Egyik 19

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Egyik 19 

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Europe     Európa

Franciaország     France

2013. X. 21.     Franciaország magyarázatot követel az NSA adatrögzítéseivel kapcsolatban; behívatta az Egyesült Államok párizsi nagykövetét. A 'Le Monde' cikke szerint az amerikai Nemzetbiztonsági Ügynökség (NSA) harminc napon át, 2012. december 10. és 2013. január 8. között 70,3 millió adatot rögzített franciaországi telefonhívásokról. Az újság Snowden, volt NSA-munkatárs által közzétett aktákra hivatkozott. Az ügyet különösen kényessé teszi, hogy Kerry, amerikai külügyminiszter Párizsba érkezett, ahol a szíriai helyzetről fog tárgyalni. Kerry, érkezésekor azt hangoztatta, hogy a két ország katonai, hírszerzési kapcsolata egy emberöltő óta most a legjobb. (Forrás: MTI)     22 October 2013     US 'National Security Agency' 'spied on French diplomats' in Washington and at the United Nations (UN) - according to the latest claims in 'Le Monde' newspaper. US spies allegedly hacked foreign networks, introducing the spyware into the software, routers and firewalls of millions of machines. The 'Le Monde' report sets out details of 'Genie', an 'NSA' surveillance programme in which spyware implants were introduced remotely to overseas computers, including foreign embassies. It claims bugs were introduced to the French Embassy in Washington under a code name 'Wabash' and to the computers of the French delegation at the UN, codenamed 'Blackfoot'. The intelligence agency quotes Rice, then-US ambassador to the UN, who praises the work done by the 'NSA': 'It helped me know... the truth, and reveal other [countries'] positions on sanctions, allowing us to keep one step ahead in the negotiations.' 'Le Monde' alleged that the 'NSA' spied on 70.3 million phone calls in France between 10 December 2012 and 8 January 2013. 'This kind of spying conducted on a large scale by the Americans on its allies is something that is unacceptable' - French Foreign Minister Fabius told. Techniques used to spy on the communications of the French diplomats: 'Highlands' was the name for the hacking of computers through cookies that were implanted remotely; 'Vagrant' was a term used for capturing information from screens; 'PBX' was a bug which allegedly infiltrated telephone conversations, eavesdropping on conversations in much the same way as one would listen into a conference call. (Source: "BBC"): http://tinyurl.com/mkrftsn     22 October 2013     French President Hollande discussed reports of US spying on French citizens in a 21 October  phone call with US President Obama. He expressed "deep disapproval of these practices, which are unacceptable between friends and allies because they infringe on the privacy of French citizens". 'The President made clear that the United States has begun to review the way that we gather intelligence, so that we properly balance the legitimate security concerns of our citizens and allies with the privacy concerns that all people share' - the White House said. The US ambassador to France, Rivkin, was summoned on 21 October to the foreign ministry in Paris over the claims, which were based on leaks from former NSA contractor Snowden and published by 'Le Monde' and the German weekly "Der Spiegel". (Source: 'France 24')     22 October 2013     France reacts to NSA spying. France’s official reaction to a newspaper report on 21 October that 'NSA' spied on millions of French phone calls was swift and forceful. The report threatens to turn into a diplomatic row as US Secretary of State Kerry arrived in Paris for the start of a European tour on the Syrian crisis. According to 'Le Monde', the 'NSA' surveillance involves millions of French citizens, not just suspected terrorists, but business figures as well... 'The reactions could even backfire if the US decides to disclose what it knows about interception programmes used by the French intelligence services. Because we probably have a programme that resembles the one in the US, albeit on a smaller scale"  - Charret, a former French Air Force general and an expert in electronic warfare said. 'We must realize that the agency is using satellites or underwater cables that are not on the French territory. The French authorities have no control over it. Paris may well protest against these acts. But then what? Even if the European Court of Human Rights condemned the 'NSA' for violating privacy, it would not prevent the intelligence agency from continuing to listen to telephone conversations in France and elsewhere' - he told reportrs. (Source: 'France 24'): http://tinyurl.com/o7q93t2

Germany

23 Oct., 2013     Report: US spied on Merkel's mobile phone
    Merkel spokesman Seibert said in a statement the chancellor made clear to Obama in a phone call that 'she views such practices, if the indications are confirmed ... as completely unacceptable.' Merkel said among close partners such as Germany and the U.S., 'there must not be such surveillance of a head of government's communication' - Seibert added. 'That would be a serious breach of trust. Such practices must be stopped immediately.' Carney, the White House spokesman, said the U.S. is examining Germany's concerns as part of an ongoing review of how the U.S. gathers intelligence. The White House has cited that review in responding to similar spying concerns from France, Brazil and other countries. U.S. allies knew that the Americans were spying on them, but they had no idea how much. (Source: Breitbart): http://tinyurl.com/mpkuff5     October 26, 2013     United States tracked Merkel's phone since 2002: report. 'Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung' also said Obama had told Merkel he had not known of the bugging. Germany will send intelligence chiefs to Washington next week to seek answers on the allegations around Merkel's phone. In an SCS document cited by the magazine 'Der Spiegel', the agency said it had a 'not legally registered spying branch' in the U.S. embassy in Berlin, the exposure of which would lead to "grave damage for the relations of the United States to another government". From there, NSA and CIA staff were tapping communication in the Berlin's government district with high-tech surveillance. Quoting a secret document from 2010, 'Der Spiegel' said such branches existed in about eighty locations around the world, including Paris, Madrid, Rome, Prague, Geneva and Frankfurt. The magazine said it was not clear whether the SCS had recorded conversations or just connection data. (Source: Reuters): http://tinyurl.com/nom2cmr    .October 25, 2013     German spy chiefs to head to US for talks (Source: Breitbart): http://tinyurl.com/m6fpolj

Nagy-Britannia

2013. X. 11.     Snowden, egykori 'CIA'-alkalmazott kiszivárogtatásai okozták a legsúlyosabb kárt a brit hírszerzésnek a szakszolgálatok egész eddigi történetében - mondta a 'The Times'-nak a brit kormány elektronikus lehallgató ügynökségének ('GCHQ') volt vezetője. Omand hozzátette: a Snowden által eltulajdonított és a sajtónak eljuttatott titkos iratok közül ötvennyolc ezer szigorúan bizalmas brit hírszerzési és elhárítási akta is volt. Hozzátette: az általános nyugati szakértői vélemény az, hogy a Snowden által ellopott amerikai és brit hírszerzési adatok zöme már Moszkva és Peking birtokában van.     A Snowden-t támogató 'WikiLeaks' kiszivárogtató portál október 10-én közzétett egy fényképet, amelyiken az informatikus és öt másik ember, - a kiszivárogtatást támogató volt amerikai hírszerző tisztek és  Harrison, a 'WikiLeaks' újságírója - látható. A felirat szerint a fotó október 9-én Moszkvában készült, amikor a négy egykori amerikai hírszerző ügynök, a 'Sam Adams Associates for Integrity in Intelligence' szervezet aktivistái "igazmondási" díjjal tüntették ki az informatikust. (Forrás: MTI

Russia

October 17, 2013    Snowden says he took no secret files to Russia
     In a wide-ranging interview over several days in the last week, Snowden offered detailed responses to accusations that have been leveled against him by American officials and other critics, provided new insights into why he became disillusioned with the 'N.S.A.' and decided to disclose the documents, and talked about the international debate over surveillance that resulted from the revelations. The interview took place through encrypted online communications. Snowden, 30, has been praised by privacy advocates and assailed by government officials as a traitor who has caused irreparable harm, and he is facing charges under the Espionage Act for leaking the 'N.S.A.' documents to the news media. In the interview, he said he believed he was a whistle-blower who was acting in the nation’s best interests by revealing information about the N.S.A.’s surveillance dragnet and huge collections of communications data, including that of Americans. He argued that he had helped American national security by prompting a badly needed public debate about the scope of the intelligence effort. “The secret continuance of these programs represents a far greater danger than their disclosure” - he said. He added that he had been more concerned that Americans had not been told about the N.S.A.’s reach than he was about any specific surveillance operation. Snowden said he finally decided to act when he discovered a copy of a classified 2009 inspector general’s report on the N.S.A.’s warrantless wiretapping program during the Bush administration. After reading about the program, which skirted the existing surveillance laws, he concluded that it had been illegal - he said. “If the highest officials in government can break the law without fearing punishment or even any repercussions at all” - he said - “secret powers become tremendously dangerous.” (Source: "The New York Times)": http://tinyurl.com/qy7dt3l     31 Oct, 2013     Snowden to maintain Russia's largest website (Source: Breitbart): http://tinyurl.com/ovw7em2     October 31, 2013     Snowden ready to testify in Merkel tapping case – German lawmaker (Source: RT): http://tinyurl.com/p8df92s

Vatican

30 Oct 2013     NSA spied on the future Pope Francis before and during the Vatican conclave at which he was chosen to succeed Benedict XVI (Source: The Telegraph): http://tinyurl.com/lb2hsqr

European Union

Oct. 23, 2013     European lawmakers called for the suspension of an agreement that grants U.S. authorities access to bank data for terror-related investigations, marking a sharp official rebuke of Washington's surveillance programs. The European Parliament's (EP) resolution, adopted in a two hundred eighty - two hundred fifty-four vote with thirty abstentions, is not binding. The agreement could only be suspended by a two-thirds majority of the twenty-eight-nation bloc's member states. The resolution followed leaks by Snowden alleging the U.S. National Security Agency targeted the Belgium-based system overseeing international bank transfers, known as Swift. In 2010, the EP initially rejected a permanent agreement, but eventually backed it after obtaining a stronger protection of European Union (EU) citizens' data. Under the agreement, a European security authority, Europol, assesses whether the data requested by the U.S. are necessary for the fight against terrorism, according to the European Commission. Europol also verifies that each request be tailored as narrowly as possible. Reports based on material leaked by Snowden, however, alleged that U.S. intelligence services hacked Swift's computers to soak up even more data without having to seek prior consent of EU authorities. (Source: AP): http://tinyurl.com/mfbqgfr     October 24, 2013     Merkel floats EU-US privacy pact as anger mounts over spying. European leaders from across the political spectrum on (a two-day EU leaders summit) joined the condemnation at the latest allegations, with several also suggesting Europe adopt new measures to counter US spying efforts. Letta, the Italian prime minister, responding to new reports that the Italian government had been spied on by the US and UK intelligence agencies, called the allegations “inconceivable”. Merkel said bilateral relations had been severely damaged and called for Europe to decide on new ways to ensure “transparency” with the US. Merkel met with Hollande, the French president, on the summit’s sidelines to discuss the NSA’s practices and the two were seen in a heated exchange as they entered the summit room. Leaders of Merkel’s future coalition partners questioned whether the EU should go ahead with a high-stakes transatlantic trade deal without new assurances. Gabriel, head of the Social Democratic party and likely vice-chancellor in a new government, said the trade pact could not proceed without an agreement that protected the privacy of European citizens. “I cannot imagine how we can conclude a free-trade agreement with America without an agreement that protects the rights and freedom of the individual” - said Gabriel. “If they carry on with this [espionage] they are destroying the fundamental values on which the transatlantic alliance is based.” “For us, spying on close friends and partners is totally unacceptable. This undermines trust and can harm our friendship” -  Westerwelle, German foreign minister said. Earlier this week, parliamentarians reinserted language that would require US companies such as Google and Facebook to get approval from European regulators before releasing data on EU citizens to American spy agencies. (Source: Financial Times): http://tinyurl.com/nqb8vgh     October 25, 2013     Merkel frosty on the U.S. over 'unacceptable' spying allegations. The revelations could have an impact on major legislative and trade initiatives between the United States and the EU, with some German lawmakers saying negotiations over an EU-U.S. free-trade agreement should be suspended. The new rules would restrict how data collected in Europe by firms such as Google and Facebook is shared with non-EU countries, introduce the right of EU citizens to request that their digital traces be erased, and impose fines of one hundred million euros ($138 million) or more on rule breakers. The United States is concerned that the regulations, if they enter into law, will raise the cost of handling data in Europe. Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft and others have lobbied hard against the proposals. It may also complicate relations between the United States and the EU over an agreement to share a large amount of data collected via Swift, the international system used for transferring money electronically, which is based in Europe. Among the revelations from Snowden's leaks is that the United States may have violated the Swift agreement, accessing more data than it was allowed to. The EP voted to suspend Swift. (Source: Yahoo): http://tinyurl.com/pequrax

South America

Brazil

October 7, 2013     Brazilian President Rousseff demanded that Canada explain a media report that said it spied on Brazil's Mines and Energy Ministry. She called on the United States and its allies to stop spying over the Internet. A Brazilian television report said on October 5 that Canada's electronic eavesdropping agency targeted the ministry that manages the South American nation's vast mineral and oil resources. The 'TV Globo' report was based on documents leaked by former U.S. 'National Security Agency' contractor Snowden. By targeting the mines ministry, Rousseff said, Canadian spying is nothing less than industrial espionage. She has rejected U.S. explanations that 'NSA' spying is aimed solely at identifying terrorist threats and is not motivated by commercial interests. "The United States and its allies must immediately stop their spying activity once and for all" - Rousseff tweeted. The 'TV Globo' report said Canada's secret signals intelligence agency, the Communication Security Establishment, used software called 'Olympia' to map the ministry's communications, including Internet traffic, emails and telephone calls. The report provided no details of the alleged spying other than a slide presented at an intelligence conference a year ago that mentioned Brazil's mines and energy ministry. "TV Globo' said all the data on Brazil's mineral reserves are public and available on the Internet. Regarding the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, "everything indicates that 'NSA' data is accessed by the five governments, and by thousands of (Internet) service provider companies" - Rousseff said via Twitter. (Source: 'Yahoo'): http://tinyurl.com/qjtnojc     14 October 2013     Brazil announces secure email to counter US spying. President Rousseff was ordering the Federal Data Processing Service to implement a safe email system throughout the federal government. The agency, which falls under Brazil's Finance Ministry, develops secure systems for online tax returns and also creates new passports. Rousseff announced that the country will host an international conference on Internet governance in April 2014. (Source: 'France 24')

North America

Mexico

October 20, 2013     The National Security Agency ('NSA') accessed Mexican President's email
     'NSA' has a division for particularly difficult missions, called "Tailored Access Operations" ('TAO'). 'TAO' successfully exploited a key mail server in the Mexican Presidencia domain within the Mexican Presidential network to gain first-ever access to President Calderon's public email account' - the division reported in May 2010.  The operation, dubbed 'Flatliquid' is described in a document leaked by whistleblower  Snowden, which "Spiegel" has now had the opportunity to analyze. According to the 'NSA', this email domain, 'a lucrative source', was also used by cabinet members, and contained 'diplomatic, economic and leadership communications which continue to provide insight into Mexico's political system and internal stability.' Brazilian television network "TV Globo" revealed in September 2013 that the 'NSA' monitored then-presidential candidate  Peña Nieto and others around him in the summer of 2012. Peña Nieto now is Mexico's president. Both Mexico and Brazil were ranking among the nations high on an April 2013 list that enumerates the US' surveillance priorities. That list, classified as 'secret', was authorized by the White House and 'presidentially approved', according to internal 'NSA' documents. In the case of Mexico, the US is interested primarily in the drug trade (priority level 1) and the country's leadership (level 3). Other areas flagged for surveillance include Mexico's economic stability, military capabilities, human rights and international trade relations (all ranked at level 3), as well as counterespionage (level 4). In August 2009 the agency gained access to the emails of various high-ranking officials in Mexico's Public Security Secretariat. The operation, dubbed 'Whitetamale' by the 'NSA' produced two hundred sixty classified reports that allowed US politicians to conduct successful talks on political issues and to plan international investments. 'These TAO accesses into several Mexican government agencies are just the beginning - we intend to go much further against this important target' - the document reads. These operations were overseen from the NSA's branch in San Antonio, Texas. Secret listening stations in the US Embassies in Mexico City and Brasília also played a key role. The 'NSA' conducts its surveillance of telephone conversations and text messages transmitted through Mexico's cell phone network under the internal code name 'Eveningeasel'. In Brasília, the agency also operates one of its most important operational bases for monitoring satellite communications. Brazil now plans to introduce a law that will force companies such as 'Google' and 'Facebook' to store their data inside Brazil's borders, rather than on servers in the US, making these international companies subject to Brazilian data privacy laws. The Brazilian government is also developing a new encryption system to protect its own data against hacking. In response to an inquiry from "Spiegel" concerning the latest revelations, Mexico's Foreign Ministry replied with an email condemning any form of espionage on Mexican citizens, saying such surveillance violates international law. Presumably, that email could be read at the NSA's Texas location at the same time. (Source: "Spiegel"): http://tinyurl.com/njmgxv

United States    Egyesült Államok

October 1, 2013     Obama spy panel is loaded with insiders, critics charge    
     The Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies works in the office of the director of national intelligence; reports to its director, Clapper, who’s been accused of lying to Congress about the programs; and has ties to his current and former bosses, Obama and former President Clinton. The members of the review group are Clarke, the chief counterterrorism adviser on the National Security Council for Clinton who later worked for Republican President G. W. Bush; Morell, Obama’s former deputy 'CIA' director; law professor Stone, who has raised money for Obama and spearheads a committee hoping to build Obama’s presidential library in Chicago; law professor Sunstein, administrator of information and regulatory affairs for Obama; and Swire, a former Office of Management and Budget privacy director for Clinton. The group is seeking public comment before Oct. 4. It is required to provide an interim report to Obama later this month and a final report by Dec. 15. “There is ample evidence now that we need an independent investigation of the impact of the NSA’s spying program on Americans’ constitutional rights and civil liberties” - said Sen. Udall, D-N.M., who has advocated for 'NSA' changes. “A task force appointed by the president, reporting to the DNI, certainly won’t inspire confidence and may simply rubber-stamp a program that is dangerously infringing on Americans’ privacy  rights.” Udall said he has asked the independent, congressionally created Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board to investigate the NSA’s programs and issue a public report of its findings, though there is no specific timetable for that to be done. (Source: "McClatchy"): http://tinyurl.com/nkx9yy2

October 2, 2013     As F.B.I. pursued Snowden, an e-mail service stood firm
    A federal judge unsealed documents in the case, allowing tech entrepreneur Levison to speak candidly for the first time about his experiences. "Lavabit", with just two employees and perhaps fourty thousand regular users, its size and Levison’s personal pledge of security made it attractive to tech-savvy users like Snowden. Levison said he set up "Lavabit" to make it impossible for outsiders, whether governments or hackers, to spy on users’ communications. Snowden was still using a "Lavabit" address this July, when he summoned reporters to a news conference at the Moscow airport. Before that, on average, "Lavabit" was signing up two hundred new users daily. In the days after Snowden’s e-mail, more than four thousand new customers joined each day. By July, he said, he had four hundred and ten thousand registered users. 'N.S.A.' has worked secretly for years to undermine or bypass encrypted services like "Lavabit" so that their electronic message scrambling cannot obstruct the agency’s spying. A month before the news conference, court documents show, Levison had already received a subpoena for Snowden’s encrypted e-mail account. The government was particularly interested in his e-mail metadata — with whom Snowden was communicating, when and from where. The order, from the Federal District Court in Alexandria, Va., required  Levison to log  Snowden’s account information and provide the F.B.I. with 'technical assistance', which agents told him meant handing over the private encryption keys, technically called SSL certificates, that unlock communications for all users. “It was the equivalent of asking Coca-Cola to hand over its secret formula” - Levison said. A redacted version of that request, which was among the twenty-three documents that were unsealed, shows that the court issued an order July 16 for Lavabit’s encryption keys. On Aug. 5, Judge Hilton ordered a $5,000-a-day fine until  Levison produced the keys in electronic form. After two days, Levison gave in, turning over the digital keys — and simultaneously closing his e-mail service, apologizing to customers on his site. He hopes to resurrect the business he spent a decade building. (Source: "The New York Times"): http://tinyurl.com/nod5o5q

October 4, 2013     Can the 'NSA' Operate in Secrecy Anymore?
     It's not just in the U.S., where newspapers are heavy with reports of the 'NSA' spying on every "Verizon' customer, spying on domestic e-mail users, and secretly working to cripple commercial cryptography systems, but also around the world, most notably in Brazil, Belgium, and the European Union. All of these operations have caused significant blowback—for the 'NSA', for the U.S., and for the Internet as a whole. The 'NSA' spent decades operating in almost complete secrecy, but those days are over. As the corporate world learned years ago, secrets are hard to keep in the information age, and openness is a safer strategy. The tendency to classify everything means that the 'NSA' won't be able to sort what really needs to remain secret from everything else. The younger generation is more used to radical transparency than secrecy, and is less invested in the national security state... (Source: 'The Atlantic'): http://tinyurl.com/nnmq8sm

Oct 7, 2013     Power surges that destroy equipment - meltdowns hobble 'NSA' data center
    Chronic electrical surges at the massive new data-storage facility central to the National Security Agency's spying operation have destroyed hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of machinery and delayed the center's opening for a year, according to project documents and current and former officials. The first arc fault failure at the Utah plant was on Aug. 9, 2012, according to project documents. Since then, the center has had nine more failures, most recently on Sept. 25. Each incident caused as much as $100,000 in damage, according to a project official. It took six months for investigators to determine the causes of two of the failures. The cause of the failures remained unknown in all but two instances. (Source: 'The Wall Street Journal'): http://tinyurl.com/o5y3d64

(8 October 2013)     Live from the Cato Institute tomorrow
    Since June, news reports based on documents leaked by former 'National Security Agency' contractor Snowden have revealed the depth and breadth of 'NSA' surveillance activities. The 'NSA' scandal’s many dimensions include: mass domestic surveillance of telephone call information; allegations that officials deceived Congress, the courts, and the public about the nature of the NSA’s programs; alleged access to the Internet’s backbone and the traffic of major Internet companies; and systematic efforts to undercut the use of the encryption that secures communications and financial information. Please join us on October 9 at a conference focusing on these issues and more ... The next live event: 'NSA' surveillance: What we know; what to do about it  October 9, 2013 10: 00 AM (All times Eastern.) /Source: "Cato Institute"/ : http://tinyurl.com/nuxm5cs

10/11/13     The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court has granted the 'National Security Agency' (NSA) permission to continue its collection of records on all U.S. phone calls. (Source: 'The Hill'): http://tinyurl.com/mfke4cy     14 October 2013     'NSA' collects millions of e-mail address books globally. The 'National Security Agency' is harvesting hundreds of millions of contact lists from personal e-mail and instant messaging accounts around the world, many of them belonging to Americans, according to senior intelligence officials and top-secret documents provided by former 'NSA' contractor Snowden. The collection program, which has not been disclosed before, intercepts e-mail address books and 'buddy lists' from instant messaging services as they move across global data links. Online services often transmit those contacts when a user logs on, composes a message, or synchronizes a computer or mobile device with information stored on remote servers. Rather than targeting individual users, the 'NSA' is gathering contact lists in large numbers that amount to a sizable fraction of the world’s e-mail and instant messaging accounts. Analysis of that data enables the agency to search for hidden connections and to map relationships within a much smaller universe of foreign intelligence targets. During a single day last year, the NSA’s Special Source Operations branch collected four hundred and forty-four thousand seven hundred and forty-three e-mail address books from 'Yahoo', one hundred and five thousand sixty-eight from "Hotmail', eighty-two thousand and eight hundred fifty-seven from 'Facebook', thirty-three thousand six hundred and ninety-seven from 'Gmail' and twenty-two thousand eight hundred and eighty-one from unspecified other provider. Those figures, described as a typical daily intake in the document, correspond to a rate of more than 250 million a year. Each day, a presentation said, the 'NSA' collects contacts from an estimated five hundred thousand buddy lists on live-chat services as well as from the inbox displays of Web-based e-mail accounts. The collection depends on secret arrangements with foreign telecommunicationscompanies or allied intelligence services in control of facilities that direct traffic along the Internet’s main data routes. Although the collection takes place overseas, two officials acknowledged that it sweeps in the contacts of many Americans. They did not dispute that the number is likely to be in the millions or tens of millions. Spam has proven to be a significant problem for the 'NSA' - clogging databases with information that holds no foreign intelligence value. Contact lists stored online provide the 'NSA' with far richer sources of data than call records alone about a person’s life, as told by personal, professional, political and religious connections. The 'NSA' has not been authorized by Congress or the special intelligence court that oversees foreign surveillance to collect contact lists in bulk, and senior intelligence officials said it would be illegal to do so from facilities in the United States. 'None of those are on U.S. territory' - one official said. When information passes through 'the overseas collection apparatus', the official added, 'the assumption is you’re not a U.S. person'. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, enacted in 1978, imposes restrictions only on electronic surveillance that targets Americans or takes place on U.S. territory. “We have neither knowledge of nor participation in this mass collection of web-mail addresses or chat lists by the government” - said 'Google" spokeswoman Fenwick. At 'Microsoft', spokeswoman Miller said the company 'does not provide any government with direct or unfettered access to our customers’ data', adding that “we would have significant concerns if these allegations about government actions are true.” 'Facebook' spokeswoman Seth said that 'we did not know and did not assist' in the NSA’s interception of contact lists. It is unclear why the 'NSA' collects more than twice as many address books from 'Yahoo' than the other big services combined. One possibility is that 'Yahoo', unlike other service providers, has left connections to its users unencrypted by default. Beginning in January, 'Yahoo' would begin encrypting all its e-mail connections - Philion, a 'Yahoo' spokeswoman, said.  (Source: "The Washington Post"): http://tinyurl.com/kn8ld96     This briefing describes problems with overcollection of data from e-mail address books and buddy lists, as well as 'NSA' efforts to filter out what it does not need (Source: "The Washington Post"): http://tinyurl.com/lcdas97     October 15, 2013     SecureDrop the whistleblower communication tool for media. In an effort to protect government whistleblowers from unprecedented levels of surveillance, the Freedom of the Press Foundation has launched SecureDrop, an anonymous submission tool for secure communications between sources and journalists. SecureDrop accepts encrypted documents and tips from sources and facilitates communication without putting journalists in jeopardy of having to reveal sources under the threat of imprisonment. SecureDrop is an open-source whistleblower submission system managed by Freedom of the Press Foundation that media organizations use to securely accept documents from anonymous sources. The project was previously called DeadDrop. Freedom of the press Foundation took over management of the project in October 2013. The code base is open source and has been vetted by security experts from the University of Washington. (Source: "Freedom of the Press Foundation"): http://tinyurl.com/nc9tphh     2013/10/16     Tracking Ghul, documents reveal NSA’s extensive involvement in targeted killing program. Former 'CIA' officials said the files are an accurate reflection of the NSA’s contribution to finding targets in a campaign that has killed more than three thousand people, including thousands of alleged militants and hundreds of civilians, in Pakistan, according to independent surveys. The officials said the agency has assigned senior analysts to the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center, and deployed others to work alongside 'CIA' counterparts at almost every major U.S. embassy or military base overseas. (Source: "The Washington Post'): http://tinyurl.com/lys88q8     2013. X. 18.     A titkos adatgyűjtési botrány miatt távozhat az NSA igazgatója és helyettese. Alexander tábornok nyolc évet töltött az NSA élén. Ő tavasszal, a helyettese, Inglis már 2013 végén vagy 2014 januárjában nyugállományba vonul. Az 1952-ben létrehozott ügynökség élén Alexander töltötte el eddig a legtöbb időt. A lehetséges utód jelölt Rogers altengernagy, a 10. Amerikai fFotta parancsnoka, az amerikai haditengerészet kibernetikai parancsnokságának vezetője.     22 Oct., 2013    NSA Spied five hundred forty million phone calls in a month. Revised: the total telephone metadata records is a lot higher than five hundred forty million (Source: Cryptome): http://tinyurl.com/olw6tos     October 23, 2013     Stone, Cusack warn against NSA surveillance. 'Everybody is at risk for getting caught up in the NSA dragnet' - Stone says in the three minute, twenty-six second spot, which also features Ellsberg, Rep. Conyers (D-Mich.) and Donahue. The spot was directed by Knappenberger and produced by the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The video is an effort to garner support for an Oct. 26 rally in Washington called Stop Watching Us, organized by more than one hundred public interest groups that are demanding that Congress investigate the NSA spying programs. (Source: Variety): http://tinyurl.com/lw53zps     24 October, 2013     Mozilla's Lightbeam tool will expose who is looking over your shoulder on the web. Lightbeam, a download produced by Mozilla, the US free software community behind the popular Firefox browser, claims to be a watershed moment in the battle for web transparency. Users who activate Lightbeam will be able to see a real-time visualisation of every site they visit and every third-party that is active on those sites, including commercial organisations which might potentially be sharing your data. Lightbeam is released ahead of Stop Watching Us, a rally against mass surveillance in response to the Snowden revelations, which will be held in Washington D.C. on October 27, 2013. (Source: The Independent): http://tinyurl.com/n4tf2rw     (25 October 2013)     Online petition (with more than five hundred seventy-nine thousand signatures). The revelations about the National Security Agency's surveillance apparatus, if true, represent a stunning abuse of our basic rights. (Source: Stop Watching Us coalition): http://tinyurl.com/lfd4c5q

Globalisation

12 Oct 2013     Growing backlash to Government surveillance
     From Silicon Valley to the South Pacific, counterattacks to revelations of widespread 'National Security Agency' surveillance are taking shape, from a surge of new encrypted email programs to technology that sprinkles the Internet with red flag terms to confuse would-be snoops. (Source: 'Bloomberg'): http://tinyurl.com/lfk6atj

October 24, 2013     Brazil and Germany joined forces to press for the adoption of a U.N. General Resolution that promotes the right of privacy on the internet, marking the first major international effort to restrain the National Security Agency's intrusions into the online communications of foreigners, according to diplomatic sources familiar with the push.
    Brazilian and German diplomats met in New York with a small group of Latin American and European governments to consider a draft resolution that calls for expanding privacy rights contained in the International Covenant Civil and Political Rights to the online world. The effort follows a German claim that the American spy agency may have tapped the private telephone of German Chancellor Merkel and dozens of other world leaders. It also comes about one month after Brazilian leader Rousseff denounced NSA espionage against her country as 'a breach of international law' in a General Assembly speech and proposed that the U.N. establish legal guidelines to prevent 'cyberspace from being used as a weapon of war'. The International Covenant on Political and Civil Rights was written in 1966 and came into force in 1976, decades before the internet transformed the way people communicate around the world. A provision in the international covenant, Article 17, says "no one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his honor and reputation." It also states that "everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks." According to the latest internal NSA memo leaked to The Guardian, the list of targeted nations is even longer, which could give this U.N. effort additional momentum. The NSA monitored the communications of thirty-five unnamed "world leaders," whose phone numbers were given to the intelligence agency by a U.S. government official, according to the report. The agency has been collecting phone numbers, email addresses, and residential addresses of foreign officials from the people in the U.S. government who are in touch with them. The U.S. official, who is not named, personally handed over two hundred phone numbers about the people he or she was in touch with. The memo was written in 2006. It's hardly a secret, or a surprise, that the NSA spies on foreign governments, including those friendly to the United States. (Source: The Cable): http://tinyurl.com/p3p2ptn

October 24, 2013     BRICS countries are close to completing a brand new Internet backbone that would bypass the United States entirely and thereby protect both governments and citizens from NSA spying.
    In light of revelations that the National Security Agency hacked German Chancellor  Merkel’s phone, in addition to recording information about one hundred twenty-four billion phone calls during a thirty-day period earlier this year, the fallout against the NSA has accelerated. Brazil is set to finalize a thirty-four thousand kilometre undersea fiber-optic cable by 2015 that will run from Vladivostok, Russia to Fortaleza, Brazil, via Shantou, China, Chennai, India and Cape Town, South Africa. According to the Hindu, the project will create, “a network free of US eavesdropping,” which via legislative mandates will also force the likes of Google, Facebook and Yahoo to store all data generated by BRICS nations locally, shielding it from NSA snooping. The current Internet architecture is dominated by ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), which is largely controlled by the United States. (Source: Infowars): http://tinyurl.com/k86avbe

October 25, 2013     Twenty-one nations line up behind U.N. effort to restrain NSA (Source: The Cable Foreign Policy): http://tinyurl.com/nnqgwok

Oct 31, 2013     Obama halted NSA spying on IMF and World Bank headquarters (Source: Reuters): http://tinyurl.com/out7d9k

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