Hackers Ascend Upper 'Echelon'

[ricardo dominguez <rdom@thing.net>]

[: hacktivism :]




                     Hackers Ascend Upper 'Echelon'
                     by James Glave
http://www.wired.com/news/news/politics/story/22102.html

                     3:00 a.m.  6.Oct.99.PDT
                     Mossad. Bomb. Davidian. M15.

                     If the hunch of a loose-knit group of
                     cyber-activists is correct, the above
                     words will trip the keyword recognition
                     filter on a global spy system partly
                     managed by the US National Security
                     Agency.

                     The near-mythical worldwide computer
                     spy network reportedly scans all email,
                     packet traffic, telephone conversations
                     -- and more -- around the world, in an
                     effort to ferret out potential terrorist or
                     enemy communications.


                          See also: Spying on the Spies


                     Once plucked from the electronic cloud,
                     certain keywords allegedly trigger a
                     recording of the conversation or email in
                     question.

                     Privacy activists have used the words in
                     their signature files for years as a running
                     schtick, but on 18 October, the American
                     Justice Federation hopes to trip up
                     Echelon on a much wider scale.

                     "What is [Echelon] good for?" asked Linda
                     Thompson, a constitutional rights
                     attorney and chairman of the American
                     Justice Federation.

                     "If you want to say we can catch
                     criminals with it, it is insane that anyone
                     should be able to snoop on anyone's
                     conversations."

                     "Criminals ought to be caught after they
                     commit a crime -- but police are not here
                     to invade all our privacy to catch that
                     two percent [of criminal
                     communications]," she said.

                     A 1994 report by the Anti-Defamation
                     League described Thompson as "an
                     influential figure in the militia movement
                     nationally." The report says the American
                     Justice Federation describes itself as "a
                     group dedicated to stopping the New
                     World Order and getting the truth out to
                     the American public."

                     The Anti-Defamation League says
                     Thompson claims to have contact with
                     militias in all 50 states.

                     On 18 October, Thompson, along with
                     Doug McIntosh, a reporter for the
                     federation's news service, and members
                     of the hacktivism mailing list community,
                     invite anyone concerned about the
                     system to append a list of intriguing
                     words to their emails.

                     Specifically, they suggest the following
                     keywords:

                     FBI CIA NSA IRS ATF BATF DOD WACO
                     RUBY RIDGE OKC OKLAHOMA CITY
                     MILITIA GUN HANDGUN MILGOV ASSAULT
                     RIFLE TERRORISM BOMB DRUG HORIUCHI
                     KORESH DAVIDIAN KAHL POSSE
                     COMITATUS RANDY WEAVER VICKIE
                     WEAVER SPECIAL FORCES LINDA
                     THOMPSON SPECIAL OPERATIONS GROUP
                     SOG SOF DELTA FORCE CONSTITUTION
                     BILL OF RIGHTS WHITEWATER POM PARK
                     ON METER ARKANSIDE IRAN CONTRAS
                     OLIVER NORTH VINCE FOSTER PROMIS
                     MOSSAD NASA MI5 ONI CID AK47 M16 C4
                     MALCOLM X REVOLUTION CHEROKEE
                     HILLARY BILL CLINTON GORE GEORGE
                     BUSH WACKENHUT TERRORIST TASK
                     FORCE 160 SPECIAL OPS 12TH GROUP
                     5TH GROUP SF

                     The campaign has spread around the Net
                     and has been translated into German.
                     Organizers hope "gag Echelon day"
                     catches on on a global scale as a means
                     of raising awareness of the system.

                     Neither the NSA, nor its UK equivalent --
                     the Government Communications
                     Headquarters -- has admitted that the
                     system exists, although its capabilities
                     have been debated in the European
                     Parliament.

                     Australia's Defense Signals Directorate,
                     an agency allegedly involved in Echelon,
                     recently admitted the existence of
                     UKUSA, the agreement between five
                     national communications agencies that
                     reportedly governs the system.

                     Last fall, the Washington-based civil
                     liberties group Free Congress Foundation
                     sent a detailed report on the system to
                     Congress, but the system was not
                     debated.

                     The latest effort hopes to further boost
                     public awareness of the system.

                     "Most people are angry about it," said
                     Thompson. "When you find out it is not
                     some science fiction movie, most people
                     will be outraged."

                     But an Australian member of the activist
                     community hopes that "jam Echelon day"
                     will be about public awareness of
                     technologies of political control, not
                     about generating paranoia.

                     "Public awareness should empower -- not
                     scare people aware from using the Net,"
                     the activist, who identified himself only as
                     Sam, said.


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