Crashing the Wiretapper's Ball

[MazeRat7]

Found this on wired.com Its from writer Thomas Green who snuck into the ISS World Conference which is a trade show featuring the latest in mass communications intercept gear. Its kind of long but a good read... here is one choice quote:

"You really need to educate yourself," he insisted. "Do you think this stuff doesn't happen in the West? Let me tell you something. I sell this equipment all over the world, especially in the Middle East. I deal with buyers from Qatar, and I get more concern about proper legal procedure from them than I get in the USA."

"Well, perhaps the Qataris are conscientious," I said, "and I'm prepared to take your word on that, but there are seriously oppressive governments out there itching to get hold of this stuff."

He sneered again. "Do you think for a minute that Bush would let legal issues stop him from doing surveillance? He's got to prevent a terrorist attack that everyone knows is coming. He'll do absolutely anything he thinks is going to work. And so would you. So why are you bothering these guys?"

The availability and capability of this equipment is amazing to say the least. But be sure to read the final paragraphs where he points out some technology for us common folk to help thwart this obsession with unfettered access to our private conversations and information.

Sleep well.. ;)

MZr7

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

1. Now that is reporting. And that is what police work

should be too. Foot work, Social engineering and persistance.

[radwriter0555]

2. Oh please. Pretending bush is spying on americans to prevent a terrorist

attack is ridiculous.

bush spies on americans because his PNAC needs as much control over the populace as conceivablly possible.

This spy game isn't about protecting the USA or Americans. It's about profiteering, illegal wars, control and power.

[MazeRat7]

3. Shameless self-kick for this really good article I hoped more would read

I danced around this commentary in the OP but since it was either ignored or missed, I figured I would be a bit more blatant this time around.

Bottom line there is a whole industry out there selling "gadgets" that circumvent your personal privacy. The sellers of these "snoop-gadgets" will sell to anyone, anywhere, for the right price. These are the vendors (companies) that supply the spy-ware tools to the likes of the NSA, CIA, FBI, state officials, local officials, etc....

If you really want to protect your privacy, do more than bitch that your privacy should be protected. Learn what tools they are using to gain access to your personal information, how they are using them, what their capabilities are, etc and then learn what countermeasures are available to thwart those efforts. Thats why I posted the article.

The more light that can be shed on this cabal of snoops the better it is for everyone. They exists only because of layers of obfsucation... peel those layers back like the proverbial onion and you stand a reasonable chance of protecting your constitutional right to privacy.

Enough said I guess...

MZr7