Newsweek: National Security Agency Drafts 'Memoranda of Understanding' To Work With FBI in the U.S.;

NEWSWEEK This is the cover for the December 13 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, December 6 ). Newsweek looks at last week's WTO meetings in Seattle and the new face of protests in the U.S. There are also reports on the Internet "Brain Drain" and its effects on main stream businesses, troubles at the National Security Agency behind the "techno-curve," rapper Jay Z's arrest after last week's stabbing of a record executive, Columbine principal speaks about his school's recovery from last spring's shooting rampage and the mystery surrounding the death of billionaire Edmond Safra. (PRNewsFoto)[KI] NEW YORK, NY USA 12/04/1999

May Be Falling Behind the Techno-Curve in Surveillance Techniques

NEW YORK, Dec. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Security Agency is now drafting "memoranda of understanding" to clarify ways in which it can help the FBI track terrorists and criminals in the United States, territory in which it is generally off-limits, Newsweek has learned. The FBI, never known for its technical know-how, welcomes the help from the high-tech NSA, but some senators are uneasy about letting the NSA eavesdrop more in the United States, report Washington Correspondent Gregory Vistica and Assistant Managing Editor Evan Thomas in the current issue of Newsweek. (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19991204/HSSA003 ) While a secret court must approve any national-security wiretaps on U.S. citizens, there is still the risk of abuse. Under pressure to perform better, the NSA and CIA could overreach. Under the existing rules, the NSA and CIA are supposed to spy on foreign threats while the FBI tends to crime at home. But the Internet has blurred boundaries, and as the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993 demonstrated, foreign terrorists have targeted the United States. But the NSA may be losing its grip on the technology front. "The agency has got to make some changes," because "by standing still, we are going to fall behind very quickly," concedes Air Force Lt. Gen. Mike Hayden, the new chief of the NSA, in an interview with Newsweek. The old tools, such as spy satellites and global-listening stations to pick up broadcast transmissions and massive computers to sort and decipher them, are relatively ineffective on the new Info Highway. The agency's problems have already been costly. The intelligence community's failure to predict that India would test a nuclear weapon in 1998 suggests that the NSA is becoming hard of hearing. Some intelligence experts speculate that Washington has had difficulty finding its most-wanted terrorist, Osama bin Laden, because Islamic extremists use European-made encrypted mobile phones, reports Newsweek in the December 13 issue (on newsstands Monday, December 6).

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NSA says it will not spy on Americans

Updated 7:38 PM ET December 6, 1999

By Tabassum Zakaria

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The National Security Agency, which uses spy satellites and foreign listening posts to monitor threats to U.S. security, denied Monday that it intended to begin spying on Americans at home.

Newsweek magazine in its Dec. 13 issue said the NSA was drafting a memorandum of understanding to clarify ways in which it could help the FBI track terrorists and criminals in the United States.

"Under Executive Order, NSA is authorized to provide technical assistance to law enforcement," a statement from the agency said. "Any assistance NSA provides is performed in accordance with federal law and regulations."

The NSA and CIA are supposed to operate overseas and not spy on Americans domestically, while the FBI investigates federal crimes inside the United States.

The Newsweek article said there was a new alliance between the NSA and FBI and posed the question: "In their zeal, will the crime-fighters and electronic sleuths illegally spy on U.S. citizens?"

But Judith Emmel, NSA spokeswoman, said the intelligence agency would not be snooping on Americans in the United States.

"The National Security Agency operates in strict accordance with U.S. laws and regulations in protecting the privacy rights of U.S. persons," she said. "Its activities are conducted with the highest constitutional, legal and ethical standards."

The Newsweek article created a stir among some observers, who saw any link between the NSA and FBI on domestic issues as opening the door to possible infringement of individual rights to privacy.

Harvey Kushner, chair of the criminal justice department at Long Island University, said if the NSA helped the FBI track terrorists in the United States it would set "a dangerous precedent" and violate the agency's mission.

"Do we really want the NSA to be spying on U.S. citizens?" Kushner said in a statement reacting to the magazine article.

"Where will it stop? American public opinion over the years has overwhelmingly spoken against covert and clandestine agencies mucking around in domestic affairs," he said.

One intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, after making checks expressed lack of knowledge of the memorandum of understanding that Newsweek referred to in its article.

-- uh oh (@ .), December 06, 1999

Answers

Is Strong Encryption the answer...oh,say keys 10800 bits wide??

-- Z (Z@Z.Z), December 06, 1999.

Strong encryption is part of the answer. Look up steganography too. I hope I spelled it correctly. Bigger keys help 1024 bits should hold up for a while if the algorythm is solid. DES tripple encryption using a long key is pretty good. Some say PGP is pretty good. I have my doubts about PGP.

There are clauses in NSA's charter that allow them to be put into service by the Attorney General, whether they want that or not. I don't know about secret court approval or any of that.

For the most part I believe the 'fort' is mostly benign, unless you get on their bad side. There are so many levels of funding between NSA and the lower ranks that it is practically impossible for them to track their own budget, let alone for Congress to actually track it themselves. Since the budget is 'black' as well, knowing what operations they actually funded is damn near impossible. Because so much of their money flows to Defense Contractors or the Defense Department and thence to Contractors... well you get the idea.

Half the time when one is working on a 'black' project they only know about the next level of funding. You never know who funded it for sure. You never know who approved it (as an operation) for sure. You only know what you are supposed to do yourself.

If you are a contractor who is also deniable... your but is right out there in the wind with little on no assurance that you are gonna get to come home when you are done.

It sucks.

-- (...@.......), December 06, 1999.

Yawn, these guys just think we'll believe them because they say they won't do it (but then again, as one tycoon once said "never underestimate the stupidity of the american public", so may be they are on to a winning strategy).

http://www.aclu.org/echelonwatch/index.html http://www.aclu.org/echelonwatch/echfaq3.htm http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-11/13/066l-111399-idx.ht ml http://www.infowars.com/martiallaw.html

-- Interested Spectator (is@aol.net), December 06, 1999.

Sorry, mixed up the URLs a bit in the last post. Here they are again:

http://www.aclu.org/echelonwatch/index.html

http://www.aclu.org/echelonwatch/echfaq3.htm http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-11/13/066l-111399-idx.ht ml

http://www.infowars.com/martiallaw.html

-- Interested Spectator (is@aol.net), December 06, 1999.