NSA
Infects 50,000 Computer Systems Worldwide
26
November, 2013
Dutch
newspaper NRC
Handelsblad reported
it, headlining “NSA infected 50,000 computer networks with
malicious software.”
It
cited leaked Edward Snowden information. His revelations are the gift
that keeps on giving. Activists representing him keep important
information coming.
It’s
vital. Everyone needs to know. Unchecked NSA spying threatens
fundamental freedoms. They’re fast disappearing.
Their
on the chopping block for elimination. Police state lawlessness runs
America. It’s too great a threat to ignore.
According
to NRC, NSA hacked over 50,000 computer networks. It installed
malware. It facilitates surveillance.
It’s
“designed to steal sensitive information.” Snowden provided
documents prove it. A 2012 management presentation showed NSA uses
“Computer Network Exploitation (CNE) in more than 50,000
locations.”
It
secretly infiltrates computer systems through malware. Belgian
telecom provider Belgacom was hacked.
Britain’s
Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) installed malware in
its network. It did so to gain access to its customers’ telephone
and data traffic.
It
did it through a false Linkedin page. It was done through unwitting
company employees.
NSA
has a “special department.” It has over 1,000 military and
civilian hackers, intelligence analysts, targeting specialists,
computer hardware and software designers, and electrical engineers.
It’s
top secret. It’s called the Office of Tailored Access Operations
(TAO). It identifies computer systems and supporting
telecommunications networks to attack.
It
successfully penetrated Chinese computer and telecom systems for
around 15 years. It does the same thing globally.
Most
NSA employees and officials know little or nothing about TAO. Its
operations are extraordinarily sensitive. Only those needing to know
are kept informed.
Special
security clearances are required to gain access to its top secret
work spaces. Armed guards keep others out.
Entering
requires a correct six digit code. Retinal scanner checks are used.
TAO targets foreign computer systems.
It
collects intelligence by hacking, cracking passwords, compromising
computer security systems, stealing hard drive data, and copying all
subsequent emails and text messages.
NSA
calls doing so Computer Network Exploitation (CNE). In October 2012,
Obama issued a secret
presidential directive.
It selected overseas targets for cyber attacks.
His
Offensive Cyber Effects Operations (OCEO) claimed to “offer unique
and unconventional capabilities to advance US national objectives
around the world with little or no warning to the adversary or target
and with potential effects ranging from subtle to severely damaging.”
Washington
“identif(ies) potential targets of national importance where OCEO
can offer a favorable balance of effectiveness and risk as compared
with other instruments of national power.”
It
operates domestically the same way. NSA director Keith Alexander
heads US Cyber Command (Cybercom). He’s waging global cyberwar.
US
Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) has full operational control. It’s a
cyber hit squad. It’s part of the US Strategic Command.
Rules
of engagement are classified. Anything goes is policy. Cyber-warriors
are freewheeling. They operate globally. Cyber-preemption reflects
greater police state power.
TAO
personnel penetrate, steal, damage, destroy or otherwise compromise
targeted sites. It’s perhaps the most important component of NSA’s
Signal Intelligence (SIGINT) Directorate.
NRC
said TAO operations installed about 20,000 “implants” by early
2008. By mid-2012, they “more than doubled to 50,000.”
NSA
prioritizes cyber operations. “Computer hacks are relatively
inexpensive.” They give NSA information otherwise not available.
Malware
“can remain active for years without” detection. ” ‘Sleeper
cells’ can be controlled remotely and be turned on and off at
will.”
Implants
are digital sleeper cells. A “push of a button” activates them.
NSA has been conducting these type operations since the late 1990s.
Dutch
intelligence services AIVD and MIVD “displayed interest in
hacking.” In early 2013, a Joint Cyber Unit (JSCU) was created.
It’s
an inter-agency operation. It uses experts with a range of IT skills.
It doesn’t go as far as NSA. Dutch law prohibits it. For how long
remains to be seen.
Last
August, the Washington
Post headlined
“The NSA has its own team of elite hackers.” It discussed TAO
operations.
It
may “have had something to do with (developing) Stuxnet and Flame
malware program.” Washington and Israel were involved.
In
spring 2010, Iranian intelligence discovered Stuxnet malware
contamination. It infected its Bushehr nuclear facility. At the time,
operations were halted indefinitely.
Israel
was blamed. So was Washington. Had the facility gone online infected,
Iran’s entire electrical power grid could have been shut down.
Flame
is a more destructive virus. Internet security experts say it’s 20
times more harmful than Stuxnet. Iran’s military-industrial complex
is targeted.
So
is its nuclear program. Maximum disruption is intended. Whether plans
to do so continue remains to be seen. Iran is alerted to the
possibility.
Leaksource calls
itself the “#1 source for leaks around the world.” Last August,
it headlined “Codename GENIE: NSA to Control 85,000 ‘Implants’
in Strategically Chosen Machines Around the World by Year End,”
saying:
According
to “top secret documents” the Washington Post obtained, “US
intelligence services carried out 231 offensive cyber-operations in
2011.”
Doing
so represents “the leading edge of a clandestine campaign that
embraces the Internet as a theater of spying, sabotage and war.”
Snowden
leaked information revealed it. GENIE involves using computer
specialists. They break into foreign networks. They do so to “put
(them) under surreptitious US control.”
“Budget
documents say the $652 million project has placed ‘covert
implants,’ sophisticated malware transmitted from far away, in
computers, routers and firewalls on tens of thousands of machines
every year, with plans to expand those numbers into the millions,”
said Leaksource.
GENIE’s
next phase involves an automated online system code-named “TURBINE.”
It’s able to potentially manage “millions of implants.”
It
elevates intelligence gathering to a higher level. It lets it engage
in widespread “active attack(s).”
Teams
of FBI, CIA, and Cyber Command operatives work at NSA’s Remote
Operations Center (ROC).
Their
missions overlap. So does NSA’s National Threat Operations Center.
It focuses on cyberdefense.
Snowden
was involved as a Booz Allen Hamilton contractor. He learned NSA’s
best hacking techniques.
The
agency designs most of its implants. It spends millions of dollars
annually on “additional covert” “software vulnerabilities”
purchases.
It
gets them from “private malware vendors.” They represent a
growing source. They’re largely European based.
China,
Russia, Iran and North Korea are called the “most challenging
targets” to penetrate.
Other
prioritized countries include so-called terrorist safe havens. They
include Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Iraq and Somalia.
NSA’s
goal is sweeping. It wants to revolutionize data gathering. It wants
to access “anyone, anywhere, anytime.”
It
intends to “identify new access, collection and exploitation
methods by leveraging global business trends in data and
communication services.”
It
wants total information control worldwide. It wants to go where no
previous spy agency went before. It wants no operational restraints.
It intends to keep doing whatever it wants.
Congress
is a willing facilitator. Fake fix legislation facilitates NSA
lawlessness. It codifies collecting phone records of hundreds of
millions of Americans.
It
permits the same thing online. It’s already out of committee. It’s
heading for Senate passage.
Obama
will sign into law whatever Congress sends him. He supports mass
surveillance.
He’s
waging war on fundamental freedoms. Police state lawlessness is
official US policy. Obama is its leading exponent.
His
new book is titled “Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on
Humanity.”
Visit
his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.
Listen
to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the
Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.
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