NSA Shields Government Networks With More AT&T Secret Rooms

[BlueJessamine]

Source: WIRED News

Just a week after the Defense Department announced plans to put the National Security Agency in charge of military cyber defense and attack, the agency’s reach has already expanded to include monitoring of government civilian networks.

The Obama administration has decided to proceed with a classified Bush administration plan to let the NSA monitor traffic going to and from government civilian networks to protect the networks from malicious code and activity, according to a Washington Post story on Friday.

Given the NSA’s involvement in the Bush administration’s warrantless eavesdropping program, critics are concerned that the monitoring of government traffic on private-sector telecommunication networks that are used by the general public would allow the agency to once again spy on large swaths of non-government traffic without a warrant.

AT&T, which was scheduled to launch a pilot project last February to test the monitoring program, has insisted on government assurances that its cooperation is legal. The company, along with other U.S. telecoms, were sued in 2006 for their involvement in the Bush administration’s warrantless eavesdropping scheme before being given retroactive immunity by Congress last year.


Read more: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/07/einstein/

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snip

In May, President Obama declared that the government’s “pursuit of cybersecurity will not include — I repeat, will not include — monitoring private sector networks or internet traffic. We will preserve and protect the personal privacy and civil liberties that we cherish as Americans.”

[Solly Mack]

1. K&R

"AT&T, which was scheduled to launch a pilot project last February to test the monitoring program, has insisted on government assurances that its cooperation is legal."

[pleah]

2. K&R

[boppers]

3. "government civilian"...

Employers can monitor employees.

The fact that this article is even news just tells me that I should be more vocal about what I know, and what is legally done every day.

[earcandle]

4. So we are giving them assurances?

So, I have nothing to hide, but I really don't like the
fascism going on here.
And besides, a lot of these people are voyeurs who just make
shit up about people and spread it
around locally so that we, who actually are trying to make
things work, have a hard time getting jobs, or clients.

I am back to AT&T for the land line. But AT&T won't
give me my phone number of 25 years back even though it is
still available.even though I am in the same city.  I didn't
transfer it then because I was in a lawsuit and didn't want to
be followed.

I was recently told when I first requested the old number
(still available since 2006) along with new services that it
was no problem. I could pay a small  fee for a charter to have
the number again, which I wanted so my old friends and clients
could find me, 
but for some reason I was rejected.  When the service rep came
back from asking for help from her manager, the answer was no,
I couldn't have it. 

Did they say no because they had me tagged on that number? And
do they have me tagged again?  
for Noodle Brain Productions?  What a joke, what a pathetic
fear mongering crowd. The only
way I can get my number back is if I have a phone installed in
the old neighborhood in my name 
with that number and then have it moved over. They say they
cannot do it now because of security reasons.  
I might not be who I am. 

Duh?  Okay.  I guess I can call a friend and make the expense
if I really want to, but why are they
being this cautious about giving me my old phone number back? 
Its reminds me of the answer the controller
of our City Hall, Ed Harrington, gave me when I asked why I
lost my job.  He said he couldn't tell me the reason 
why I was getting a "non-disciplinary release" from
my job at City Hall as a Financial Accounting Services Team 
member of class 1654 Principal Financial Accountants (also in
2006) because if he did I could sue City Hall if I knew!  

I told him that is the most dysfunctional reason to give
anyone for losing their job when they did a great 
job on a project accepted and paid for by City Hall.  So I
went through the battery of tests and the oral 
again and passed, and their HR department lied to me and said
I didn't pass, and cornered the tester who 
told me I did.  So I am not out to trouble anyone.  I did not
make a fuss, just copied a Sacramento law
firm on the email conversation that ensued.  Where the hell is
the EEOC?  

[Fearless]

5. To be frank... there is a difference between "government civilian networks" and "private sector"

Just saying.

[boppers]

7. These have been "tapped" since Clinton.

I don't know what the current kerfluffle is about, maybe legal action is forthcoming.

[snot]

6. K&R'd

[sce56]

8. NSA gets the data it needs to keep America safe, telecom customers get free services, & AT&T makes $

February 27, 2008
San Francisco, CA

The Billboard Liberation Front today announced a major new advertising improvement campaign executed on behalf of clients AT&T and the National Security Agency. Focusing on billboards in the San Francisco area, this improvement action is designed to promote and celebrate the innovative collaboration of these two global communications giants.

“This campaign is an extraordinary rendition of a public-private partnership,” observed BLF spokesperson Blank DeCoverly. “These two titans of telecom have a long and intimate relationship, dating back to the age of the telegraph. In these dark days of Terrorism, that should be a comfort to every law-abiding citizen with nothing to hide.”

AT&T initially downplayed its heroic efforts in the War on Terror, preferring to serve in silence behind the scenes. “But then we realized we had a PR win on our hands,” noted AT&T V.P. of Homeland Security James Croppy. “Not only were we helping NSA cut through the cumbersome red tape of the FISA system, we were also helping our customers by handing over their e-mails and phone records to the government. Modern life is so hectic – who has time to cc the feds on every message? It’s a great example of how we anticipate our customers’ needs and act on them. And, it should be pointed out, we offered this service free of charge.”

Commenting on the action, and responding to questions about pending privacy litigation and the stalled Congressional effort to shield the telecoms from these lawsuits, NSA spokesperson remarked: “ we condone warrantless , SIGINT intercepts, torture information retrieval by means necessary.”

“It’s a win-win-win situation,” noted the BLF’s DeCoverly. “NSA gets the data it needs to keep America safe, telecom customers get free services, and AT&T makes a fortune. That kind of cooperation between the public and private sectors should serve as a model to all of us, and a harbinger of things to come.”
The BLF (www.billboardliberation.com) has been improving outdoor advertising since 1977. Prior campaigns have included work for Exxon, R.J. Reynolds, and Apple Computers.

AT&T (www.att.com) is America’s favorite telecommunications trust. Based in San Antonio, Texas, it has over 300,000 employees and annual revenues of $117 Billion.

NSA (www.nsa.gov) is the largest intelligence organization in the world. Headquartered at Fort Meade, Maryland, its budget, personnel, products, and services are all classified.

Blank DeCoverly
BLF Minister of Propaganda

[leveymg]

9. The Program never stopped, and the CALEA intercept equipment remains in place.

[sarcasmo]

10. To much tracking, it's hard to go off the grid.