Category Archives: intelligence

NSA watchdog to review agency’s actions following Tucker Carlson spying allegations

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The National Security Agency’s inspector general said Tuesday that it would conduct a review related to allegations that the agency had improperly surveilled Fox News host Tucker Carlson — allegations the agency has denied. The review will look at NSA’s compliance with legal authorities and procedures related to data collection and analysis, including so-called “unmasking” procedures, in which U.S. officials can request the identity of an American citizen cited in an intelligence document. The probe will cover whether any actions taken by the NSA “were based upon improper considerations,” Inspector General Robert Storch said in a statement. Carlson in June accused the NSA of surveilling in him in a bid to “take this show off the air.” The NSA, whose mission is to collect foreign intelligence, flatly denied the allegation in a June 29 statement. “Tucker Carlson has never been an intelligence target of the agency and the NSA has […]

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U.S. intelligence community details destructive cyber capabilities, growing influence threats

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The intelligence community made its most direct public attribution yet that Russia was behind weaving malicious code into a SolarWinds software update to facilitate a sweeping espionage operation, impacting hundreds of companies and U.S. federal agencies. The intelligence community said Russia was behind the software supply chain hack in the intelligence community’s Annual Threat Assessment, which the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released Tuesday. “A Russian software supply chain operation against a US-based IT firm exposed approximately 18,000 customers worldwide, including enterprise networks across US Federal, state, and local governments,” the assessment notes, without naming SolarWinds. The intelligence community under the Trump administration had only previously stated that the operation was “likely” Russian in origin. The publication of the threat assessment coincides with President Joe Biden’s call with Russian President Vladimir Putin Tuesday, during which Biden “made clear that the United States will act firmly in defense of […]

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Exposing Bulgaria’s “Durzhavna Sigurnost” – The Complete Technical and Scientific Collection Archive During the Cold War – An OSINT Analysis

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Dear blog readers,Have you ever wanted to take a peek inside Bulgaria’s “Durzhavna Sigurnost” archive? It’s currently available on Cryptome.org including in particular – “State Security and the Scientific and Technical Intelligence” where you can check… Continue reading Exposing Bulgaria’s “Durzhavna Sigurnost” – The Complete Technical and Scientific Collection Archive During the Cold War – An OSINT Analysis→

Current and Future Assessment of U.S U.K and German Cyber Intelligence and Cyber Surveillance Programs and Tradecraft – An Analysis

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Spooked by evil aliens? Did the Klingons did it again? Worry about your latest and very greatest porn collection leaking online? Thinking about your IP (Intellectual Property) as if it were U.S National Security? Want to find a meaningful way to contri… Continue reading Current and Future Assessment of U.S U.K and German Cyber Intelligence and Cyber Surveillance Programs and Tradecraft – An Analysis→

Drop the Zoom video? Audio-only communication boosts group IQ

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A new study led by researchers from Carnegie Mellon University is challenging the common assumption that video conferencing is better than audio-only communication for collaborative group activities. The findings suggest video cues may in fact lower a … Continue reading Drop the Zoom video? Audio-only communication boosts group IQ→

Chinese Supply-Chain Attack on Computer Systems

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Bloomberg News has a major story about the Chinese hacking computer motherboards made by Supermicro, Levono, and others. It’s been going on since at least 2008. The US government has known about it for almost as long, and has tried to keep the attack secret:

China’s exploitation of products made by Supermicro, as the U.S. company is known, has been under federal scrutiny for much of the past decade, according to 14 former law enforcement and intelligence officials familiar with the matter. That included an FBI counterintelligence investigation that began around 2012, when agents started monitoring the communications of a small group of Supermicro workers, using warrants obtained under the …

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Law Enforcement Eyeing Contact Tracing Apps

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Some might say it was inevitable that, once law enforcement and intelligence agencies realized the power of COVID-19 contact tracing applications to confirm proximity between persons, privacy would become a secondary issue. They would be right. Austra… Continue reading Law Enforcement Eyeing Contact Tracing Apps→

How China Uses Stolen US Personnel Data

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Interesting analysis of China’s efforts to identify US spies:

By about 2010, two former CIA officials recalled, the Chinese security services had instituted a sophisticated travel intelligence program, developing databases that tracked flights and pas… Continue reading How China Uses Stolen US Personnel Data→