Oct. 18, 1945: Red Spy Steals U.S. Atom Bomb Secrets

Klaus Fuchs passes U.S. atomic bomb secrets to the Soviet Union for the first time. Between 1945 and 1947, working with a courier known only as Raymond, Fuchs delivered high-level information on the atomic bomb, then later the hydrogen bomb, to Moscow. Fuchs was a refugee from Hitler's Germany, fleeing to England in 1933, where he completed his doctorate in physics. At the outbreak of World War II, Fuchs, still a German citizen, was interned as an enemy alien but soon released through the intervention of Max Born, a professor at Edinburgh University and another German refugee. Fuchs was recruited as a theoretical physicist for the British atomic bomb project, and became a British subject in 1942. The following year, he was among several British scientists sent to the United States to collaborate on the Manhattan Project. After being sent to the weapons laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico, Fuchs spent his time devising a method of imploding the fissionable core of the plutonium bomb. He was present at the Trinity test in July 1945, where an atomic bomb was successfully detonated for the first time. Through it all, however, Fuchs remained a committed communist. He had joined the party while still living in Germany and fled the country for his political beliefs, not his religion…..(Wired, 18 Oct 07)  Klaus Fuchs (1911 - 1988)

Why video gamers make the best spies

British intelligence agencies are to offer video gamers hooked on espionage-inspired adventures the chance to live out their fantasies…But adrenaline-addicted video games junkies should beware. GCHQ, which works in signal intelligence (hi-tech eavesdropping) and information assurance (protecting government information from hackers and other threats), is concentrating on recruiting software experts. Most will work from the agency’s main listening post, in Cheltenham, and will be nowhere near any James Bond-style exploits…….(Times Online, 18 Oct 07)

Former Soviet spy to be honored

…Oleg Gordievsky will be made a Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George. The one-time KGB colonel's honor is the same accolade held by fictional superspy James Bond. Gordievsky, 69, who became the highest ranking Soviet spy to defect to the West, is being recognized for services to UK security.  Disillusioned with the political situation in his homeland, he operated as a double agent during the Cold War…..(BBC, 18 Oct 07)

Queen to honor ex-Soviet spy who defected to Britain

...Gordievsky was MI5's greatest asset between 1982 and 1985, when he passed information to British security while serving as KGB resident and bureau chief in London, running Soviet intelligence-gathering and espionage in the UK. His cover was blown - possibly by US double agent Aldrich Ames - and he was called back to Moscow and kept under close surveillance, but managed to escape to the West in an audacious MI6 plot. He gave British security services an unprecedented amount of information about Soviet agents operating in the UK…..(Daily Mail, 18 Oct 07)

Senate and Bush Agree On Terms of Spying Bill

Senate Democrats and Republicans reached agreement with the Bush administration yesterday on the terms of new legislation to control the federal government's domestic surveillance program, which includes a highly controversial grant of legal immunity to telecommunications companies that have assisted the program…..(Washington Post, 18 Oct 07)

Senate Deal on Immunity for Phone Companies

…Senators this week began reviewing classified documents related to the participation of the telephone carriers in the security agency program and came away from that early review convinced that the companies had “acted in good faith” in cooperating with what they believed was a legal and presidentially authorized program and that they should not be punished through civil litigation for their roles…..(New York Times, 18 Oct 07)

Russia: The Putin Puzzle

…Politically, Putin has seen the slow eastward encroachment of NATO in violation of agreements, and further Western influence in the Ukraine and Caspian Basin, while Georgia and Azerbaijan — in a vital position as regards oil — are quite enamored of Western friendship. Recent months, however, have seen Putin put Western energy policy in Central Asia in disarray with his series of deals through the region shoring up European dependence on Russia for gas supply and transit for decades. Putin will rightly regard this as a significant victory, especially given that Russia currently receives 32 per cent of its revenues from natural resources. Putin’s economic imperative has worked with high commodity demand to help drive an assertive foreign policy……(New Matilda, 18 Oct 07)

Robofly Is Spying on Us

…of Defense documents describe nearly 100 different model robots in use today. Indeed, these robots range in size from small birds to small planes, and many have the capacity to snap pictures as they navigate through the air. Similar efforts have led the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to insert computer chips into growing moths, “hatching them into healthy ‘cyborg moths.’” DARPA is also working on creating cyborg beetles and literal shutterbugs……(American Muslim, 18 Oct 07)

The human rights cost of intelligence activities

…Covert intelligence operations have played a major role in the global war against an elusive enemy, and intelligence advice has been pivotal in the development of national and international responses to the threat of terrorism. Because of the secrecy that invariably surrounds intelligence activities, the community remains largely oblivious to the true nature of intelligence and its inherent limitations. In national security matters the community has to trust in the government's integrity and assurances that it would only act esponsibly and with substantial justification……(Eureka Street, 18 Oct 07)

Espionage - Asuni Knows Fate On October 25

A Federal High Court in Abuja yesterday fixed October 25, for ruling on the bail application brought by an American woman, Judith Asuni and a Nigerian, Danjuma Saidu, standing trial over allegations of espionage and felony against the Government of Nigeria. They were accused of hiding their identities by pretending to be social workers, to breach the nation's security as it had last week tendered classified document said to have been recovered from the accused…..(This Day, 17 Oct 07)

Nigeria: US woman charged with espionage claims plot against her

Judith Asuni, 60, appeared before the Nigerian High Federal Court requesting to be freed on bail. She told AFP: "It's obvious I've stepped on someone's toes, someone important. "I have information about government officials siphoning off oil pipelines and now they feel threatened and this is why there is this ridiculous case against me."…..(AFP, 17 Oct 07)

Peres: Pollard was almost released

Israel once came close to securing the release of convicted Pentagon spy Jonathan Pollard, but the American security services pulled the plug on the move at the last moment, President Shimon Peres was quoted by Army Radio as saying Wednesday…..(Jerusalem Post, 17 Oct 07)

Somali intelligence forces seize WFP aid official

Up to 60 Somali intelligence officers stormed a U.N. compound in Mogadishu on Wednesday and seized the World Food Program's local chief of operations at gunpoint, prompting WFP to stop aid distribution. Riding in two "technicals" -- pickup trucks mounted with heavy guns -- armed security officers forced their way into U.N. offices before taking the Somali head of WFP operations to a cell at intelligence headquarters……(Reuters, 17 Oct 07)

Offshore Outsourcing: A Look At The Security Risks

Offshore outsourcing can often help companies realize substantial cost savings by sending certain functions overseas, where labor costs are a fraction of those here in the United States. However, there is more to consider than just the lower labor costs of employees in India verses their domestic counterparts. In this day and age of heightened security sensitivity, it's important to make sure that in addition to going after cheap labor, you're not buying yourself a slew of security exposures as well…It is also important to review what type of work is safe to send offshore. For instance, outsourcing production support overseas entails a high degree of risk……(Search CIO, 17 Oct 07)

Intelligence boss named

A man who worked in intelligence in the Gulf war and Northern Ireland is to head a new national intelligence office established at Police National Headquarters in Wellington. Welshman Mark Evans worked as an intelligence specialist for the British Government during the first Gulf war and in Northern Ireland from 1993 as the head of research and intelligence in the terrorist finance unit, which tackled paramilitary racketeering….(NZ Herald, 17 Oct 07)

Why is the Intelligence Chief Stalling the Wiretap Trial?

The second trial of former National Intelligence directors Lim Dong-won and Shin Kuhn on charges of illegal wiretapping is being delayed for a second month. That’s because the NIS is preventing its former and present employees from testifying in court…The illegal wiretaps by the NIS are an embarrassment that needs to be done away with rather than protected as a state secret. Moreover, the court reportedly informed the NIS that sensitive testimony could be heard behind closed doors, yet the NIS is still barring its employees from testifying…..(Chosun, 17 Oct 07)

Russia Charges Nine in Politkovskaya Case

Prosecutors have charged nine people, including a lieutenant-colonel in Russia's security service, with involvement in the murder of anti-Kremlin journalist Anna Politkovskaya…Politkovskaya, a fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin, was shot dead in October 2006 in her Moscow apartment building. Her killing aroused international indignation and led to pressure on Putin to ensure the crime was solved…..(Reuters, 17 Oct 07)

Analysis: A new USAF cyber-war doctrine

Recent pronouncements by U.S. Air Force officials about their view of cyberspace as a war-fighting domain have attracted little attention. But the questions they raise for U.S. military policy and doctrine are profound… The Air Force is in the process of standing up a fully fledged Cyberspace Command, alongside its Space and Air Commands, but Elder, like other senior officials, denied that the move was a turf grab. He elaborated on the consequences of the Air Force’s view of cyberspace as a war-fighting domain by analogizing it to the maritime and air domains, both of which were simultaneously the venues for commerce and daily life, and potential vectors for military action by or against the United States……(UPI, 17 Oct 07)

Crackdowns On Bloggers Increasing, Survey Finds

Government repression in some countries has shifted from journalists to bloggers, with the vitality of the Internet triggering a more focused crackdown as blogs increasingly take the place of mainstream news media, according to Lucie Morillon, Washington director of the advocacy group Reporters Without Borders. "Countries that were not sentencing journalists to prison terms anymore have been doing it these last months for bloggers. This is the case in Egypt and Jordan…..(Washington Post, 17 Oct 07)

Leadership race veiled in secrecy

Senior Chinese officials are refusing to reveal who is in the running for the country's top political jobs. They are also saying little about the backroom deliberations currently taking place to select China's next leaders. The discussions are taking place during the Chinese Communist Party's 17th congress in Beijing......(BBC, 17 Oct 07)

Global paradigm shift

…America's critics abroad saying and writing Washington must borrow $3 billion a day to keep its standard of living while fighting costly wars in the Middle East and Afghanistan was dismissed as cheap shots. Bush administration experts said China would only be hurting itself if it decided to suddenly redeem U.S. paper or buy euros instead. At 1.40 to the dollar, the euro looks pretty sexy to central bankers holding mountains of dollars. Overlooked in Washington's comforting assumptions was the new phenomenon of "Sovereign Wealth Funds."…..(Washington Times, 17 Oct 07)

Head of counterterrorism agency resigns

Vice Adm. John Redd, the head of the U.S. agency responsible for analyzing intelligence on terrorism and developing counterterrorism strategies, announced his resignation on Wednesday… The counterterrorism center was created in 2004 as part of an overhaul of U.S. intelligence and security agencies after the September 11 attacks in 2001. It serves as a clearing-house for intelligence on terrorism, produces daily intelligence reports and develops strategy for counterterrorism operations. Redd, 63, has served as head of the center since August 2005……(Reuters, 17 Oct 07)

Patience sought on China deal

The White House yesterday said critics of a proposed merger between a U.S. maker of computer-security equipment and a Chinese company should give an interagency national-security review a chance to do its job…The comments came in response to legislation introduced Friday by a group of House Republicans calling on the Bush administration to block the $2.2 billion deal announced last month, under which 3Com will merge with Bain Capital Partners LLC and Huawei will acquire a minority interest and become "a commercial and strategic partner of 3Com."…….(Washington Times, 17 Oct 07)

White House to Give Senate Panel Surveillance Program Documents

The White House agreed yesterday to give Senate intelligence committee members and staff access to internal documents related to its domestic surveillance program in a bid to win Democratic lawmakers' support for the administration's version of an intelligence measure. The move was meant in part to defuse a months-long clash between Congress and the Bush administration over access to legal memoranda and presidential decisions underpinning the Terrorist Surveillance Program, which allowed the government to eavesdrop without court warrants on communications between people in the United States and abroad when one of the parties is a terrorism-related suspect…..(Washington Post, 17 Oct 07)

Iran: Top U.S. Official Says Financial Clampdown Is Working

October 17, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- If the United States is waging a financial war against Iran, as some Western media say, then Stuart Levey might be seen as the commanding general in the battle to force Tehran to halt its atomic program, which Washington says masks a secret drive for nuclear weapons. Levey, the undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence at the U.S. Treasury, has been at the forefront of recent U.S. efforts to persuade banks and financial institutions around the world to curtail or cut off their dealings with the Islamic Republic of Iran……(RFE/RL, 17 Oct 07)

Internal CIA probe worries Congress aides

Congressional officials voiced new concern Tuesday over CIA Director Michael V. Hayden's decision to make the agency's inspector general the target of an internal probe. Seeking to defuse the issue, Robert L. Deitz, a senior CIA attorney in charge of the probe…But congressional aides said the sessions did little to assuage concerns that the inquiry could undermine the independence of the inspector general….(LA Times, 17 Oct 07)

Mukasey Favors Independent Justice Dept.

''Protecting civil liberties, and people's confidence that those liberties are protected, is a part of protecting national security, just as is the gathering of intelligence to defend us from those who believe it is their duty to make war on us,'' Mukasey said in a remarks prepared for delivery to the committee. ''We have to succeed at both.''…..(AP, 17 Oct 07)

TechFest speaker cites new hacker targets

… But the rise of e-commerce has caused a shift toward malware that takes over systems to defraud you or others out of money, said Peiter Zatko, technical director for BBN Technologies in the National Intelligence Research and Applications Division. "The standard attacks are no longer focused on company servers but their clients' personal computers, because that's where the money is," he said. Zatko will be one of the speakers at the second annual Tulsa TechFest, a two-day information technologies developer conference designed to educate participants about software development products and trends, information security and personal development. The conference will be held Friday and Saturday at the University of Tulsa. …..(Tulsa World, 17 Oct 07)

A Century-Old Court Case That Still Resonates

...A new exhibition, “Alfred Dreyfus: The Fight for Justice,” at the Yeshiva University Museum, won’t fully explain the Affair — and, indeed, the show is flawed…In 1894, when France’s 1870 defeat by Germany in the Franco-Prussian War still rankled, a document was discovered showing that a highly placed French officer had been passing military secrets to the Germans. The traitor was identified as Alfred Dreyfus. He was convicted, using the testimony of handwriting experts, along with assertions by military officers who boasted confidential proof…The problem, though, was that Dreyfus was innocent. The evidence was circumstantial at best. His accusers in the War Ministry ignored exculpatory evidence and contradictory testimony. They ultimately forged incriminating documents and prevented another officer from revealing Dreyfus’s innocence...In 1906 Dreyfus was also awarded the Cross of the Legion of Honor, on display here, citing “a soldier who has endured an unparalleled martyrdom” — modest recompense for having a golden braid and red ribbon publicly ripped from his uniform in 1895..…..(New York Times, 17 Oct 07) Slideshow: Alfred Dreyfus: The Fight for Justice

House Passes Bill to Protect Confidentiality of Reporters' Sources

The House yesterday overwhelmingly passed first-ever federal protections for journalists pressured to reveal confidential sources, as lawmakers from both parties backed legislation that advocates for the news media have sought for a generation…Sponsors and supporters of the Free Flow of Information Act say it would provide important federal safeguards against a growing trend toward calling journalists into court in order to unmask confidential sources…..(Washington Post, 17 Oct 07)

Chinese CSSA Spy Ring Exposed in the UK

Chinese Student and Scholar Associations (CSSA) worldwide claim to be neutral non-for-profit organizations dedicated to helping Chinese students overseas. But a close look at their websites reveal strong links to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)… Chinese students who join CSSA are faced with a less safe and more sinister environment than their peers - one that prepares them for a life of part-time spying for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). They are wooed with promises of money and better jobs at home. Dr Wei Liu decided to reveal his identity, come forward and openly speak about his experience of spying for the Chinese Communist Party. Dr Liu served as the CSSA Chairman from 1998 to 1999 in Manchester. Dr Wei Liu currently works as a University Science Professor at the prestigious Birmingham University in England......(Epoch Times, 16 Oct 07)

Espionage - Judith Asuni's Family Petitions Yar'Adua

…According to a petition dated 13th October 2007 and signed by the eldest daughter of Dr Asuni, Dr. Bolanle Asuni-Limahn, Dr Asuni has been denied access to her counsel and family members and provision of medical attention delayed.  "Many of these denials were in flagrant disobedience of court orders on the rights of Dr Asuni as given severally by Justice Binta Nyako," the petition stated…..(Daily Trust, 16 Oct 07)

Asuni - SSS Probes Source of Funding, Appears in Court Today

Operatives of State Security Service have begun investigation into the actual source of funding of an American Nigerian, Dr. Judith Asuni who was arrested alongside two Germans for allegedly trespassing into the security territory of the nation to commit espionage. The SSS is determined to know who Asuni is working for and at what risk she is ready to do what she is alleged to have committed……(All Africa, 16 Oct 07)

Why the State of Israel is ignoring Pollard to death

…The answer is simple: self-interest on the part of Israel's highest ranking officials in the political establishment and in the Defense Intelligence community. There are no Israeli national interests that would be threatened by Jonathan's release. There are only private, self-serving interests of the same Israeli officials who abandoned and betrayed Jonathan 22 years ago. People like Ehud Barak, Rafi Eitan, or Shimon Peres, to name a few, continue to prefer that Jonathan Pollard die in prison as if he were a 'casualty of war' in order to protect their own careers, their own reputations and their own personal fund-raising abilities in the USA…..(Israel Insider, 16 Oct 07)

Countering the Art of Information Warfare

While France, Germany, the UK and the US do not see eye to eye on everything, there is one thing they probably can agree on: the growing problem of Beijing's intrusions into their government computer systems. Indeed, in the last few weeks, all four capitals have pointed an accusatory finger at Beijing for attempting to infiltrate - or having succeeded in penetrating - their diplomatic or defense establishment computer networks. While snooping by the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) cyber-soldiers on unclassified government websites and e-mail might be expected, the recent rash of incidents shines a spotlight on a burgeoning game of Internet cat and mouse. In the case of China, Beijing's increasing aggressiveness (indeed, ham-handedness) and capability to infiltrate the computer networks of key countries is setting off alarms across the security establishment - and rightfully so. Take the US: while modern warfare is increasingly dependent on advanced computers, no country's armed forces are more reliant in the Digital Age than those of the US. This is both a great strength and a damning weakness……(Family Security Matters, 16 Oct 07)

Vermont Guard prepares for cyber war

The Vermont National Guard formally activated a new unit Saturday whose mission will be to train Air Force personnel to fight wars in cyberspace. The 229th Information Operations Squadron will be based at the National Guard armory on the campus of Norwich University. “If you don’t know what information operations is, it’s the future,” Maj. Gen. Michael Dubie…..(AP, 16 Oct 07)

NSB clarifies 'not involved' in intelligence work in United States

…The NSB issued a statement in response to a report in the local daily China Times that Donald Keyser, a former senior U.S. State Department official, became acquainted with Cheng in Washington and Keyser was sentenced to imprisonment of one year and one day earlier this year. The bureau said that a U.S. court had not convicted Keyser of espionage charges in a case involving Cheng from Taiwan. Court records showed that the former American official was sentenced for illegally removing classified documents without reporting to authorities in accordance with due process…As for Cheng, they said she had voluntarily tendered resignation for family reasons and the bureau respects her decision. But the bureau stressed that it still provides necessarily assistance to Cheng whenever is needed…..(China Post, 16 Oct 07)

Geospatial system development team honored

A team that developed a system that allows users at North American Aerospace Command and U.S. Northern Command to quickly and easily access detailed geospatial data has been selected to receive the 2007 United States Geospatial Foundation's achievement award in the military category… The team spent about a year creating the Situational Awareness Geospatial Enterprise system.  Mr. McKinley, the project manager, compared SAGE to "Google Earth on steroids."… The data SAGE displays is called the Homeland Security Infrastructure Program and is provided by the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency. It's the same data used by all federal government agencies to identify infrastructure across the nation, and it's updated every six months, Mr. McKinley said.….(AFPN, 16 Oct 07)

Report: Israel receives documents written by Ron Arad

Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar reports documents caused missing IAF navigator's brother, daughter to leave for Berlin in bid to convince senior German officials not to release Lebanese citizen and Iranian spy agent, who serves as bargaining chip in attempts to obtain information on affair…..(YNet, 16 Oct 07)

Executions Haunt Czech Pensioner 57 Years After Trial

Fifty-seven years after Czech freedom fighter Milada Horakova was executed, the last surviving prosecutor in her Soviet-style show trial is going back to court. This time she will be in the dock. Ludmila Brozova-Polednova, now 86, is charged with the murder of Horakova, a member of parliament who was hanged for treason and espionage in 1950 as the communists consolidated their power. Brozova-Polednova's trial started today in Prague…..(Bloomberg, 16 Oct 07)

Most Russians think of CIA as world’s major terrorist organization

A recent opinion poll conducted by Yury Levada’s Research Center showed that 30 percent of Russians believe that the USA’s Central Intelligence Agency is a terrorist organization. Almost one-third of the polled Russian people therefore agreed with Iranian officials who ascribed USA’s CIA and Armed Forces to terrorist organizations. Iranian officials released such a harsh statement in response to USA’s decision to declare Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps a foreign terrorist organization…….(Pravda, 16 Oct 07)

Nuclear Deal With India May Be Near Collapse

A controversial nuclear deal between the United States and India appears close to collapse after the Indian prime minister told President Bush yesterday that "certain difficulties" will prevent India from moving forward on the pact for the foreseeable future. The main obstacle does not involve the specific terms of the agreement but rather India's internal politics, including fears from leftist parties that India is moving too close to the United States…..(Washington Post, 16 Oct 07)

Iran riven by nuclear diplomacy row

The continuing Iranian nuclear standoff has now found as its natural corollary a growing polarization inside Iran between the government of President Mahmud Ahmadinejad and other political factions who disagree with the president's nuclear and non-nuclear diplomacy. Threatening the well-spring of political unity in Iran, the nuclear crisis has now triggered a political minefield pitting the leading politicians of the Islamic Republic against each other……(Asia Times, 16 Oct 07)

Putin Visits Iran, Sends Warnings to US

Russian leader Vladimir Putin met his Iranian counterpart Tuesday and implicitly warned the U.S. not to use a former Soviet republic to stage an attack on Iran. He also said nations shouldn't pursue oil pipeline projects in the area if they weren't backed by regional powers…"All Caspian nations agree on the main issue _ that all aspects related to this sea must be settled exclusively by littoral nations," he said. "The Caspian Sea is an inland sea and it only belongs to the Caspian states, therefore only they are entitled to have their ships and military forces here."…..(AP, 16 Oct 07)

A False Argument Over FISA

…Under either approach, the National Security Agency will have the legal authority to listen to your calls without first going to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Court to get a warrant. As long as the agency is targeting people overseas who happen to call you, it'll be tough noogies. Under current law, which the administration wishes to make permanent, the FISA Court plays only a tiny retroactive role in approving procedures for overseas surveillance; under the House Democrats' proposal, it would play a slightly-less-tiny role in rubber-stamping programs. And except in those most general capacities, under neither system would it play any role in protecting either individual targets of those programs or those whose communications get swept up incidentally under them……(New Republic, 16 Oct 07)

FISA Debate Sidesteps the Issue of Technology

… The latest effort at FISA reform, the Restore Act of 2007, which passed the House Intelligence and Judiciary committees on its way to a full House vote this week, seeks to replace the temporary Protect America Act, which was hastily passed in August. But both are just stopgap measures that don't fully address today's needs, some scholars say. William Banks, a law professor and director of the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism at Syracuse University, says the "Band-Aid" amendments highlight the need to rewrite FISA, which he says is on its deathbed……(Legal Times, 16 Oct 07)

Yahoo summoned to Washington over Chinese arrests

The chairman of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee is summoning Yahoo Chief Executive Jerry Yang to Washington to talk about "how the Internet company gave false information to Congress about its role in a human rights case in China that sent a journalist to jail for a decade,"… Yahoo has been sued by several Chinese political dissidents who complained that Yahoo provided information to the Chinese government that led to their imprisonment for allegedly distributing state secrets over the Internet. One man, Shi Tao, was arrested in 2004 by Chinese officials….(CNet Blog, 16 Oct 07)

China's Communists Now Welcoming Foreign Press

China’s long-ruling Chinese Communist Party has no intention of opening up its secretive political jockeying sessions for public inspection, but, thanks to its increasingly image-conscious leadership, the foreign press corps can at least have some fun covering its national party congress. Never before has Beijing gone to such lengths to make life easier for the growing legion of foreign reporters who are trying to get a little closer to the 2,237 party delegates attending the five-yearly party congress in Beijing, the summit of the party’s leadership….(Forbes, 16 Oct 07)

Legally Questionable FBI Requests for Calling Circle Info More Widespread than Previously Known

…In a letter (.pdf) to Congress made public yesterday, Verizon admitted that the "boilerplate" language asking for "two generation community of interest" information showed up in other kinds of subpoenas…Specifically Verizon told the House Energy and Commerce Committee that in addition to receiving emergency letters with these requests, the company also "received subpoenas and National Security Letters containing 'boilerplate' language directing us, for instance, to 'Identify a 'calling circle' for the foregoing telephone numbers based on a two-generation community of interest; provide related subscriber information."… Verizon fails to mention it in their otherwise detailed letter to Congress, both Verizon and AT&T are paid $1.8 million each every year by the FBI unit responsible for the false, exigent letters to store phone records in a database that makes it easier for the government to get years of calling records…..(Wired, 16 Oct 07)

Verizon letter on privacy stirs debate

Verizon Wireless, one of the nation's largest cell phone carriers, has stirred up controversy with a letter it sent to customers recently telling them that it would begin sharing information from their calling records with its "affiliates, agents and parent companies."….(ZDNet, 16 Oct 07)

Bush urged to block merger

House Republicans have introduced legislation calling for the Bush administration to block the merger of a U.S. computer-security equipment company and a Chinese firm with close ties to Beijing's military and a history of illicit exports and industrial espionage…Defense and intelligence officials have said China's military, which has engaged in aggressive computer hacking against Pentagon and U.S. government computers, will gain additional access to 3Com equipment used to detect such intrusions if the deal is approved by the multi-agency CFIUS.…..(Washington Post, 16 Oct 07)

Spy Sex Case Is Tale of Lust and Incaution

…Isabelle Cheng left her post at Taiwan's de facto embassy in Washington abruptly in 2004, soon after FBI agents confronted her over her contacts with a veteran State Department official, Donald Keyser. In a tearful interview Saturday, Ms. Cheng, 37, defended her alleged paramour. "He's a very patriotic person and now his pension is all gone. The outside world has trouble understanding his situation and where he's coming from," Ms. Cheng told a Chinese-language newspaper, China Times. Keyser, who served as the deputy chief of the State Department's East Asia bureau, pleaded guilty to three felony charges relating to storing thousands of classified documents at his home and making false statements to government officials about his relationship with Ms. Cheng. Prosecutors publicly discussed filing espionage charges in the case, but never did so. The ex-official was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison and is scheduled to be released in January……(New York Sun, 15 Oct 07)

Air Force recruits techies from area

In search of part-time “cyber warriors,” the U.S. Air Force is recruiting high-tech professionals and other white-collar workers from around the Puget Sound region to join an information warfare unit at McChord Air Force Base… But while much of the Air Force focuses on securing air and space, the realm of the 262nd is cyberspace. It was commissioned in 2002 primarily to protect the nation’s military computer networks from Islamic radicals and other terrorists. Its mission is not to go on the offensive – at least not yet……(News Tribune, 15 Oct 07)

Head rolls in EUB spy scandal

…EUB chairman William Tilleman announced today the departure of Al Palmer, executive manager of corporate services. Last month, the board fired the two security officials who worked under Palmer and ordered new hearings for a proposed 500-kilovolt power line from Edmonton to Calgary. The EUB hired private investigators to spy on landowners who opposed the power line at hearings in Rimbey and Red Deer this spring. Alberta's privacy commissioner and a government-ordered review both chastised the EUB for letting an undercover agent eavesdrop on private conference calls. Palmer was the former head of security at the Alberta legislature……(Edmonton Journal, 15 Oct 07)

Ex-POSCO Employees Arrested for Tech Espionage

Two former POSCO employees were arrested for leaking key steel manufacturing technologies to a Chinese company, the Daegu District Prosecutors' Office said Friday. While technology leaks have occurred in the IT sector, this is the first such incident for Korea's steel industry. The prosecutors' office said that the two, an executive and a researcher, were involved in research and development at POSCO and stole 1,048 files and documents detailing key steelmaking technologies and operation techniques before leaving the company in August last year……(Chosun, 15 Oct 07)

Dorothy Sandison Culver Editor

Dorothy Sandison Culver, 93, who was an editor with a trade association and for federal agencies, died Oct. 6… She worked at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology from 1956 to 1962 while under the aegis of the National Academy of Sciences. From 1962 until her retirement in 1976, she was an editor at the Central Intelligence Agency…..(Washington Post, 15 Oct 07)

Huawei-3Com deal threatens U.S. security: lawmakers

Eight U.S. lawmakers called on the Bush administration on Monday to block a proposed buyout of Massachusetts-based technology group 3Com Corp (COMS.O), saying a Chinese company's role in the $2.2 billion transaction "threatens the national security of the United States."… In the House resolution, Ros-Lehtinen and other lawmakers said Huawei is a privately held company set up in 1988 by a former Chinese army officer and it may still have links to the Chinese government and the army. The resolution said 3Com sells data-networking equipment to the Defense Department and other government agencies…..(Reuters, 15 Oct 07)

IT standards cited as key to meeting intelligence sharing goals

Information technology standards are needed to help intelligence agencies meet the objectives of a new plan to enhance collaboration and information sharing, according to a federal executive and an analyst. The 500 Day Plan for Integration and Collaboration, released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence last week, will require intelligence agencies to develop standardized systems that enable collaboration and information sharing and modernize business practices……(Gov Exec, 15 Oct 07)

Fixing FISA

…But FISA’s structure harks back to a bygone era of analogue communications technology that has been steamrolled by the telecom revolution. Moreover, international terrorist networks are different from the Communist threat that FISA’s Cold War–era authors had in mind. They are less predictable, more likely to strike, and more adept at exploiting new technologies which allow them to remain in contact with their operatives.
As evolving technology makes our enemies more efficient and deadly, FISA leaves us more sclerotic and vulnerable......(National Review, 15 Oct 07)

It's cyberwar!

In the overheated rhetoric of Chinese military strategists, it is known as the assassin's mace -- an expression that refers to an unconventional weapon or strategy whose impact is so unexpected and unpredictable that it can tilt the balance of war in favor of the weaker combatant. The Chinese assassin's primary target is the United States. The assassin's weapon, however, relies more on intrigue and technological sabotage than brute force…Cyberwarfare is a step beyond espionage. It involves disabling or corrupting an adversary's computer systems. This spring, for example, Estonia accused Russia of cyberattacks that crippled bank and government computers following a dispute between the two nations about a Russian war memorial in the Estonian capital. Russia has also been accused of cyberattacks against Ukraine, while South Korea has alleged that North Korea has trained 600 hackers for attacks not only against it but also the U.S. and Japan……(MacLean’s, 15 Oct 07)

Local Firms Take Bold Steps Against Industrial Espionage

The recent case of industrial espionage involving South Korea's top steelmaker POSCO has sent shockwaves through the country. It showed how local firms are caught off guard when it comes to illegal technology leakages to foreign companies. What's more shocking is that former researchers and workers of the firms have made such leakages. It is regrettable that most industrial espionage activities have taken place in search of money……(Korea Times, 15 Oct 07)

Security: Whacking Hackers

In a single case this summer, an attack by hackers disabled a reported 1,500 Pentagon computers. And the siege is continuing. The Defense Department detects 3 million unauthorized "scans"—or attempts by would-be intruders to access official networks—on its computers every day, according to a Pentagon spokesman. Now the Bush administration, worried particularly about computer attacks from China, is aiming to beef up American defenses. According to officials in the cybersecurity industry, who like several sources quoted in this article did not want to be named discussing confidential programs, the White House is quietly preparing a major "cyberdefense" initiative to be announced later this year.  It won't be the first such effort. Shortly before the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the White House announced a new cybersecurity strategy that eventually foundered……(Newsweek, 15 Oct 07 Issue)

Top Spy Asked to Explain Pre-9/11 Spying Allegations

House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers is asking the Justice Department and the head of national intelligence to answer startling allegations that the National Security Agency's still-unconfirmed call records data mining program started 7 months before the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and that the government retaliated against a telecom for saying it thought a request to participate was illegal……(Wired, 15 Oct 07)

Verizon Says It Turned Over Data Without Court Orders

Verizon Communications, the nation's second-largest telecom company, told congressional investigators that it has provided customers' telephone records to federal authorities in emergency cases without court orders hundreds of times since 2005…In an Oct. 12 letter replying to Democratic lawmakers, Verizon offered a rare glimpse into the way telecommunications companies cooperate with government requests for information on U.S. citizens. Verizon also disclosed that the FBI, using administrative subpoenas, sought information identifying not just a person making a call, but all the people that customer called, as well as the people those people called. Verizon does not keep data on this "two-generation community of interest" for customers, but the request highlights the broad reach of the government's quest for data…..(Washington Post, 16 Oct 07)

Telecoms Barred From Disclosing Spying

…Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell "formally invoked the state secrets privilege to prevent AT&T from either confirming or denying" any details about intelligence programs, AT&T general counsel Wayne Watts wrote in a letter to the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Qwest and Verizon also declined to answer, saying the federal government has prohibited them from providing information, discussing or referring to any classified intelligence activities…..(AP, 15 Oct 07)

US Defense Department misusing national security letters: ACLU

The US Department of Defense (DOD) secretly issued hundreds of national security letters (NSLs) [CRS backgrounder, PDF; FBI backgrounder] to obtain financial, telephone and Internet records without court approval, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said Sunday when it released documents obtained from the Defense Department [press release; summary]……(Jurist, 15 Oct 07)

Secure Data Warehouses Rise Again in N. Virginia

They are among the most fortified institutions in greater Washington. Personnel pass through "man traps," secure one-person entrances equipped with biometric scanners that read fingerprints, palms or retinas…Several projects are underway in Northern Virginia to build highly secure data centers to protect the thousands of computer servers managing Internet traffic and storing digital files, ranging from e-mail to sensitive financial and medical information……(Washington Post, 15 Oct 07)

Intelligence Gathering Goes Beyond Government

Government agencies aren't the only ones collecting intelligence these days. Now, private companies like SITE Intelligence Group also are conducting surveillance. Last month, SITE got a copy of a new video by Osama bin Laden days ahead of its scheduled release…Mark Lowenthal, president of the Intelligence and Security Academy, which trains intelligence professionals, and a former deputy director of the CIA for analysis and production, talks to Scott Simon about intelligence gathering outside of the government…..(NPR, 15 Oct 07)

NPR Audio Interview: Intelligence Gathering Goes Beyond Government

House bill to intensify FISA talks

A debate that raged behind the scenes for months about whether federal eavesdropping restrictions undermined U.S. troops in Iraq will be rekindled this week as the House takes up a Democratic bill to restore tougher rules for government wiretaps of foreign terrorism suspects…..(Washington Times, 15 Oct 07)

The Point of Putin's Tehran Trip

…Enraged by U.S. moves to station a missile defense system on his doorstep, Putin withdrew Russia from a Cold War-era treaty governing the size of conventional military forces in Europe, and ordered its old turbo-prop Bear bombers out of mothballs to fly nuclear patrols along old Cold War frontiers…The Russian leader's message is plain: If the U.S. continues, as he sees it, to tread on Russia's toes, Russia has little interest in helping Washington achieve its strategic goals. Putin arrives in Iran at a moment when the U.S. and its key European allies are pushing for a new round of sanctions aimed at persuading Tehran to suspend uranium-enrichment….(Time Magazine, 15 Oct 07)

'Star Wars' protest at spy base

About 100 protesters gathered at a US spy base in Yorkshire as part of an international campaign against the American Missile Defence System. The Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases said it objected to the base's links to the so-called "Star Wars" program……(BBC, 15 Oct 07)

Solidarity With Iran

…Here in America, where I have been living since 2005 as an exiled activist, a controversy has emerged over the Bush administration's pledge to provide $75 million in democracy and human-rights assistance to Iranians. Critics of the funding, among them some Iranian-Americans, say the money endangers the lives of activists and gives pretext for the Iranian regime to crack down on their activities. Supposedly speaking on behalf of the Iranian people, these critics claim Iranians do not want and do not need America's help in their fight against oppression……(Wall Street Journal, 15 Oct 07)

Spies, Lies and FISA

…No matter how often Mr. Bush says otherwise, there is also no disagreement from the Democrats about the need to provide adequate tools to fight terrorists. The debate is over whether this should be done constitutionally, or at the whim of the president. The 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, requires a warrant to intercept international communications involving anyone in the United States. A secret court has granted these warrants quickly nearly every time it has been asked……(New York Times, 14 Oct 07)

On the Trail of Digital Secrets

…the e-mail messages that people send and the Web sites they view can and will be used in court. The people who unearth this data and make it usable in the courtroom are known as computer forensic specialists. They are the cyberdetectives who mine the data that seems to disappear from — but never really leaves — computers and other electronic storage devices…..(New York Times, 14 Oct 07)

Pentagon Faulted for 'Security Letters'

A review by the Pentagon of hundreds of secret letters it sent out after the Sept. 11 attacks seeking financial records of individuals found that the program lacked coordination and oversight, according to newly released documents. The American Civil Liberties Union, which obtained heavily edited copies of Pentagon documents through a Freedom of Information Act request, said an analysis of 455 "national security letters" issued after Sept. 11, 2001, shows that the Pentagon collaborated with the FBI to circumvent laws and may have overstepped its authority to obtain financial and credit records…..(AP, 14 Oct 07)

Pentagon Review Faults Bank Record Demands

…The problems at the Pentagon that are described in the documents appear to mirror some of those confronted by the F.B.I., where an internal investigation this year into the bureau’s use of thousands of national security letters found widespread problems and little oversight in the way the demands for records were issued. The newly disclosed documents, totaling more than 1,000 pages, provide additional confirmation of the military’s expanding use of what are known as national security letters under powers claimed under the Patriot Act……(New York Times, 14 Oct 07)

Waiting-room chatter

…Weiss, now 82, was at a gathering this month in his role as a distinguished veteran of the U.S. Army team and interrogator of Nazi prisoners at the end of World War II. He joined other survivors, all in their 80s or 90s, across the Potomac River at Fort Hood to be honored by the Army's Freedom Team Salute… CIFA, he explained, was the latest spy group in the country -- Counterintelligence Field Activity. It was established while Donald Rumsfeld was secretary of Defense with Paul Wolfowitz doing a lot of the groundwork to empower the new rival to the CIA and the FBI…CIFA is in trouble in many parts of the world, charged with not telling the local U.S. embassy about its off-shore local operations -- such as beating up thieves, gambling and other activities that make cringe the State Department's "striped pants brigade."…..(Pittsburgh Live, 14 Oct 07)

German companies lose 20 bln eur annually from industrial espionage - ministry
German companies suffer a damage of about 20 bln eur from industrial espionage per year, BZ am Sonntag reported, citing estimates by the German interior ministry. 'Particularly active in industrial espionage here are currently countries from the Asian region,' the paper quoted state secretary for the interior August Hanning as saying. Prime targets of such espionage are innovative companies in defense, optical, electronic and aerospace technology industries…..(Thomson Financial, 14 Oct 07)

U.S. Military Technology Being Exported Illegally Is a Growing Concern

…At least 108 countries have "full-fledged procurement networks that work through front companies, joint ventures, trade delegations and other mechanisms to methodically target our government, our private industries and our universities as sources of this material," Assistant Attorney General Kenneth L. Wainstein told reporters last week. The Pentagon last year reported a 43 percent increase in suspicious foreign contacts with U.S. defense firms. The biggest offenders are Iran and China, U.S. law enforcement officials say. Since 2000, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have launched more than 600 investigations into illicit Iranian military procurement efforts and more than 540 investigations into illegal exports of restricted U.S. weapons technology to China. Additional investigations have been launched by other U.S. agencies, with overall cases doubling in recent years.……(Washington Post, 14 Oct 07)

Industrial Espionage, Illegal Exports Of Nuclear, Missile Apps, Jet Fighters
…Abraham Trujillo and David Wayne of Ogden, Utah, were charged in the District of Utah with attempting to illegally export components for F-4 and F-14 fighter jets using the Internet. According to the charges, the defendants attempted to illegally export military cable assemblies, wiring harnesses and other restricted components to Canada in 2006 and 2007. Such exports are of particular concern because F-14 components are widely sought by Iran, which is currently the only nation in the world that still flies the F-14 fighter jet……(Pacific News Center, 14 Oct 07)

Ex-Taiwan spy denies alleged links with a former senior US official

…Isabelle Cheng, a former agent of Taiwan's National Security Bureau in Washington D.C., burst into tears when she discussed the alleged links, which led to the arrest of Donald Keyser in September 2004, according to the mass-market China Times daily. Keyser, a State Department veteran of 30 years service, was sentenced to one year in jail January on charges of concealing his personal relationship with Cheng and of unauthorized possession of classified documents. The China Times quoted Cheng, 37, as saying in an interview in Taipei that misleading news reports about the spy incident unfairly caused damage to Keyser and herself. "He (Keyser) was such a patriotic person… She denied the Taiwanese spy agency ever used sex to help gather intelligence…..(AP, 14 Oct 07)

AGENT ZIGZAG, by Ben Macintyre

…Edward Chapman was certainly the only spy who not only survived many perils but was rewarded by both the British and the Germans…Mr. Macintyre, a veteran editor for the London Times, has done a meticulously crafted job on the Chapman chronicles, using more than 1,800 pages of information recently declassified by MI5, the British Secret Service, to recreate a man who was a crook, a con man, a liar, a philanderer and a hero rolled into one handsome scoundrel…….(Washington Times, 14 Oct 07)