The color-coded map of secret surveillance activities by the NSA ranks countries according to how much surveillance they are currently undergoing – green for the least and red for the most watched. While all EU member states boast variant shades of green, Germany stands out color-coded orange. The source behind the revelation of the top-secret NSA surveillance program, already referred to as one of the most significant intelligence leaks in US history, was uncovered late last week. 29-year-old Snowden asked The Guardian to reveal his identity, having fled to Hong Kong to escape retaliation by the US authorities. “The NSA has built an infrastructure that allows it to intercept almost everything. With this capability, the vast majority of human communications are automatically ingested without targeting,” he told The Guardian. “I, sitting at my desk, certainly had the authority to wire-tap anyone … even if you are not doing anything wrong, you are being watched and recorded,” he added. The Boundless Informant documents show NSA collecting up to 3 billion pieces of intelligence from US computer networks over a 30-day period ending in March 2013, according to The Guardian. The tool reportedly allows users to select a country on a map, view the metadata volume and select details about the collections against this or that state. Germany’s Interior Ministry had already been in contact with US officials to find out whether there had been any infringement of German citizens’ privacy lately. Chancellor Angela Merkel is due to raise the issue of the NSA’s eavesdropping on Germany with President Barack Obama, who said the monitoring program is a means of defense against terrorism. Iran is on top of the surveillance list, with more than 14 billion data reports in March, while Pakistan came in a close second at 13.5 billion reports. Jordan, a close US ally, as well as Egypt and India are also near the top, according to the data. Senior European Union officials are also expected to discuss the impact of NSA’s programs on the privacy of EU citizens during a trans-Atlantic ministerial meeting in Dublin on Thursday. “This case shows that a clear legal framework for the protection of personal data is not a luxury or constraint, but a fundamental right,” European Commissioner for Justice Viviane Reding said. The European Parliament said it is always firm on data protection within the EU, as well as when negotiating with third countries, including the US. “It would be unacceptable and would need swift action from the EU if indeed the US National Security Agency were processing European data without permission,” Guy Verhofstadt of the parliament’s liberal bloc said. NSA’s tradition to survey international communities reportedly goes back to the Cold War era, when the agency used monitoring sites in Germany, Britain and other countries to spy on communications within the Soviet Union and its East European allies. UK Foreign Secretary William Hague has meanwhile cancelled his trip to Washington to speak about The Guardian’s latest NSA report. He assured parliament that accusations that the UK government allegedly used information provided by the Americans to circumvent laws were “baseless.” “Our agencies practice and uphold UK law at all times,” he stated, “even when dealing with information from outside the UK.” In an interview with the British newspaper, successful NSA consultant Snowden leaked top-secret documents that revealed the existence of the US National Security Agency’s extensive internet spying program PRISM, which records digital communications and allows for real-time online surveillance of US citizens. PRISM gives US intelligence agencies direct access to files stored on the servers of major internet companies, including Google and Facebook, to identify and target potential terror suspects. … Read More
Human Rights Council should approve cyber-surveillance report
Reporters Without Borders welcomes a report to the UN Human Rights Council on state internet surveillance, which makes clear the grave effects of government internet monitoring on human rights, especially freedom of information. The report was issued by Frank LaRue, UN special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression. A Council vote on the report is scheduled on 3 June. Reporters Without Borders asks that the Council’s member states (…) … Read More
Internet monitoring system to stalk social media users who question safety of vaccines
This brave new exercise in multinational, Big Brother spying is being hailed as a solution to the rapid spread of so-called “rumors” and “lies” about vaccines, which basically constitute any online free speech that questions vaccines. … Read More
Tsarnaev classmate Robel Phillipos to be released on bail
Robel Phillipos, 19, will be released on $100,000 bond and ordered to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet while under house arrest awaiting trial, WCVB News’ Kelley Tuthill reports from Boston, Massachusetts.Phillipos was charged last week with making false statements to investigators and faces up to eight years in prison and a fine of $250,000 if convicted. … Read More
Government-operated spyware on the rise around the world – report
Citizen Lab, a digital research unit at the University of Toronto, says that servers running notorious FinFisher software have been found in eleven new countries over the past year, bringing the total number of states where servers have been detected to 36.FinFisher is an “IT intrusion and remote monitoring solution” that is “solely offered to law enforcement and intelligence agencies”, according to its makers Gamma International. Behind the euphemisms is a toolkit of malware which can infect a user’s computer or phone and then track his movements, record his conversations, and steal his confidential documents and passwords.It is produced by Gamma International, an Anglo-German company registered in the British Virgin Islands. It first rose to prominence two years ago when documents published on whistleblower website Wikileaks revealed that the Egyprian security services during the regime of Hosni Mubarak paid over $350,000 to use the software.Citizen Lab says ‘permissive’ standards are used by Gamma International and other publicity-shy companies in the largely unregulated spyware market. They also argue that the term ‘lawful intercept’ – which allows the companies to sell hacking software without being arrested – is just a fig leaf.“There is nothing inherently lawful about the capabilities of these tools. They are simply trojans sold to states, not individuals,” declares the report.The newest detection scan by Citizen Lab, which was aided by sympathetic anti-malware producers (whose software Finfisher successfully evades) showed that fresh servers have appeared in Hungary, Turkey, Romania, Panama, Lithuania, Macedonia, South Africa, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bulgaria and Austria.Citizen Lab says the location of the servers does not necessarily mean they are being operated by governments in those countries, but they also point out that the true number of clients may be much higher than the scan has revealed, as Gamma International constantly tries to conceal the signature of its servers.In any case, recent examples of Finfisher being used unethically, and possibly illegally are plentiful.In Morocco Mamfakinch, a website critical of the government, was infiltrated through software posing as popular browser Mozilla Firefox.Somewhat ironically, anti-government activists in Bahrain were targeted with a fake email attachment that alleged to shed the latest information on state-sanctioned torture.In Malaysia, politically active internet users were monitored after they clicked on a list of candidates in the upcoming presidential election.“The 20th century is rife with politically motivated abuse of electronic surveillance that runs contrary to legal and constitutional protections. There is no reason to suspect that remote intrusion and surveillance software isn’t subject to the same temptations,” say the reports authors.Instead, of lofty words, the Mozilla Foundation, which produces Firefox, has sent a cease-and-desist order to Gamma International. On its blog it said the company “uses our brand and trademarks to lie and mislead as one of its methods for avoiding detection and deletion” while its software is “used by Gamma’s customers to violate citizens’ human rights and online privacy”.But Citizen Lab has called not for piecemeal defensive legal moves, but a new level of supervision for the shadowy commercial surveillance industry, estimated to be worth $5 billion. It hopes its attempt at a comprehensive study, reveals the scale of the problem.“The proliferation of increasingly powerful commercial surveillance tools has serious implications not just for dissidents and activists, but for all of us, no matter our citizenship,” the report summarizes. … Read More
Election watchdog rejects ‘foreign agent’ status
The Justice Ministry has opened a case against the non-profit organization GOLOS over its failure to register as a “foreign agent” operating in the territory of the Russian Federation. The Ministry said it would submit an affidavit against GOLOS on Wednesday.”The (GOLOS) association receives funding from foreign sources,” according to information acquired by the Federal Fiscal Monitoring Service. “At the same time, the association engages in political activity on Russian territory” in violation of Russian law, a statement on the ministry’s website announced.Also, the Justice Ministry said the cash award that GOLOS received for winning the Sakharov Prize – named in honor of the Russian physicist Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov (1921-1989) – awarded by Norwegian rights activists represents another incident of foreign funding.However, GOLOS said it had returned the money and would defend itself in court.”We’ll file an appeal with the court, because GOLOS does not engage in politics,” the NGO’s deputy executive director Grigory Melkonyats told reporters on Tuesday. “Furthermore, it has not received funding from foreign sources since the ‘foreign agents’ law on non-profit organizations went into effect.”The foreign agents bill was signed into law by President Putin in July 2012.Melkonyats said the Justice Ministry’s document mentions funds received in 2008, but, according to the agency’s head, the law “is not retroactive.”If found guilty of violating the foreign agents law, GOLOS officials may face a 100,000 ($3,200) to 300,000 rouble fine.In the past, GOLOS had received much of its funding from the United States Agency for International Development, or USAID, which had operated in Russia for two decades. That lengthy stay came to an abrupt end in September last year when the Kremlin decided the agency had overstayed its welcome. Explaining the move, Dmitry Peskov, President Putin’s press-secretary, said that the American aid agency was interfering in Russia’s political process.The decision to end USAID’s activities in Russia came just months after the introduction of the ‘foreign agents’ law, which forces non-profit organizations receiving funding from abroad and engaging in political activity to register with the Justice Ministry as “foreign agents.”Nongovernmental organizations are now required to file a financial report to officials every quarter.The law instructs the Justice Ministry to prepare annual reports on nongovernmental agencies deemed as foreign agents and present it to the Lower House, including a full breakdown of their finances.In early April, the Ministry reported that last year it had requested the closure and suspension of about 9,000 nongovernmental organizations over various violations of the law. Of that number, 21 have been suspended.Meanwhile, as the debate over how to regulate foreign-supported NGOs rages, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, firebrand leader of the Russian Liberal Democratic Party, has called for shutting down every non-governmental organization (NGO) connected to foreigners, saying their goal is to instigate “orange” revolutions and provocations in Russia.”We should close down every organization linked to abroad; not just check them but close them down,” Zhirinovsky told reporters on Wednesday.“What does an NGO mean? This is a concealed form of espionage, sabotage, provocation and encouragement of “orange” revolutions,” he said.Since these organizations “are supported from abroad” they should not be tolerated, he concluded.The Russian President, however, provided a more sober approach to nongovernmental agencies operating in Russia, explaining that they simply obey Russian law.“All our actions are connected not with the closures of these organizations, not with the ban, but with putting the cash flow under control,” Vladimir Putin said at a Monday press conference in Hannover. “The freedom of NGOs is not limited in any way, they just have to register.” … Read More
