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The latest revelations suggest that the US and UK singled out certain Web sites for surveillance, according to a report from The Intercept, which published classified documents.

The National Security Agency and the UK's Government Communications Headquarters targeted WikiLeaks and Pirate Bay -- and ultimately users of those sites as well, according to leaked files.

Examining a series of classified documents leaked by whistle-blower Edward Snowden, news site The Intercept reported on Tuesday that the NSA wanted to deem WikiLeaks a "malicious foreign actor." Such a designation would have subjected the site to extensive surveillance without the use of "defeats," an NSA action that aims to prevent US citizens from getting snared in the surveillance.

The UK's GCHQ went a step further by collecting the IP addresses of visitors to WikiLeaks along with the search terms they used to get to the site, according to a 2012 PowerPoint presentation. The presentation didn't reveal how extensive this monitoring was or if it's still active. But The Intercept referred to a surveillance tool X-Keyscore . Used by both the NSA and called GCHQ, X-Keyscore allows "an analyst to learn the IP addresses of every person who visits any Web site the analyst specifies."

The information documented in the leaked files also shows Pirate Bay and its users on the NSA's potential hit list. The agency considered using its surveillance to target the popular file-sharing site as a "malicious" foreign server, "even if there is a possibility that U.S. persons could be using it as well," The Intercept said.

Finally, one NSA exchange seemed to minimize the impact of snagging a US citizen in surveillance. A comment by the NSA's Office of General Counsel and the oversight and compliance office of its Threat Operations Center said that the discovery that an American has been selected for surveillance must be mentioned in a quarterly report, "but it's nothing to worry about."

In response to the leaked documents, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange released the following statement:

WikiLeaks strongly condemns the reckless and unlawful behavior of the National Security Agency. We call on the Obama administration to appoint a Special Prosecutor to investigate the extent of the NSA's criminal activity against the media including WikiLeaks and its extended network.

News that the NSA planned these operations at the level of its Office of the General Counsel is especially troubling. No less concerning are revelations that the US government deployed "elements of state power" to pressure European nations into abusing their own legal systems; and that the British spy agency GCHQ is engaged in extensive hostile monitoring of a popular publisher's website and its readers.

The NSA and its UK accomplices show no respect for the rule of law. But there is a cost to conducting illicit actions against a media organization. We have already filed criminal cases against the FBI and US military in multiple European jurisdictions. The FBI's paid informant, who attempted to sell information about me and my staff to the FBI, was imprisoned earlier this year.

See the original post here:
NSA targeted WikiLeaks, Pirate Bay, say leaked documents

The latest revelations suggest that the US and UK singled out certain Web sites for surveillance, according to a report from The Intercept, which published classified documents.

The National Security Agency and the UK's Government Communications Headquarters targeted WikiLeaks and Pirate Bay -- and ultimately users of those sites as well, according to leaked files.

Examining a series of classified documents leaked by whistle-blower Edward Snowden, news site The Intercept reported on Tuesday that the NSA wanted to deem WikiLeaks a "malicious foreign actor." Such a designation would have subjected the site to extensive surveillance without the use of "defeats," an NSA action that aims to prevent US citizens from getting snared in the surveillance.

The UK's GCHQ went a step further by collecting the IP addresses of visitors to WikiLeaks along with the search terms they used to get to the site, according to a 2012 PowerPoint presentation. The presentation didn't reveal how extensive this monitoring was or if it's still active. But The Intercept referred to a surveillance tool X-Keyscore . Used by both the NSA and called GCHQ, X-Keyscore allows "an analyst to learn the IP addresses of every person who visits any Web site the analyst specifies."

The information documented in the leaked files also shows Pirate Bay and its users on the NSA's potential hit list. The agency considered using its surveillance to target the popular file-sharing site as a "malicious" foreign server, "even if there is a possibility that U.S. persons could be using it as well," The Intercept said.

Finally, one NSA exchange seemed to minimize the impact of snagging a US citizen in surveillance. A comment by the NSA's Office of General Counsel and the oversight and compliance office of its Threat Operations Center said that the discovery that an American has been selected for surveillance must be mentioned in a quarterly report, "but it's nothing to worry about."

In response to the leaked documents, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange released the following statement:

WikiLeaks strongly condemns the reckless and unlawful behavior of the National Security Agency. We call on the Obama administration to appoint a Special Prosecutor to investigate the extent of the NSA's criminal activity against the media including WikiLeaks and its extended network.

News that the NSA planned these operations at the level of its Office of the General Counsel is especially troubling. No less concerning are revelations that the US government deployed "elements of state power" to pressure European nations into abusing their own legal systems; and that the British spy agency GCHQ is engaged in extensive hostile monitoring of a popular publisher's website and its readers.

The NSA and its UK accomplices show no respect for the rule of law. But there is a cost to conducting illicit actions against a media organization. We have already filed criminal cases against the FBI and US military in multiple European jurisdictions. The FBI's paid informant, who attempted to sell information about me and my staff to the FBI, was imprisoned earlier this year.

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NSA targeted WikiLeaks, Pirate Bay, leaked documents show

NSA OPTK 8

By: Silmostanbul 2014 Optik Fuar

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NSA OPTK 8 - Video

NSA OPTK 20

By: Silmostanbul 2014 Optik Fuar

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NSA OPTK 20 - Video

Computer hackers and cyber criminals are carrying out attacks against businesses and nation states because they believe there's "little price to pay" for stealing sensitive data.

That's according to Admiral Mike Rogers, director of the National Security Agency (NSA) and head of United States Cyber Command, who was speaking at a cyber security conference at Fordham University in New York.

His comments come a month after a massive cyber attack against Sony, which the US believes was carried out by North Korea - although there are a number of security experts who disagree with that claim.

The current number of cyber attacks represents "one of the biggest transfers of intellectual knowledge that we have ever seen," said Rogers, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

The NSA chief warned that a different cyber security strategy needs to be implemented if the trend of worsening cyber attacks is to be reversed.

"What we've seen in the last six to nine months in general... trends are going in the wrong direction," Rogers said. "Doing more of the same and expecting different results, my military experience tells me, is not a particularly effective strategy."

The US government wants organisations to work more closely with it by reporting incidents of cyber attacks more promptly. However, with Edward Snowden's NSA surveillance revelations still fresh in the memory, there's still corporate distrust of government security programmes.

Speaking in an interview with US broadcaster PBS, Snowden inferred that the US could have itself to blame for being the victim hacking attempts, arguing that attacks originated from US authorities - such as the Stuxnet programme against Iran in 2011 - have created a bitterness against the country and its infrastructure.

The whistleblower also suggested that the NSA should concentrate on defending the US against attacks, rather than hacking into the networks of other nations and their leaders.

"So the way the United States intelligence community operates is it doesn't limit itself to the protection of the homeland," said Snowden.

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NSA chief calls for improved cyber crime response, but Snowden argues US should focus on defence