CIA Spying on Social Media, Blogs, Forums

[Kane]

In case you thought you were anonymous on these forums, or that your thoughts were not being monitored by the government, you are wrong.


"In-Q-Tel, the investment arm of the CIA and the wider intelligence community, is putting cash into Visible Technologies, a software firm that specializes in monitoring social media."

"Visible crawls over half a million web 2.0 sites a day, scraping more than a million posts and conversations taking place on blogs, online forums, Flickr, YouTube, Twitter and Amazon. (It doesn't touch closed social networks, like Facebook, at the moment.) Customers get customized, real-time feeds of what's being said on these sites, based on a series of keywords."

CIA branch invests in tech firm that monitors blogs, Twitter, social media Boing Boing

 

[majora$$hole]

In case you thought you were anonymous on these forums, or that your thoughts were not being monitored by the government, you are wrong.


"In-Q-Tel, the investment arm of the CIA and the wider intelligence community, is putting cash into Visible Technologies, a software firm that specializes in monitoring social media."

"Visible crawls over half a million web 2.0 sites a day, scraping more than a million posts and conversations taking place on blogs, online forums, Flickr, YouTube, Twitter and Amazon. (It doesn't touch closed social networks, like Facebook, at the moment.) Customers get customized, real-time feeds of what's being said on these sites, based on a series of keywords."

CIA branch invests in tech firm that monitors blogs, Twitter, social media Boing Boing

it's not just the forums!!! i never thought otherwise.

 

[Awesome!]

Bombs, Terrorists, Dirty Bomb, Militia, Airplane Bomb. Bring it on CIA and NSA. I'm here. What are you going to do about it!

 

[Kane]

Thoughtcrime equals double plus ungood

 

[cpwill]

In case you thought you were anonymous on these forums, or that your thoughts were not being monitored by the government, you are wrong.


"In-Q-Tel, the investment arm of the CIA and the wider intelligence community, is putting cash into Visible Technologies, a software firm that specializes in monitoring social media."

"Visible crawls over half a million web 2.0 sites a day, scraping more than a million posts and conversations taking place on blogs, online forums, Flickr, YouTube, Twitter and Amazon. (It doesn't touch closed social networks, like Facebook, at the moment.) Customers get customized, real-time feeds of what's being said on these sites, based on a series of keywords."

CIA branch invests in tech firm that monitors blogs, Twitter, social media Boing Boing

1. this is called "OSINT", or Open Source INTelligence. As opposed, for example, to SIGINT (SIGnals INTelligence), HUMINT (HUMan INTelligence) and so on. given that it's in the basic (unclassified) manuals for every single intelligence service, DOD or civilian, this is hardly Some New Horrid Revelation.

2. the internet is in permanent ink, tatooed in adamite. yes. don't write here what you would never in a million years want anyone to find.

3. this is also an excellent collection method; you have to find a way of filtering out the massive amount of chaff in order to get to the wheat when you are attempting to intercept enemy communications, which very often take place in just these kinds of forum.

 

[MKULTRABOY]

How effectively do they plan to use the data? Just to be able to identify possible threats like Joe the gung ho who takes his gun to a rally and make sure hes not a demented psycho? Or is it to be able to query a nice background on just about anyone they want? Can they break into my facebook? Jimminy Jeeze. Something I always suspected.

 

[cpwill]

How effectively do they plan to use the data? Just to be able to identify possible threats like Joe the gung ho who takes his gun to a rally and make sure hes not a demented psycho? Or is it to be able to query a nice background on just about anyone they want? Can they break into my facebook? Jimminy Jeeze. Something I always suspected.

chatrooms and social networks such as facebook have famously become the organizational tool utilized by protesters across the world; from Tunisia to Egypt to Iran to China; and many of those protesters (also famously) have belonged to Islamist networks. Islamist networks targetting the West also use these sites to pass information and organize. sometimes they are open, sometimes not (there is a level of dependence on the fact that we are hampered in our translation capability), and sometimes they use simple code-words, key phrases, one-time-pads, etc.

the CIA (the entire intel community) doesn't even have the personnel to fully process the reports it is already generating. the likelihood that they would break into your facebook page is probably roughly less than you being struck by lightning as you swim ashore from your shark attack. unless you happen to randomly sign onto a jihadist website and post some random sounding nonsense that happens to contain key phrases tied to past terrorist activity. then the filter might pop up with your name/ip address, and they might take a look to see who you are and what you are up to.

say, for example, we had an IP in afghanistan tied to ayman zawahiri (2nd in command of Al-Qaeda, their Ops guy); and we knew that in the past he had used the phrase "may you shine like the flowers of the field" as the order to launch an attack in western europe. now let us say that you begin to join the same networks as this particular IP, and one day you send another poster the simple message "may you shine like the flowers of the field". the filter has been set to pick up on that phrase, and now (hopefully) someone is very interested in confirming who you are and exactly what you mean by that.

 

[MKULTRABOY]

the CIA (the entire intel community)

Wrong.

doesn't even have the personnel to fully process the reports it is already generating.

Likely

the likelihood that they would break into your facebook page is probably roughly less than you being struck by lightning as you swim ashore from your shark attack. unless you happen to randomly sign onto a jihadist website and post some random sounding nonsense that happens to contain key phrases tied to past terrorist activity. then they might take a look to see who you are and what you are up to.

I'm more worried about them crawling and recording the entire interweb and being able to query my person up at their discretion. Or that of anyone I know or anyone they wish. Psuedo-legally.

 

[cpwill]

Wrong.

you misunderstand, i was saying "the cia" and then in parenthesis "the entire intel community", in such a way as to almost put a heck in there.

as in :

the cia - heck - the entire intel community doesn't have the resources.....

etc.

Likely

not "likely". 'reality'.

I'm more worried about them crawling and recording the entire interweb and being able to query my person up at their discretion. Or that of anyone I know or anyone they wish. Psuedo-legally.

then you are wasting your time. you are better off to panic at the thought of Marines training with rifles, because the possibility exists that one of them will sneak one off base and shoot up his local WalMart. at least the Marine would have the time to do so.

the problem with information in the intel world now is chiefly one of data filtering and management. how to take 50,000 reports, sift through them, pick out what's important, analyze it, and then turn it into a product in time for it to be actionable?

Real World looks nothing whatsoever like the Bourne series, or "24".

 

[MKULTRABOY]

Real World looks nothing whatsoever like the Bourne series, or "24".

You don't have to condescend, I get it.

 

[cpwill]

sorry, didn't mean to sound condescending, i was just trying to get the point across that the notion of a CIA agent looking up the facebook secrets of random people because now they have the special power to look at your "SPRING BREAK '09!" pictures is..... farfetched.


inasmuch as this is an issue, it is an issue of whether or not we are spending enough on this.

 

[MKULTRABOY]

Yes, well that'd be absurd. It's abuse of power that concerns me.

 

[Divine Wind]

"In-Q-Tel, the investment arm of the CIA and the wider intelligence community, is putting cash into Visible Technologies, a software firm that specializes in monitoring social media."

"Visible crawls over half a million web 2.0 sites a day, scraping more than a million posts and conversations taking place on blogs, online forums, Flickr, YouTube, Twitter and Amazon. (It doesn't touch closed social networks, like Facebook, at the moment.) Customers get customized, real-time feeds of what's being said on these sites, based on a series of keywords."

CIA branch invests in tech firm that monitors blogs, Twitter, social media Boing Boing

Awesome! I hope they nab the terrorists and their supporters who are using the Internet to communicate their nefarious plans.

Come on, folks. This ain't like warrantless wiretaps or having spies listen at your bedroom door. These are public forums. Might as well complain about the police looking at a College bulletin board for ads which say "Cheap Speed and Pot. Dorm Room #420"

 

[Gray_Fox_86]

Just so you know. The CIA is not as scary as it once use to be. The CIA has to report to the DIA or the Defense Intelligence Agency that is run by a military general. So really if you think this was the work of the CIA think again.....

 

[MKULTRABOY]

JThe CIA is not as scary as it once use to be. The CIA has to report to the DIA or the Defense Intelligence Agency that is run by a military general. So really...

That supposed to make me feel better?

 

[Divine Wind]

That supposed to make me feel better?

Why would it make you feel bad in the first place? If this was about "listening in" on email or phone calls, then I'd be among those complaining about it, but this is about scrolling through public forums for signs of terroristic activities. I fail to see a problem.

God Bless America!

 

[Gray_Fox_86]

That supposed to make me feel better?

Yes.

12324345554

 

[Gray_Fox_86]

Why would it make you feel bad in the first place? If this was about "listening in" on email or phone calls, then I'd be among those complaining about it, but this is about scrolling through public forums for signs of terroristic activities. I fail to see a problem.

God Bless America!

Look by the government's definition. Everything is public so we should just bend over and accept them as our rulers.

 

[MKULTRABOY]

Why would it make you feel bad in the first place? If this was about "listening in" on email or phone calls, then I'd be among those complaining about it, but this is about scrolling through public forums for signs of terroristic activities. I fail to see a problem.

God Bless America!

Firstly, I have the power of anonymity. You don't know who I am. My account is not attached to my name. The CIA would know who I was if they so wished. Also... (just so y'all up there know, everything I say is plausibly deniable as comedy and trolling of noobz)

ALLLALALALALALAAAAAA ACKBAR!!!!!

The CIA sends people child porn.

whatarush

 

[Cold Highway]

This isnt really surprising really, this is why you dont post too much private stuff on the net.

 

[Divine Wind]

Look by the government's definition. Everything is public so we should just bend over and accept them as our rulers.

Straw man argument. Nice try, however. Better luck next time.

 

[Divine Wind]

The CIA sends people child porn.

whatarush

Really? Is that a confession you are in possession of kiddie porn?

 

[Gardener]

I just wanted folks to know that I have been reading this thread, and am taking notes.

 

[MKULTRABOY]

Really? Is that a confession you are in possession of kiddie porn?

Ehh.. something tells me you don't know what child porn is. Apparently hackers just toss them around to noobs as a joke a la goatse. Ever been on 4chan?

 

[Divine Wind]

Ehh.. something tells me you don't know what child porn is. Apparently hackers just toss them around to noobs as a joke a la goatse. Ever been on 4chan?

Nope. I report kiddie porn traffickers to the FBI.