Hi Chien,
No, I haven't been able to find anything as yet. Weird though, how the
intelligence services say that the terrorists are very efficient,
sophisticated and clever with their communications, which is why the
state needs more powers, resources and help; yet other research
available on cryptome (alas, I haven't got a url...:-(. ) says that
mostly terrorist communications are pretty primitive, though they are
aware of the big eyes in the sky and the tracking of mobiles etc...
(long before Snowden revealed the mass surveillance and targetting).
It only takes one bomb in a mobile phone for people to learn the lesson,
even if it blows up the wrong person...
During the time of the IRA troubles here in the UK, I remember the
struggle that went on to find the cells who came to the UK to bomb.
They mostly came in 3s, one woman and two men, pre-briefed with
instructions and awaiting a phone call with a code. After amassing
whatever stuff they needed, a target, a date and time, cars, arms and
materials off they went to bomb and maim, in the name of freedom and
democracy. Sometimes, they were very nice, caring, kind and considerate
and gave a few minutes warning, occasionaly they didn't or made a
mistake and got it wrong. I was a student at the time and can remember
quite vividly the explosions at Harrods when I was at the Guildhall
researching civil liberties.
The pressure on the British state became so great that various secret
services and agencies were employed to try and find out who was doing
what, who was leading it and so on. The discovery operations were so
secret that they even spied on each others agent provocateurs, and it
got to the point that one agent provocateur was getting ready to torture
another agent provocateur who was also working for the British state.
Luckily for them, someone cottoned on before they got the honesty pills
and electric therapy. A whole number of innocent Irish people were
prosecuted too, the pressure was so great on law enforcement, with
beatings in prison and heavy sentences after the admission of guilt.
Even evidence such as the some of the chemicals present in playing
cards, was used to "prove" that they people were guilty. Stuff is still
coming out about it yet.
see url:http://cryptome.org/fru-stakeknife.htm
for an introduction and further urls.
I have no doubt that a variety of methods of communication will be used,
just as Osama Bin Laden relied on human couriers to pass on
instructions, rather than use the internet. Today's terrorists will
also use a variety of internet methods, but, because they know about the
compromise of TOR, tails and how anything encrypted gets targeted by the
security services, they will find workarounds such as Play Station 4 or
apparently innocuous networks on social media.
Interesting too, to note that the attack on the theatre where the most
casualties were, was owned by Jewish proprietors up until a few months
ago. I suspect that the terrorists were trying to send out a double
message, but weren't quite up to date.
I have never understood religion myself. I came from a religious
background with a grandmother who was a great beleiver in the Faith
Mission. However, I have never had the faith. I have never been able
to develop an absolute belief in the existence of God, and just don't
understand how people can be that certain...But there you are it takes
all sorts to make the world. It is not that I am opposed to religion or
people having religious beliefs, but there are so many instances in
history where religion has been used as a justification for mass murder
by drowning, torture, raping, molesting, starving etc. Even science,
with its so called scientific method has been used to justify mass
murder on race or ethnic grounds...we have all got to have good genes,
as if one breed such things into human beings to create the perfect
human being with the perfect brain and mind...
see Fox's Book of the Martyrs url:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxe's_Book_of_Martyrs
for the use of religious persecution on protestants by catholics earlier
on in English history... The book was almost as popular amongst the
masses as the Bible and Das Kapital...at one time... :-).
ATB
Dougie.
P.S. Me missus and I went to Runnymede the other day, to visit the place
where the Magna Carta was signed...it being the anniversary year.
Interesting how much US input and money is in the place, though the site
is in the hands of the English National Trust, the American Bar
Association and rich Americans funded the memorial. Alongside there is a
memorial to President Kennedy. For a country that lays such store on
the rule of law, habeus corpus and human rights, one wonders why they
have Gauntanamo Bay in operation...but there you are...it's a funny ole
world...and of course King John didn't keep to the Magna Carta...he saw
it is a temporary relief to consolidate his plans to dominate the
baronetcy even more.
On 19/11/2015 11:51, Chien Fume wrote:
Doug: Perhaps by now you've gathered useful information on this subject. I searched for the original Snowden document referenced in the article I posted, but didn't find it... only references to it in news reports such as a 2013 article titled"Online gaming surveillance: So many NSA & CIA spies, they were spying on each other"
http://www.computerworld.com/article/2475679/data-privacy/online-gaming-surveillance--so-many-nsa---cia-spies--they-were-spying-on-each-other.html
It's no secret that rivalry between agencies often results in 'dirty tricks' and 'revenge' (sometimes well-founded). But most of the time what happens isn't intentional. This matter of one agency unintentionally going after another agency is a very old problem in the clandestine services world. The classical dilemma is most often revealed to the public in drug enforcement operations, where units from different agencies 'bust' each other. Sometimes these 'busts' make the news; but those who pay attention to such things know that the case always fizzles, disappearing into the Orwellian 'Memory Hole'.
As the articles I've located related to the unknown Snowden document show, the problem today is made even more complex by modern technology. The new battalion of cyber warriors Doug mentions will only make the situation more difficult. As Thomas Pynchon says in one of his 'Proverbs for Paranoids'... 'if they can get you to ask the wrong question, they don't have to worry about what answers you come up with'. From my view, Security Services all over the world are prone to asking the wrong questions, looking in the wrong place, flatly ignoring the blatantly obvious... and often getting bonuses and higher pay grades for their actions.
In the not-so-distant past, in most cases much careful thought was required before agents were given permission to act. Today, the information glut makes it easier than ever to confuse operators and their coordinators. It may well be that nobody (literally nobody) has a grasp of what's actually going on. Experience has made me what one of my friends describes as a 'transcendental cynic'. Everybody is being deceitful, not just the government. Everybody will betray their closest friend, given the right circumstances and incentives.
As John Young and others have been saying for years (at least as I understand what they're saying), the increase in electronic surveillance has decreased liberty and not made even a tiny dent in the actual threats.
Most troubling of all, it's obvious (even without Snowden, Manning, Anat Kam, or Wikileaks and only from OSINT) that black-budget clandestine units operating under the protection of 'emergency security' laws enacted by governments are creating most of the mayhem. The geist of my old departed friend Bob Wilson just popped into my mind, in the form of a Pooka, saying 'most but not all'. There are still some decent, honest, truly Human people in the agencies and orgs... hoping (intending to) survive the madness and be there when the currently metastasizing systems fail.
The actual malicious operators have exploited the 'security' hysteria and found they have a lot of freedom to deploy tactics in support of their strategy (in general, nihilistic). Freedom is losing. Tyranny is winning. But, hasn't this been the dominant theme of Human history? Only rarely have populations enjoyed genuine freedom... yet this shows that it's possible, and somehow gives just enough hope that a future of genuine freedom isn't a Utopian pipe dream.
TANGENTIAL, BUT RELATED OBSERVATION/COMMENT
In Israel, the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin was one of those instances where a special 'black budget' unit within the Security Services itself was ultimately responsible for the untimely demise of one of Israel's founders. An agent using the code name 'Champagne' (with an unlimited budget and the full backing of the 'Jewish Section' left over from the British Mandate days) created an ultra-militant organization pretending to be carrying on the legacy of Rabbi Meir Kahane. A few who knew and worked with Kahane immediately saw that something wasn't 'kosher'... but the operation was wildly successful and gathered a slough of followers... including the young law student who would later assassinate Rabin. According to some who were involved in 'Champagne's' faux Kahane group, the Security Services agent (Champagne) was intense and persistent in his interactions with the future assassin. That is, Champagne learned the weaknesses and beliefs of the 'religious' law student and convinced him that Rabin deserved to die because of his actions regarding the Altalena, and his (Rabin's) intention to give away the Jewish heartland to create a Jew-free Muslim state. A careful analysis of Rabin's actual views on giving away land (especially his last speech to the Knesset) suggest he didn't intend to do what Champagne and others claimed... or what is today characterized as 'Rabin's Legacy of Peace' (i.e. totally giving up Israel's valid legal claim to the unreasonably disputed territory... see Eli Hertz Myths and Facts for the most concise legal argument and proofs). Rabin's assassin is sitting in a special prison today, in solitary confinement, but the Security Services provocateur who set him up to do the deed, and even gave him the weapon to use, is free, somewhere, enjoying a nice life at the expense of the Israeli taxpayers (and probably also subsidized by the taxpayers of other governments). Maybe Champagne is working on a new operation, using the name 'Guinness' ('Guinness is Good for You' but a Black & Tan is better, in my opinion). The point of this tangential comment is that penetration and destabilization operations often have a bad effect... although many credible and experienced people in Israel suggest that Rabin was obstructing the plans of others and was simply removed. As with many other similar scenarios (such as JFK), I don't believe it's possible to know the definitive truth... it's entered the realm of mythology. But I do know it's a tragedy that Rabin was assassinated. It accomplished nothing other than an unfair, untrue demonization of a large segment of the Israeli population ('Religious' Zionists). The people responsible for Rabin's assassination should be executed (and that would include the provocateur, as well as those who commanded him).
A man with one watch knows what time it is.
A man with two watches is never sure.
- Segal's Law
Technology as a magickal tool for business and government tradecraft is overrated. How many newspapers around the world today contained a classified ad saying only 'In thanks to St. Jude for favors rendered' or 'Write the things which thou hast seen and the things that are, and the things which shall be hereafter'? Or something similar... something simple. I've been told that Russia still uses vacuum tube technology for their critical computing and radio systems. They also use typewriters, carbon copies, and couriers for their most important information. The Rothschild banks (at least in Europe) don't keep their customers' accounts in any electronic form (at least they didn't in 2008). How many people today have a hard-copy of their critical and important information? Very few. A big mistake.
On Wed, Nov 18, 2015 at 5:59 PM, doug <douglasrankine2001@xxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:douglasrankine2001@xxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
Dear Colleagues,
Chien Fume kindly raised the item in a recent posting, regarding
terrorist organisations using the likes of PS4 to communicate and
transmit instructions between its leadership and its cells in the
recent Paris shootings and bombings. He mentioned a document from
Edward Snowden and I notice that a number of newspapers have also
raised the subject. However, I have been unable to find any
research papers on the subject.
I am rather intrigued by this, as GCHQ is now to employ, at a UK
taxpayers expense of £2 billion, an extra 1900 members of staff to
become expert gamers so that the terrorists can be stopped in
their tracks. (What a fun time we live in... :-)). We have come
a long way from the good old days of board games such as
Diplomacy...:-).
I know that Bletchley, during World War 2 used transactional
analysis as a major part of its code-breaking exercises, providing
cracks derived from where they emanated, when they were sent, to
whom and how long they were, their length and frequency both in
terms of how often and on what wavelength, and the ability to
decipher some of the content, from the likes of weather messages
to UBoats etc; so the subject is not new.
I am not familiar with internet gaming and just wondered if
terrorist organisations, rather than using sophisticated
intelligence and cryptograpy actually use steganography perhaps,
or some kind of argot in the exchange tokens or bitcoins or via
networks set up under the guise of playing a game on PS4 and such
like. With the increasing sophistication and mass surveillance
developing on the internet, including the amassing of huge amounts
of metadata; then it is obvious that those who wish to communicate
in secret will develop all sorts of new methods and ways of
passing on information, rather than using TOR, or Tails or
encryption of various kinds and strengths.
Anyone point my nose to any research into this area?
ATB
Dougie.
