People Don't Spy Anymore? Really?
Computers, cars, squirrels and, of course,
governments spy!
They say spying is an old profession. Second only to prostitution. Well, the
latter hasn't changed much, but the former really, really has.
2400 years ago, Sun Tzu said there are five kinds of human spies - people who
used their own hands, eyes and ears in service of their country. Surveillance,
confiscation (e.g. theft) and assassination (if necessary) were the tradecraft
used to obtain the necessary intelligence.
It has always been that way. But now, not so much. First off, now computers spy. There is
advertiser spyware or adware that simply gathers information from people's personal
computers, mostly for marketing reasons. Then there is spy software and hardware
(keyloggers) that are used to secretly gather logs of all computer activity that can be used as
evidence, to steal trade secrets or just to spy on people's private lives. Those are just private
computers that spy. There is also Carnivore, Echelon and the America’s NSA that spy using
global communication networks.
The USA has declared Chinese espionage the biggest threat on the net. For 18 minutes in April
2009, 15% of world’s internet traffic was diverted through China: military e-mails, business
information, personal messages; everything.
Businesses also spy... In fact, economic espionage is the biggest reason for spying. Major
espionage cases are happening in every facet of every industry. Large corporations that have
had Economic Espionage Act cases in the recent decades include the likes of Adobe, Avery,
Business Engine Software Corporation, Microsoft and there have been known cases of spying
amongst sports teams. Spying is all about getting the competitive edge.
Squirrels Spy Too!!! An editorial by Saleh Eskandari headlined "spying squirrels," published July
10 by the Iranian newspaper Resalat printed:
"A few weeks ago, 14 squirrels equipped with espionage systems of foreign
intelligence services were captured by [Iranian] intelligence forces along the
country's borders. These trained squirrels, each of which weighed just over 700
grams, were released on the borders of the country for intelligence and espionage
purposes. According to the announcement made by
Iranian intelligence officials, alert police officials
caught these squirrels before they could carry out any
task.
http://www.diserio.com/peopledontspy.html
"Fixing GPS devices, bugging instruments and advanced cameras in the bodies of
trained animals like squirrels, mice, hamsters, etc, are among modern methods of
collecting intelligence. Given the fast speed and the special physical features of these
animals, they provide special capabilities for spying operations. Once the animals
return to their place of origin, the intelligence gathered by them is then offloaded. . .
."
Does government spying on its citizens make you feel
safe or nervous?
Espionage or spying involves a government or individual obtaining information that is
considered secret without the permission of the holder of the information.
“Echelon,” is a worldwide electronic intercept network which includes NSA and its equivalents
in the U.K., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Using computers programmed to spot predetermined words, phrases, names, and locations, these agencies are able to examine
mountains of data and find possible high-value messages.
“Most people just don't understand how pervasive government surveillance is. If you place an
international phone call, the odds that the [U.S.] National Security Agency is looking are very
good. If it goes by oceanic fiber-optic cable, they are listening to it. If it goes by satellite, they
are listening to it. If it is a radio broadcast or a cell phone conversation, in principle, they could
listen to it. Frankly, they can get what they want.”
John Pike (U.S. military analyst)
In response to 9/11, President Bush authorized the use of “Echelon”. He told the nation that his
NSA eavesdropping program was limited to known Al Qaeda agents or supporters abroad
making calls into the U.S. AT&T technician Mark Klein, however, inadvertently discovered that
the whole flow of Internet traffic in several AT&T operations centers was being regularly
diverted to the NSA. On a tip that Al Qaeda "might have an interest in Las Vegas" around New
Year's 2004, the FBI demanded records from all hotels, airlines, rental car agencies, casinos and
other businesses on every person who visited Las Vegas in the run-up to the holiday. A check of
all 250,000 Las Vegas visitors against terrorist watch lists turned up no known terrorist suspects
or associates of suspects. The FBI told FRONTLINE that the records had been kept for more than
two years, but have now all been destroyed.
http://www.diserio.com/peopledontspy.html