Its important to remember that Bulk Data Collection is just one aspect of the sprawling security state that he been revealed over the course of the Snowden leaks. Image credit: PM Cheung. Anyways, this list of NSA capabilities and whistleblower statements is important and might offer some insights into the reasons that actual reform of the NSA is unlikely to come from within. The NSA/GCHQ can…

• Collect the domestic meta-data of both parties in a phone-call. Source
• Set up fake internet cafes to steal data. Source
• Has intercepted the phone calls of at least 35 world leaders, including allies such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel.Source
• Can tap into the underwater fiber-optic cables that carry a majority of the world’s internet traffic. Source
• Tracks communications within media institutions such as Al Jazeera. Source
• Has ‘bugged’ the United Nations headquarters. Source
• Has set up a financial database to track international banking and credit card transactions. Source
• Collects and stores over 200 million domestic and foreign text messages each day. Source
• Collects and has real-time access to browsing history, email, and social media activity. To gain access, an analyst simply needs to fill out an on-screen form with a broad justification for the search that is not reviewed by any court or NSA personnel. Source

“I, sitting at my desk, could wiretap anyone, from you or your accountant, to a federal judge or even the president, if I had a personal email”. – Edward Snowden

• Creates maps of the social networks of United States citizens. Source
• Has access to smartphone app data. Source
• Uses spies in embassies to collect data, often by setting up ‘listening stations’ on the roofs of buildings. Source
• Uses fake LinkedIn profiles and other doctored web pages to secretly install surveillance software in unwitting companies and individuals. Source
• Tracks reservations at upscale hotels. Source
• Has intercepted the talking-points of world leaders before meetings with Barack Obama. Source
• Can crack encryption codes on cellphones. Source
• Has implanted software on over 100,000 computers worldwide allowing them to hack data without internet connection, using radio waves. Source
• Has access to computers through fake wireless connections. Source
• Monitors communications in online games such as World of Warcraft. Source
• Intercepts shipping deliveries and install back-door devices allowing access. Source
• Has direct access to the data centers of Google, Yahoo and other major companies. Source
• Covertly and overtly infiltrate United States and foreign IT industries to weaken or gain access to encryption, often by collaborating with software companies and internet service providers themselves. They are also, according to an internal document, “responsible for identifying, recruiting and running covert agents in the global telecommunications industry.”Source
• The use of “honey traps”, luring targets into compromising positions using sex. Source
• The sharing of raw intelligence data with Israel. Only official U.S. communications are affected, and there are no legal limits on the use of the data from Israel. Source
• Spies on porn habits of activists to discredit them. Source
• GCHQ intercepting random webcam images. Source
• NSA tracks the location of 5 billion cellphones. Source
• US intelligence chiefs have confirmed that the National Security Agency has used a “back door” in surveillance law to perform warrantless searches on Americans’ communications. Source

Possibly the most shocking revelation was made on February 24, 2014. Internal documents show that the security state is attempting to manipulate and control online discourse with “extreme tactics of deception and reputation-destruction.” The documents revealed a top-secret unit known as the Joint Threat Research Intelligence Unit, or JTRIG. Two of the core self-identified purposes of JTRIG are to inject all sorts of false material onto the internet in an effort to discredit a target, and to use social sciences such as psychology to manipulate online discourse and activism in order to generate a desirable outcome. The unit posts false information on the internet and falsely attributes it to someone else, pretend to be a ‘victim’ of a target they want to discredit, and posts negative information on various forums. In some instances, to discredit a target, JTRIG sends out ‘false flag’ emails to family and friends.

A revealing slide from the JTRIG presentation.

Read the whole JTRIG presentation by Greenwald, just do it. Here

Now, consider the words of former NSA employee turned whistleblower Russ Tice:

“Okay. They went after–and I know this because I had my hands literally on the paperwork for these sort of things–they went after high-ranking military officers; they went after members of Congress, both Senate and the House, especially on the intelligence committees and on the armed services committees and some of the–and judicial.

But they went after other ones, too. They went after lawyers and law firms. All kinds of–heaps of lawyers and law firms. They went after judges. One of the judges is now sitting on the Supreme Court that I had his wiretap information in my hand. Two are former FISA court judges. They went after State Department officials.

They went after people in the executive service that were part of the White House–their own people. They went after antiwar groups. They went after U.S. international–U.S. companies that that do international business, you know, business around the world. They went after U.S. banking firms and financial firms that do international business. They went after NGOs that–like the Red Cross, people like that that go overseas and do humanitarian work. They went after a few antiwar civil rights groups.

So, you know, don’t tell me that there’s no abuse, because I’ve had this stuff in my hand and looked at it. And in some cases, I literally was involved in the technology that was going after this stuff. And you know, when I said to [former MSNBC show host Keith] Olbermann, I said, my particular thing is high tech and you know, what’s going on is the other thing, which is the dragnet. The dragnet is what Mark Klein is talking about, the terrestrial dragnet. Well my specialty is outer space. I deal with satellites, and everything that goes in and out of space. I did my spying via space. So that’s how I found out about this… And remember we talked about that before, that I was worried that the intelligence community now has sway over what is going on.

Now here’s the big one. I haven’t given you any names. This was is summer of 2004. One of the papers that I held in my hand was to wiretap a bunch of numbers associated with, with a 40-something-year-old wannabe senator from Illinois. You wouldn’t happen to know where that guy lives right now, would you? It’s a big white house in Washington, DC. That’s who they went after. And that’s the president of the United States now.” Russ Tice, NSA Whistleblower

Help spread the word! Feel free to click source, copy and past this comment anywhere on reddit when relevant, without attribution. Regardless of the best methods to affect change, everything starts with raising awareness

Source: Reddit user Three_Letter_Agency . Head over to /r/NSALeaks to stay updated, particularly the wonderful wiki.

Nick Bernabe | The Anti-Media

Abhishek Kumar | Tech Worm

Anonymous has launched ‘Operation Albuquerque’ against the Albuquerque Police in protest against the alleged torture and killing of a homeless man under the guise of law enforcement.  Anonymous hacktivists said that they would bring down the APD website through a planned and sustained DDoS campaign, which successfully took down the website for a few hours on Sunday. Image credit: _LegionOps_

Here is the initial video explaining why the cyber attack was planned:

Albuquerque police spokesman Peter Ambs issued an email statement, saying “We can’t confirm the cause of the interruption…The city of Albuquerque information technology team has been working for several days and continues efforts to ensure there have been no disruption to critical services. We will continue to monitor the situation.” They have since shut down their social media profiles apparently in an effort to keep them from being hacked.

Hacktivist @Cypherlulz had this to say about the APD’s reaction to the DDoS attack, alluding that there could be more coming:

The only thing Albuquerque city officials have been talking about is planned ddos attacks. Pathetic.

— Cypherlulz (@Cypherlulz) March 27, 2014

Tensions have heightened in Albuquerque as citizens took to the streets in protest of the killing of the man that was illegally camping as well as other police misconduct which has become common there. Protesters were met by a fully militarized riot force as the protests intensified.

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As we reported earlier today, numerous protesters were arrested during the ten hour protest. The identities of those arrested are unknown right now but this article will be updated with info as it comes in. If you are in Albuquerque and are familiar with these incidents please contact me on Facebook here if you would be willing to be on our radio show tonight to talk about what is going on.

Abhishek Kumar contributed to this article. Follow his website techworm.net.

This article is free and open source. Feel free to republish this article in full or in part with credit to the authors Nick Bernabe and Abhishek Kumar including a link back to this page. Follow us on Twitter @TheAntiMedia1

Abhishek Kumar | Tech Worm

London-based Security researchers team  at Sensepost Research Labs have developed a drone called “Snoopy” that can steal data and content from your smartphone without your knowledge. Image credit: Reuters

Nick Bernabe | The Anti-Media

The San Diego Police Department is once again coming under scrutiny after 25 exotic dancers filed suit against the department for violating their civil rights. Image credit: cheetahssd.com

The Dancers, from Cheetahs Gentlemen’s Club, claim that officers detained them against their will and took demeaning photos of them during a routine permit inspection

According to the lawsuit, during the permit check process, 10 unidentified officers detained the dancers under no stated suspicion and began photographing the dancers against their will for roughly one hour.

According to a NBC San Diego news report,

“They ordered the women to pose in various positions and expose their body so the police could photograph their tattoos, all the while making “arrogant and demanding comments” and telling the women to “smile,” the claim states.”

Here’s a quick breakdown of the events at the strip club from Reason TV

While a SDPD spokesman stated “Any peace officer shall have free access to any police-regulated business during normal operating hours”, the manager of Cheetah’s said that police have committed these types abuses in the past as well.

The police abused their power under threat of revoking the dancers’ licensing if they failed to comply with the police.

Journalist Radley Balko has this to say about the incident:

“So this was a regulatory operation. But instead of sending a few bureaucrats to do the paperwork, the city of San Diego thought it appropriate to send a team of gun-toting cops to raid the place (similar to recent masked, militarized SWAT raids on massage parlors). Remember, according to the report, there was no suspicion of criminal activity here. This was a routine inspection. Which raises the question: Are all routine, regulatory inspections of San Diego businesses done with raid teams? Is it just strip clubs? Are strippers known for being dangerous? And if the photos were necessary for record-keeping purposes, why was it necessary to photograph the women while they weren’t wearing clothing?”(WaPo)

The lawsuit seeks at least $10,000 in civil rights damages although the exact amount is still unknown.

These new accusations are nothing new for the San Diego Police Department, where two other officers have been recently accused of sexual misconduct. The SDPD’s previous police chief just resigned amid the recent outbreak of scandals, possibly to avoid being caught in the corruption investigations.

The Justice Department is opening a probe into the SDPD with possible criminal charges to be filed.

San Diego, California News Station – KFMB Channel 8 – cbs8.com

This article is free and open source. Feel free to republish this article in part or in full with credit to the author Nick Bernabe and and a link back to this page.