funsec mailing list archives
RE: [privacy] Frank Rich: Will the Real Traitors Please Stand Up?
From: "Henderson, Dennis K." <Dennis.Henderson () umb com>
Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 08:18:05 -0500
Moved this to funsec instead of privacy: Fergie reported on someone who said: Surely they jest. If this is one of our "most effective" programs, we're in worse trouble than we thought. Our enemy is smart enough to figure out on its own that its phone calls are monitored 24/7, since even under existing law the government can eavesdrop for 72 hours before seeking a warrant (which is almost always granted). All you have to do is watch al-Zarqawi try to fire a weapon and then watch his dufus assistant burn his hand on the hot barrel to wonder just how smart they are. Its all the assumptions that these armchair quarterbacking reporters make about the enemy that will be the downfall of the US. Neither you nor I know precisely how secure these terrorists think they are using the telephone. For all we know, they may think they can use the phone for mere seconds and not get detected.. Now that they know that it doesn't matter how long they use the phone, but rather the mere use of the phone gives them away, they stop doing it. Anyone who's been read-in to national security programs and has worked covert operations knows that getting intelligence out of the enemy is nowhere as black and white as the media would have you think. Heisenbergs uncertainty theory plays a large role in getting subtle intelligence. A good example would be during the Vietnam war when the enemy was intercepting our wireline communications to see what we were up to. Once we got wind of that, we started encrypting the data. This stopped letting the VC know what we were saying, but they since the data only transmitted when a message was being sent, the VC could know that something was up and correlate that with other intelligence to know that the US was up to something. Once the US figured that out, they kept the data pipes full even when they werent sending traffic. In a time of war, leaks like this that really aren't telling the public anything new(CALEA is a 90's thing), and are only published to make the current administration look bad. The real damage to us all is telling the terrorist something they may have not considered previously(remember, we're not dealing with a bunch of tactical geniuses here). Ugly corporate disclaimer to follow. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ NOTICE: This electronic mail message and any attached files are confidential. The information is exclusively for the use of the individual or entity intended as the recipient. If you are not the intended recipient, any use, copying, printing, reviewing, retention, disclosure, distribution or forwarding of the message or any attached file is not authorized and is strictly prohibited. If you have received this electronic mail message in error, please advise the sender by reply electronic mail immediately and permanently delete the original transmission, any attachments and any copies of this message from your computer system. Thank you. ============================================================================== _______________________________________________ Fun and Misc security discussion for OT posts. https://linuxbox.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/funsec Note: funsec is a public and open mailing list.
Current thread:
- [privacy] Frank Rich: Will the Real Traitors Please Stand Up? Fergie (May 14)
- <Possible follow-ups>
- RE: [privacy] Frank Rich: Will the Real Traitors Please Stand Up? Henderson, Dennis K. (May 15)