anonymous reveals secret pervasive US surveillance program

[Sasha]

Stratfor emails reveal secret, widespread TrapWire surveillance system

Published: 10 August, 2012, 11:23
Edited: 11 August, 2012, 01:35


http://rt.com/files/usa/news/stratfor-trapwire-abraxas-wikileaks-313/afp-valery-photo-hache.n.jpg

AFP Photo / Valery Hache

TRENDS: Stratforgate (http://rt.com/trends/stratfor-email-wikileaks-anonymous/)



Former senior intelligence officials have created a detailed surveillance system more accurate than modern facial recognition technology — and have installed it across the US under the radar of most Americans, according to emails hacked by Anonymous.
Every few seconds, data picked up at surveillance points in major cities and landmarks across the United States are recorded digitally on the spot, then encrypted and instantaneously delivered to a fortified central database center at an undisclosed location to be aggregated with other intelligence. It’s part of a program called TrapWire and it's the brainchild of the Abraxas, a Northern Virginia company staffed with elite from America’s intelligence community. The employee roster at Arbaxas reads like a who’s who of agents once with the Pentagon (http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=19103971&authType=OPENLINK&authToken=2Mog&locale=en_US&srchid=5455d9d7-ccb8-4bcb-9b67-64873cf4785a-0&srchindex=2&srchtotal=69&goback=%2Efps_PBCK_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_265884_*1_ Y_*1_*1_*1_false_1_R_*1_*51_*1_*51_true_*1_*2_*2_* 2_*2_*2_265884_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2 _*2_*2&pvs=ps&trk=pp_profile_name_link&_mSplash=1), CIA (http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=27325872&authType=OUT_OF_NETWORK&authToken=7DUb&locale=en_US&srchid=5455d9d7-ccb8-4bcb-9b67-64873cf4785a-0&srchindex=11&srchtotal=69&goback=%2Efps_PBCK_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_265884_*1_ Y_*1_*1_*1_false_2_R_*1_*51_*1_*51_true_CC%2CN%2CG %2CI%2CPC%2CED%2CL%2CFG%2CTE%2CFA%2CSE%2CP%2CCS%2C F%2CDR_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_265884_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_ *2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2&pvs=ps&trk=pp_profile_name_link&_mSplash=1) and other (http://www.linkedin.com/search/fpsearch?companyId=265884&sortCriteria=R&keepFacets=&facet_CC=265884&_mSplash=1#facets=companyId%3D265884%26searchLocat ionType%3DY%26keepFacets%3DkeepFacets%26facet_CC%3 D265884%26viewCriteria%3D1%26sortCriteria%3DR%26fa cetsOrder%3DCC%252CN%252CG%252CI%252CPC%252CED%252 CL%252CFG%252CTE%252CFA%252CSE%252CP%252CCS%252CF% 252CDR%26page_num%3D1%26openFacets%3DCC%252CN%252C G) government entities according to their public LinkedIn profiles, and the corporation's ties are assumed to go deeper than even documented.
The details on Abraxas and, to an even greater extent TrapWire, are scarce, however, and not without reason. For a program touted as a tool to thwart terrorism and monitor activity meant to be under wraps, its understandable that Abraxas would want the program’s public presence to be relatively limited. But thanks to last year’s hack of the Strategic Forecasting intelligence agency, or Stratfor, all of that is quickly changing.
Hacktivists aligned with the loose-knit Anonymous collective took credit for hacking (http://rt.com/usa/news/anonymous-stratfor-barrett-firm-777/) Stratfor on Christmas Eve, 2011, in turn collecting what they claimed to be more than five million emails from within the company. WikiLeaks began releasing (http://www.rt.com/news/wikileaks-straftof-email-dump-273/) those emails as the Global Intelligence Files (GIF) earlier this year and, of those, several discussing the implementing of TrapWire in public spaces across the country were circulated on the Web this week after security researcher Justin Ferguson (http://privatepaste.com/f9dd332518/weqwewqesada) brought attention to the matter. At the same time, however, WikiLeaks was relentlessly assaulted by a barrage of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, crippling (http://rt.com/usa/news/wikileaks-attacks-antileaks-group-293/) the whistleblower site and its mirrors, significantly cutting short the number of people who would otherwise have unfettered access to the emails.
On Wednesday, an administrator for the WikiLeaks Twitter account wrote that the site suspected that the motivation for the attacks could be that particularly sensitive Stratfor emails were about to be exposed. A hacker group called AntiLeaks soon after took credit for the assaults on WikiLeaks and mirrors of their content, equating the offensive as a protest against editor Julian Assange, “the head of a new breed of terrorist.” As those Stratfor files on TrapWire make their rounds online, though, talk of terrorism is only just beginning.
Mr. Ferguson and others have mirrored what are believed to be most recently-released Global Intelligence Files on external sites, but the original documents uploaded to WikiLeaks have been at times unavailable this week due to the continuing DDoS attacks. Late Thursday and early Friday this week, the GIF mirrors continues to go offline due to what is presumably more DDoS assaults. Australian activist Asher Wolf wrote (https://twitter.com/Asher_Wolf/status/233715529955811328) on Twitter that the DDoS attacks flooding the servers of WikiLeaks supporter sites were reported to be dropping upwards of 40 gigabits of traffic per second. On Friday, WikiLeaks tweeted (https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/233974141940797440)that their own site was sustaining attacks of 10 Gb/second, adding (https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/233975826620743680), "Whoever is running it controls thousands of machines or is able to simulate them."

According to a press release (pdf (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CF0QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.trapwire.com%2FSafeHarbor.pdf&ei=rqgkUJT4Loe60QHEpYHIDA&usg=AFQjCNEM7La-WMPlol0ygvN3FxKmoIt_ow&sig2=OERy_0xRjCP8R4Qe6XMK3g)) dated June 6, 2012, TrapWire is “designed to provide a simple yet powerful means of collecting and recording suspicious activity reports.” A system of interconnected nodes spot anything considered suspect and then input it into the system to be "analyzed and compared with data entered from other areas within a network for the purpose of identifying patterns of behavior that are indicative of pre-attack planning.”
In a 2009 email (http://privatepaste.com/7add918e4c/trapwireBehaviorPatternsToIdentifySurveillance) included in the Anonymous leak, Stratfor Vice President for Intelligence Fred Burton is alleged to write, “TrapWire is a technology solution predicated upon behavior patterns in red zones to identify surveillance. It helps you connect the dots over time and distance.” Burton formerly served with the US Diplomatic Security Service, and Abraxas’ staff includes other security experts with experience in and out of the Armed Forces.
What is believed to be a partnering agreement included in the Stratfor files from August 13, 2009 indicates that they signed a contract with Abraxas to provide them with analysis and reports of their TrapWire system (pdf (https://anonfiles.com/file/1c64a0f12dc7b44db47a18b4ca0145df)).
“Suspicious activity reports from all facilities on the TrapWire network are aggregated in a central database and run through a rules engine that searches for patterns indicative of terrorist surveillance operations and other attack preparations,” Crime and Justice International magazine explains in a 2006 article on the program, one of the few publically circulated on the Abraxas product (pdf (http://www.cjimagazine.com/archives_PDF/CJI_Magazine_Archive_2006_11-12.pdf)). “Any patterns detected – links among individuals, vehicles or activities – will be reported back to each affected facility. This information can also be shared with law enforcement organizations, enabling them to begin investigations into the suspected surveillance cell.”
In a 2005 interview (http://www.nvtc.org/tec/RichardHelms.php) with The Entrepreneur Center, Abraxas founder Richard “Hollis” Helms said his signature product “can collect information about people and vehicles that is more accurate than facial recognition, draw patterns, and do threat assessments of areas that may be under observation from terrorists.” He calls it “a proprietary technology designed to protect critical national infrastructure from a terrorist attack by detecting the pre-attack activities of the terrorist and enabling law enforcement to investigate and engage the terrorist long before an attack is executed,” and that, “The beauty of it is that we can protect an infinite number of facilities just as efficiently as we can one and we push information out to local law authorities automatically.”
An internal email from early 2011 included in the Global Intelligence Files has Stratfor’s Burton allegedly saying (http://privatepaste.com/04662a436d/trapwireFacialRecognitionOrTrapwire) the program can be used to “[walk] back and track the suspects from the get go w/facial recognition software.”
Since its inception, TrapWire has been implemented in most major American cities at selected high value targets (HVTs) and has appeared abroad as well. The iWatch (http://www.capflyer.com/article/20110722/NEWS10/110729975/protecting-our-ranks-by-keeping-our-eyes-on-the-lookout) monitoring system adopted by the Los Angeles Police Department (pdf (http://file.lacounty.gov/bc/q3_2007/cms1_074025.pdf)) works in conjunction with TrapWire, as does the District of Columbia (http://www.trapwire.com/lanier-senate-hearing.htm) and the "See Something, Say Something" program conducted by law enforcement in New York City (http://www.trapwire.com/trapwire.html), which had 500 surveillance cameras (http://pastebin.com/fwhJENUt) linked to the system in 2010. Private properties including Las Vegas (http://www.trapwire.com/trapwire.html), Nevada casinos (http://www.emergencymgmt.com/safety/Las-Vegas-Fusion-Center-Public-Private-Collaboration-052411.html?page=2&) have subscribed to the system. The State of Texas reportedly (http://privatepaste.com/04eaef4343/trapwireEveryHVTUSCANUK) spent half a million dollars with an additional annual licensing fee of $150,000 to employ TrapWire, and the Pentagon (http://privatepaste.com/febefa287f/trapwirePentagonArmyUSMCNavy) and other military facilities have allegedly signed on as well.
In one email from 2010 leaked by Anonymous, Stratfor’s Fred Burton allegedly writes (http://privatepaste.com/04eaef4343/trapwireEveryHVTUSCANUK), “God Bless America. Now they have EVERY major HVT in CONUS, the UK, Canada, Vegas, Los Angeles, NYC as clients.” Files on USASpending.gov (http://usaspending.gov/explore?tab=By%2BPrime%2BAwardee&fiscal_year=all&typeofview=transactions&contractorid=619014728&contractorname=ABRAXAS+APPLICATIONS%2C+INC.#spendi ng_contracts) reveal that the US Department of Homeland Security and Department of Defense together awarded Abraxas and TrapWire more than one million dollars in only the past eleven months.
News of the widespread and largely secretive installation of TrapWire comes amidst a federal witch-hunt to crack down on leaks escaping Washington and at attempt to prosecute whistleblowers. Thomas Drake, a former agent with the NSA, has recently spoken openly about the government’s Trailblazer Project that was used to monitor private communication, and was charged under the Espionage Act for coming forth. Separately, former NSA tech director William Binney and others once with the agency have made claims in recent weeks that the feds have dossiers on every American, an allegation NSA Chief Keith Alexander dismissed during a speech at Def-Con last month in Vegas.
http://rt.com/usa/news/stratfor-trapwire-abraxas-wikileaks-313/

[x-punk]

I think most people would have seen that the facial recognition system was almost inevitable given the rise of surveillance systems in towns and cities. That would have been bad enough but this 'trapwire' system goes far further than that and is really worrying. Scanning and monitoring people with the data getting fed into a piece of software which determines if you are a threat or not.

This system, which will only get more advanced as technology progresses, could be turned to any purpose the state requires. Drop a wrapper in the town and next day a littering fine comes through the post.

Also, if this article is true, then they have just installed this system without telling anyone. I guess they can now legally do things like this because of the anti-terror laws.

I would like to say this looks like the thin end of the wedge but we are already up to thick part of it. A real Orwellian surveillance state.

Its also really worrying how many of these surveillance cameras are around now. The uk is one of the most heavily monitored countries and when walking through town they are everywhere in the town centre areas. Most people dont notice them too much because they are located fairly high up but if you look up and scan around there are loads of them to be found.

[Sasha]

TrapWire tied to White House, Scotland Yard, MI5 and others, claims hacked Stratfor email

Get short URL (http://rt.com/usa/news/trapwire-stratfor-email-burton-786/)
email story to a friend (http://rt.com/emailstory/?doc_id=98786&type_doc=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Frt.com%2Fusa%2Fnews%2Ftrapwir e-stratfor-email-burton-786%2F) print version (http://rt.com/usa/news/trapwire-stratfor-email-burton-786/print/)
Published: 16 August, 2012, 00:32


http://rt.com/files/usa/news/trapwire-stratfor-email-burton-786/afp-mario-photo-tama.n.jpg

AFP Photo / Mario Tama

TRENDS: Stratforgate (http://rt.com/trends/stratfor-email-wikileaks-anonymous/)
TAGS: USA (http://rt.com/tags/usa/), Anonymous (http://rt.com/tags/anonymous/), Security (http://rt.com/tags/security/), CIA (http://rt.com/tags/cia/)

An email hacked from Stratfor that discusses the use of the TrapWire surveillance system has been decrypted, revealing insider claims that the widespread spy program was adopted by the White House, Scotland Yard, Canadian authorities and others.
When WikiLeaks published a trove of correspondence last week reported to be from the servers of Strategic Forecasting, or Stratfor, included in the data dump was at least one email (http://wl.wikileaks-press.org/gifiles/docs/378320_re-trapwire-tw-.html)that initially appeared as pure gibberish. The communiqué, sent from Stratfor Vice President of Intelligence Fred Burton to seven other staffers within the private firm, has now been decoded (http://pastebin.com/DNshffNt), however, and its content suggests that the TrapWire surveillance program was put into the hands of the most elite and powerful governments and law enforcement agencies in the entire world.
The email, dated September 23, 2010, includes a string of correspondence between Burton and more than half-a-dozen colleagues exchanging information for a full day about how Stratfor is distributing feeds from its TrapWire system and with whom. Although encoded, the emails are encrypted in Base64 format, which can easily be decoded online (http://www.base64decode.org/). A decoded copy has also been uploaded to the Web by hacktivists aligned with Anonymous.
“Chatted with Mike M, the TW [TrapWire] operator and former CIA crony,” Burton writes in the first email included in the encrypted chain. “He said our feed was taking up 25% of the TW screens inside the client command posts and that the feedback they are getting is that the info being pushed in is more geo-pol centered vice tactical-security.”
“How can we fix? Who is auditing what is going in the pipe?” Burton asks his cohorts.
Stratfor is reported to have had a contract directly with the developers of TrapWire that allowed them a substantial cut of their profits in exchange for their assistance in promoting their product to high-ranked customers, other emails published by Wikileaks as part of the Global Intelligence Files suggest. One file included in the trove, a partnering agreement between Stratfor and TrapWire’s parent group, Abraxas, provides Burton and company with an 8 percent referral fee for any businesses they help sign on to the surveillance system [pdf (http://wl.wikileaks-press.org/gifiles/attach/32/32513_20111027132322238.pdf)].

The first reply to the encrypted Burton email is from Beth Bronder, whose public LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/pub/beth-bronder/18/ba2/348?_mSplash=1)profile documents her as serving as the senior vice president of government & corporate solutions at Stratfor until November of that year. She was only at the agency for ten months before moving to Bloomberg Government and then the CQ – Roll Call Group, where she is listed as an employee today.
According to the decrypted emails, Bronder says that Stratfor is on top of trying to fix the feed being streamed to TrapWire clients in order to make it more “security focused” per his superior’s suggestion, but when Burton responds with the names of customers involved in the surveillance program, it is no wonder why Stratfor was so eager to entice their buyers with the best material available.
“This audience is the who's who of the CT world,” the email from Burton reads, referring to counterterrorism. “TW has RCMP, MI5, Scotland Yard SO15, USSS White House and PPD, LAPD, NYPD, Las Vegas PD and Fusion, Seattle PD, SEA-TAC…etc.”
Since breaking (http://rt.com/usa/news/stratfor-trapwire-abraxas-wikileaks-313/)the news of TrapWire last week, the science-fiction-like surveillance system has slowly but surely penetrated the mainstream media, although few agencies have responded to the attention by addressing their connection with TrapWire. Earlier this week, though, New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne flatly refuted (http://rt.com/usa/news/trapwire-surveillance-abraxas-times-671/)on behalf of the NYPD to the New York Times, “We don’t use TrapWire.” According to Burton’s claim, however, the NYPD was indeed a customer as of September 2010, as were the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, British intelligence and the US Secret Service and White House.
Other information collected in the last week have also suggested that the NYPD was in cahoots with TrapWire, but no correspondence is believed to have been published linking the surveillance system with the Executive Branch of the United States or any agencies in Canada. Although an unencrypted email (http://privatepaste.com/04eaef4343/trapwireEveryHVTUSCANUK)from Burton that was circulated by hacktivists last week includes the claim that TrapWire was installed on the site of every major high-value target in the continental US, UK and Canada, no other correspondence is thought to have put these specific agencies in direct connection to TrapWire.
In the next line, Burton explains that intelligence caught by TrapWire was being fed directly to these high-profile customers, bypassing any complication that could arise by a more bureaucratic distribution. He even acknowledges that problems could be put in play if they relied on sending their surveillance to the US Department of Homeland Security or lesser government agencies.
“Our materials are on their screens INSIDE the walls,” Burton writes. “We circumvent the dysfunctional DHS/DC by having our info already on their 24x7 screen.”
“We need to laser focus pieces to capture their attn. Maybe even a video,” Burton adds. “Trust me, the agents and cops watching the TW feed WANT something interesting to see.”
In a 2005 interview (http://www.nvtc.org/tec/RichardHelms.php)with The Entrepreneur Center, Richard “Hollis” Helms, co-founder of TrapWire developers Abraxas, says the system “can collect information about people and vehicles that is more accurate than facial recognition, draw patterns, and do threat assessments of areas that may be under observation from terrorists.” He calls it “a proprietary technology designed to protect critical national infrastructure from a terrorist attack by detecting the pre-attack activities of the terrorist and enabling law enforcement to investigate and engage the terrorist long before an attack is executed,” and that, “The beauty of it is that we can protect an infinite number of facilities just as efficiently as we can one and we push information out to local law authorities automatically.”
In a unencrypted email from September 26, Burton writes (http://dazzlepod.com/gifiles/1569288/)that the “NYPD has done what no US Govt Agency has been able to do” in the counterterrorism arena because of TrapWire.”
Since the TrapWire scandal broke, Stratfor has kept mum on the allegations that they were directly affiliated with a widespread, international surveillance program, and are probably inclined to follow the tactic proposed by the head of the security firm earlier this year. In February, Stratfor CEO and founder George Friedman addressed (http://www.stratfor.com/hacking-news)the hack credited to Anonymous, saying, “Some of the emails may be forged or altered to include inaccuracies,” but, also, “Some may be authentic.”
“We will not validate either, nor will we explain the thinking that went into them. Having had our property stolen, we will not be victimized twice by submitting to questions about them,” Friedman said.


source: http://rt.com/usa/news/trapwire-stratfor-email-burton-786/