
According to Ynet, “The war room was opened in the afternoon of the first day of Operation Protective Edge,” one week ago, by the [Israeli student union branch at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya ] student union, and currently has more than 400 volunteers active in it, all students at the institution.
Working in 30 languages, the students working this comment far target online forums including so called “anti-Israel” pages on Facebook and comments sections of online media.
Tomer Amsalem, a second-year year psychology student, acts as one of the war room’s graphic designers.
“In one of our graphics we show the treatment that members of [Hamas leader] Ismail Haniyeh’s and Abu Mazen’s [Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas] families received in Israel, to show we’re even humanitarian to the families of the Palestinian leaders,” he told Ynet.
“In another graphic we show the trauma of the children living around Gaza, which is expressed in drawings of Qassams [rockets]. Another example is a series of cities around the world, being attacked. For example, Berlin – we wrote in German ‘What would you do?’ with a background of Berlin being attacked,’” Amsalem added.
Amsalem is quoted as saying that he sees his work in the “war room” as a civilian equivalent to being called up for military reserves.
Rest here, with videos: http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/israel-student-union-sets-war-room-sell-gaza-massacre-facebook
@ -Mona-:
Just wanted you to know that I read that article, and appreciate the fact that you are trying to increase awareness of Israeli psy-ops on the internet.
“war room” …..That is the preferred “room” for the zionist banking cartel.
Why haven’t I seen this yet from other news sources? People thought the Facebook newsfeed manipulation was creepy, wait till they get a load of this.
It was on The Guardian hours ago, prominently crediting First Look Media.
Now that the Internet has become an end-stage simulacrum, stage-managed by the aristocracy, it’s probably time to log off, leave the cell phones home and start talking to people in person, the good old fashioned way. There’s the sort of authentication no non-quantum crypto algorithm can match (but search your applicants carefully).
flash drive samizdat, anyone ? ? ?
Creepy is right people. The internet really is a threat to individuals who currently hold influence and it shows more than ever.
Only in the hands, hearts and minds/command and control of those and/or that [for of course, are there loads of machines engaged in such an enterprise/operation/mission too] which know what they be doing with the internet and know what it can really do, virtually/remotely, Paul.
And whereas it is indeed a most threatening of incredibly destructive and catastrophically disruptive, invisible and intangible weapons systems, is it also an unbelievably creative facility for manufacturing and managing future novel content for product placement into the present and current theatres of media hosted reality to driver base human perception to accept a certain decidedly more intelligent design of future existence as the default for reality, even though it be a internetworking coproduction and directed virtual reality picture …….. with the bigger picture being that in IT Circles which server and foster such as can be imagined and realised and virtualised as Postmodern Round Table Knights with Damsels in Distress to Comfort and Savour with Favours, is IT AI and Greater IntelAIgent Games Play for …… well, the JTRIG informative would appear to identify them as prime natives/bonobos of SPICE ISLAND, with that old information board hosting [This page was last modified on 5 july 2012, at 13:05] inevitably to be significantly improved upon and developed ever further and deeper for lead in the field and Operating Systems with Quite Quietly Sublime and Stealthy and Surreal and Special Intelligence Services and Servers supplying Internetworking Source Provision of Future Content Unifying Knowledge.
It’s good that GG has returned to the task of reporting on the Snowden files. He was too long away. I was beginning to lose hope.
Any information on who these methods have been used against or the purported oversight procedures that are so questionable?
It is tiring to merely hear about capabilities and not know of any of the operational results. Abuse and lack of oversight is what will spur change.
Don’t worry. I’m pretty sure they only hacked online polls that had it coming.
I’d rather not speculate. I’m moved by evidence.
You know, I agree with you about the lack of context here. That said – abuse is what will spur change? Nate!! That is so wrong on so many levels. C’mon. You are never baby-proofing my house if I ever have kids (“We’ll just leave this bottle of Drano open. A lost esophagus or two will spur change.”) Evolution gifted us with frontal lobes for a reason.
Pretty dumb analogy Nic.
Those techniques used by GCHQ are just not that controversial without knowing anything about targets.
Nate-
Those techniques not that controversial – without knowing about targets? Not to me they’re not! When you read or take part in an internet poll, don’t you want it to reflect the data of actual, not faked, respondents? Do you want the gov’t pushing certain videos? Do you want them scooping up personal facebook photos? Remember, that even if YOU’RE not the target, YOUR data may be hovered up as well as The WaPo reported. What you seem to be saying is -these nefarious means are “justified” to target the “bad guys” (at least that’s how I seem to be reading it). Let’s be very clear; these latest reports make it obvious that if you use the internet, true data YOU may want to use to evaluate a webpage, poll, video, blog, etc. could very well be compromised. Even if you’re not a target, is that something you find desirable? I, for one, don’t!
Then I’d argue that you are not seeing (or simply don’t care) about the full picture and are naive to the threat. The target obviously matters. By not knowing the target or how these techniques are applied, people gravitate to applying it to their own daily activities. So now when I’m on ESPN filling out the poll about where LeBron should go, I wonder if the NSA is inflating numbers!!
No, without hearing or seeing some example of how these techniques are used, one cannot draw any type of credible conclusion. The burden of proof is on Snowden and Greenwald to show that GCHQ or the NSA is manipulating internet polls in defiance of free speech rules. After all, that is the implication from the reporting.
Pushing certain videos such as what? There is a book out about the CIA’s push to send copies of Dr. Zhivago to Russia decades ago. Is the video equivalent of that to an adversary country not considered fair game? And there is a difference between scooping up and analyzing my Facebook photos versus a targets. I expect mine to not be viewed if sucked up “incidentally” and I am concerned about the NSA’s ability to differentiate based on the Washington Post article from last week.
Ugh, getting so tired of the verb “hoovered”
Anyways, that is the nature of collection in a digitized world. The question isn’t whether incidental collection can be avoided but how to minimize and eliminate non-target data. I think the NSA needs serious reform in this area but deficiencies in this area doesn’t mean they shouldn’t do it at all. To draw such a conclusion is to not see any value in intelligence collection or not understand how it works.
It’s not even close to that simple, and your use of “nefarious means” tells me that you are incapable of putting yourself in the government’s shoes with regard to dealing with real threats out there. My viewpoint is as follows: (1) intelligence collection as long as executed in accordance with the laws and the constitution, are fair game. The argument of “just because it’s legal, doesn’t make it right” is an ambigous excuse. (2) Measures must be in place to oversee these activities and protect our data. It is clear that the existing oversight needs serious improvement, especially from Congress who have been shown to be almost useless, and the FISA Court needs more independence from the NSA, among several other matters found by the President’s Review Panel and the PCLOB.
Actually no, it’s not clear at all because there is no EVIDENCE of their use, who was targeted, or the degree of the use. This specific report provided just enough information to create some pretty awesome speculation and whip up fear but it failed to show any operational results. That’s half the story and it’s missing!!
Comparing this story to the “NSA 5″ proves my point. The NSA 5 story was excellent because you saw the proof, you heard from these alleged “targets,” you heard perspective from both sides of the aisle, and although there are still unanswered questions, the NSA has the burden of proof on them. Why did these 5 individuals get surveilled. We should demand answers.
But this report on the other hand, the burden of proof is still on TI and they did not deliver.
Correction:
I said “the argument of “just because it’s legal, doesn’t make it right” is an ambigous excuse. ”
I meant that is an ambiguous excuse if stated broadly. In some cases, what may be legal may still be idiotic to do. For example, the monitoring of Merkel may not have violated any U.S. law but it struck me as foolish for the U.S. to do considering Germany is an ally.
Nice topic change from guiding principle to particulars of a specific situation, Nate.
The quote I was referencing was the idea that change should be abuse driven. That is very much like saying safety standards should be tragedy driven. Or, you can look ahead at what kind of system you’re building and what problems and bugs you could encounter in various situations, how likely they are, etc.
And way to ignore important context in my original quote.
I said: “Abuse and LACK OF OVERSIGHT is what will spur change.”
The question that nobody asks around here is: If these methods are used against legitimate targets, are they acceptable? What are the oversight mechanisms to prevent abuse?
Without knowing any operational results related to the above article, who is to say. So to conclude that “change” is even necessary has not been proven. Hence my claim: If there is not abuse and there is not evidence of inadequate oversight, what is the problem that needs to be changed!? This article did not answer that. Your analogies are simply not good because you ignored the part where I mentioned “lack of oversight.” Utterly convenient! Safety standards are dependent on oversight to identify problems and ensure consistency with standards. As is protecting the kiddos from accessing the Drano considered parental oversight.
Nate: “And way to ignore important context in my original quote.
I said: “Abuse and LACK OF OVERSIGHT is what will spur change.”
Um… ok. I didn’t specify the open Drano involved an *unsupervised toddler. Are we good now?
You’re conflating two points here. 1) Is it a good idea to let abuse and suffering, vs preventative planning based on human intelligence, drive change in systems (which you stated above) 2) Is said abuse actually happening.
I actually agree with you that there is a lack of context here on point 2, so on that point, I just don’t know. On the point 1, no, I think that’s like releasing a computer program and saying “We’ll just see what bugs people report and maybe fix those if they’re really bad and annoy a lot of people, and hey, if it’s some obscure thing that isn’t likely to impact anyone for a few years, we’ll totally ignore it until it crashes an entire system and let that be our indication that we should change things.” Again, frontal lobes – why we look for design flaws in bridges, safety-proof homes, and on and on. Do we need change here? On that, I’m very open, again, the context isn’t clear to me. Should bad things happening be the catalyst for change? One likes to think there are better ways.
To some degree you have described how companies like McAfee and Symantec operate. They do not have enough resources to address everything. They probably have to assess risk, it’s the nature of the beast. But I did not intend to make some overarching argument that all change must be reactive. You seem to be trying to take my comment and mold it into a worldview that can be applied uniformly across any topic.
I was commenting with the knowledge that Glenn sees the whole system rotten to the core and expects change. Well, good luck spurring change if you cannot prove that abuse has occurred or that the controls above are deficient. Personally, I have a greater demand for evidence than what is contained in this single report. And maybe, down the road more information will reveal serious problems, but until that happens, I am not even convinced that change to these particular GCHQ tools is necessary. Granted, I am curious about how Internet poll manipulation is used. If GCHQ is going to Iranian or Syrian websites to undermine their poll results, I’d probably laugh at its shrewdness and be extremely skeptical of its efficacy, but it wouldn’t spur the outrage that I’m seeing around here. Of course, my example is just as made up as manipulating your favorite political website polls. Hence, my desire for actual operational data.
This is a red herring/strawman. To take my comment and conclude that I don’t care about preventative measures across the gamut is absurd. Like most complex programs that carry risk, there must be preventative, detective and reactive controls.
However, I would add that the bitter truth is that often change is spurred by the bad outcomes. Take Social Security for example – it will continue, as an issue, to get punted down the road because it is politically explosive. It might just take people feeling the impact of its impending insolvency for action to occur.
“You seem to be trying to take my comment and mold it into a worldview that can be applied uniformly across any topic.”
Well, fair enough, I do assume that people don’t randomly assume different world views or standards for different issues – or, if they do, they don’t openly acknowledge this. But if you mean, “abuse should only be the catalyst for change – on *this topic”, well, I suppose I am flummoxed, and I am not sure what to invoke to tell you this seems like an odd way of organizing one’s standards. Although it does strike me as an odd way of organizing one’s standards.
I agree there is something to be said about finding out how much protection, exactly, is needed. Going back to the example of child-proofing a house – you could put locks on the paint doors, or you could wrap your child in bubble wrap and follow them around with a can of Lysol at all times. There is, of course, something to be known about what degree of safeguarding protects effectively from harm and what is just overkill and hurts more than it helps. The issue here is that assessing this without transparency (and I say that as someone who definitely believes in the need for some secrecy) and knowing what actual outcomes are is very difficult. But I don’t think this means we should say “Hey, so long as we don’t have examples of heinous abuse, we shouldn’t think about it” – that’s not how we’d evaluate any other system. I’ll even accept saying “In this case we can’t evaluate said systems that way, but this is a trade-off we’re willing to make for security and public safety” – but that’s subtly different (acknowledging it as a trade-off) than saying “we don’t know so it must be fine, then”. That doesn’t mean “We don’t know so it must *not be fine, either” – but it’s an acknowledgment that there is a system in place you’re willing to not evaluate / examine in the usual way, because this is considered a fair trade-off for the security it provides.
Hang ‘em all. GCHQ is a blight.
scary stuff indeed. These guys are out of control.
Is Elon Musk an “egomaniacal woman-abusing, company stealing, deranged, lying, stock swindling, Senator-bribing, narcissistic, attention-whore fraud”; like his wives, ex-partners, customers and shareholder’s lawsuits say, or not?
When you read all of the filings and charges against him, he seems to sound insane.
Pretty much everything you ever read about Elon Musk is said to be a bought and paid for “Please, please look at me” PR sham that he gave cash to some publication for. I worked at one of those publications and saw him do it.
Let’s discuss Emporer Musk’s new clothes.
T- Ex-Date of Mr. Musk
I’ve found two ways Snowden can apply for asylum in another country from the safety of Russia.
If he’s sponsored by an Australian citizen:
http://www.immi.gov.au/Visas/Pages/202.aspx
If he’s sponsored by 5 Canadian citizens:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/refugees/sponsor/groups.asp
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/refugees/outside/index.asp
You’re joking, right? If he’s going for one of the 5 eyes, why not apply for asylum in the US while he’s at it?
I don’t think Canada or Australia are safe places for Snowden to request asylum. In those countries he’ll be abducted by the bad guys (who think they are good guys – sociopaths are often delusional) before he even unpacks his suitcase. Russia is the safest place he can be until more countries in the west WAKE UP to the evil our security services are up to.
Neither Canada, with the ridiculous Abbot as PM, nor Canada, with a Quisling The Harper Government embarrassing the country. The Harper Government is wide open more loyal to the USA, Israel, Britain, and The Vatican than it is to their own country.
We are being told the enemy is at the gates when in fact the enemy has living with us all the time. Time to wake up to the reality of the society we live in. Time to challenge all we thought to be true. If we are to change society we must change first.
Thx again for your work GG….I will tell that once again – these leaks are more & more terrifying….I already knew what kind of country UK is when i spent few hours at one of London’s airports…It looked like warzone or zone somewhere in police state…not in normal country….
As always , in sad times I recommend to all of you one of the Simpsons episodes – this time it will be https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Surveil_with_Love
cheers !
We need Governments with much higher ethical standards, that do not exaggerate threats to benefit the elite financially. We need Governments that are far less corrupt, and Governments that can be trusted, currently our Governments are worse than mafia – they are the enemy of the people, We need a new World order, but it is not the same New World order that the elite want. We need a fairer, less corrupt and more honest new order with much higher standards of governance and accountability We need Governments that do not conduct dirty wars for profit, based on lies. We need a new system of true democracy and with more fearless news publications like The Intercept. We need more Edward Snowdens, Julian Assanges and more Bradley Mannings, and Glenn Greenwalds. and we need to all learn to speak up more. We need Governments that do not seek to punish those that expose the crimes of Governments.
Corruption is the purpose and objective of representative government, no matter how many happy stories ooze from the Prussian ad-ucational system about the Founders that are easily contradicted by a look at academic history, a rather different beast from the bill of goods you learned in primary school.
Unless a supermajority of the electorate can instantly, summarily, with full force of law, with absolutely no concern for the supposed rights of the official, and with the very fact of the vote constituting the final supreme legal order have them arrested and held incommunicado until anyone cares enough otherwise, so-called representation is nothing more than tokenism.
ummm..did you just wake up from a coma from birth or what???…We need a government that..bla bla bla? JesusHchrist..what the fuck do you think human beings have been saying since the big bang??? fuck.. listen pal… look around you. Now what part of pick up a weapon and choose which side of the line in the sand you think is aligned with your prognosis of mankinds condition don’t you understand?
Now that you got that out of your system, are you feeling better?
Now that you found out why your mother pinched your umbilical cord..are you feeling better?
As with the panopticon effect, where prisoners never know if/ when they are being surveilled, we now turn the corner into a world in which the telescreen might be showing us something approximating ‘reality’, or might be a spooks plaything mashed up to monkey with our minds – how would we know? And our not knowing becomes the primary problem.
Options include resorting to some healthy common sense, some healthy paranoia, some recourse to solid state information. You could email a friend for confirmation … no, no, I see a problem there. Phone them on the IMPERIAL BADGER line and compare notes… no , oh fuck, what about pendulums and hazel sticks?
Oh I’ve got it, legislate, or something.
[this post was originally riveting and full of relevant forwarding links before the JTRIG crew got hold of it]
The biggest fear of the GCHQ and NSA is:
“… damaging **public debate** which might lead to legal challenges against the current regime.”
I guess that explains why the UK Parliament wants to push through its new surveillance bill so swiftly and without any public debate…
Nahhh it was probably just so that another billion pounds of tax payers money could be given to the major defence and intelligence contractor corporations of the elite. Money stolen from the poorest members of society through slashing vital services, and slashing social security in the name of austerity.Its a real moneyspinner – just ask Bush and Cheney . Just follow the money trail !
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/10965182/David-Cameron-pledges-1.1-billion-for-defence-to-fight-cyber-terrorists.html
Its about time the Intercept got its teeth into the trilateral commission and The Council On Foreign Relations too.
Well now that you mention the Council on Foreign Relations…I’ll way in. Years ago, before I was a target I used to cater at the Council on Foreign Relations. They were running models on Global Financial Collapse in 1999, when other groups, small financial parties that I catered were predicting DOW 30,000. Most of the attendees at the events are spectators, not involved. David always made sure he sat next to the speaker or the most important person in the room. One event stands out vividly, I was not in the room…it was another waiter. Ehud Barak (defeating Benjamin Netenyahu) had just been elected and they were freaking out because “they” had no one inside. The waiter walker out of the room and told me what had transpired and was incredibly disturbed that the Council on Foreign Relations, run by David R. was interfering in the internal relations of a foreign country. And Ehud Barak is no liberal…but he is reasonable and not a warmonger. He lasted a few years.
The powerful write the laws and even then they find the need to break them. The powerful of the gov or the oligarchy can and do break laws day in and day out and they do it with impunity. The entire legal system is corrupt to its core and must be abandoned. Just as the existing internet is damaged beyond repair.
Meanwhile, we – us – obey obey obey!
Revelation after revelation of the powerful oppressing us to the point of taking our privacy and personal thoughts from us and along with that goes our civil and human rights. They have taken them and no one (well ok, very few) seems to care. We either stop obeying or we surrender – it’s that simple.
quote”The entire legal system is corrupt to its core and must be abandoned.”unquote.
Abandoned???? Well Mr. Naive, just how do you propose “we” pull that off? Send a letter to the DOJ enmass? Or the prez? I can see it now.
Dear USG. We hereby abandon your system. Thanks.
fuk. Meanwhile, …the Dumbest Country On The Planet(DCOTPtm) continues to live in fear that if they do the ONE most powerful thing they could possibly do, the IRS SWAT will kick in their front door to either kill them or arrest them for income tax evasion. Now…are we clear? If not.. you haven’t lived long enough.
GCHQ’s Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group means they make up threats after smoking joints.
JTRIG is code for “Time to trigger another’ J’, Dude.” Silly monkeys!
A follow-up to the NSA Five article. From today’s SF Chronicle, main editorial.
http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/editorials/article/U-S-spying-on-Muslim-Americans-a-cause-for-5618959.php
Gee, I wonder what having “ties” to Snowden means to imply? Usually when we talk about people having “ties” it’s in a negative context, like “ties to organized crime” or “ties to [terrorist group].”
I see the fnords…
It does end on a positive note, coram –
– but of course, it’s likely little good will come of it.
re:
Tim 14 Jul 2014 at 12:52 pm
We need anarchy
Reply
Oh, please god no.
All this great fishing gear and no fish. Must be boring for the Intelligence Production Team of 1200 users.
Glenn,Your buddy from Arkansas,lol Everyone knows these same programs are being used in the United states but do the papers leaked by Snowden show proof That the U.S, is using them also?
I suspect the US government is more careful about putting stuff like this down on paper. Furthermore, the UK has laws that make publishing their secrets, whatever they are, illegal.
I have always been grateful for the British sense of fair play, since without this restraining force it is possible to imagine them behaving in a quite underhanded manner.
I’ve always been grateful your countryman finally figured out that you and your wife were chromosomally aberrant pond scum tyrants and decided it was worth it to risk their lives to hang you both upside down and beat you until you were dead.
The moral of that story is – don’t lose a war. You will notice that the winners are never attacked by lynch mobs.
No, the winners Are lynch mobs. Why, aren’t you glad Osama and Alwaki are dead?
chronicle, it was funny the first few times. It’s not anymore. “Benito” is harmless; and if read properly, insightful.
This should explain the movement in the US to voting machines. How better to manipulate the public than to hack the vote? The Ministry of Truth is alive and well.
“This should explain the movement in the US to voting machines.”
Whether it is internet facing voting machines…remotely programmable (what could go wrong???)…
or voting on your ever so secure IPhone browser (no integrity problem there!!!!)
Voters around the world might be well advised to do a rethink before entrusting the vote to the internet,… where GCHQ, China’s secret service, NSA etc can compete to see who can electronically stuff the ballot box best.
This place is crawling with trolls Zinc/JLocke. Voting is what the internet is for practically. It’s harder to notice when something is missing, ie. missing votes, but once you find that out, it’s evidence that’s almost certainly right next to the trigger of a smoking gun. It’s often much harder to tell when there’s an abundance smoke/noise/decoy/misinformation false votes, but the electronic internet trail is probably the easiest trail to follow, as long as it is an open transparent way. Trolls love hiding in the shadows and shun the sun.
a newly released top-secret GCHQ document called “JTRIG Tools and Techniques”
When “newly” released, by whom?
Part of the Snowden files – https://firstlook.org/theintercept/document/2014/07/14/jtrig-tools-techniques/
Newly released: today.
By: The Intercept.
Glenn, they say you’re too slow in releasing these.
I suspect it’s judicious, because the intake rate of the public is not unlimited. If you dump them all at once, the digestion would be less than optimal. Getting it out is less the issue than getting it IN (to the public consciousness).
I think you’re on track.
Yes, you are correct.
Glenn — they say you’re too slow in releasing these.
I think it’s rather judicious, because the intake rate of the public mind is not unlimited.
Getting it OUT is less important than getting it IN (to the public consciousness).
I think you’re on track.
PP, is that you?
Here is a catalog of maxims good for building bureau morale and fostering interagency teamwork.
Democracy is too important to be left to the people.
Government is too lucrative to be open to public scrutiny.
Integrity is for losers.
We know better than you.
If you don’t believe your government, you can count on FOX.
We’re the good guys.
Trust us like we trust you.
You vote; we count.
Are you sure you aren’t a terrorist?
If you must hide it from us, you must be doing something wrong.
You remain ignorant. We decide.
Brilliant! Thanks
crimincals all of them.
This is all very interesting in light of the Scottish Independence referendum in September. Theres no way the UK Government wants a Yes vote and Scotland breaks free. Whats the betting that GCHC are hard at work ‘ assisting ‘ their shadowy Westminster masters to aid the No campaign ? I’m expecting some anti-Yes vote shocks to appear before September courtesy of UK spooks.
If the Scottish people want independence then it’s on offer. This cannot be blamed for a failed “Yes” vote. Scots know full well what is going on and they have a vote to decide for themselves.
While the Scots may know what is going on, it does not necessarily mean that their democratic will can not be subverted by whatever means are at the disposal of the UK’s security services …
This IS happening, take a look here:
http://deveer.org.uk/dvr/index.php?title=MI5_Subversion_of_State_Power_in_Scotland
Dave Krueger a hug, I welcome your good humor, your sarcasm fine
So, what exactly is new? Is n’t brainwashing using falsified information a very very ancient trick? Are we just surprised now that it is being done using computers and the internet? Dah………
So true. Nothing new about fact that Western spy agencies are using tools to send email from “you” containing, say, links to child pornography sites. Why, the ancients did that too, amirite?
pffft
Mona, you’ve lost so much text, I fear these frackers have wefted your warp. You don’t have to live like a refugee on crumbs of rhetorical bread, girl, unless you enjoy being skinny as a post.
Yeah, I still resent our treatment. I don’t care who was at fault. That was some crappy laundry service. I was locked in their shute for three months! Of course I shat all over the linens.
What’s new is the ability of the powerful to manipulate and control entire populations, by virtue of the internet and your computer, the electronic extension of yourself in this age.
In the past, there was privacy at least on the most personal level, privacy that enables freedom to think. Now there is very little of that. And (manipulated) majority opinion pushes public policy to an extent never before quite so completely. Minority views are drowned in such vast seas of controlled opinion.
You should care about that if you are an authentic human.
And it’s getting pervasive.
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-07-03/hospitals-are-mining-patients-credit-card-data-to-predict-who-will-get-sick
Nanny Security Agency, courtesy of private enterprise.
As long as it’s not used for marketing purposes or to deny health care benefits (two mighty big caveats!), I don’t have much of a problem with that particular intrusion. Go ahead and tell me I’m buying too much soda pop, or eating too much McDonald’s, and give me some alternatives. But it should be opt-in, all the way (and none of that “by using this credit card you agree” baloney).
It’s going to be a huge adjustment, getting used to the Brave New World. I don’t think we can avoid Big Data; it’s out there, it exists, and someone’s going to use it. If it’s to our benefit then fine. It’s all the ways it can be used against us that we have to watch out for.
I don’t think you’re thinking this through. If it’s to our benefit then fine. The one thing we’ve seen over, and over, and over again is our benefit is a priority way behind those who stand to make a profit off it. I can easily imagine your medical bill charges, or your pool’s insurance premium, being tied to the data-markers revealed by your pool’s credit card purchases. You might be living the “clean life,” but don’t assume your pool-mates are.
Did you read that article?
Yeah; I’d find it intrusive, too. Real intrusive.
Heck, I get irritated with the you-tube “recommended” list, which they base, supposedly, on the videos that I’ve viewed. The idea of someone calling me to advise me about my corn chips preference, based on whatever “concerns” they might have for my health, would not sit well with me at all.
@liberalrob
It’s going to be used to police the poor, an underclass equivalent to a slave class. Data concerning their consumption habits will very likely used by the IRS to determine their premiums for healthcare under the ACA, and what portion of those premiums are to be subsidized. If it can be shown the poor are not responsibly protecting their (future) health, they may be declined coverage for those conditions their habits presage. And because they are poor, those who do pay taxes and/or full premiums will, sadly and in the main, support such authoritarian punishment.
Any intrusion is a violation of privacy. Making exceptions is the way the intruder got his foot in the door to begin with.
The moral of that story is to purchase using cash as much as possible.
Let these assholes guess by hovering over their smudged crystal balls.
That’s why I said “As long as it’s not used for marketing purposes or to deny health care benefits.” I too can easily imagine those things.
Yes, I did.
Even if it was your family doctor? I’m not saying it’s OK for Tostitos to call you up. This specific case is your personal physician and/or hospital, contacting you as part of their interest in your health (and on an opt-in basis, as my condition).
In case y’all overlooked the document, the programs in the article appear to be the tip of the iceberg and the good folks at GCHQ have a virtual think tank going on of ways to exploit the internet to manipulate, influence and control people’s thoughts and behaviors.
https://firstlook.org/theintercept/document/2014/07/14/jtrig-tools-techniques/
I think this is actually more insidious than some of the surveillance programs because it is solely about manipulation and control in the guise and changing people’s mindsets. It is truly an effort to weaponize the internet. A tool for the free exchange of ideas was too tempting not to be used as weapon. The NSA may have a few more restrictions on what tools are used and how but don’t think for a second that they (or any government intelligence agency) wouldn’t use any of these tools if given access to the “toolbox”.
Great timing for the article. Everyone with a vote in the British Parliament will want to read about what they are giving the GCHQ carte blanche to do, right? Yeah, I doubt most would be interested as well…
yak, on page two of that document these two entries are marked ‘Operational’.
Astral Projection – Remote GSM secure covert internet proxy using TOR hidden services.
Twilight Arrow – Remote GSM secure covert internet proxy using VPN services.
This means they are now and have been using their capacity to break into TOR and VPN connections, is that so? Doesn’t this also mean that open source fixes can be quickly and easily violated?
Terrifying
Situation Normal All Fucked Up. The Powers have been working on this a long time, arguably since the beginning of the last century. Former CIA Director, William Casey said in 1981, “We’ll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false.”
Katherine Graham in a 1988 speech to CIA recruits said, “We live in a dirty and dangerous world. There are some things the general public does not need to know, and shouldn’t. I believe democracy flourishes when the government can take legitimate steps to keep its secrets and when the press can decide whether to print what it knows.”
That last phrase is true enough – the press should decide. So GG, thank you for deciding what is fit to print and please don’t ever stop bringing to the public what they are not supposed to know!
Anyone besides me wondering how Great Britain remains part of the EU? They kept their currency, are part of the “5 Eyes,” and are apparently rushing through legislation to thwart the EU Court ruling. Why do the rest of them, especially Germany, allow it?
Because they are desperate for the UK to remain part of the EU.
bloopie2 – “In a novel I once read, someone “planted” kiddie porn on an adversary’s computer, then notified the FBI. So you’re saying that is possible?”
Snowden’s docs, say it is possible. if they have hacked administrator access, if they have collected passwords to a target’s computer, they can alter the info, delete add etc, as well as…peruse.
It erodes trust in the information.
Imagine if it was found that police, government agents could secretly break into physical spaces,… homes, …not only examine the contents but also remove things, deposit things….without notifying the public. What would be the consequences? How is the same thing being done in the cyber realm any less destructive?
Indeed…thus it would be pretty important that that capability not be found, wouldn’t it?
Title of the article may be a slight misnomer. GCHQ’s little toolbox (see document) seems designed more for wrecking, not control.
Ahhh, its that nuanced definition of “fixing things…”
With news like this, this certainly also would make mockery of a legal system. Just imagine “planted” and misconstrued evidence that was never real to begin with. NO WONDER Snowden did what he did. This is certainly worth informing the public of. It was bad enough to spy on attorney/client priviledge communications, intercept messages, race to impersonate websites and hack encryptions to banking, but this is another whole ballpark. One that would turn lies into truth to satisfy whatever craving of deceit they want to try and do. People talked about Snowden and tried to make him out to be some traitor. The nerve of them!
Wasn’t it rather toxic of them to use “rolling thunder” while they also burned that band name during same operation in Vietnam? PU, GCHQ, that joke has already been exploited. How old are you? DC5, does that mean anything to you but aircraft?
All done in the name of safety and security, but for whom is the question. Protection from terrorists, but who do these government officials consider terrorists? Thee and me, of course.
….and also yes I’m glad this story points out the obvious, that the ability to access computers around the world, collect the data…also means that the GCHQ can ALTER the info. this might be obvious to computer geeks, but I’m not sure if it has filtered out to the public that “they” can not only read your stuff, but they can also plant stuff…be it embarassing… or incriminating.
In a novel I once read, someone “planted” kiddie porn on an adversary’s computer, then notified the FBI. So you’re saying that is possible?
Sure, why not? If they’re able to access your computer via vulnerabilities and backdoors, they can do anything to it. That’s why you shouldn’t allow remote access at all. But I wonder if it’s a useless effort. Either you let them in to surveill you or they deem you a “person of interest” because obviously you have something to hide; look at how assiduously you’re protecting yourself!
I wonder how many online polls the Koch brothers are manipulating, it would explain a lot.
bloopie2 – “Seems that the law may be intended to “legalize” what they have already been doing illegally. ”
Yes, in the same way Sen Obama voted to “legalize the warrantless wiretapping Bush was caught doing in the US.
With the ability to connect 2 random phone calls to one another. Wouldn’t that raise questions about the legality of NSA spying on Americans ? I mean if you need a legal excuse in the US just have the UK connect your targets phone to a known terrorist or target and WHAMO they get sucked in as a legit target and no need to even get a FISA rubber stamp. How did you get these NSA ? oh he placed a phone call to someone we were already watching. How convenient.
“The page indicates that it was last modified in July 2012, and had been accessed almost 20,000 times.”
But are those numbers real — or SLIPSTREAMed? : )
Fortunately, the highly ethical GCHQ would never use dirty tricks to influence parliamentary voting on the pending intelligence legislation.
Yeah, I’m kidding.
Glenn – To what extent do you think these covert operations on the part of the world’s most powerful national security agencies (namely those of the US and UK) are coordinated? And if they do appear to be coordinated, are they committed to the same policy objective. Not to sound overly conspiratorial, but it seems logical that the world’s most powerful national security agencies would want to coordinate to achieve mutual policy objectives. This is a scary thought..
How utterly “awesome.” I imagine GCHQ as a club-med destination for every nearly sociopathic, adolescent minded, hacker in the world. Determined to out-Anonymous Anonymous they’ve built themselves an imperial crib that ought to make any serious hacker drool. Imagine having the whole of the internet to play with without fear of prosecution. It’s a dream world. A fantasy come true! And, you get paid to do it!
No barriers. No fear. No accountability. No recriminations. Sky’s the limit. Go for broke playing in the craziest gear you can imagine.
Un-fucking-real.
I imagine the recruitment pitch actually sounded a lot like that.
Yup, much like the awesome sauce of the destruction of a counter-culture icon by co-opting his brand – a la Bob Dylan’s Super Bowl commercial for Chrysler – the hacking subculture has been decimated by these NSA flacks. Probably by having semi-hot 20-year old internet porn stars yell at them that their penises are pathetic, and give them masturbation instructions. Myeah, that fantasy of the brave, noble hacker genius taking on the powers that be can be led out to pasture now. I wonder if Stephen Colbert can do another dinner keynote where he can take on that sorry state ….
The metaphor I had in mind, reading the JTRIG document, was more of a demolition derby. It appears to be a toolbox of espionage and sabotage tools. Nothing like wrecking your own infrastructure, is there? Especially when business starts deciding that the Web is no longer a safe place to do sales and handle intellectual properties?
It’s also like Elizabeth I and her privateers, but with one crucial difference: she didn’t have Drake and Morgan raiding England’s own ships.
– – –
I’m sure they’re quite confident of their ability to control and direct the monster they have created. Mad scientists always are.
That’s apparently asking too much of today’s would-be princes.
Seems that the pending UK legislation may be intended to “legalize” what they have already been doing illegally. Too bad there is no UK “Constitution” to override such. At least in the US we have a shot at it.
In the absence of any consequences, the concept of legality is essentially meaningless.
I don’t know how they can sleep.
“I don’t know how they can sleep”
Anglo supremacy, as usual. It’s for your own good, they say before, during and after the rape, and the endorphin rush afterward must mean it’s true.
Those “tool” names (BADGER, IMPERIAL BARGE, etc.) . . .
. . . they’re from a Monty Python skit – – the Ministry of Silly Names.
Imo, in fairness to Monty Python, Glenn should have acknowledged that in the article.
*pick a card, any card
No, I think it’s more in the nature of the Hungarian phrase book sketch. You know, like operation Hovercraft Eels.
Oh geez, I can barely read this stuff because I get too creeped out. Granted, it’s GCHQ and I live in the US, but still. There’s an expectation that good governments should protect people from creepers, not *be creepers. Sending people fake emails from ‘your’ address and finding private pictures on Facebook is beyond the pale – that’s the kind of thing you worry about a stalker ex doing, not the people who are supposed to be upholding national standards.
I’m still not 100% clear on criteria used to target people for these programs but it sounds as if it extends far beyond “extremist making a bomb in a cave somewhere”. I acknowledge some need for secrecy but when you are targeting people in potentially life-destroying ways I think the public has the right to extremely clear criteria regarding who is targeted, under what circumstances, and what controls are in place to prevent abuse.
The propaganda stuff is just silly – I mean why, really? Fussing with online polls – why risk getting found out when legal forms of PR would do far more anyways? Wait – they decide every outcome on “Hot or Not”, don’t they?! It all makes sense now…
“Granted, it’s GCHQ and I live in the US, but still.”
I assure you that the US spy agencies have these same tools. In fact, a good number of college-aged hackers have these same tools. If a computer researcher showed these tools off at DEFCON, a lot of people would yawn.
Poll manipulation, for example, something that our two political parties likely participate in. Perhaps they don’t have an automated tool, but I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t.
AND in the US, corporations have thousands of these weasels doing their dirty work…and corporations run the US government.
Well, tools are one thing. What percentage of the US population has access to firearms, or at least knives? The tools of harm are there, and yet the vast, vast majority of people manage to make it through the day without abusing them. People who are authorized use them in a sanctioned way to prevent more harm with said tools than they cause (i.e., law enforcement using guns to stop a criminal) – I’m sure there’s a long, long debate about the ins and outs of that, just saying that it tends to be the norm that we have genies out of the bottle all over the place and yet manage that as a society somehow.
So it’s not necessarily the tools, it’s what you do with them (hmm, I’m sure there’s a dirty joke in there somewhere) – a college kid who goes into the Facebook account of a girl he likes and looks at her spring break pictures? Maybe he needs a better role model regarding how to treat women, but if that’s the extent of it, I hardly consider that kid a cyber terrorist or something. A government employee of some sort conducting a legitimate investigation? I don’t have a problem with that. So what exactly is being done with the tools and why is a big part of the equation – my worry here is that 1) We don’t know a lot about the process 2) The bits and pieces we *are hearing are troubling – again, who are these strategies levied against, and why? To me, they sound punitive in nature – I thought intelligence agencies were concerned with investigating crimes and reporting their findings to the appropriate people – it seems as if now there’s a weird blur there, and crime and punishment are both taking place behind the scenes. That’s like someone getting a warrant to search your home and, in the process, stealing some of your stuff, making a call from your phone pretending to be you, and delivering your naked photos to your neighbor’s house. Possibly that’s overstating it because again, it’s not clear to me if the above programs were ever used, if so, how, and against whom, but the general description is still troubling.
Well said!! Thank you!! I think we are dealing with psychologically unwell people, that’s the bottom line here. People who want to control others and view themselves as better and smarter than the rest of us…. Sounds simplistic, but in the end, people are running this show and it’s their choices and behavior we are all being impacted with.
quote “I think we are dealing with psychologically unwell people,”unquote
Hahahahaha. Says one after taking the red pill.
You’re one of the people I’m talking about.
And what’s the GCHQ’s definition of “extremist”? We know that they’ve targeted visitors to the Wikileaks website, and anyone who hangs out with Anonymous, so that gives you an idea.
Not to mention anybody who even reads about TOR or security minded articles on sites like Boing Boing.
Extremist? Anyone who tells the truth.
If you want to know what’s going on right under your nose, make a visit to http://fightgangstalking.com. It’s a Cointelpro-style program that’s thriving in the US. (The UK has its version, too, as I understand it.)
Though I don’t think everything on that page is correct… It sadly is describing a real life “disruption” operation. Still it is pointless to try to spread accurate information about this phenomenon. Search for it you will find the kind of disinformation talked about in this article. You will see people claiming satellites are torturing them etc. These agencies do a good job at making sure that people that have not experienced will conclude those complaining of it are crazy. The real gist of the program:you are put under surveillance… They find out embarrassing details on your life… Then recruit your real life friends to harass you with said information. This harassment has the effect of disrupting those that are considered dangerous. And if you complain of it you are “paranoid” or have “schizophrenia”. But like I said this is kept pretty secret there is no real use trying to spread info about it. Without documents you have no chance.
“Still it is pointless. … There is no real use trying to spread info about it. Without documents you have no chance.” -Jim
Not only is this program “disrupting” lives — it’s killing people — and, as such, anyone who participates in it is complicit in torture and murder. Silence is also complicity. The truth will out, eventually.
Like a lot of other people, I am eager to see the discussion of modern Cointelpro operations in the U.S. (organized stalking) move from the comments section of The Intercept – and the Guardian, etc. – to the news reports. It is a massive scandal and an open secret within the law enforcement and intelligence industry in America.
I agree with Jim’s characterization of the disinformation campaign about the whole practice, and I agree that the “Fight Gang Stalking” site offers the most well-sourced explanation of the whole business.
Actually I do not think that site is very accurate at all. There is no real stalking… It simply appears that way to a target. Their friends are given lines they are then supposed to repeat to the target. The friends are not “in on it” they are repeating lines which have no significance to them. It is not too complicated. They just want to pull your attention away from activism and get you to pay attention to their show. It is simple disruption.
What is going on is FAR more serious than you have been led to believe. Cointelpro operations did not become less sophisticated after J. Edgar Hoover; they became much more sophisticated – just as all surveillance and counterintelligence activities have.
There has never been an Edward Snowden-type whistle-blower in the FBI or the LEIU. The only time we got a real glimpse of how they operate was in 1971 when activists dropped a bunch of stolen secret documents into the lap of the press. What was exposed was a list of serious crimes that included overt stalking and black bag jobs for psyops purposes. In the case of actress Jean Seberg for example (whose slander by the FBI made the front page of the LA Times), it drove her to suicide.
Your portrayal of what is going on as being a few comments made here and there to the target does not even begin to capture the scope and seriousness of the abuses.
I don’t mean to trivialize anything… Especially not the psychological damage / trauma they are able to inflict on SOME targets. However I am a target and have been for 5 years and for about 2 months they were able to really affect me/make me look crazy. I was lucky enough to realize early that their main goal is to cause self-inflicted damage. When you realize that and when you realize there is no real slander going on, the whole thing becomes just a running prank that doesn’t seem to end. They obviously designed this program with the idea that it might be discovered and so made sure they would cause the targets to discredit themselves as opposed to them doing it themselves.
The real damage is caused by a targets own imagination!
I am absolutely convinced that “gang stalking” is a made up term, just like “enhanced interrogation”. They’re not stalking you…they’re f*#cking killing you, after they have discredited you “you’re crazy” etc.. Then they start with the surveillance and weapons testing. Last week, I filmed one of these A-holes as I left my house at night for a walk…his arm was hanging out the window, driving a black Mercedes, but I didn’t get camera out in time, so I had nothing, but a black car half way down another street. This guy turns around, follows me down another street, stops me and asks me why I took his picture…I told him I had had problems with stalking. He tells me he is calling the police. I told him “go right ahead, then they have your number”. He makes the call, has a conversation with the police about this girl who took his picture. Now I have his picture and license plate. I walk over to the precinct and describe the incident and ask if I’m allowed to take pictures on public property. They told me “nobody called us”. I said this guy had a conversation with the police. The police officer checked in back, the officer confirmed…nobody called. So I said “he pretended to call the police” and they shook their heads and said “have a nice night”. Keep this in mind…
note to self.. file this under..
Things NOT to do when the car is a black Mercedes.
I’m talking of simple harassment/disruption. Using sort of childish methods to get on a person’s nerves. That’s all.
Jim @ 15 Jul 2014 at 4:25 am: “I’m talking of simple harassment/disruption. Using sort of childish methods to get on a person’s nerves. That’s all.”
Jim, In the context of “gang stalking” (slang) / Cointelpro-stalking (accurate term), your use of the terms “simple harassment” and “simple disruption” is interesting, though troublesome. While, when viewed in isolation, some of the tactics that are being employed might arguably be described as “simple” or “childish”, they are anything but “simple”, when viewed in their totality and greater context. When one is able to see the whole picture, the process/program would best be described as one of psychological torture, and I can assure you that there is nothing even remotely benign or “simple” about it.
I am an actual ‘victim’ of this program. Like I said it has the ability to cause much damage to a target; or rather, cause a target to cause damage to himself. During the period of time when you believe in the show they are putting on for you, it is scary and disorienting. However once you realize the name of the game, it becomes kind of like a joke or a prank.
There is no stalking done by groups of people. There is one or a couple people somewhere (a fusion center? i don’t know) that will turn your cellphone into a roving bug and will monitor all your actions online. They will try to create the impression that all the people around you are watching you… all your friends and coworkers. But in reality these people are just repeating lines that they (purposely) can’t understand the meaning of. They do not want to become an enemy of the FBI themselves, so they comply – with key instructions that they can not reveal the true source of the comments. I’d call it harassment by proxy – gang stalking as a term is itself disinformation.
When you realize it is a show and that nobody around you knows what they are saying, you gain the ability to have fun with them and make them think the reason behind the comments is basically anything you want. It becomes a game and nothing more. Then you just wait… and wait… and wait… and I’m still waiting. Someday it will end. I might be a special case – as I never took any positions against the USG nor against any official narratives. And as a matter of fact I tried (poorly) to defend USG policies when I thought nobody was looking. It’s just that what I said was to the wrong person online – someone in a middle eastern country.
Jim,
A colleague of mine says that, given the opportunity, a person will often give himself away, and that may be the case here. Having reviewed your comments, the terms “minimization” and “victim-blaming” come to mind. (A quick and basic review of “minimization” (“minimisation (psychology”)) is available on Wikipedia. While not a reference that I’d typically recommend, you may find it helpful — it provides a good overview, as well as some additional resources. Others may find it to be useful, as well. I will leave it to you (and other readers) to draw any appropriate and relevant inferences.)
As to some of your remarks, let me say this:
As noted in my last comment, there is nothing benign about this form of COINTELPRO, which involves prolonged stalking and psychological torture. It’s certainly not a “joke”, “prank”, or “game.” Neither is it the fault of the victim, just as it is not about “simple disruption”, or a little “slander” but, rather, a complex program that is designed to destroy a person’s life. In keeping with this goal, it’s ruining the lives of some very good people, as was the case with the original COINTELPRO.
Let’s put the blame squarely where it belongs; those to blame are the perpetrators of these crimes. And I’m sure that it’s beginning to get a little hot in the kitchen for some of these folks, as details of the government’s pervasive surveillance activities continue to be revealed. (As you’ve correctly noted, Jim, the disinformation surrounding this topic has been very effective. That, too, would appear to be changing.)
Jim,
A colleague of mine says that, given the opportunity, a person will often give himself away, and that may be the case here. Having reviewed your comments, the terms “minimization” and “victim-blaming” come to mind. (A quick and basic review of “minimization” (“minimisation (psychology”)) is available on Wikipedia. While not a reference that I’d typically recommend, you may find it helpful, as it provides a good overview, as well as some additional resources. Others may find it to be useful, as well. I will leave it to you (and other readers) to draw any appropriate and relevant inferences.)
Regarding some of your remarks, let me say this:
As noted in my last comment, there is nothing benign about this form of COINTELPRO, which involves prolonged stalking and psychological torture. It’s certainly not a “joke”, “prank”, or “game.” Neither is it the fault of the victim, just as it is not about “simple disruption” or a little “slander” but, rather, a complex program that is designed to destroy a person’s life. In keeping with this goal, it’s ruining the lives of some very good people, as was the case with the original COINTELPRO.
Let’s put the blame squarely where it belongs; those to blame are the perpetrators of these crimes. And I’m sure that it’s beginning to get a little hot in the kitchen for some of these folks, as details of the government’s pervasive surveillance activities continue to be revealed. (As you’ve correctly noted, Jim, the disinformation surrounding this topic has been very effective. That, too, would appear to be changing.)
My apologies for the duplicate postings. There appears to be a lag, at times.
I enjoy going back and forth with you.
I’m not trying to blame the victims as much as they are innocent people that never committed a crime. They exercised their first amendment rights in such a way that the government (illegally) determined to be dangerous.
There is nothing good about this program and for a couple months I suffered from it immensely-so I don’t mean to minimize the potential damage it can cause.
It can be a very traumatic experience-however in my case at least I find it difficult to see how it damaged me. Once you are able to see through the facade however, it is possible to realize the truth. If you ignore it and don’t react to it, it becomes powerless over you. It is highly psychological-but when you realize that it is someone’s job to fabricate criticisms of you which not even they necessarily believe, at that point you are over it and have broken their spell. I am fortunate that I never complained about the harassment to anyone but my wife – so I never discredited myself in public. I’d imagine that many if not most targets are not lucky enough to be able to break the spell. For those people I feel really bad. In my case I do feel like it has made me stronger-and I consider myself fortunate that I was able to get through this relatively unscathed. Once a target comes to the conclusions that I have, they begin to recover. Once they realize the people in their lives have NOT turned against them-they will feel better.
I’ve not talked to others about it so I can only speak to my case. One thing I do believe is that for other targets, reading about how bad,sinister,and evil this program is will only make them feel worse. I do understand others probably view this much differently than myself.
I can certainly understand the potential this has to ruin lives. I really do not mean to trivialize it. I can understand how it can push people into social isolation. I can understand how it can cause people to flip their lid and lose their job or their reputation. I was lucky enough to catch on early enough and thus limit the damage. Also I am not very outspoken, so perhaps my personality type helped me through this as well.
The key thing is that most people likely do not understand the basic mechanics behind the program. If you do not see through it, the program will definitely take you down over time. I just think I must’ve gotten lucky. There is a youtube video called the gangstalking program explained – about 41 minutes long -i honestly believe that to be recorded by the authorities themselves… and while it contains some deceptions in it as well, I see it as something that is meant to legitimately help targets out.
If you want to know what’s going on right under your nose, pay a visit to fightgangstalking dot com. It’s a Cointelpro-style program that’s thriving in the US. (The UK has its version, too, as I understand it.)
quote”There’s an expectation that good governments should protect people from creepers, not *be creepers.”
note..file this under…
Things you believed as a child when adults lectured you before Pledging Allegiance to the Flag.
Good response to the announcement of the pending UK legislation. Seems that the law may be intended to “legalize” what they have already been doing illegally. One step forward …
quote”Seems that the law may be intended to “legalize” what they have already been doing illegally.”unqoute
Shades of every legal imperialism since the big bang, notwithstanding Henry the Eighth
We need anarchy
No we don’t.
We’ll need to know what both of you mean by anarchy to determine which one of you is correct.
My default is the classical definition, i.e. absence of government structures.
Actually we need a return to the rule of law. Anarchy would quickly fail-and when it does there will be a despot waiting to take advantage of the situation. Calling for anarchy is indirectly asking for despotism.
quote”Actually we need a return to the rule of law.” unquote
Return. right. Please enlighten us old wise one on exactly how “we” should proceed? Considering the USG is now the preeminent legal imperialism of the entire planet with nuclear powers that no other sovereign on the face of this planet can force them to do ANYTHING?
I submit..unless you are willing to either pick up weapon to show us how, you are ..
1. An idiot of biblical proportions
2. A naive taxpayer who hasn’t got a clue
3. A johnny come lately to the world of DUH!
4. or someone who hasn’t lived long enough to understand the implications of Senator Churche’s meaning of the abyss.
Yes. We cease being in a state of war. If you think that’s impossible then fine. Even permanent war is preferable to your precious little anarchy. There is no use arguing with an idiot like yourself that would secretly rather destroy the USG and watch other countries carve up North America. You must be naive to think that every other country in the world wouldn’t have so-called imperialist impulses if the opportunity presented itself. Russia does. Europe does. China does in Africa. Japan has. The ottomans did. ISIS will. But in your dream anarchist paradise you’d rather see the US as an oppressed country rather than a united one.