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American Universities Infected by Foreign Spies Detected by FBI

American

American

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American Universities Infected by Foreign Spies Detected by FBI - Bloomberg

Michigan State University President Lou Anna K. Simon contacted the Central Intelligence Agency in late 2009 with an urgent question.

The school’s campus in Dubai needed a bailout and an unlikely savior had stepped forward: a Dubai-based company that offered to provide money and students.

Simon was tempted. She also worried that the company, which had investors from Iran and wanted to recruit students from there, might be a front for the Iranian government, she said. If so, an agreement could violate federal trade sanctions and invite enemy spies.

The CIA couldn’t confirm that the company wasn’t an arm of Iran’s government. Simon rejected the offer and shut down undergraduate programs in Dubai, at a loss of $3.7 million.

Hearkening back to Cold War anxieties, growing signs of spying on U.S. universities are alarming national security officials. As schools become more global in their locations and student populations, their culture of openness and international collaboration makes them increasingly vulnerable to theft of research conducted for the government and industry.

“We have intelligence and cases indicating that U.S. universities are indeed a target of foreign intelligence services,” Frank Figliuzzi, Federal Bureau of Investigation assistant director for counterintelligence, said in a February interview in the bureau’s Washington headquarters.
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People that work at universities need to consider adopting security precautions.
 
American said:
American Universities Infected by Foreign Spies Detected by FBI - Bloomberg


People that work at universities need to consider adopting security precautions.
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This has been going on for a while. When my dad was at university in England during the 1970s there was a demonstration of Iranian students in favor of the Shah, at the bottom line of the promotional material there was a note in bolded block capital letters saying "IT IS YOUR PATRIOTIC DUTY TO ATTEND" presumably implying that someone was keeping tabs on Iranian students and making sure they behaved.

Likewise when i studied abroad in Turkey the Iranian students studying literature had to be careful about studying anything risque in case the government back home found out, many (Chechens , Yakuts etc.) were pretty jumpy about the FSB also.
 
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LOL like this is news. Universities have been the breeding and recruiting ground for domestic intelligence and of course non domestic intelligence services. The fact that US universities are largely for pay places, means anyone with enough money can study there, and that gives openings up for intelligence gathering since a large portion of R&D and future tech actually happens in conjunction with universities.
 
American said:
People that work at universities need to consider adopting security precautions.
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**** that ****. All that will do is get in the way of doing research.
 
Simon W. Moon said:
Spies also shop at grocery stores.

What is it that the schools are supposed to do to prevent what exactly?
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Can you purchase the latest R&D at a grocery store?
 
MKULTRABOY said:
Like what? Searching kids for bugs? WTF is a university board going to do against handfuls of international spies in their colleges who could be students or guest teachers, researchers, etc?
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Controlled access to certain projects.
 
Wait. "The CIA couldn't confirm it wasn't an arm of the Iranian government." Wouldn't that be true of virtually any organization from Iran? I mean, this doesn't seem like the sort of information the CIA just gives out to people who ask for it.
 
I'm trying to grasp the purpose that they serve by being 'students' or 'faculty' - what are they getting into or learning? Or is it post-graduation employment that's really the goal?

Sounds Saltish
 
American said:
Controlled access to certain projects.
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Many universities already do that...and if it's something with national security implications, the federal government can require them to limit access. I went to school in DC so maybe Uncle Sam's reach is a bit stronger here than it is in the Midwest...but many of the universities around here have research projects and/or internships which require federal security clearance.
 
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