"Nathan" <
nathan...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:0a246a7d-2a25-4a55...@b2g2000yqe.googlegroups.com...
> On Apr 26, 7:34 pm, "Rod Pemberton"
<do_not_h...@notemailnotq.cpm>
> wrote:
[dropped AOD because ALA is *the* place for armchair conjecturing]
Just how do you know I'm on ALA and not AOD only ... ? ;-)
> > You do know that a US government agency called the NSA
> > archives *ALL* emails that go through US ISPs and network
> > trunks on US soil since 9/11, yes? E.g., that includes some
> > traffic from Mexico and Canada and elsewhere. So, your
> > idea of using email to send and receive files actually
> > *increases* spying...
> >
>
> Okay. But how does any agency filter through that mountain of
> data to locate a real threat?
Conjecture:
custom mainframes,
statistics and probability,
databases with search engines,
etc...
> Also, how many people are actually "important" enough
> that an agency would have them on a "watch list" in the
> first place?
At last reported count, there were over 500,000 individuals in the
NCTC TIDE database. Thats approximately 1 out of every 10000
people on the planet, or roughly the entire State of Wyoming, the
least populous US State as of 2012. A few years earlier, it
could've been Vermont or the entire District of Columbia
(ironic?). That database is used to produce the FBI terrorist
watchlists, etc. There are numerous other databases with huge
lists too, such as Dept. of Treasury OFAC SDN, Dept. of Treasury
FinCEN, FBI IAFIS, FBI NICS, FBI CODIS, etc etc etc ... (You can
find most or all of these listed on Wikipedia.)
You don't have to be "important" to be in one of these databases.
You don't have to be a "criminal" or "terrorist" for many of them
either. The FBI has the legal right to profile *ANY* US citizen
it deems to be "of interest", i.e., explains the Marilyn Monroe or
other celebrity FBI files. The NCTC can create "dossiers" on all
US citizens and maintain them for five years WITHOUT any legal
cause. The NCTC has legal access to *ALL* Federal databases,
i.e., social security, child support (HHS/OCSE NDNH database), FBI
IAFIS, FBI CODIS, TD FinCEN, etc. The FBI IAFIS fingerprint
database records fingerprints of criminals. However, it also
records fingerprints for numerous law abiding citizens. US
workers are routinely fingerprinted for job employment in
industries such as a law enforcement, fire departments, hospitals,
government institutions, public school employees, airports,
careers involving minors or elderly, brokerage, real estate, loan
officer, casinos, pharmacies, transportation of hazardous waste,
chemicals, explosives, and other jobs requiring security
clearances. The child support database (HHS/OCSE NDNH database)
is required by law to record *ALL* employed individuals in the US
whether they have children or not. The social security database
includes anyone with a social security number or tax payer
identification number. FinCEN gets reports on over 15 million US
financial transactions per year, most of which are legal. The
Library of Congress records *ALL* twitter posts. The NSA archives
*ALL* emails passing through US "soil" since 9/11.
These are just the "tip of the iceberg" so to speak. There are
many others at the Federal level. There are also State and
commercial databases.
> Surely, a lot of things would have to line-up in a perfect
> 'doubt-free' pattern (bank transactions, welfare fraud,
> organizational membership, cellphone based social-networking
> traffic, geographic travel trends, etc) to cause a red-flag at a
> high level Pentagon or Cyber Command meeting.
I doubt information needs "line-up in a perfect 'doubt-free'
pattern" to be useful to someone in a position of authority who is
willing to use or abuse that authority. There are many agencies
using this data for different reasons. The Pentagon would only
need a small percentage of it. Much of it is used by other law
enforcement agencies or law enforcement actions.
The problem is two-fold. 1) The recent proliferation of large
Federal databases for various legal and rational reasons, that
contain vast amounts of information on US citizens. 2) The NCTC
now has the legal right to access all Federal databases. The two,
inconjuction, have effectively become "Big Brother".
> Besides, you are making an assumption that the OP wants
> to "hide" from "Big Brother."
I don't think it's an assumption. I think he stated it:
"It completly[sic] Anonymous,secure,no spy,and
nobody can known[sic] what you do !!!!"
The other likely option is he's phishing for certain, various
types of content, e.g., credit card info, or illicit pr0n, or
pirated software, movies, or music, etc. Clearly, he hasn't heard
of Tor, BitTorrent, or other software... Personally, I'm guessing
he's a young "script kiddy" who didn't realize he just recreated
the late 1980's and early 1990's...
> Perhaps the intent is to have a bit of privacy from a
> nosy spouse, teenager, or some script-kiddy hackers who happen
> to surround the OP's digital environment. In that case, I'd
> suggest some sort of "sneaker net" solution: in-person trades
> of DVDs, thumbdrives, or SD cards. If geographic distance
> is a problem, some sort of VPN would be ideal.
If so, why did he announce it on A.L.A. and A.O.D. ?
Rod Pemberton