I was just listening to the podcast version of Democracy Now! for August 31, 2007, yes I've been falling behind, and, during headlines (readable here: http://urltea.com/1eh3), they talked about how Wired Magazine is reporting (here: http://urltea.com/1eh1) about a point-click-spy system that the FBI can use to electronically listen in on anything you do electronically. Here's a cutting from the article at Wired.Com :
The FBI has quietly built a sophisticated, point-and-click surveillance system that performs instant wiretaps on almost any communications device, according to nearly a thousand pages of restricted documents newly released under the Freedom of Information Act.
The surveillance system, called DCSNet, for Digital Collection System Network, connects FBI wiretapping rooms to switches controlled by traditional land-line operators, internet-telephony providers and cellular companies. It is far more intricately woven into the nation's telecom infrastructure than observers suspected.
It's a "comprehensive wiretap system that intercepts wire-line phones, cellular phones, SMS and push-to-talk systems," says Steven Bellovin, a Columbia University computer science professor and longtime surveillance expert.
OK, so it's not quite EVERYthing you communicate electronically--the article doesn't immediately mention web/email traffic, but that's OK--another program (read about it here: http://urltea.com/1eh4) has that covered (but the article does mention it). Also, some web/email traffic uses cell phone networks these days. Hell, on some days I travel more on the Internet via my Sidekick 3 than I do on my MacBook. So, whether it's voice, text, VoIP, web, email or Nextel-walkie-talkie-style "push-to-talk" you could easily be listened in on by the FBI. I think the only way to be completely safe from these guys is if you use a couple of tin cans and some string.
I wonder what kind of bandwidth kite string gets...
Anyway, here's some more yumminess from the Wired article:
DCSNet is a suite of software that collects, sifts and stores phone numbers, phone calls and text messages. The system directly connects FBI wiretapping outposts around the country to a far-reaching private communications network.
OMG! That private communications network must be owned by COBRA!! This is just the kind of thing Cobra Commander would be behind! With Destro's connections in the US military, he'd be able to...
OK, but seriously. What the hell is this? A "private communications network" is the endpoint for a chain of FBI surveillance? WTF? Is our government just outsourced from private industry, here?
Well, it seems like there's outsourcing going on in both directions here. Check out a bit more from the article:
Together, the surveillance systems let FBI agents play back recordings even as they are being captured (like TiVo), create master wiretap files, send digital recordings to translators, track the rough location of targets in real time using cell-tower information, and even stream intercepts outward to mobile surveillance vans.
FBI wiretapping rooms in field offices and undercover locations around the country are connected through a private, encrypted backbone that is separated from the internet. Sprint runs it on the government's behalf.
Isn't that nice of Sprint? Now I'm doubly glad I ditched them for my mobile phone service!
And, predictably enough, there's more:
Today, most carriers maintain their own central hub, called a "mediation switch," that's networked to all the individual switches owned by that carrier, according to the FBI. The FBI's DCS software links to those mediation switches over the internet, likely using an encrypted VPN. Some carriers run the mediation switch themselves, while others pay companies like VeriSign to handle the whole wiretapping process for them.
I HAAAATE VERISIGN!!! In fact, I already hated those guys. Now I REALLY HATE 'EM!
Anyone who has been a web master for as long as I have been remembers their obscene pricing and their clever but shitty attempts to trick people into transferring their domains to VeriSign. They're a bunch of dickweeds. But I digress.
But how did it get this bad???
It's Bill Clinton's fault!!
No, really. It is. The article goes on:
The law that makes the FBI's surveillance network possible had its genesis in the Clinton administration. In the 1990s, the Justice Department began complaining to Congress that digital technology, cellular phones and features like call forwarding would make it difficult for investigators to continue to conduct wiretaps. Congress responded by passing the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, or CALEA, in 1994, mandating backdoors in U.S. telephone switches.
Essentially, this law forces private companies to play along with Big Brother or face charges. And here you thought you lived in a free country!
Like ex-senator Rick Santorum once said (here: http://urltea.com/1eh5) the right to privacy "does not appear anywhere in the text of the Constitution." Oh sure, you can infer it and you can certainly associate privacy with being free (from judgment) to do what you want in your pursuit of happiness, but don't be surprised if you get snagged for doing something the USG doesn't like you doing because they are paying attention.
There is some good news in all of this. The docs that spilled all of these beans were granted via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Here's more on this from the Wired article:
The released documents suggest that the FBI's wiretapping engineers are struggling with peer-to-peer telephony provider Skype, which offers no central location to wiretap, and with innovations like caller-ID spoofing and phone-number portability.
So, there are a few glimmers of hope. I use Skype more and more these days and like it just fine. It makes me very happy to know that there's really no way for the USG to listen in on calls made with it. Actually, my understanding is that it's only fully secure in Skype-to-Skype calls--Skype-to-landline/cell phone calls, I believe, can be monitored.
Someone might wonder how the private companies can just play along. Well, the Wired article covers this, too:
Randy Cadenhead, the privacy counsel for Cox Communications, which offers VOIP phone service and internet access, says the FBI has no independent access to his company's switches.
"Nothing ever gets connected or disconnected until I say so, based upon a court order in our hands," Cadenhead says. "We run the interception process off of my desk, and we track them coming in. We give instructions to relevant field people who allow for interconnection and to make verbal connections with technical representatives at the FBI."
The nation's largest cell-phone providers -- whose customers are targeted in the majority of wiretaps -- were less forthcoming. AT&T politely declined to comment, while Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon simply ignored requests for comment.
Agent DiClemente, however, seconded Cadenhead's description.
"The carriers have complete control. That's consistent with CALEA," DiClemente said. "The carriers have legal teams to read the order, and they have procedures in place to review the court orders, and they also verify the information and that the target is one of their subscribers."
That's all fine and dandy, but what's the incentive for these carriers to not help out? How can these carriers stand up and say "no" when the USG doesn't provide adequate docs? What can they do if the USG lies to them the way the USG has lied to us about Iraq, Al Qaeda, Katrina and more? What if the companies are lying? What if DiClemente and Cadenhead are both lying?
That's the real problem with all of this.
Our government isn't supposed to lie to us. Nor are companies supposed to lie to us.
The problem is, they have and continue to.
As a result, we can trust NOTHING these people say to us. It's a complete break down of the power structure in America. Too bad most Americans haven't really reacted to it yet.
Oh and by the way (in case you forgot or haven't been paying attention) this is what a police state looks like.
It may not be a full-on 1984-style oppressive state, but with this kind of power to domestically spy, you've got to wonder when they'll install those viewscreens in our homes. They can tap everything else electronic, but some of us still don't use computers (believe it or not) and eventually King George and his United States Government will want to spy on those analog-people, as well.
Just give them time...
Orignal From: FBI CAN POINT-CLICK-EAVESDROP ANYWHERE IN THE US
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