Discovering, archiving, and disseminating knowledge regarding abuse of the People by governments and corporations in the Medieval Digital Era//
גילוי, ארכיבאות, והפצת מידע על התעללות בציבור על ידי ממשלות ותאגידים בימי הביניים הדיגיטליים
Wikileaks Reveals Privately Run CIA's Dirty Secrets (Update 2)
BY JESUS DIAZ
FEB 26, 2012 7:15 PM
Wikileaks has published five million emails from Stratfor, an intelligence company based in Texas that, looking at their practices, appears to be America's very own privately run CIA. According to Wikileaks, their deals would also include the use of privileged information to make money in financial markets.
Stratfor's clients are the US Government, other countries and military organizations, as well as private companies like Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman or Raytheon. They have a global network of spies in governments and media companies, including "secret deals with dozens of media organizations and journalists, from Reuters to the Kiev Post." According to the emails, these spies get paid in Swiss bank accounts and pre-paid credit cards.
Wikileaks says that the emails also reveal the creation of a parallel organization called StratCap. Apparently, this organization would use Stratfor network of informants to make money in financial markets. Wikileaks claims that the emails show how then-Goldman Sachs Managing Director Shea Morenz and Stratfor CEO George Friedman put StratCap in motion in 2009.
Here are some of the highlights, according to Wikileaks:
Global network of informants
The Global Intelligence Files exposes how Stratfor has recruited a global network of informants who are paid via Swiss banks accounts and pre-paid credit cards.
Who are their spies?
Government and diplomatic sources from around the world give Stratfor advance knowledge of global politics and events in exchange for money. Stratfor has a mix of covert and overt informants, which includes government employees, embassy staff and journalists around the world.
How they control their sources
"[Y]ou have to take control of him. Control means financial, sexual or psychological control... This is intended to start our conversation on your next phase" � CEO George Friedman to Stratfor analyst Reva Bhalla on 6 December 2011, on how to exploit an Israeli intelligence informant providing information on the medical condition of the President of Venezuala, Hugo Chavez.
Using secret information to make money in financial markets
Stratfor's use of insiders for intelligence soon turned into a money-making scheme of questionable legality. The emails show that in 2009 then-Goldman Sachs Managing Director Shea Morenz and Stratfor CEO George Friedman hatched an idea to "utilise the intelligence" it was pulling in from its insider network to start up a captive strategic investment fund. [...] CEO George Friedman explained in a confidential August 2011 document, marked DO NOT SHARE OR DISCUSS: "What StratCap will do is use our Stratfor's intelligence and analysis to trade in a range of geopolitical instruments,particularly government bonds, currencies and the like".
US Government and Mossad ties
Stratfor claims that it operates "without ideology, agenda or national bias", yet the emails reveal private intelligence staff who align themselves closely with US government policies and channel tips to the Mossad � including through an information mule in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Yossi Melman, who conspired with Guardian journalist David Leigh to secretly, and in violation of WikiLeaks' contract with the Guardian, move WikiLeaks US diplomatic cables to Israel.
Secret deals with media organizations and journalists
Stratfor did secret deals with dozens of media organisations and journalists � from Reuters to the Kiev Post. The list of Stratfor's "Confederation Partners", whom Stratfor internally referred to as its "Confed Fuck House" are included in the release. While it is acceptable for journalists to swap information or be paid by other media organisations, because Stratfor is a private intelligence organisation that services governments and private clients these relationships are corrupt or corrupting.
Update: Stratfor CEO has resigned following this clusterfuck. It seems the company's security hasn't been fixed yet, at least according to Anonymous:
From: george.friedman@stratfor.com
To: fred.burton@stratfor.com
Subject: Draft
Date: 2012-02-26 19:02:07
It is with great personal disappointment I have to inform you that I will resign from my position as CEO for Stratfor to immediate effect.
Please rest assured that this decision was not an easy. But in the light of the recent events, especially the release of our company emails by WikiLeaks, I have decided that stepping down is in the best interest of Stratfor and its customer base.
I want to emphasize that this will have no effect on Stratfor's business or its members and we will continue to provide state-of-the-art intelligence services.
Regarding the latest breach, Stratfor is fully in control of the situation However, while I cannot take any personal responsibility for this incident, I still have to admit that mistakes have been made on our side. To be clear: We certainly do not condone any criminal activities by groups like Anonymous or other hackers. This is theft and we will continue to cooperate with law enforcement to bring those responsible to justice. But we must acknowledge that this incident would not have been possible if Stratfor had implemented stronger data protection mechanisms - which will be the case from now on. Indeed we will immediately move to implement the latest, and most comprehensive, data security measures.
While I played no role in our technical operations, as the company's CEO I do accept full responsibility thus will resign from my position effective immediately.
Again, my sincerest apologies for this whole unfortunate incident.
Sincerely,
George Friedman
Update 2: Stratfor says that the email above is false in this Reuters article:
It said it would not be cowed under the leadership of George Friedman, Stratfor's founder and chief executive officer. It said Friedman had not resigned as CEO, contrary to a bogus email circulating on the Internet.
Some of the emails being published "may be forged or altered to include inaccuracies; some may be authentic," the company statement said.
"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 questioning about them," the statement said."
Or maybe that's part of a disinformation campaign to question the credibility of all the emails. After all, the article is from Reuters. Who knows at this point.
Interpol says suspected Anonymous hackers arrested
By GREG KELLER, Associated Press � 1 hour ago February 29, 2012
PARIS (AP) � Interpol said that 25 suspected members of the loose-knit Anonymous hacker movement have been arrested in a sweep across Europe and South America.
The international police agency said in a statement Tuesday that the arrests in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Spain were carried out by national law enforcement officers working under the support of Interpol's Latin American Working Group of Experts on Information Technology Crime.
The suspects, aged between 17 and 40, are suspected of planning coordinated cyberattacks against institutions including Colombia's defense ministry and presidential websites, Chile's Endesa electricity company and national library, as well as other targets.
The arrests followed an ongoing investigation begun in mid-February which also led to the seizure of 250 items of IT equipment and mobile phones in searches of 40 premises in 15 cities, Interpol said.
In Chile's capital, Subprefect Jamie Jara said at a news conference that authorities arrested five Chileans and a Colombian. Two of the Chileans are 17-year-old minors.
The case was being handled by prosecutor Marcos Mercado, who specializes in computer crime. He said the suspects were charged with altering websites, including that of Chile's National Library, and engaging in denial-of-service attacks on websites of the electricity companies Endesa and Hidroaysen. The charges carry a penalty of 541 days to five years in prison, he said.
Jara said the arrests resulted from a recently begun investigation and officials do not yet know if those arrested are tied to any "illicit group."
"For now, we have not established that they have had any special communications among themselves," he said.
Jara said authorities were continuing to investigate other avenues, but gave no details.
Gen. Carlos Mena, commander of Colombia's Judicial Police, said no one was arrested in Colombia, but he noted that some Colombians had been arrested elsewhere, including Chile. He said he hadn't confirmed a report that one of those arrested in Argentina may have been from Colombia.
Mena did hint that there might be arrests in Colombia. He said other nations have been providing information and Colombian authorities are looking into it, but so far haven't arrested any hackers.
"You have to leave them alone, so when we have all the evidence, and the prosecutor makes the decision, we will be all over it and capturing them," he said.
No official statements have been released yet in Argentina. An Argentine media website based its story on the Interpol statement, which it quotes as saying that 10 people were arrested in Argentina.
Earlier Tuesday, police in Spain announced the arrest of four suspected Anonymous hackers in connection with attacks on Spanish political party websites. These four were among the 25 announced by Interpol.
A National Police statement said two servers used by the group in Bulgaria and the Czech Republic have been blocked.
It said the four included the alleged manager of Anonymous' computer operations in Spain and Latin America, who was identified only by his initials and the aliases "Thunder" and "Pacotron."
The four are suspected of defacing websites, carrying out denial-of-service attacks and publishing data on police assigned to the royal palace and the premier's office online.
Interpol is headquartered in Lyon, France. The organization has no powers of arrest or investigation but it helps police forces around the world work together, facilitating intelligence sharing.
Anonymous, whose genesis can be traced back to a popular U.S. image messaging board, has become increasingly politicized amid a global clampdown on music piracy and the international controversy over the secret-spilling site WikiLeaks, with which many of its supporters identify.
Authorities in Europe, North America and elsewhere have made dozens of arrests, and Anonymous has increasingly attacked law enforcement, military and intelligence-linked targets in retaliation.
One of Anonymous' most spectacular coups: Secretly recording a conference call between U.S. and British cyber investigators tasked with bringing the group to justice.
Anonymous has no real membership structure. Hackers, activists, and supporters can claim allegiance to its freewheeling principles at their convenience, so it's unclear what impact the arrests will have.
Some Internet chatter appeared to point to a revenge attack on Interpol's website, but the police organization's home page appeared to operating as normal late Tuesday.
One Twitter account purportedly associated with Anonymous' Brazilian wing said the sweep would fail.
"Interpol, you can't take Anonymous," the message read. "It's an idea."
Associated Press writer Raphael Satter in London contributed to this report.
Copyright � 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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Hacking off the Feds: Anonymous intercepts FBI conference call about�themselves (AUDIO) Published: 03 February, 2012, 19:45
In an audio recording made and posted online by the internet hacktivists Anonymous, a number of Federal agents both in the US and the UK can be heard discussing ways to apprehend members of the group.
In an ironic post, the hacktivists made the 20-minute long conversation available online, taunting the Federal Bureau of Investigations with the leak � and the fact that while the agents may only have half-formed plans to arrest Anonymous members, the group itself is making sure to stay one step ahead.
After a rather odd discussion on whether there really is a McDonalds in the Pentagon � and gleeful confirmation of the existence of one in Sheffield � the agents get down to the point of their conference: whether dual interviews with suspects are possible, the delayed arrests of several teenagers suspected of being hackers, and unnamed �operational matters.�
But the most intriguing part of the conference comes after a US agent thanks his UK counterparts for their help. �We are here to help,� came the reply. �We know we�ve cocked up in the past.�
Unfortunately for those with Kipling�s mongoose syndrome of wanting to know all, the London field office does not elaborate on how exactly it has cocked up in the past � or whether the comment was related solely to the Bureau�s battle with hacker groups like Anonymous, LulzSec, Antisec and others.
The FBI has already reacted, saying the leaked recording was confidential,and that the information revealed �was intended for law enforcement officers only and was illegally obtained.'' The Bureau also added in its statement that it is �hunting those responsible�.
For the moment, however, the score is clearly in Anonymous� favor as they continue to catch the FBI agents off guard with their weekly #FFF � or FuckFBIFriday � leaks. The Twitter hashtag, popular among the group and its followers, usually sees some sort of sensitive or secret information leaked every week. This Friday, however, Anonymous dropped a double bombshell, releasing not only the recorded conference call, but also emails related to the case of Sgt Frank Wuterich, the US Marine that admitted to killing civilians in Iraq and walked away scot free.
