Axis of Spying ( UK / US and Israel ? NSA / GCHQ and Mossad seem to be the Spy Club ... )
http://rt.com/news/gchq-surveillance-snowden-secrecy-749/
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/10/25/exclusive_21_nations_line_up_behind_un_effort_to_restrain_nsa
Posted By Colum Lynch, John Hudson, Shane Harris
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/France-feared-US-spied-on-its-president-was-Israels-Mossad-involved/articleshow/24710933.cmsPARIS:
France believed the United Statesattempted to hack into its president's communications network, a leaked US intelligence document published on Friday suggests.
US agents denied having anything to do with the May 2012 cyber attack on the Elysee Palace, the official residence of French presidents, and appeared to hint at the possible involvement of Mossad, Israel's intelligence agency, a classified internal note from the US National Security Agency suggests.
Extracts from the document, the latest to emerge from the NSA via former contractor Edward Snowden, were published by Le Monde newspaper alongside an article jointly authored by Glenn Greenwald, the US journalist who has been principally responsible for a still-unravelling scandal over large-scale US snooping on individuals and political leaders all over the world.
The document is a briefing note prepared in April this year for NSA officials who were due to meet two senior figures from France's external intelligence agency, the DGSE.
The French agents had travelled to Washington to demand explanations over their discovery in May 2012 of attempts to compromise the Elysee's communications systems.
The note says that the branch of the NSA which handles cyber attacks, Tailored Access Operations (TAO), had confirmed that it had not carried out the attack and says that most of its closest allies (Australia, Britain, Canada and New Zealand) had also denied involvement.
It goes on to note: "TAO intentionally did not ask either Mossad or (Israel's cyber intelligence unit) ISNU whether they were involved as France is not an approved target for joint discussions."
Le Monde interpreted this sentence as being an ironic reference to a strong likelihood that Mossad had been behind the attack.
The cyber attacks on the Elysee took place in the final weeks of Nicolas Sarkozy's term, between the two rounds of the presidential election which he ended up losing to Francois Hollande.
The attacks had been previously reported by French media, who have described them as an attempt to insert monitoring devices into the system but it remains unclear whether the presidential networks were compromised for any time.
Sarkozy enjoyed warmer relations with the United States than any French president of recent times, to the extent that the media sometimes referred to him as "Sarko the American".
Hollande said Friday that French intelligence services had identified "several leads" for the attacks, speaking in Brussels after EU summit talks.
He did not elaborate further, but his comments came after he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel pushed for Washington to agree on new rules on the conduct of intelligence gathering among allies.
Merkel herself has also reportedly been the target of US espionage, with claims emerging this week the US tapped her mobile phone and spied on other allies.
"Spying between friends, that's just not done," an angry Merkel said Thursday at the start of the summit of European Union leaders, which was overshadowed by the issue.
The latest Le Monde report follows revelations published earlier this week that the NSA collected more than 70 million recordings of French citizens' telephone data — a claim contested by the top US intelligence chief.
On a lighter note, the leaked document published by Le Monde on Friday underlines NSA officials were anxious not to cause any further offence to their angry French counterparts.
Along with the technical details, the briefing note contains a phonetic guide to the pronunciation of the names of the French visitors.
They included DGSE technical director Bernard Barbier, who was to be addressed as bear-NAR bur-BYAY, and Patrick Pailloux, or pah-TREEK pie-YOO, head of the National Agency for the Security of Information Systems (ANSSI).
http://rt.com/news/gchq-surveillance-snowden-secrecy-749/
The UK’s spy agency GCHQ was doing whatever it could to avoid igniting a “damaging public debate” and a subsequent possibility of a legal threat over its surveillance practices and cooperation with telecoms, new Snowden papers reveal.
The documents leaked to the Guardian by former NSA contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden illustrate how the Government Communication Headquarters feared the possibility of being challenged under the Human Rights Act if details of privacy invasions leaked.
The intelligence agency also attempted to keep the lengths to which telecommunications agencies had gone to concealed. It was found that they gone “well beyond” the legal requirements in aiding intelligence agencies in their procuring of data – not only in the UK but overseas too.
The memos show how GCHQ attempted to prevent intercepted communication to be used as evidence in UK criminal trials: something all three main political parties have been advocates of, but the intelligence community very much against.
The most recent was an attempt by the Labour government, whose proposal was obstructed in 2009 by GCHQ, MI5 and MI6 which, according to the documents, feared a potentially “damaging” public debate,“which might lead to legal challenges against the current regime.”
In May 2012, a further document illustrated the risks the British intelligence services would be susceptible to should their interceptions be made admissible. Documents seen by the Guardian demonstrate a sincere fear of “the damage to partner relationships if sensitive information were accidentally released in open court” and how the “scale of interception and retention required would be fairly likely to be challenged on Article 8 (Right to Privacy) grounds.”
The GCHQ also assisted the Home Office with waging the PR war over the “intercept as evidence”reform, by “lining up talking heads (such as Lord Carlisle [sic], Lord Stevens, Sir Stephen Lander, Sir Swinton Thomas)," according the leaked memo.
The intelligence agency also attempted to keep the lengths to which telecommunications agencies had gone to concealed. It was found that they gone “well beyond” the legal requirements in aiding intelligence agencies in their procuring of data – not only in the UK but overseas too.
The memos show how GCHQ attempted to prevent intercepted communication to be used as evidence in UK criminal trials: something all three main political parties have been advocates of, but the intelligence community very much against.
The most recent was an attempt by the Labour government, whose proposal was obstructed in 2009 by GCHQ, MI5 and MI6 which, according to the documents, feared a potentially “damaging” public debate,“which might lead to legal challenges against the current regime.”
In May 2012, a further document illustrated the risks the British intelligence services would be susceptible to should their interceptions be made admissible. Documents seen by the Guardian demonstrate a sincere fear of “the damage to partner relationships if sensitive information were accidentally released in open court” and how the “scale of interception and retention required would be fairly likely to be challenged on Article 8 (Right to Privacy) grounds.”
The GCHQ also assisted the Home Office with waging the PR war over the “intercept as evidence”reform, by “lining up talking heads (such as Lord Carlisle [sic], Lord Stevens, Sir Stephen Lander, Sir Swinton Thomas)," according the leaked memo.
“We are working closely with HO [Home Office] on their plans for press handling when the final report [on intercept as evidence without classification] is published,” the document reads.
When it was revealed in earlier Snowden files that telecom companies help the government intercept personal data, telecoms claimed they were only complying with the law. However, a secret document prepared in 2009 by a joint working group of GCHQ, MI5 and MI6, cited by the Guardian, suggests more voluntary cooperation.
Since telecoms could easily move their operations out of jurisdiction to avoid legal problems, “it has been necessary to enter into agreements with both UK-based and offshore providers for them to afford the UK agencies access, with appropriate legal authorisation, to the communications they carry outside the UK,"the document says.
Telecoms in their turn kept their cooperation with the UK government secret over the fears of “damage to their brands internationally,” the GCHQ memo said.
The leaked document did not specify which companies might have voluntarily joined the GCHQ’s Tempora surveillance project, under which the UK's spying agency intercepts and stores for 30 days huge volumes of data – like emails, social network posts, phone calls and much more, culled from international fiber-optic cables – which they openly share with their American partners.
Meanwhile, following a wave of revelations about the NSA spying not only on ordinary citizens but also on world leaders, the EU leadership issued a joint statement saying the partnership with America should be built on respect and trust.
France and Germany are planning to seek bilateral talks with the US “with the aim of finding before the end of the year an understanding on mutual relations,” while Brazil is pushing for the adoption of a UN General Resolution that promotes the right of privacy on the internet.
When it was revealed in earlier Snowden files that telecom companies help the government intercept personal data, telecoms claimed they were only complying with the law. However, a secret document prepared in 2009 by a joint working group of GCHQ, MI5 and MI6, cited by the Guardian, suggests more voluntary cooperation.
Since telecoms could easily move their operations out of jurisdiction to avoid legal problems, “it has been necessary to enter into agreements with both UK-based and offshore providers for them to afford the UK agencies access, with appropriate legal authorisation, to the communications they carry outside the UK,"the document says.
Telecoms in their turn kept their cooperation with the UK government secret over the fears of “damage to their brands internationally,” the GCHQ memo said.
The leaked document did not specify which companies might have voluntarily joined the GCHQ’s Tempora surveillance project, under which the UK's spying agency intercepts and stores for 30 days huge volumes of data – like emails, social network posts, phone calls and much more, culled from international fiber-optic cables – which they openly share with their American partners.
Meanwhile, following a wave of revelations about the NSA spying not only on ordinary citizens but also on world leaders, the EU leadership issued a joint statement saying the partnership with America should be built on respect and trust.
France and Germany are planning to seek bilateral talks with the US “with the aim of finding before the end of the year an understanding on mutual relations,” while Brazil is pushing for the adoption of a UN General Resolution that promotes the right of privacy on the internet.
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/10/25/exclusive_21_nations_line_up_behind_un_effort_to_restrain_nsa
Posted By Colum Lynch, John Hudson, Shane Harris 
Friday, October 25, 2013 - 6:50 PM 
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An effort in the United Nations by Brazil and Germany to hold back government surveillance is quickly picking up steam, as the uproar over American eavesdropping grows.
The German and Brazilian delegations to the U.N. have opened talks with diplomats from 19 more countries to draft a General Resolution promoting the right of privacy on the Internet. Close American allies like France and Mexico -- as well as rivals like Cuba and Venezuela -- are all part of the effort.
The push marks the first major international effort to curb the National Security Agency's vast surveillance network. Its momentum is building. And it comes as concerns are growing within the U.S. intelligence community that the NSA may be, in effect, freelancing foreign policy by eavesdropping on leaders like Germany's Angela Merkel.
The draft, a copy of which was obtained by The Cable, calls on states "to respect and ensure the respect for the rights" to privacy, as enshrined in the 1976 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It also calls on states "to take measures to put an end to violations of these rights" and to "review their procedures, practices and legislation regarding the extraterritorial surveillance of private communications and interception of personal data of citizens in foreign jurisdictions with a view towards upholding the right to privacy."
The draft does not refer to a flurry of American spying revelations that have caused a political uproar around the world. But it was clear that the revelations provided the political momentum to trigger the move to the U.N.
On Friday, the State Department responded to questions concerning The Cable's initial reportabout the U.N. effort published Thursday.
"We'll of course review that when the text is available," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said, speaking of Germany and Brazil's draft. "
"It's not something you're opposed to in principle?" a reporter asked.
"No," said Psaki. "Our U.N. mission in New York will review the text as usual."
The NSA has reportedly monitored communications of up to three dozen world leaders and accessed the emails of the president of Mexico.
The draft appears designed to provide oversight of those types of incursions -- as well as surveillance incursions of average citizens worldwide. It requests that the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights report to the U.N. General Assembly twice in the next two years on "human rights and indiscriminate surveillance" with "views and recommendations" aimed at "identifying and clarifying principles, standards and best practices on the implications for human rights of indiscriminate surveillance."
The State Department said Friday that the U.S. initiated a review of its surveillance practices in order to "balance security needs with privacy concerns." However, it's already clear that even individuals in the intelligence community are concerned that NSA activities have gone beyond the pale.
Former intelligence officials tell The Cable they are concerned that NSA officials have been deciding on their own which foreign leaders to "target," or collect information about. "We're targeting these leaders. Who's making these political decisions? Gen. Alexander or one of his subordinates?" said a former senior intelligence official. "If so, he is getting to make decisions that have wider impact on international relations."
Vanee Vines, and NSA spokesperson, said that the agency takes its cues from higher up the official chain of command. "NSA is not a free agent," she told The Cable. "The agency's activities stem from the National Intelligence Priorities Framework, which guides prioritization for the operation, planning, and programming of U.S. intelligence analysis and collection."
The framework is a list of priority issues that senior policymakers want the intelligence agencies to work on. It could include long-term matters such as the threat of global terrorism, or more specific and pressing questions, such as how long until Iran is able to build a nuclear weapon.
The list is reviewed twice a year by the most senior officials in government, including the secretaries of Defense, State, and Treasury, as well as the president's chief of staff and national security adviser. And it's ultimately approved by the president. But the individual intelligence agencies are generally left to decide how to best address those priorities, which includes choosing what types of intelligence to collect.
Another former senior intelligence official said that, in practice, the NSA is told to collect certain kinds of information, but it also preemptively does that job in anticipation of what its "customers" -- those senior government decision-makers -- will want and need.
"It's works both ways," the former official said. "There are two things the NSA wants to do: Answer their customer's request, and anticipate their customer's needs. There's not a doubt in my mind they're doing both."
Administration officials have avoided answering questions about what kind of surveillance was ordered against foreign leaders. In response to allegations that Merkel's phone was tapped, the White House issued a statement that the United States " is not monitoring and will not monitor" her communications. But it didn't say whether the United States had done so in the past.
There's nothing in the intelligence framework that would require the NSA to get permission to intercept Merkel's calls. And it remains unclear what specific direction, if any, the agency received from the White House or senior administration officials about which foreign leaders to target.
According to the framework, the director of national intelligence and his senior staff play a key role in recommending to policymakers what items should be included on the priorities list. And they gather opinions from the component intelligence agencies, of which the NSA is one.
When it comes down to ensuring that the agencies are collecting the right intelligence to meet their customers needs, the director of national intelligence and the individual agencies are authorized to make those decisions, according to the framework.
The heads of executive departments and agencies also have authority to manage elements within their organization. The NSA, for instance, is part of the Defense Department, and can be directed to perform certain intelligence functions by the Secretary of Defense.
On at least one occasion, the NSA appears to have taken upon its own initiative gathering up of phone numbers, email and residential addresses of foreign officials. In 2006, according to an internal NSA memo published by the Guardian, the agency asked U.S. officials to supply contact information of foreign leaders from their personal "Rolodexes." One unnamed official gave the agency 200 phone numbers, which led to the monitoring of 35 world leaders. The memo makes clear that the NSA unit decided on its own to start asking U.S. officials to supply them with such leads.
The report raised questions as to whether State Department officials handed over contact information of foreign leader to the NSA -- an action Foggy Bottom would neither confirm nor deny.
"I was just wondering if you would answer if any State Department employees offered contact information ... of foreign leaders to the NSA?" The Cable asked Psaki.
"I've seen those reports. I don't have anything for you on it," she said.
"So you don't know if there were any State Department employees..."
"I don't have anything for you on it," repeated Psaki.
The former intelligence official who questioned whether Alexander was making decisions on which leaders to target predicted there will be far-reaching repercussions to revelations about spying on foreign leaders. Stories about NSA's global surveillance already had sparked public protests in Germany, and in Brazil, the government is considering whether to require companies that store citizens' personal information on databases inside the country, where they'd be harder for the NSA to access.
"The extent to which international political opinion and law are going to condition intelligence collection for the future, that's a new world," the former official said, adding that the NSA is not prepared to deal with that political blowback.
You can read the U.N. draft in full below. Other countries participating in the talks are Argentina, Austria, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guyana, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Liechtenstein, Mexico, Norway, Paraguay, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, and Uruguay.
US agents denied having anything to do with the May 2012 cyber attack on the Elysee Palace, the official residence of French presidents, and appeared to hint at the possible involvement of Mossad, Israel's intelligence agency, a classified internal note from the US National Security Agency suggests.
Extracts from the document, the latest to emerge from the NSA via former contractor Edward Snowden, were published by Le Monde newspaper alongside an article jointly authored by Glenn Greenwald, the US journalist who has been principally responsible for a still-unravelling scandal over large-scale US snooping on individuals and political leaders all over the world.
The document is a briefing note prepared in April this year for NSA officials who were due to meet two senior figures from France's external intelligence agency, the DGSE.
The French agents had travelled to Washington to demand explanations over their discovery in May 2012 of attempts to compromise the Elysee's communications systems.
The note says that the branch of the NSA which handles cyber attacks, Tailored Access Operations (TAO), had confirmed that it had not carried out the attack and says that most of its closest allies (Australia, Britain, Canada and New Zealand) had also denied involvement.
It goes on to note: "TAO intentionally did not ask either Mossad or (Israel's cyber intelligence unit) ISNU whether they were involved as France is not an approved target for joint discussions."
Le Monde interpreted this sentence as being an ironic reference to a strong likelihood that Mossad had been behind the attack.
The cyber attacks on the Elysee took place in the final weeks of Nicolas Sarkozy's term, between the two rounds of the presidential election which he ended up losing to Francois Hollande.
The attacks had been previously reported by French media, who have described them as an attempt to insert monitoring devices into the system but it remains unclear whether the presidential networks were compromised for any time.
Sarkozy enjoyed warmer relations with the United States than any French president of recent times, to the extent that the media sometimes referred to him as "Sarko the American".
Hollande said Friday that French intelligence services had identified "several leads" for the attacks, speaking in Brussels after EU summit talks.
He did not elaborate further, but his comments came after he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel pushed for Washington to agree on new rules on the conduct of intelligence gathering among allies.
Merkel herself has also reportedly been the target of US espionage, with claims emerging this week the US tapped her mobile phone and spied on other allies.
"Spying between friends, that's just not done," an angry Merkel said Thursday at the start of the summit of European Union leaders, which was overshadowed by the issue.
The latest Le Monde report follows revelations published earlier this week that the NSA collected more than 70 million recordings of French citizens' telephone data — a claim contested by the top US intelligence chief.
On a lighter note, the leaked document published by Le Monde on Friday underlines NSA officials were anxious not to cause any further offence to their angry French counterparts.
Along with the technical details, the briefing note contains a phonetic guide to the pronunciation of the names of the French visitors.
They included DGSE technical director Bernard Barbier, who was to be addressed as bear-NAR bur-BYAY, and Patrick Pailloux, or pah-TREEK pie-YOO, head of the National Agency for the Security of Information Systems (ANSSI).
NSA site down due to alleged DDoS attack
The website for the United States National Security Agency suddenly went offline Friday.
NSA.gov has been unavailable globally as of late Friday afternoon, and Twitter accounts belonging to people loosely affiliated with the Anonymous hacktivism movement have suggested they are responsible.
Twitter users @AnonymousOwn3r and @TruthIzSexy both were quick to comment on the matter, and implied that a distributed denial-of-service attack, or DDoS, may have been waged as an act of protest against the NSA
Allegations that those users participated in the DDoS — a method of over-loading a website with too much traffic — are currently unverified, and @AnonymousOwn3r has previously taken credit for downing websites in a similar fashion, although those claims have been largely contested.
The crippling of NSA.gov comes amid a series of damning national security documents that have been disclosed without authorization by former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden. The revelations in the leaked documents have impassioned people around the globe outraged by evidence of widespread surveillance operated by the NSA, and a massive “Stop Watching Us” rally is scheduled for Saturday in Washington, DC.
DDoS attacks are illegal in the United States under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, or CFAA, and two cases are currently underway in California and Virginia in which federal judges are weighing in on instances in which members of Anonymous allegedly used the technique to take down an array of sites during anti-copyright campaigns waged by the group in 2010 and 2011. In those cases, so-called hacktivsits are reported to have conspired together to send immense loads of traffic to targeted websites, rendering them inaccessible due to the overload.
An NSA spokesperson told ABC News they are “looking into the Issue,” but said the spy agency’s internal network was “not at all” bothered, nor was any classified information in danger.
The spokesperson would not comment on the cause of the website’s issues.
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