Naval officer sentenced to six months in prison, discharge
A Navy lawyer so disillusioned with the government's handling of foreign detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, that he sent classified information about 550 men in custody there to a civilian attorney was sentenced Friday to six months in prison and dismissal from the service. Lt. Cmdr. Matthew M. Diaz was convicted Thursday on four of five charges stemming from his actions in early January 2005, while stationed at Guantanamo Bay. The most serious conviction - violating the Espionage Act by sending classified information to someone not entitled to receive it - carried the possibility of a 10-year sentence. The four charges carried a maximum 14-year sentence….(Virginian-Pilot, 19 May 07)

Ellen S. Weeks Navy WAVE, Homemaker

Ellen S. Weeks, 86, a former Navy WAVE, teacher and homemaker, died April 12… During World War II, Mrs. Weeks served as a lieutenant commander and worked on secret projects related to the development of bomb sites and heat-seeking missiles in the Office of Naval Intelligence in Washington….(Washington Post, 19 May 07)

Lobby argues that good Americans spy for Israel

Is there a First Amendment right to engage in espionage? Dorothy Rabinowitz seems to think so. Describing the actions of Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, two former top officials of AIPAC, the premier Israel lobbying group who passed purloined intelligence to Israeli government officials, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist characterized them as "activities that go on every day in Washington, and that are clearly protected under the First Amendment….(Arab-American, 19 May 07)

Donald Carmichael  CIA Officer

Donald Carmichael, 85, a former undercover operative for the CIA, died May 10…Mr. Carmichael joined the Central Intelligence Agency about 1950 and was an undercover operative in Colombia, Thailand, Hong Kong and other places in Asia and Latin America. He also served as assistant chief of covert action at CIA headquarters….(Washington Post, 19 May 07)

Waging war with competitive intelligence

Collusion: International Espionage and the War on Terror, by Carlo Bonini and Giuseppe D'Avanzo

…The case is a simple one: Thieves broke into the apartment-sized embassy of Niger, located on the northern cusp of Rome's historical center, while the staff was away the day after New Year's in 2001. The intruders made off with a few seemingly unimportant items that included a few sheets of stationary and a stamp with the country's official seal. More than two years later, the case for taking the US-named War on Terror to Iraq was made based on forged documents made from those items - the falsified information behind US President George W Bush's now famous 16-word State of the Union claim that "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." That Iraq never sought uranium from. The book points a finger at disgraced former Italian secret agent Rocco Martino who allegedly forged the documents and sold them for cash to his former bosses with the Italian intelligence agency SISME, with no idea how important they would become…..(ISN, 18 May 07)

Love in the service of the Revolution II

… Rene Gonzalez, the spy, and Oscar Chepe, the dissident, are pawns in this political game. Ideologically they are poles apart, but both have worked for their political cause, and both have been jailed for it. How has this affected their wives?....(Radio Netherlands, 18 May 07)

Top secret, in plain view

…Government efforts to thwart terrorists by asking -- or in some cases requiring -- that companies censor aerial images of potential targets have failed to keep them off the Internet. Scores of federal buildings, military installations and corporate headquarters are clearly visible on some Web sites, even though the facilities are deemed vulnerable enough to censor on others. Censored sites include Vice President Dick Cheney's residence at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, the U.S. Capitol, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, an oil tank farm in Baintree, Mass., and various military bases, offices and palaces in Europe….(San Francisco Chronicle, 18 May 07)

No Secret What's Wrong With Clearances

…Under the law, 90 percent of applications for an initial security clearance are to be completed in 60 days -- 40 days for a background investigation and 20 days for an adjudication, the decision on whether the applicant should receive a clearance. The government has until December 2009 to meet the requirement. Johnson said intelligence agencies are organizing a research and development project to identify the best ways to meet the goal….(Washington Post, 18 May 07)

Red Team U. Creates Critical Thinkers

During World War II, British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery relied upon junior officers to study German Field Marshal Irwin Rommel in Africa and Europe, then assess the Allies' plans. That idea's modern incarnation is the Red Team University course at Fort Leavenworth's University of Foreign Military and Cultural Studies. The goal is to produce soldiers who don't hesitate to find the flaws in a commander's strategies to prevent failed operations and save lives….(AP, 18 May 07)

U.S. Cash Is Lifeblood Of Dozens of NGOs

Some of the country's best-known human rights organizations say they couldn't make it without the U.S. government. Moscow Helsinki Group, Memorial and For Human Rights are among dozens of Kremlin-critical NGOs that rely heavily on funding from the National Endowment for Democracy, backed by the U.S. Congress, and other foreign sources…..(Moscow Times, 18 May 07)

Tehran Denying Rights to Detained Scholar, Lawyer Says
Shirin Ebadi, the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner and the lead attorney for imprisoned American scholar Haleh Esfandiari, charged yesterday that the Iranian government has turned down her request to represent the Potomac resident, refused information on the charges against Esfandiari and denied a legal team access to its client…..(Washington Post, 18 May 07)

Judge Told Leak Was Part of 'Policy Dispute'

… The lawyers said any conversations Cheney and the officials had about Plame with one another or with reporters were part of their normal duties because they were discussing foreign policy and engaging in an appropriate "policy dispute." Cheney's attorney went further, arguing that Cheney is legally akin to the president because of his unique government role and has absolute immunity from any lawsuit…..(Washington Post, 18 May 07)

Official Central to AIPAC Case Quits

The deputy U.S. attorney general who indicted two former AIPAC staffers on classified information charges resigned on Monday. Paul McNulty was the U.S. attorney in eastern Virginia in August 2005 when he indicted Steve Rosen, the former foreign policy chief for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, and Keith Weissman, its former Iran analyst, under a never-used 1917 statute that criminalizes the receipt of classified information…..(JTA, 18 May 07)

Militants kill 'US spy' in Pakistan

Suspected pro-Taliban militants in Pakistan's tribal belt shot dead an Afghan man accused of spying for United States forces operating in neighboring Afghanistan…The body of 50-year-old Saidur Rehman was found dumped in a ditch near the bazaar of the border town of Lwara Mandi in the lawless district of North Waziristan….(DNA India, 18 May 07)

Chinese Hackers Grow in Number, Skills

…China ranks second behind the U.S. as far as malicious activity on the Internet as a whole, Symantec said, citing its own data. The country had 131 million Internet users as of the end of 2006, accounting for about 10 percent of its population and 11 percent of the world's Internet users. A well-known cyberwar between Chinese and American hackers erupted in April 2001 following the collision of a U.S. military spy plane and Chinese fighter. U.S. government Web sites were hacked and defaced with slogans such as "Beat down imperialism of American," courtesy of a group calling itself the Honker Union of China…perhaps more disturbing have been the efficient ways Chinese hackers are believed to have obtained sensitive information. In June 2004, South Korea was reportedly victimized by a concerted attack using Trojan horse programs -- which appear harmless but have malicious functions -- to pilfer classified documents on weapons systems…..(PC World, 18 May 07)

Pair 'under surveillance,' suspected of nuke link

A Pakistani and a Briton killed in a plane crash in Turkey this week had been under surveillance by Turkish intelligence…The two men, named by Turkish media as Zakaullah Bhangoo and Mihiael Newman, died when their light aircraft crashed in mountainous terrain in Trabzon province in northeast Turkey….(Reuters, 18 May 07)

A woman who is fighting the 'guy issues' in Israeli politics

A former spy who plays the drums to relax and once blamed “guy issues” for undermining Israel’s war effort in Lebanon, Tzipi Livni has emerged as perhaps the greatest threat to the tenuous grip on power of the Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert… Before entering politics, Ms Livni worked for Mossad, Israel’s spy agency, and was a successful real estate lawyer. She joined the Knesset as a member of the Likud Party eight years ago…..(Times, 18 May 07)

GAO urges better teamwork on Defense Department spy tech programs

The Defense Department needs better military teamwork as it embarks on $28 billion in upcoming spy technology projects, the Government Accountability Office said in a new report this week. GAO looked at 20 aircraft and satellite weapons programs like Space Radar, Aerial Common Sensor and a group of new surveillance drones….(Market Watch, 18 May 07)

Dumbed-Down Intelligence

Recently a six-man jihadi cell in New Jersey was arrested while allegedly planning an armed attack on a military base. In California a jury is now deliberating the fate of a naturalized Chinese-American, who the government alleges worked as a spy for China. Per various media reports, Russian intelligence activity against the United States and its European allies is back to Cold War levels. You would think that if ever there was a time to focus our intelligence community on clear and present dangers, it would be now….(Weekly Standard, 18 May 07)

Retired spy: CIA lacks "human intelligence" in hotspot countries

The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's problem in hot spots like Iraq, Iran and North Korea is its lack of spies in those countries, a retired CIA counterterrorism official says. Without people on the ground, the agency has relied mostly on satellite photos and communications intercepts to figure out what is going on, said Duane Clarridge….(AP, 17 May 07)

Iraqi Shiites Want Own Spy Agency

A bid by Iraq's Shiite-controlled government to form a parallel intelligence agency to one established by the United States has raised concerns in Washington. Soon after toppling Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated Baath government, U.S. officials helped Iraqis rebuild an entirely new military and government. The existing National Intelligence Service is run by Gen. Mohammed Shahwani, a Sunni Muslim with ties to the U.S. military, but U.S. officials fear it could be compromised by a separate Shiite agency….(Post Chronicle, 17 May 07)

Secret Police Past Doesn't Cramp Style of Stasi Agent

…Long before the 59-year-old became a successful and well-connected property developer, Mr. Hilpert was an undercover agent, code name "Monika," decorated by both the German Democratic Republic and Fidel Castro's Cuba. Germany has struggled with some success to honestly confront its dark past and publicize the crimes of the Nazi and Communist dictatorships of the past century. The movie "The Lives of Others" won an Oscar this year for its portrayal of how the Stasi blackmailed East Germans into spying on and betraying one another. But although former Stasi agents are often barred from public-service jobs, Mr. Hilpert's coup in putting up the G8 meeting at the Lake Schwielow resort shows they are increasingly accepted as normal business partners for the new Germany…..(Wall Street Journal, 17 May 07)

Why can’t Iraq have its own intelligence agency?

After the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the United States disbanded Saddam Hussein's military and security services, the Mukhabarat. The following year, Paul Bremer,  former administrator of the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq, announced the formation of the Iraqi National Intelligence Service, which was funded from secret funds set aside within the Iraq appropriation approved by the U.S. Congress. The secret funds, totaling $3 billion over three years, were aimed at carrying out covert CIA operations within Iraq (as well as, to a small extent, Afghanistan). Now, Iraq’s government wants to establish an independent intelligence agency, raising U.S. concerns that Baghdad is trying to blunt Washington’s influence and bring intelligence gathering under the control of a Shia-dominated government close to Iran, which the U.S. allegedly accuses of backing attacks against American forces. Under the proposal, the new agency would be controlled by National Security Minister Shirwan al-Waili, a Shia. Iraq also has intelligence departments in the interior ministry and the military…..(Aljazeera, 17 May 07)

Plane crash victims were tracked by Turkish agents

A Pakistani and a Briton killed in a plane crash in Turkey this week had been under surveillance by Turkish intelligence…The two men, named by Turkish media as Zakaullah Bhangoo and Mihiael (eds: correct) Newman, died when their light aircraft crashed in mountainous terrain in Trabzon province in northeast Turkey earlier this week…..(Reuters, 17 May 07)

Authorities investigate allegations of nuclear material in crashed plane

…The crash of the plane has roused suspicions about the identity of its passengers and the purpose of its flight from Trabzon to Iran. There was speculation that the people on board, British citizen Michael Newman and Pakistani B. Bhangoo, were intelligence agents. Authorities have said every aspect of the incident was being investigated…..(UPI, 17 May 07)

Govn't refines intelligence and counterintelligence bill

The Venezuelan Government has made a decision "to develop intelligence into a coordinated system," and is drafting the relevant bill for passage under President Hugo Chávez' special ruling powers…..(El Universal, 17 May 07)

Sweden in u-turn on second CIA Egyptian

Sweden's government has reversed the official decision which led to the deportation of Egyptian Ahmed Agiza by CIA agents in 2001…The government in March reversed the decision to deport another Egyptian, Mohammed Alzery, who had been deported by the CIA operatives at the same time as Agiza…..(Local, 17 May 07)

Spy agency spends $500,000 on 'experts'

The intelligence agency that reports directly to the prime minister has paid a small group of consultants more than $500,000 over the past 18 months for advice on topic ranging from the way the agency handles foreign intelligence to international strategic issues…..(Age, 17 May 07)

Czech military intelligence service to resign on Thursday

Prague- Miroslav Krejcik, director of the Czech Military Intelligence Service, will resign on Thursday, Ladislav Sticha, spokesman for the intelligence, told CTK today. According to CTK's source, Krejcik made the decision because he did not want to hold such a sensitive post after several attempts to dismiss him…..(Ceskenoviny, 17 May 07)

A new chapter on Israeli intelligence

Point of No Return, by Ronen Bergman

…Bergman writes that ever since Ayatollah Khomeini came into power in Iran in 1979, a secret war has been waged between Israel and Iran. The book includes new revelations about the Second Lebanon War and information about the Iranian nuclear project, secret arms shipments from Israel to Iran, the terror attack on the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, the connection between Iran and Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and Israeli efforts to bring back captured navigator Ron Arad….(Haaretz, 17 May 07)

Book about CIA gives sheriff high praise for polygraph skills

Gatekeeper - Memoirs of a CIA Polygraph Examiner, by John L. Sullivan

…Sullivan's book points out that while polygraph tests get slammed in the wake of revelations about important moles in the U.S. intelligence community, they have identified CIA applicants and employees involved in criminal activities. The most notorious recent case cited by polygraph critics was that of Aldrich Ames of the CIA, who passed a test but was a Soviet spy…..(Flint Journal, 17 May 07)

German who claimed to be CIA torture victim detained on suspicion of arson

A German citizen of Lebanese descent who claimed the CIA kidnapped and tortured him in an Afghan prison has been detained on suspicion of arson, police said Thursday. Khaled el-Masri, 43, was taken into custody at a wholesale market in the southern German town of Neu-Ulm after the 4:45 a.m. (0245 GMT) blaze and a judge ordered his admission to a hospital psychiatric ward….(AP, 17 May 07)

More interaction with Cuba denied

A recent Pentagon request for more military-to-military contacts with Cuba was denied and a special intelligence office created to closely monitor Cuba and Venezuela has ''practically disappeared,'' due to staff and budget cuts…Norman Bailey, who until March was mission manager for Cuba and Venezuela at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), said the State Department recently blocked the Pentagon request to allow its military attachés abroad to contact their Cuban counterparts…..(Miami Herald, 17 May 07)

Senators Want CIA to Release 9/11 Report

A bipartisan group of senators is pushing legislation that would force the CIA to release an inspector general's report on the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The CIA has spent more than 20 months weighing requests under the Freedom of Information Act for its internal investigation of the attacks but has yet to release any portion of it. The agency is the only federal office involved in counterterrorism operations that has not made at least a version of its internal 9/11 investigation public…..(AP, 17 May 07)

NSA leaders pressed to explain report faulting agency culture

…NSA Deputy Director Chris Inglis said in an interview that the agency had received inquiries about the report from Capitol Hill, Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence James Clapper Jr. and Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell. Spokesmen for the House and Senate intelligence committees said their panels did not know about the report before a May 6 article in The Sun disclosing the findings…..(Baltimore Sun, 17 May 07)

No Dissent on Spying, Says Justice Dept.

The Justice Department said yesterday that it will not retract a sworn statement in 2006 by Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales that the Terrorist Surveillance Program had aroused no controversy inside the Bush administration, despite congressional testimony Tuesday that senior departmental officials nearly resigned in 2004 to protest such a program…..(Washington Post, 17 May 07)

CIA leak lawsuit set to resume

The legal battle in the CIA leak case continues today in U.S. District Court where outed CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson and her husband, former Ambassador Joe Wilson, have filed a lawsuit against four current or former top Bush administration officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney. This morning the lawyers for the Vice President, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby; White House political adviser Karl Rove; and former State Department Deputy Secretary Richard Armitage will attempt to get the lawsuit  thrown out of court…The lawsuit accuses Cheney, Rove, Libby and Armitage of revealing Plame's CIA identity in seeking revenge against Wilson for criticizing the Bush administration's motives in Iraq…..(NBC, 17 May 07)

Plame Seeks Showdown With Cheney

A lawsuit brought by a CIA agent whose cover was blown by Bush administration officials, Valerie Plame, is expected to face a withering attack this morning at a court hearing in Washington…..(New York Sun, 17 May 07)

CIA Leak Case Set to Resume

……(AP, 17 May 07)

Industrial espionage causes 95.9 trillion won in damages: lawmaker

There were 92 cases of corporate espionage in the 2003-06 period, causing 95.9 trillion won in financial damages to South Korea…Citing a compilation of data from the National Intelligence Service, Rep. Chung Doo-un of the Grand National Party said the damages were almost four times larger than the 26 trillion won in losses stemming from industrial technology leaks in the 1998-2003 period….(Yonhap, 17 May 07)

Jury: 6 Months in Prison for Navy Lawyer

A military jury recommended Friday that a Navy lawyer be discharged and imprisoned for six months for sending a human rights attorney the names of 550 Guantanamo Bay detainees. Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Diaz was convicted Thursday of communicating secret information about Guantanamo Bay detainees that could be used to injure the United States and three other charges of leaking information to an unauthorized person….(AP, 18 May 07)

Navy Lawyer Guilty of Detainee Info Leak

A Navy lawyer who gave a human rights attorney the names of 550 Guantanamo Bay detainees was convicted in military court Thursday of communicating secret information that could be used to injure the United States. Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Diaz also was convicted of three counts of leaking information to an unauthorized person, but was acquitted of printing out national defense information with the intent or reason to believe it would be used against the U.S. A sentencing hearing was to begin Friday for Diaz, who could receive up to 14 years in prison…..(AP, 17 May 07)

Asda: part of the Wal-Mart spy ring

Following an admission from US supermarket giant Wal-Mart that the company has employed some of its estimated 400 investigators to spy on groups who stand against them, enquiries by Freedom have uncovered a similar story at UK subsidiary Asda…..(Freedom, 16 May 07)

Today in History - May 16

1960: A Big Four summit conference in Paris collapsed on its opening day as the Soviet Union leveled spy charges against the U.S. in the wake of the U2 incident.

2001:Former FBI agent Robert Hanssen is indicted on charges of spying for Moscow. He later pleads guilty to 15 counts of espionage and is sentenced by a US court to life in prison without parole.

Lying During Investigations Will Only Make Matters Worse

…It has by now become common for the government to charge individuals with perjury, obstruction of justice or lying to government agents in the absence of charges for the offense being investigated in the first place…Witnesses should never doubt the possibility that charges will be brought solely for misleading the investigation even if there is ultimately no provable underlying crime…..(Law, 16 May 07)

NYPD Republican Convention Papers Shown

…Once-confidential documents prepared as the NYPD readied for the convention cautioned the group was "forged as a mockery of the current presidency and political policies," and they noted that "preliminary intelligence indicates that this group is raising funds for expansion and support of anti-RNC organizations."A federal judge ordered the documents unsealed amid protracted litigation challenging the legitimacy of many of the more than 1,800 arrests made at the four-day convention at Madison Square Garden….(AP, 16 May 07)

Rights Group Sues Over Terror Watch List

Civil rights lawyers sued the Bush administration Wednesday over a Treasury Department terrorist watch list, asking a federal court to order the release of documents on the secretive program….(AP, 16 May 07)

Customs Breaks Privacy Laws in Data Collection, GAO Says

…The Government Accountability Office, in a report to be released tomorrow, says DHS's Customs and Border Protection agency has never publicly disclosed all the sources of data such as name, credit card number and travel history that it uses to detect passengers who may pose a security risk. "CBP's current disclosures do not fully inform the public about all of its systems for prescreening aviation passenger information, nor do they explain how CBP combines data in the prescreening process, as required by law,"….(Washington Post, 16 May 07)

Relatives of Cuban spies plan international support group

Relatives of five Cuban spies serving long U.S. prison sentences said Tuesday they were forming an international support group to press for their loved ones' release. U.S. federal prosecutors failed to prove the men obtained any U.S. secrets but were successful in arguing for sentences ranging from 10 years to life for Gerardo Hernandez, Rene Gonzalez, Ramon Labanino, Antonio Guerrero and Fernando Gonzalez…..(AP, 16 May 07)

Pakistan Suicide Bomber Leaves Warning to U.S. Spies

A suicide bomber who killed 25 people in an attack on a crowded hotel in Pakistan left a grisly warning taped to his leg: “Those who spy for Americans will meet the same fate.”… Police said the warning was taped to the man's (dead bomber) leg…..(Reuters, 16 May 07)

Gonzales Hospital Episode Detailed

…In vivid testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday, Comey said he alerted FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III and raced, sirens blaring, to join Ashcroft in his hospital room, arriving minutes before Gonzales and Card. Ashcroft, summoning the strength to lift his head and speak, refused to sign the papers they had brought. Gonzales and Card, who had never acknowledged Comey's presence in the room, turned and left…..(Washington Post, 16 May 07)

President Intervened in Dispute Over Eavesdropping

President Bush intervened in March 2004 to avert a crisis over the National Security Agency’s domestic eavesdropping program after Attorney General John Ashcroft, Director Robert S. Mueller III of the F.B.I. and other senior Justice Department aides all threatened to resign… Mr. Bush quelled the revolt over the program’s legality by allowing it to continue without Justice Department approval… Mr. Bush quelled the revolt over the program’s legality by allowing it to continue without Justice Department approval….(New York Time, 16 May 07)

Panel told of a sickbed face-off

….(LA Times, 16 May 07)

Federal government scraps plan for foreign intelligence agency

The Harper government has backed down from a campaign promise to create a foreign intelligence agency, and now plans instead to give the Canadian Security Intelligence Service more power to spy on foreign countries…..(CanWest, 16 May 07)

Intelligence network to be further beefed up

The Government of Sindh has decided to beef up the intelligence network for keeping a watch on disruptive elements and the restoration of normal city life….(Daily Times, 16 May 07)

Air Force realigns intelligence agency at Lackland, renames organization

The U.S. Air Force has officially renamed the Air Force Intelligence Agency (AIA) the Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency (Air Force ISR Agency). The Air Force ISR Agency, which will be located at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, will be realigned under the Deputy Chief of Staff, Intelligence, Surveillance ad Reconnaissance (A2) at the Pentagon…..(San Antonio Biz Journal, 16 May 07)

Incident management in the age of compliance

Security incidents can wreak catastrophic results on organizations. Such incidents may involve hacking, malware outbreaks, economic espionage, intellectual property theft or loss, network access abuse, theft of IT resources, or many other issues.  Recent regulatory mandates directly affect how organizations should deal with such occurrences…..(Computer World, 16 May 07)

Thermax retaliates on Purolite`s allegations

Engineering goods company Thermax (Q, N,C,F)* filed a counter business interference motion against US-based Purolite in the US courts, reports Business Standard.
Thermax claimed that Purolite`s allegations are part of its strategy to put obstacles in Thermax`s business plans in the US….(My Iris, 16 May 07)

Egyptian charged with nuclear espionage praises Israel at trial

An Egyptian man charged with spying for Israel stunned the court Tuesday by praising Israel for its advanced technology and claiming the documents he passed on were so outdated they posed no threat to Egyptian security. Mohammed Sayed Saber, 35, a nuclear engineer with Egypt's atomic agency, has been charged with stealing secret documents and giving them to Mossad in exchange for $17,000 and with the aim to harm Egyptian national security…"I don't hide my admiration of Israel ... It has reached a very high technological and scientific level," Saber said in court. "To seek to benefit from Israel scientific expertise, is not shameful or wrong ….(AP, 15 May 07)

Engineer denies spy charges

Mohammed Sayyed Saber, 35, acknowledged that he had given information about the Egyptian atomic energy authority where he worked to presumed agents of Israel's Mossad overseas intelligence agency…"All the information I gave was never with the intention of spying," Saber told the first day of his trial before the High State Security Court. "I was not a spy and the information I gave was not secret, it was all published on the internet," he said…..(News24, 15 May 07)

Thermax faces espionage suit from US Co

The Aga family-controlled Thermax is facing a corporate espionage suit from US water treatment company Purolite. The Philadelphia-based $200-million company has sued Thermax and a team of senior executives, who worked with Purolite earlier, for allegedly “stealing intellectual property”…..(Economic Times, 15 May 07)

Air Intelligence Agency to become Air Force ISR Agency

...AIA reported to Air Combat Command, but the new agency will be aligned under the Air Force deputy chief of staff for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (A2) as a field operating agency…..(AF Press Release, 15 May 07)

Shy heroine who was the first woman recruited to Special Branch dies aged 94

…Margery Urquhart was a former spy who tracked down terrorists and dangerous criminals for a living. The Chile-born police officer had joined the Met after graduating from Aberdeen University in 1935, and was cherry-picked after catching the eye of the head of Special Branch who broke new ground by employing her as his first female recruit. She then became involved in tailing some of the country's worst criminals, including the IRA and terrorist bombers…..(Scotsman, 15 May 07)

FEMALE SPY DIES

THE Scot who was Britain's first female spy has died aged 94. Margery Urquhart, who graduated from Aberdeen Uni in 1935, was recruited by Special Branch after joining the police in London. She helped track down some of the country's worst criminals and was at the forefront of counter-espionage operations against the Germans during WWII…..(Daily Record, 15 May 07)

Egyptian court reveals findings on Israeli spying case

Egypt's Supreme State Security Court publicized here Monday the findings of its ruling in the case of Mohamed el-Attar, along with three co-defendants, who was found guilty of spying for Israel. The official MENA news agency quoted the court as saying that Attar had confessed to the crime under the psychological suffering of his sins and to make up for his mistakes and repent…..(Xinhua, 15 May 07)

Iran Accuses U.S. Scholar of 'Crimes Against National Security'

Iran's judiciary said today that it is investigating noted American scholar and Potomac resident Haleh Esfandiari for suspected "crimes against national security," an allegation that immediately produced condemnation from academic circles and international human rights groups…..(Washington Post, 15 May 07)

Wiretap Scandal Breaks in Colombia

Bogota, May 15 Colombians were scandalized on Tuesday upon learning that the National Police Intelligence Division had tapped the phones of government and opposition politicians, businesspeople and journalists….(Prensa Latina, 15 May 07)

White House Edits to Privacy Board's Report Spur Resignation

The Bush administration made more than 200 revisions to the first report of a civilian board that oversees government protection of personal privacy, including the deletion of a passage on anti-terrorism programs that intelligence officials deemed "potentially problematic" intrusions on civil liberties….(Washington Post, 15 May 07)

If An FBI Analyst Can Steal National Secrets, What Are Your Workers Lifting?

… A recent study showed that nearly half of professionals from across a wide range of industries admit they have taken data with them -- everything from documents and lists to sales proposals and contracts -- when they've changed jobs. According to the international Information Security Survey, users polled said they don't see their companies' IT security practices as obstacles to accessing data from outside company walls or to walking out the door with it in their bag or thumb drive….(Information Week, 15 May 07)

Marks and Spencer laptops should have been encrypted to protect critical data

…The theft of a laptop from Marks and Spencer has left 20,000 staff at risk from identity crime, and this comes after a report from silicon.com that showed laptop theft has significantly risen since in the last year according to 28 UK police forces…..(TMC, 15 May 07)

MI5 wants more techies

… Adverts will appear on buses and on the London Underground as the UK security service seeks to raise its profile as an employer, especially for staff not traditionally associated with the service, such as IT professionals and mechanics, according to a report in the Financial Times…..(Silicon, 15 May 07)

Only Democrat on Privacy Board Quits

…Lanny Davis, a Washington lawyer and former Clinton White House counsel, said this week he no longer believed the five-member board was sufficiently independent to provide robust oversight of controversial government surveillance programs…(AP, 15 May 07)

Iran holds U.S.-based academic for "security" crimes

…Haleh Esfandiari, the director of the U.S. Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars' Middle East program, was arrested on May 8 and taken to Tehran's Evin prison, the center and her family said last week…..(Reuters, 15 May 07)

Spy scandal: 'Be careful when you steal reports'

New details have emerged in the spy scandal involving a female Swedish lieutenant commander and her Serbian lover. Having come into possession of the relevant military intelligence report, newspaper Expressen has published excerpts surrounding the activities of the 35-year-old Swede….(Local, 15 May 07)

Swede suspected of giving NATO data to spy lover

…The Swedish officer, who was not identified, began dating a Serb interpreter – called 'Z' by the Swedish military – at the U.N. administration in Kosovo more than a year ago and soon began emailing him classified NATO and U.N. information. The Swedish military said its investigation showed 'Z' had worked as an agent for several years. He disappeared after questioning, but thousands of classified documents were recovered from his computer… The woman, who was sent home soon after Swedish military intelligence began its investigation more than a year ago, has claimed she had not understood 'Z' was a spy.  The Swedish military dismissed this, citing emails between the couple in which they called their activities 'spy business' while 'Z' wrote 'I am not a….(Reuters, 15 May 07)

Spy sold submarine secrets to China

A Chinese-born engineer has been found guilty of conspiring to export US defense technology to Beijing - including data that would make it easier to detect submarines - as the FBI said Chinese spies had become the most active agents in the US. Prosecutors described Chi Mak, 67, as a brilliant sleeper agent who had been passing defense technology secrets to Beijing for more than 20 years. He will be sentenced on September 10….(Times, 14 May 07)

Iran: Tehran Confirms Detention Of American-Iranian Academic

…Esfandiari's arrest came amid a crackdown on Iranian activists, including women's rights advocates and students. It also comes at a time of heightened tensions between the United States and Iran. Iranian officials have warned that foreign enemies are using Iranian activists and critics to instigate a "soft revolution" in Iran….(RFE/RL, 14 May 07)

AIPAC to pay Weissman's legal fees

AIPAC reached a deal with lawyers for its former Iran analyst, Keith Weissman, to pay for his defense against Espionage Act charges. "AIPAC is fully paying for Keith Weissman's defense through appeal if necessary,"….(JTA/Jerusalem Post, 14 May 07)

Ex-Navy Lawyer on Trial in Gitmo Case

A Navy lawyer accused of passing secret information about Guantanamo Bay detainees sent a human rights lawyer their names and intelligence about them tucked into a Valentine's Day card…Lt. Cmdr. Matthew M. Diaz's actions endangered the lives of the detainees and American troops on the front line in the war on terror, prosecutor Lt. James Hoffman said during opening statements in Diaz's court-martial at Norfolk Naval Station….(AP, 14 May 07)

Press Release: CHARGES AGAINST Navy officer REFERRED TO COURT MARTIAL

CIA.gov has changed its Web address . . .

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New CIA Website

Public gets a peek at CIA's inner workings

The CIA launched a revamp of its website on Monday, aiming to evoke the glamour and mystique of the spy agency's heyday as it offers the public a sanitised peek into its secret world...Viewers can take a virtual tour of the CIA's Langley, Virginia headquarters, see pictures of spy gadgets on display at the CIA Museum, or try to crack the code embedded in the last undeciphered panel of the agency's "Kryptos" sculpture. Quick links take viewers to the CIA's World Fact Book and World Leaders, popular reference guides to countries and their governments that also reflect the agency's global interests….(IOL, 14 May 07)

Cuba Tries Castro Archenemy in Absentia

Cuban university students symbolically tried Luis Posada Carriles on Monday, accusing the anti-communist warrior of teaming up with Washington to commit decades of terrorist attacks…..(AP, 14 May 07)

UC Davis author tells story of spy in our midst

Perfect Spy: The Incredible Double Life of Pham Xuan An, by Larry Berman

…An, who died in 2006, was a longtime spy for the Communist Party in Vietnam and is credited with playing a major role in Vietnam's victory over the United States. A gifted conversationalist, An worked for Time magazine in Vietnam, befriending many of the era's leading journalists. But before that, he went to college in California and had a brief internship at The Sacramento Bee….(SacBee, 14 May 07)

High-Ranking Mexico Intel Official Slain

…Jose Nemesio Lugo, who investigated drug and migrant smuggling, among other issues, was shot numerous times, several in the head, while he was driving to work, said a spokesman at the city prosecutor's office who was not authorized to give his name…..(AP, 14 May 07)

Swedish soldier fed secrets to Serbian lover

…The woman was sent home to Sweden last year following preliminary investigations by the Military Intelligence and Security Service (Militära underrättelse- och säkerhetstjänsten - MUST). A disciplinary committee later decided that there were not sufficient grounds for removing her from the army. Recently however new information has emerged surrounding the case and the officer has once again been reported to the disciplinary committee. The Swedish woman is suspected of sending sensitive information to the Serbian spy via e-mail. The man, referred to in the investigation as 'Z', was working as an interpreter for the UN in Kosovo at the time of the alleged espionage…(Local, 14 May 07)

Swede May Have Given Serb Spy NATO Data

The woman, who was serving in Sweden's contingent, started dating the man around the start of 2006, and began sending him the classified documents shortly after, the statement said. The alleged spy, identified only as "Z", was discovered last year and questioned by NATO officials, but has since disappeared, Sweden's military said. It was unclear what government or organization he is suspected to have worked for. The Swedish officer has not been charged with a crime, but will be investigated by the military's disciplinary board…Investigators have been able to recover e-mail traffic from the Swedish woman on the alleged spy's computer, along with thousands of classified NATO and U.N. documents….(AP, 14 May 07)

US gives Pakistan 18 Sniper spy pods for F16s

The US government has awarded a contract to Lockheed Martin for 18 Sniper Advanced Targeting Pods (ATP), a part of the new advanced block 52 F-16 aircraft program for Pakistan. With deliveries beginning in 2008, Sniper ATP's exceptional stability and superior imagery will allow Pakistan Air Force to perform intelligence, targeting, surveillance and reconnaissance missions from extended standoff ranges…..(New Kerala, 14 May 07)

MI5 Begins Recruitment Drive to Combat Terrorism

…MI5, Britain's domestic spy agency, is seeking to recruit more than 500 staff over the next year including mechanics, information technology professionals and intelligence officers, according to a Home Office statement…..(Bloomberg, 14 May 07)

Syrian official says Israeli spy's grave located under neighborhood

It would be impossible today to find the grave of Eli Cohen, a Mossad agent who was captured and executed in Syria in 1965...In an interview to al-Arabiya satellite TV channel, Mounzer Mously, who was bureau chief of then-President Amin Hafiz, said that Cohen had been buried in the Mazzeh quarter of Damascus. "His burial place has since become a built-up area with streets and parks. Nobody can ever reach him"…(YNet, 14 May 07)

House reaffirms FISA as "exclusive means by which electronic surveillance may be conducted"

…HR 2082, the authorization to fund another year of intelligence activities. The funding request passed, but so did an amendment that upholds the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) as the only means by which to do electronic surveillance—and that requires continuous judicial oversight of requests. The only exceptions to the FISA provisions will be by "specific statutory authorization," meaning that Congress will be the ones to spell out all exceptions and "creative interpretations."….(ARS Technica, 14 May 07)

Former CIA Official Pleads Not Guilty

A former top CIA official pleaded not guilty Monday to new charges that he pushed a proposed government contract worth at least $100 million for his best friend in return for lavish vacations, private jet flights and a lucrative job offer. The indictment, returned last week, replaced charges brought in February against Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, who resigned from the spy agency a year ago, and defense contractor Brent Wilkes…..(AP, 14 May 07)

Former Guantanamo military lawyer on trial for leaking detainee names

…In its opening statement, the prosecution argued that Lt. Cmdr. Matthew M. Diaz, a former staff judge advocate at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive], endangered the lives of detainees and of US soldiers in the war on terror. Diaz's attorneys argued that the information was not marked classified and that Diaz had no reason to believe that the names of the detainees "could be used to injure the United States."….(Jurist, 14 May 07)

KEITH SLOTTER NAMED SAC IN SAN DIEGO

Keith Slotter, a 20-year veteran of the FBI, has been named Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the FBI’s San Diego Office….(Press Release, 14 May 07)

Pakistan: U.S. Aerial Espionage Operation
The United States carried out a major aerial espionage operation May 14 over North and South Waziristan and the Kurram agency in Pakistan…..(Strafor, 14 May 07)

U.S. Asks Europe to Ensure Continued Access to Air Passenger Data

In order to reduce the odds that terrorists will enter the United States, the Bush administration is asking the European Union to lift its objections to the sharing of airline passenger information with American intelligence agencies, said the secretary of homeland security, Michael Chertoff…..(New York Times, 14 May 07)

House Passes Schiff/Flake Amendment to Prevent Warrantless Eavesdropping on Americans

Early Friday morning, the House passed a bipartisan amendment authored by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), a member of the House Judiciary Committee and House Select Intelligence Oversight Panel, and Rep. Jeff Flake that reiterates that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) continues to be the exclusive means by which domestic electronic surveillance for the purpose of gathering foreign intelligence information may be conducted…..(California Chronicle, 13 May 07)

Iran Confirms U.S.-Based Scholar Arrest

Iran confirmed Sunday that it has detained a prominent Iranian-American academic, and a hardline newspaper accused her of spying for the United States and Israel and trying to start a revolution inside Iran. Haleh Esfandiari's arrest, part of a recent spate of crackdowns against Iranian activists, appears to reflect President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad government's growing fear that the United States is using pro-democracy advocates to promote regime change, analysts say…..(AP, 13 May 07)

FBI officials, local police rely on an alert public

A simple telephone call can foil a would-be terrorist attack…In a program called Infraguard, FBI Cyber Task Force agents meet every three months with computer industry insiders. The agents offer security tips. The hi-tech professionals provide the FBI "a heads-up on (possible security threats), because they're seeing it first," Morrow said. In another program called Domain, FBI agents meet with local businesses and universities and teach them how to recognize and guard against economic espionage….(Tribune-Review, 13 May 07)

Intelligence School in Iraq?

…The Iraqi military not only pushes for experience in combat, they also push for experience in gaining information and intelligence to capture terrorists, who want the Iraqi democracy to be unsuccessful. “There is a stronger push toward more theoretical training in this academy,” said Ali, Military Intelligence School cadre….(SOP, 13 May 07)

Watergate Warrior

AMERICAN SPY: My Secret History in the CIA, Watergate, and Beyond, by E. Howard Hunt with Greg Aunapu

Howard Hunt, who died in January at the age of 88, was among the last living members of the clandestine service created as part of the Central Intelligence Agency in the late 1940s…“American Spy,” written with Greg Aunapu, is presented as a “secret history,” a double-barreled misrepresentation. There are no real secrets in this book. As history it is bunk. The old hands at the C.I.A.’s publications review board, who maintain the agency’s memory hole, must have had a mordant chuckle over “American Spy,” and connoisseurs of literary crimes and misdemeanors will find much to savor here…..(New York Times, 13 May 07)