AT&T Guinea Pigs for NSA

[spd2demun ACE - Expert]

The Obama administration will proceed with a Bush-era plan to use National Security Agency assistance in screening government computer traffic on private-sector networks, with AT&T as the likely test site, according to three current and former government officials...

[RCSMG ACE - Expert]

Will that make the subcribers test subjects?

[Escapee]

There are two sides to this it can be used to protect for good but can also be used to destroy opposition in the hands of a control freak government.

It is just like the police they can make the place you live better and safer or they can be bullies and make they place you live dangerous even if you have broken a single law.

My hope is the people in charge  will always be the good cops. We need  methods to stop the bad guys in countries that would like to see the US as a failed state. The more connected we become the easier it would be to bring the US to it's knees with a cyberattack. The power companies are moving to smart power networks if someone could turn most of the electrical supply off in the nation for a few days how disruptive that would be.

Just hope we never have a group like those in charge in Iran never get the upper hand. But you can not do nothing because that may or may not happen because people like that do not play by any rules except protecting their own position. 

[oz_1 ACE - Master]

George Orwell would be proud.

[BeeBeeSA ACE - Professor]

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spd2demun wrote:

The Obama administration will proceed with a Bush-era plan to use National Security Agency assistance in screening government computer traffic on private-sector networks, with AT&T as the likely test site, according to three current and former government officials...

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spd~~~You should see the NSA campus they are/have been building about 3 miles from my house!!  Been building on it for about three years.  Was an old Sony semi-conductor plant complete with it's own power distribution station.  Don't know why they didn't just mow the old building down and start over since they took it down to just the cement floors and steel I-beams.  The stuff they put on the exterior before the final building skin went on looked like something from Star Wars.  There are no conversations, radio waves, or anything getting in or out of that place I guarantee it!!  Layed 6 fiber cables (big ones) from the campus all the way to Lackland AFB Annex where all they do there is listen.  I used to have a neighbor next door who was in the Marines and he was at the annex and he told me all they did all day was "listen".  I didn't ask anything further as I'm sure he couldn't tell me anyway.  I think he said he was a linguist so to me that would be conversations not data traffic, but I'm sure there is plenty of that too!!  Maybe us folks here in San Antonio will be the test bed. 

[SomeJoe7777 ACE - Expert]

This particular program is far different from the warrantless wire tapping that the NSA has been doing for several years now.

This system essentially is a large firewall, intrusion detection, and intrusion interception system.  It's purpose is to monitor the traffic coming to/from government-run computer systems, detect any malicious hack attempts, and then either log them, trace them through the civilian/private networks to the source, and/or intercept and stop them.

It only monitors government-run computer systems.  Thus it would monitor .gov web sites and .gov e-mail addresses.  If you are a private citizen on a private computer (on any network, not just AT&T's) and are communicating with another non-government computer system, this NSA-based system is not supposed to come into play.

The purpose here is to stop the attempted hacking and intrusions into our government systems (primarily by foreign adversaries), and by doing so on the civilian network(s) (like AT&T) instead of just on the government networks, the intrusion interception can be much more effective, especially in tracing down the source of the hacking attempt.

This is a far better use of the NSA's technology and Intellectual Property than the warrantless wiretapping system, which completely breaches civil liberties.

[erazoner]

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SomeJoe7777 wrote:

It only monitors government-run computer systems.  Thus it would monitor .gov web sites and .gov e-mail addresses.  If you are a private citizen on a private computer (on any network, not just AT&T's) and are communicating with another non-government computer system, this NSA-based system is not supposed to come into play.

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That's a serious shortcoming. With only the .gov and .mil protected, a cyber attack can still bring the country to its knees. (Speaking as one who provides IT services to the government.)

It's like the police force returning to its barracks to look out only for itself and city hall.

The privacy radicals have no perspective at all. AT&T, rightly worried about these radicals, won't cooperate until they get some assurance in writing that they won't be prosecuted for phantom privacy violations when using Einstein. Good luck with that, however.

Message Edited by erazoner on 07-03-2009 03:53 PM

[SomeJoe7777 ACE - Expert]

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erazoner wrote: 

The privacy radicals have no perspective at all. AT&T, rightly worried about these radicals, won't cooperate until they get some assurance in writing that they won't be prosecuted for phantom privacy violations when using Einstein. Good luck with that, however.

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Well, they ended up with immunity for assisting the government with the warrantless wiretap program.  I would suspect that Einstein wouldn't be any different.

[Escapee]

This can be great or really bad. If our leadership can be kept under control and their intentions are in the right place no problem. It's like the police they can make a town safer or they can be bullies and make the town dangerous to live in even if you never break the law. We still need them.Try to be careful who we put in office.

This system is to fight off groups that don't play by the rules and as we become more connected such as the smart power grid we need to be able to protect from someone shutting down communications over a large area. I am not sure I would have a problem if they analysed  more private data streams if it would stop the bot net and other malicious programs.

Almost any good tool can be put to a bad use if the right control freak gets into the right position. We the people just have to stay aware and keep the real rats out of those positions. 

If I was in the position to see private e-mails if you were cheating on your spouse I could care less but if I saw you were going to kill your spouse or blow up an office building I would report it.  Running a scam on the government or innocent investors then you may find your self in court. 

I just hope the US never gets a government in the future like Iran has now.