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Riga Council meeting: EU to step up War on Terror

By on January 23, 2015 in Big Brother, EU, Privacy, surveillance, US, War on Terror

UK Prime Minister David Cameron as well as EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator Gilles de Kerchove have floated the idea that governments should be able to access all our communications–including encrypted information.

This would not only have privacy implications. The practical effects and problems would be monumental.

A ban on encryption is only one of many ideas and suggestions that will be on the agenda at the EU justice and home affairs ministers meeting in Riga next week.

PC World reports…

Next week’s EU ministerial meeting will be an informal one behind closed doors, where no formal decisions will be made. The ministers will discuss broadly how to implement all the counter terrorism measures that have been discussed in the last month, the Commission official said, adding that in addition to De Kerchove’s advice, ministers will also take into account suggestions made by the Commission and EU member states.

The fact that this is an “informal” meeting is cause for vigilance. This way the ministers can initiate projects and proposals under the radar.

Closed doors will also be a perfect opportunity for them to discuss how to “harmonize” EU and U.S. antiterror legislation. (In preparation for the EU and U.S. security summit in February.)

All eyes on Riga, next Thursday.

/ HAX

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Barrett Brown sentenced today: 63 months in prison

By on January 22, 2015 in Barret Brown, Big Brother, Democracy, Hacktivism, US

After a month long delay, today U.S. journalist Barrett Brown was sentenced to 63 months in prison. He should be released in the spring of 2017.

This is a disappointment as there where hopes that he would be released today, after time served.

Barret Brown is the journalist who used material obtained by the Anonymous network to start an investigative project about outsourcing of U.S. intelligence operations to private contractors: Project PM.

He was supposed to be sentenced back in December last year, but there was a delay until today. Here you can read the blog post I wrote about the case back then.

And here you can read the speech Brown gave in court today.

This is not the rule of law, Your Honor, it is the rule of Law Enforcement, and it is very dangerous.

This is a very disturbing affair–with far reaching implications for journalism and transparency. It is a part of a pattern where the U.S. Government is hunting down journalists, to prevent them from exposing the truth.

/ HAX

Update:

After receiving his sentence Barrett Brown released the following statement:

“Good news! — The U.S. government decided today that because I did such a good job investigating the cyber-industrial complex, they’re now going to send me to investigate the prison-industrial complex. For the next 35 months, I’ll be provided with free food, clothes, and housing as I seek to expose wrongdgoing by Bureau of Prisons officials and staff and otherwise report on news and culture in the world’s greatest prison system. I want to thank the Department of Justice for having put so much time and energy into advocating on my behalf; rather than holding a grudge against me for the two years of work I put into in bringing attention to a DOJ-linked campaign to harass and discredit journalists like Glenn Greenwald, the agency instead labored tirelessly to ensure that I received this very prestigious assignment. — Wish me luck!”

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What Snowden exposed was already known. But nobody cared.

By on January 6, 2015 in Big Brother, Democracy, EU, Hacktivism, NSA & Snowden, surveillance

In the blog post below, you can see a video from the 31c3 conference with Caspar Bowden. In the second part of his speech, he describes how he warned about specific mass surveillance issues long before Edward Snowden came along.

The Snowden files do, in essence, confirm everything Bowden warned us about.

The thing is–at the time, nobody cared.

The European Commission and the European Parliament was informed. But people didn’t take in the information. The information lay open for the media. But no journalists bothered. Bowden explained his findings for various net activist and civil rights groups–but nothing happened.

And I must admit that prior to the Snowden revelations, I my self had no idea that this information existed–even though I used to work in the European Parliament. I’m very interested in these issues, but I didn’t know what I didn’t know.

This points to an information and communication problem. Most of what’s going on is out there. You just have to know what to look for. And whom to listen to.

An important component in internet and civil rights activism is to simply take what’s already out there and make it understandable, to serve it up in digestible pieces. And to listen to the real experts, to find the golden nuggets in their extensive research material.

To hack politics to win, you must know. And you must be right. That is within reach–because politicians and bureaucrats often doesn’t care enough to do their homework.

/ HAX

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NSA and the God effect

By on December 23, 2014 in Big Brother, Big Government, Democracy, surveillance

In a way, it’s strange that governments are so secretive about mass surveillance.

For thousands of years religion has been used to control peoples behaviour. The notion of an omnipresent, all-seeing, all-knowing entity has been used to make people follow different sets of rules.

He knows if you have been bad. So you better behave.

The same can be said about blanket mass surveillance. If you break the rules, government might know–and go after you. So you better co-operate, participate and obey.

Obviously, this has a downside. It will kill a free and open conversation, it will dampen opposition, it will discourage protests and it will deter free and investigative journalism. It will lead to self-censorship and it will foster a nation of spineless serfs.

So… governments ought to love that the cat is out of the bag.

/ HAX

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Friend or foe in the surveillance state?

By on December 19, 2014 in Big Brother, NSA & Snowden, surveillance, Sweden

In Norway and Sweden, false mobile telephone base stations of unknown origin have been discovered in government quarters. In both cases the media, not the authorities, has been behind the discovery.

The question is who? And why?

The prime suspect is Russia. Lately, the country has been military active in the Scandinavian neighbourhood. And what good are military provocations, if you cannot get feedback about the reactions?

Another possibility is the US and the NSA. If they can listen in on German politicians–why not Norwegian and Swedish ones?

Then there is a chilling possibility that national intelligence organisations are spying on their own governments. (The Swedish police has got the equipment to set up false base stations. Probably the Norwegian has, as well.)

These days it’s not a given who is friend or foe.

/ HAX

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16 December: Sentencing in the Barrett Brown Case

By on December 16, 2014 in Barret Brown, Big Brother, Big Business, Big Government, Democracy, Hacktivism, US, Wikileaks

Today–Tuesday December 16–a Dallas federal court will deliver its sentence in the Barrett Brown case. It all started with copy-pasting a link.

Writer, journalist and hacktivist Barrett Brown was the leading force in Project PM–a journalistic project scrutinizing private intelligence and security firms running outsourced contracts for the US Government.

The material came from a data dump retrieved by hackers said to belong to the Anonymous network. Even though Brown did not take part in this operation himself, he had access to the site where the information was stored.

His problems started when he copy-pasted a link to this site to Project PM. As the data dump contained all sorts of information (e.g. credit card information) it was possible for the authorities to go after him. From the Free Barret Brown website…

“Having previously been raided by the FBI on March 6, 2012 and not arrested or charged, on September 12, 2012 Barrett Brown was again raided and this time arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation while he was online participating in a Tinychat session. He was subsequently denied bail and detained without charge and adequate medical treatment for over two weeks while in the custody of US Marshals. In the first week of October 2012, he was finally indicted on three counts, related to alleged activities or postings on popular websites such as Twitter and YouTube.”

“On December 4, 2012 Barrett was indicted by a federal grand jury on twelve additional counts related to data from the Stratfor breach. Despite his lack of direct involvement in the operation and stated opposition to it, he faces these charges simply for allegedly pasting a hyperlink online. On January 23rd, 2013 he was indicted a third time on two more counts, relating to the March 2012 FBI raid(s) on his apartment and his mother’s house.”

After that, everything was blown out of proportion. The Daily Beast reports…

“The government’s actions in this case have been extreme. Prosecutors in the Northern District of Texas have written that Brown, along with the activist group Anonymous, sought to overthrow the U.S. government. They tried to seize funds that were raised for his legal defense. They obtained a gag order against the defendant and his lawyers restricting what they could say about the case for several months. They sought to identify contributors to a website where Brown and others dissected leaks and researched shady links between intelligence contractors and governments. Perhaps most egregious of all, they pursued a case against Brown’s mother, who was forced to plead guilty to a misdemeanor related to a separate FBI raid on her home, resulting in six months probation and a $1,000 fine.”

This far into the case, Brown faced a life time prison sentence and accepted a plea agreement.

Dallas Morning News describes what happened next…

“But the U.S. attorney’s office asked Lindsay to drop those charges in March. The charges, which were dismissed, accused Brown of trafficking in stolen data and aggravated identity theft.”

“The most serious charge remaining against Brown was the one involving threats to the FBI agents. Brown made some of the expletive-laced threats in a YouTube video he posted in which he said he would shoot any federal agents who came for him. Brown also said in a video that he would ruin one FBI agent’s life and look into his kids.”

Today we will know the outcome of this affair. Prosecutors seek a 8.5 year prison sentence. And the defence is going for time served.

Governments (not only the US Government) outsourcing intelligence and security operations to private companies is a problem–as it withdraws information about what is going on from democratic oversight.

The Barrett Brown case also is a matter of freedom of the press.

In the wake of the Snowden files exposing NSA mass surveillance, one should be extra vigilant. From the Project PM we already have had a glimpse of what is going on. For instance private US intelligence contractors have been involved in secret operations to discredit and damage Wikileaks and its editor in chief Julian Assange.

On a tragic side note–renowned US national security journalist Michael Hastings was about to dig deeper into the Project PM material (and the Barrett Brown case)–when he reportedly found himself being investigated by the FBI. Unfortunately Hastings died when his car exploded in a single car crash in Los Angeles, in the early morning hours of June 18, 2013.

This really is an intriguing and disturbing affair.

Free Barrett Brown | Project PM | Barrett Brown on Wikipedia

/ HAX
(proud contributor to the Barret Brown defense fund)

Some additional links:
Peter Ludlow: Barrett Brown case smacks of oppression »
Sentencing Looms for Barrett Brown, Advocate for “Anonymous” »
Why everyone should care about journalist Barrett Brown’s sentencing today »
Journalist Barrett Brown Faces Sentencing on Tuesday After Two Years Behind Bars »

Update: Barrett Brown sentencing delayed until January 22, 2015 »

Update 2: The Intercept–The Latest Twist in the Bizarre Prosecution of Barrett Brown »

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Mass surveillance, power and control

By on December 13, 2014 in Big Brother, Big Government, Democracy, surveillance

There seems to be an irreversible flow of power–from the people to the government.

It happens all over the world, on all levels. In the EU there is also a flow of power from member states to Bussels. And power moves from democratic institutions to non-elected officials and bureaucrats.

Whilst this is a general problem–blanket mass surveillance makes it even more severe. It accentuates and accelerates the ongoing power shift.

Politics is the business of power. In principle, no one in a leading political position would be there unless he or she is willing to fight and outmaneuver others. Politicians are appointed by a method of selection by domination that rewards characteristics that are disagreeable, objectionable and dangerous. The same goes for career bureaucrats and most high functionaries.

Giving such people a tool like mass surveillance is unwise. They will use it for their own purposes. Because they can.

This is not about fighting terrorism or criminals. It’s all about power. And it works in two different ways.

The first is because information is power: Controlling and tapping into the flow of information is a source of power in it self.

The second is control: Mass surveillance is there to make sure that people obey. To identify and to stifle dissent. To protect the people in power from the general public. In the name of some supposed “national interest”.

This is not how things are supposed to be in a democracy.

/ HAX

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