Archiv: Informationen / Zugang / Kontrolle / Operationen / Kriegführung / information / access / clearances / control / operations / warfare


08.02.2025 - 15:42 [ Netzpolitik.org ]

Drohnenprogramm-Whistleblowerin: „Wie ein Internet der höllischen Dinge“

Die Entscheidung wurde wahrscheinlich mit Hilfe von Daten getroffen, von denen einige aus sozialen Netzwerken und dem Internet stammen oder die von Datenmaklern verkauft wurden. Offensichtlich spiegeln viele der gesammelten Daten Vorurteile wieder.

Max Freitag: OpenAI, das Unternehmen hinter ChatGPT, arbeitet jetzt mit dem Militärdienstleister Anduril zusammen, um „defensive“ Drohnentechnologie zu entwickeln. Könnte es sein, dass ich eines Tages einen Chat-Bot nutze und meine Daten dazu verwendet werden, Algorithmen zu trainieren, die dann zum Töten von Menschen eingesetzt werden?

Lisa Ling: Sicherlich ist es möglich, sogar wahrscheinlich, dass alles, was von einem vernetzten Gerät an die Cloud gesendet wird, sei es eine Kredittransaktion oder eine Uber-Fahrt, letztendlich als Waffe eingesetzt werden könnte.

20.11.2024 - 16:26 [ Consortium News ]

RAY McGOVERN: Will Gabbard Be Able to Direct the Intelligence ‘Community’?

On July 22, 2004, immediately after the 9/11 Commission report was released, I found myself with 9/11 commissioner (and former senator from Washington) Slade Gorton in the BBC blue room in Washington. I had the temerity to remind him that it was far from the case that “no one was in charge” of the intelligence community; that Tenet had all the authority he needed.

Gorton turned to me, smiled and said: “Of course we know all that; but we in the Commission and in Congress just had to do something so the American people would see that we were doing something.”

Yuck.

The national intelligence director, and the newly created bureaucracy, is what it is. Maybe Tulsi Gabbard can take the reins and make the community work. It will take a miracle; let’s hope for one.

17.11.2024 - 15:55 [ Mint Press ]

Exposed: How Israeli Spies Control Your VPN

(September 11th, 2024)

Kape Technologies is a major player in the online privacy world, one of the three giants that collectively control the market. It owns many of the world’s top VPNs, including ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, Private Internet Access, ZenMate, Intego Antivirus, and a host of tech websites that promote its products.
(…)
Although it is headquartered in London and employs more than 1,000 people worldwide, Kape Technologies maintains a distinctly Israeli flavor. This begins with its owner, Teddy Sagi. Born in Tel Aviv, the tycoon, who previously spent time in prison for financial crimes, is estimated to be worth $6.4 billion, making him among the top ten richest Israelis.
(…)
Company co-founder and longtime CEO Koby Menachemi began his tech career as a developer for Unit 8200, while Liron Peer, the company’s current head of accounting, also served three years in the controversial military unit. Meanwhile, Menachemi’s successor as Kape CEO, Ido Erlichman, is a veteran of Unit 217, the Duvdevan Unit, an elite commando group that carries out intelligence operations and assassinations against the local Arab population.
(…)
Facebook’s collaboration with Unit 8200 goes far deeper, however. This author’s 2022 MintPress News investigation found that a vast number of Unit 8200 veterans had gone on to work in senior positions at Meta, Facebook’s parent company.
(…)
The same investigation found at least 99 former Unit 8200 agents working at Google. These included Google’s head of strategy and operations, Gavriel Goidel; its head of insights, data and management, Jonathan Cohen; and Google Waze’s head of global self-service, Ori Daniel.

Microsoft, meanwhile, hired at least 166 Unit 8200 veterans to fill its ranks, including many that went straight from the military into the company, suggesting that it is actively recruiting from the regiment.

10.11.2024 - 14:44 [ Statista.com ]

1.25 Million Have ‚Top Secret‘ Access in the U.S.

(April 14, 2023)

Peo0le with clearance and access to „Top Secret“ U.S.federal government information, by employee type
Government 605.579
Contractor 472.576
Other 173.803
Total 1.251.958

As of Oct.1, 2019
Source: Office of the Director of National Intelligence via Federation of American Scientists

10.11.2024 - 14:30 [ Washington Post ]

TOP SECRET AMERICA: National Security Inc.

(July 20, 2010)

The Post investigation uncovered what amounts to an alternative geography of the United States, a Top Secret America created since 9/11 that is hidden from public view, lacking in thorough oversight and so unwieldy that its effectiveness is impossible to determine.

It is also a system in which contractors are playing an ever more important role. The Post estimates that out of 854,000 people with top-secret clearances, 265,000 are contractors. There is no better example of the government‘s dependency on them than at the CIA, the one place in government that exists to do things overseas that no other U.S. agency is allowed to do.

(…)

Contractors kill enemy fighters. They spy on foreign governments and eavesdrop on terrorist networks. They help craft war plans. They gather information on local factions in war zones. They are the historians, the architects, the recruiters in the nation‘s most secretive agencies. They staff watch centers across the Washington area. They are among the most trusted advisers to the four-star generals leading the nation‘s wars.

10.11.2024 - 13:35 [ New York Times ]

When Did Liberals Become So Comfortable With War?

First, history has shown that governments and bureaucracies tend to become addicted to a war footing, with failure sucking them in further — think of America’s war on terror, or Vietnam. War encourages a perverse cycle of escalation in which huge financial and political gains accrue for governments and the military-industrial complex while the costs tend to be borne by weaker parties — before they start to come home in some shape or form.

We’ve called this bipartisan pattern “wreckonomics” and have found it especially present in wars or conflicts with costs that Western politicians can largely outsource — from fighting terrorism, drugs and smugglers to quasi-colonial interventions during the Cold War.

03.11.2024 - 13:10 [ Guardian ]

Spying, hacking and intimidation: Israel’s nine-year ‘war’ on the ICC exposed

(May 28, 2024)

Thanks to their comprehensive access to Palestinian telecoms infrastructure, the sources said, intelligence operatives could capture the calls without installing spyware on the ICC official’s devices.

“If Fatou Bensouda spoke to any person in the West Bank or Gaza, then that phone call would enter [intercept] systems,” one source said. Another said there was no hesitation internally over spying on the prosecutor, adding: “With Bensouda, she’s black and African, so who cares?”

The surveillance system did not capture calls between ICC officials and anyone outside Palestine. However, multiple sources said the system required the active selection of the overseas phone numbers of ICC officials whose calls Israeli intelligence agencies decided to listen to.

According to one Israeli source, a large whiteboard in an Israeli intelligence department contained the names of about 60 people under surveillance – half of them Palestinians and half from other countries, including UN officials and ICC personnel.

In The Hague, Bensouda and her senior staff were alerted by security advisers and via diplomatic channels that Israel was monitoring their work.

15.10.2024 - 19:32 [ Middle East Eye ]

Iran: Quds Force head Esmail Qaani makes first appearance in weeks at general‘s funeral

Middle East Eye reported last week that Qaani was alive and unhurt but under guard and being questioned about apparent security breaches surrounding the killing of Nasrallah.

Middle East Eye sources say Iranian authorities have serious suspicions about a major security breach in Qaani’s office, though none of MEE’s sources suggested Qaani was involved. Iranian authorities have not commented on reports that Qaani was questioned.

14.10.2024 - 19:55 [ Daniel Neun / Radio Utopie ]

“Wir können, also lasst es uns tun”: Über die Mentalität im elektronischen Polizeistaat

(12. November 2016)

Kontext B.N.D.-Gesetz: Die Allermeisten haben weder eine Ahnung was Totalüberwachung aka Massenüberwachung tatsächlich bedeutet, noch welcher Gefahr auch sie dabei ausgesetzt sind, selbst wenn sie sich noch so sehr anpassen und die technischen Möglichkeiten im 21. Jahrhundert über den privaten Konsum hinaus ignorieren. Welche Skrupellosigkeit und geistig-moralischen Verfall die Apparatschiks des elektronischen Polizeistaats bei ihrem Tun an den Tag legen, während gleichzeitig seit Jahren reguläre Polizei, Justiz und Rechtsstaat systemisch verschwinden, zeigen Berichte von Aussteigern, allerdings nicht aus Deutschland.

(…)

“Ich nahm eine Funktion an, in der Leute ´Ziele´ genannt wurden, und diese Leute die uns wirklich interessieren sind in keinem Sinne Terroristen, sondern eher generell normale Menschen – die uns interessieren wegen ihrer Funktionen, so dass wir mehr Geheimdienstinformationen über sie bekommen können und mehr Zugang erzielen. Wir nutzen unsere Möglichkeiten über diese Menschen zu unserem Vorteil, um es uns leicht zu machen. Wir nutzen die Einwirkung / die Wucht (“impact) die wir auf deren Leben haben. Manchmal beinhaltet dies das Leben, oder die Seele einer Person wirklich zu verletzen. Ich meine Erpressung, bei Dingen die sie vor Leuten um sich herum verbergen müssen. Ich kann Menschen wirklich das Leben zerstören. Es gab mir das Gefühl omnipotent zu sein.

Als ich diesen Job begann, war ich überrascht von dem Ausmaß meiner Verantwortung. Ich hatte das Gefühl über wichtige Dinge ein Mitspracherecht zu haben. Ich konnte Dinge in Gang setzen, die das Leben (Anm.: es folgt die Bezeichnung der ausspionierten Ortsansässigen) betrafen – ich konnte meine Einheit dazu bringen alle möglichen Maßnahmen zu ergreifen. Die Einstellung war ´Warum nicht? Wir können, also lasst es uns tun.´ Ich dachte, dass das, was ich tun konnte verrückt war. Wir waren die Chefs.”

Ein ex-Spion von 8200 berichtet, wie Soldaten unter seiner Ausbildung systematisch moralisch korrumpiert wurden, um sie zu “vergiften” und die Skrupellosigkeit im Apparat weiter auf Standard zu halten. Bei Razzien “beschlagnahmte” persönliche Gegenstände von Individuen – “Photos von Kindern, Uhren, Familienfotos, Fussballtrophäen, Bücher”, bis hin zu Juwelen – wurden nicht nur zur Mitnahme angeboten, sondern in den Ausbildungsräumen zur Schau gestellt.

“Die Idee war die Auszubildenden (“students”) zu vergiften.“

(…)

Die einzige Schlussfolgerung die gezogen wurde, dass es in dieser Einheit so etwas wie einen illegalen Befehl nicht gibt. Es sind nicht wir, die entscheiden was moralisch ist und was nicht. Heute erkenne ich, dass dies das ist, was auch der Bomberpilot sagt: `Es ist nicht an mir zu sagen was moralisch ist und was nicht.` Jeder reicht die Verantwortung an Andere weiter.”

10.10.2024 - 23:01 [ Reuters ]

Exclusive: Iran‘s Khamenei warned Nasrallah of Israeli plot to kill him, sources say

(October 2, 2024)

Nasrallah‘s assassination followed two weeks of precise Israeli strikes that have destroyed weapons sites, eliminated half of Hezbollah‘s leadership council and decimated its top military command.

10.10.2024 - 22:35 [ Shafaq.com ]

Iran‘s Quds Force commander Qaani under investigation for suspicion of espionage

On Thursday, Iranian sources revealed that the commander of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Esmail Qaani, is under investigation on suspicion of espionage, after his chief of staff, Ehsan Shafiqi, was suspected of collaborating with Israel.

10.10.2024 - 21:55 [ Middle East Eye ]

Exclusive: Esmail Qaani under guard and questioned as Iran probes Nasrallah killing

Nilforoushan, who had flown into Beirut that evening from Tehran, was taken directly from the plane to the operations room beneath the residential neighbourhood of Haret Hreik, the sources said. He arrived there before Nasrallah.

The strike that targeted the meeting took place shortly after Nasrallah entered the room, the sources said.

“The breach was 100 percent Iranian and there is no question about this part,” a source close to Hezbollah told MEE.

Iranian state media announced Nilforoushan’s death as a “martyr” who died alongside Nasrallah.

Sources close to Hezbollah told MEE that Qaani was in Lebanon and had been expected to attend the Shura Council meeting at Safieddine‘s invitation on the day of the air strike.

But Qaani apologised and backed out of the meeting shortly before it began, they said.

10.10.2024 - 21:52 [ Middle East Eye ]

Nasrallah, Netanyahu agreed to a truce before Israel assassinated Hezbollah leader: Report

)October 3, 2024)

The revelation from Bou Habib could provide insight into how Israel killed Nasrallah, who has survived multiple Israeli assassination attempts over the decades.

Another report from Reuters published on Wednesday said that Iran‘s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei sent a messenger to warn Nasrallah that Israel was planning to assassinate him. That messenger, senior Iranian commander Abbas Nilforoushan, was also killed in the Israeli strike on Friday 27 September.

07.10.2024 - 18:36 [ Committee to Protect Journalists - CPJ.org ]

One year and climbing: Israel responsible for record journalist death toll

One year in, Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza has exacted an unprecedented and horrific toll on Palestinian journalists and the region’s media landscape.

At least 128 journalists and media workers, all but five of them Palestinian, have been killed – more journalists than have died in the course of any year since CPJ began documenting journalist killings in 1992. All of the killings, except two, were carried out by Israeli forces.

07.10.2024 - 18:30 [ Middle East Eye ]

Israel has killed more journalists in Gaza than in any conflict in 30 years

In 12 months, more journalists were killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza and Lebanon than in any similar recorded period since 1992, says the CPJ

05.09.2024 - 22:53 [ Haaretz ]

Israeli Officials: Not Launching Oct. 7 Inquiry Risks ICC Warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant

Justice Ministry officials expect the International Criminal Court to decide in the coming days on whether to issue arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, but are cautiously optimistic that the court will decide against the warrants.

04.09.2024 - 11:16 [ New York Times ]

Israel Knew Hamas’s Attack Plan More Than a Year Ago

(November 30, 2023)

The document circulated widely among Israeli military and intelligence leaders, but experts determined that an attack of that scale and ambition was beyond Hamas’s capabilities, according to documents and officials. It is unclear whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or other top political leaders saw the document, as well.

(…)

Last year, shortly after the document was obtained, officials in the Israeli military’s Gaza division, which is responsible for defending the border with Gaza, said that Hamas’s intentions were unclear.

“It is not yet possible to determine whether the plan has been fully accepted and how it will be manifested,” read a military assessment reviewed by The Times.

25.04.2024 - 09:00 [ Multipolar Magazin ]

Per Behördenkontrolle zur „Medienfreiheit“

Mit einem neuen EU-Gesetz entsteht ein Gremium für Mediendienste, das der EU-Kommission unterstellt ist, aber unabhängig agieren soll. Erstmals reguliert die Europäische Union damit auch die gedruckte Presse. „Desinformation“ steht besonders im Fokus. Kritiker sehen die Meinungsfreiheit bedroht und fürchten die Legalisierung einer Überwachung von Journalisten.

25.04.2024 - 08:55 [ Norbert Häring ]

„Was an Pressefreiheit übrig bleibt, das existiert dann nur noch von Brüssels Gnaden“

23. 04. 2024 | Aus Anlass der Zustimmung des EU-Parlaments zum orwellianisch benannten „Medienfreiheitsgesetz“ hat Multipolar eine ausführliche und sehr kritische Analyse von Helge Buttkereit veröffentlicht, die ich zur Lektüre empfehle.

25.04.2024 - 08:33 [ Junge Welt ]

Meinungs- und Pressefreiheit: »Kritik zum Verstummen bringen«

„Aufgabe des Gremiums ist es auch, Maßnahmen gegen ausländische Medien zu koordinieren, die die öffentliche Sicherheit schwer gefährden. Das läuft letztlich auf Zensur hinaus, weil man es als Gefährdung der öffentlichen Sicherheit ansieht, wenn aus dem Ausland heraus Propaganda betrieben wird. Stichwort Staatssender, Stichwort RT Deutsch. Natürlich verbreitet jedes Land im Sinne seiner eigenen Interessen Informationen im In- und Ausland. Wenn wir aber anfangen, den Zugang unserer eigenen Bürger zu ausländischen Informationsquellen abzuschneiden, ist das nicht vereinbar mit den Grundsätzen eines freien Landes und eines mündigen Bürgers. Ich halte es für den völlig falschen Weg, unter dem vermeintlichem Deckmantel des Schutzes der öffentlichen Sicherheit Auslandsmedien zensieren zu wollen. „

17.04.2024 - 06:24 [ FederalTimes.com ]

Lawmakers still benefitting from share trading in defense stocks

(02.04.2024)

With the onslaught of new wars, Congress added $70 billion over the last two years to an already bloated Pentagon budget, much of which is funneled directly into the coffers of defense contractors like Palatir, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman. The stock values in these companies have since experienced double-digit growth – a lucrative business opportunity not overlooked by lawmakers calling the shots.

At least 25 members of Congress sitting on national security committees have simultaneously purchased stock in these very same companies. The majority of these members sit on the Senate and House Armed Services committees, the entities responsible for overseeing the Defense Department budget and contracts.

17.04.2024 - 06:04 [ Newsweek ]

Politicians Profit as Military Stocks Soar Since Hamas-Israel Conflict

(02.11.2023)

Since the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel, in which more than 1,400 Israelis were killed, shares of Boeing Co, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Raytheon Technologies (RTX) have all increased in value, collectively adding roughly $23 billion in market capitalization.

In the weeks preceding the attack, Markwayne Mullin, Kevin Hern, Bill Keating, and Josh Gottheimer purchased shares of those defense companies.

16.04.2024 - 19:55 [ Middle East Eye ]

Ghassan Abu Sittah accuses Germany of ‚genocide complicity‘ after being refused entry

(13.04.2024)

„This morning, at 10 o‘clock, I landed in Berlin to attend a conference on Palestine, where I had been asked, along with many others … to give my evidence of the 43 days that I had seen in the hospitals in Gaza, working in both al-Shifa and al-Ahli hospitals,“ he said.

Abu Sittah said he was escorted from the passport office to the basement of the airport, where he was questioned for three-and-a-half hours.

„At the end of three-and-a-half hours, I was told that I woud not be allowed to enter German soil and that this ban will last the whole of April,“ he said.

16.04.2024 - 19:36 [ Nachdenkseiten ]

Beweise begraben, Zeugen zum Schweigen bringen

Es ist Freitag gegen Abend, der 12. April 2024. In der Hand hält der Arzt ein Mikrophon von Middle East Eye (MEE), einem in England ansässigen Internetportal, das in englischer und französischer Sprache Nachrichten über den Nahen und Mittleren Osten veröffentlicht. Ruhig und überlegt berichtet der Arzt, was ihm am Berliner Flughafen widerfahren ist, eindringlich blicken seine Augen durch die großen, dunkel gerahmten Brillengläser.

29.03.2024 - 20:51 [ Daniel Neun / Radio Utopie ]

“Wir können, also lasst es uns tun”: Über die Mentalität im elektronischen Polizeistaat

(12. November 2016)

Aus Interviews mit AussteigerInnen der mutmaßlich eng mit den Mitgliedern und Mitgliedern der “Technischen Aufklärung” des Bundesnachrichtendienstes eingebetteten israelischen Einheit 8200, veröffentlicht im “Guardian” im September 2014:

“Ich nahm eine Funktion an, in der Leute ´Ziele´ genannt wurden, und diese Leute die uns wirklich interessieren sind in keinem Sinne Terroristen, sondern eher generell normale Menschen – die uns interessieren wegen ihrer Funktionen, so dass wir mehr Geheimdienstinformationen über sie bekommen können und mehr Zugang erzielen. Wir nutzen unsere Möglichkeiten über diese Menschen zu unserem Vorteil, um es uns leicht zu machen. Wir nutzen die Einwirkung / die Wucht (“impact) die wir auf deren Leben haben. Manchmal beinhaltet dies das Leben, oder die Seele einer Person wirklich zu verletzen. Ich meine Erpressung, bei Dingen die sie vor Leuten um sich herum verbergen müssen. Ich kann Menschen wirklich das Leben zerstören. Es gab mir das Gefühl omnipotent zu sein.

Als ich diesen Job begann, war ich überrascht von dem Ausmaß meiner Verantwortung. Ich hatte das Gefühl über wichtige Dinge ein Mitspracherecht zu haben. Ich konnte Dinge in Gang setzen, die das Leben (Anm.: es folgt die Bezeichnung der ausspionierten Ortsansässigen) betrafen – ich konnte meine Einheit dazu bringen alle möglichen Maßnahmen zu ergreifen. Die Einstellung war ´Warum nicht? Wir können, also lasst es uns tun.´ Ich dachte, dass das, was ich tun konnte verrückt war. Wir waren die Chefs.”

Ein ex-Spion von 8200 berichtet, wie Soldaten unter seiner Ausbildung systematisch moralisch korrumpiert wurden, um sie zu “vergiften” und die Skrupellosigkeit im Apparat weiter auf Standard zu halten. Bei Razzien “beschlagnahmte” persönliche Gegenstände von Individuen – “Photos von Kindern, Uhren, Familienfotos, Fussballtrophäen, Bücher”, bis hin zu Juwelen – wurden nicht nur zur Mitnahme angeboten, sondern in den Ausbildungsräumen zur Schau gestellt.

“Die Idee war die Auszubildenden (“students”) zu vergiften.“

(…)

Die einzige Schlussfolgerung die gezogen wurde, dass es in dieser Einheit so etwas wie einen illegalen Befehl nicht gibt. Es sind nicht wir, die entscheiden was moralisch ist und was nicht. Heute erkenne ich, dass dies das ist, was auch der Bomberpilot sagt: `Es ist nicht an mir zu sagen was moralisch ist und was nicht.` Jeder reicht die Verantwortung an Andere weiter.”

29.03.2024 - 20:34 [ The Guardian / Twitter ]

‘Any Palestinian is exposed to monitoring by the Israeli Big Brother’

(Sep 12, 2014)

26.03.2024 - 21:15 [ Anadolu Agency ]

Top UN court likely to issue tough decision against Israel for ongoing attacks on Gaza

The world court will rule on the requested additional measures in the coming days, which may include criticism of Israel as well as requests for additional monitoring reports, according to the KAN broadcaster report.

However, observers in Israel believe that no additional orders, such as a cessation of the war on Gaza, will be issued, but that the court will take a critical tone toward Israel, which is unusual, said the broadcaster.

Earlier on Monday, the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in Gaza …

19.03.2024 - 23:00 [ theNationalNews.com ]

Hamas political leaders were unaware of Israel incursion plan, Egypt officials say

(Oct 09, 2023)

Most of the movement‘s political leaders have lived in exile outside the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip for years, deepening the divide between them and the group‘s military wing known as the Ezzedine Al Qassam Brigades, who are spearheading the continuing fighting with Israel.

The political leaders have mostly been living in Qatar, Turkey, Lebanon, Iran and Egypt.

Speaking to The National, the officials said a handful of Gaza-based Hamas leaders, reportedly as few as three who once served in the Al Qassam Brigades, knew of the attack in advance. As a precaution, they were made to believe that the operation would begin 48 hours after it got under way on Saturday.

22.02.2024 - 20:04 [ theNationalnews.com ]

US says it cannot independently verify Israel‘s UNRWA claims

The intelligence report‘s findings are in stark contrast to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken‘s remarks in January, in which he said that the accusations against UNRWA were “highly, highly credible”.

The Journal also reported that Israel has not “shared the raw intelligence behind its assessments with the US” despite the strong security relationship between the two countries.

Israel has shared a dossier of sorts outlining its accusations, alongside details of where their evidence stems from, with the US and several western news organisations.

22.02.2024 - 19:46 [ DrALJONES / mastodon.social ]

A US intelligence report has said that Israel‘s claims that UNRWA staff took part in Oct 7 „cannot be independently verified“, & that it had “low confidence” in the allegation.

Major UNRWA donors, incl the US, have frozen vital funds bcz of Israel‘s allegations.

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini says „the UN has never, never, ever received any written dossier, despite our repeated call.“

21.02.2024 - 15:15 [ AlternatiVeto.net ]

Privacy-oriented X front-end Nitter is shutting down following changes to guest accounts

(29.01.2024)

Although some Nitter instances are currently still operational, it is anticipated they will cease functioning shortly as they expire. This development leaves those who were using Nitter to monitor or follow X/Twitter users without an account with fewer options.

18.02.2024 - 10:32 [ The New Arab ]

Pro-Kremlin propaganda targets TNA sister publication Misbar, other MENA fact-checkers

The Matryoshka campaign takes a different approach.

Instead of sharing the fake news pieces themselves, accounts re-share posts from other accounts in the same network, and post them directly on the feeds of known fact-checking outlets. These “reshares” are formulated as a fact-checking request.

The accounts simulate the behaviour of a typical social media user, who might be sceptical of a piece of news, and would like the opinion of a trusted fact-checking source.

However, this process of resharing is repeated by other accounts in the network, ad nauseam. The “stacking” of posts containing false news reports is akin to how Matryoshka dolls operate, which is where the campaign gets its name from.

15.02.2024 - 17:43 [ RT.com ]

Kremlin responds to rumors of Russian space nukes

Western media reports claiming that Russia could place nuclear weapons in space are nothing more than a ploy by the White House to convince US lawmakers to approve further military aid to Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.

Citing sources, several US media outlets reported this week that American intelligence had obtained information on purported Russian plans to deploy a nuclear anti-satellite system in space, although the idea supposedly remains at the developmental stage.

14.02.2024 - 22:45 [ Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor ]

Gaza: Israel targets Palestinian civilians trying to access communications and internet services

Geneva – Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has documented the Israeli army deliberately killing Palestinian civilians, including journalists, as they attempted to access communications and internet services to communicate with their families or employers, by targeting them with sniper or drone attacks in various areas of the Gaza Strip.

At least seven civilians have been killed in the North Gaza Governorate in less than a week after they were directly targeted by Israeli army drones in the Al-Bashir area of Tal Al-Zaatar in Jabalia Camp. The victims were attempting to access internet services to communicate with their families and relatives.

14.02.2024 - 20:15 [ Fox News ]

House Intel Chair Turner warns of ‚serious national security threat,‘ urges Biden to declassify

Fox News Digital obtained the notice sent to congressional members Wednesday, which pointed to „an urgent matter with regard to a destabilizing foreign military capability that should be known by all Congressional Policy Makers.“

Turner‘s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital‘s request for comment and more information.

White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Wednesday at the White House press briefing that earlier in the week, he reached out to the Gang of Eight to offer himself for a personal briefing on the matter.

14.02.2024 - 12:58 [ BBC News (World) / Twitter ]

They were Israel‘s eyes on the border – but their Hamas warnings went unheard

(15.01.2024)

14.02.2024 - 12:40 [ New York Times ]

Israel Knew Hamas’s Attack Plan More Than a Year Ago

(30.11.2023)

The document circulated widely among Israeli military and intelligence leaders, but experts determined that an attack of that scale and ambition was beyond Hamas’s capabilities, according to documents and officials. It is unclear whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or other top political leaders saw the document, as well.

(…)

Last year, shortly after the document was obtained, officials in the Israeli military’s Gaza division, which is responsible for defending the border with Gaza, said that Hamas’s intentions were unclear.

“It is not yet possible to determine whether the plan has been fully accepted and how it will be manifested,” read a military assessment reviewed by The Times.

11.02.2024 - 17:03 [ Netzwerk Kritische Richter und Staatsanwälte (KRiSTA) ]

Meinungsfreiheit – ein Auslaufmodell: Der Digital Services Act (DSA)

(16.01.2024)

Am 16.11.2022 ist die Verordnung (EU) 2022/2065 des Europäischen Parlaments und des Rates vom 19.10.2022 über den Binnenmarkt für digitale Dienste (Digital Services Act – im Folgenden DSA genannt) in Kraft getreten.

Sie gilt spätestens ab dem 17.02.2024 unmittelbar in jedem EU-Mitgliedstaat in erster Linie für „sehr große Online-Plattformen und sehr große Online-Suchmaschinen“ (Art. 33 Abs. 4, Art. 92, 93 Abs. 2 DSA).

Diese werden unter Androhung empfindlicher finanzieller Sanktionen verpflichtet, alle ihre Inhalte zu kontrollieren und gegebenenfalls zu löschen. Und sie werden dabei kontrolliert von der EU-Kommission, von staatlichen Koordinatoren und von zivilgesellschaftlichen Hinweisgebern.

Trotz seiner unmittelbaren Geltung im deutschen Recht bedarf der DSA eines konkretisierenden nationalen Ausführungsgesetzes. Ein Entwurf dieses Digitale-Dienste-Gesetzes (DDG-Entwurf) wurde von der Bundesregierung am 20.12.2023 verabschiedet.

Beraten und beschlossen werden soll er im Bundestag vor dem 17.02.2024.

(…)
In Erwägungsgrund Nr. 5 wird schon zwischen der „Vermittlung und Verbreitung rechtswidriger oder anderweitig schädlicher Informationen und Tätigkeiten“ unterschieden (Hervorhebung d. Verf.). Auch Art. 34 Abs. 1 DSA spricht in Abs. 1 a von der „Verbreitung rechtswidriger Inhalte über ihre Dienste“, in Abs. 1 b-d allerdings nur noch von Informationen mit „nachteiligen Auswirkungen“, die nicht rechtswidrig sein müssen.

(…)

Im Zentrum, jedenfalls des nationalstaatlichen Geschehens, steht der von jedem Mitgliedstaat bis zum 17.02.2024 zu ernennende „Koordinator für digitale Dienste“ (KdD).

06.02.2024 - 11:45 [ UN Spokesperson / Twitter ]

@antonioguterres, in consultation @UNLazzarini, has appointed an independent review group to assess whether @UNRWA is doing everything within its power to ensure neutrality & respond to allegations of serious breaches:

06.02.2024 - 11:29 [ Tory Fibs / Twitter ]

Breaking .. Channel 4 have finally been shown the dossier for Israel’s claims that UNRWA staff were behind Oct. 7th. Channel 4 concludes that “Israel provides NO evidence to support this claim”.

06.02.2024 - 11:21 [ France24.com ]

As donors suspend critical funding to UNRWA, allegations against staff remain murky

But Israel refuses to share either its evidence or the intelligence dossier – a summary of which was seen by FRANCE 24 – with UNRWA, posing a challenge for the UN agency to complete its inquiry.

06.02.2024 - 11:14 [ New York Times ]

UNRWA Set to Lose $65 Million, Documents Show

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency, the main aid agency in Gaza, is set to lose $65 million by the end of February as donors’ funding cuts begin to kick in, according to internal accounting documents reviewed by The New York Times.

01.02.2024 - 18:06 [ Reuters ]

Exclusive: Iran‘s Guards pull officers from Syria after Israeli strikes

Reuters spoke to six sources familiar with Iranian deployments in Syria for this story. They declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the subject.

Three of the sources said the Guards had raised concerns with Syrian authorities that information leaks from within the Syrian security forces played a part in the recent lethal strikes.

28.01.2024 - 19:40 [ War Reports / Twitter ]

#BREAKING: The government of #Jordan: „The attack that targeted American forces near the Syrian border did not occur inside Jordan“ This means that the attack is on an illegal US base in #Syria, right on the border with Jordan.

28.01.2024 - 19:20 [ Middle East Eye ]

Jordan says attack targeting American soldiers was not on its soil

An attack that killed three American servicemen was not on Jordanian soil but in Syria, a spokesperson for Jordan‘s government said.

Muhannad al Mubaidin told Jordanian public broadcaster al Mamlaka television that the attack had targeted the US al-Tanf base in Syria.

28.01.2024 - 19:17 [ Middle East Eye ]

Drone attack near Jordan-Syria border kills three US troops

Three US troops were killed and others wounded after an unmanned aerial drone attack on US forces stationed in northeastern Jordan near the Syrian border, President Joe Biden said on Sunday.

„While we are still gathering the facts of this attack, we know it was carried out by radical Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq,“ Biden said in a statement.

23.01.2024 - 15:00 [ Ynetnews.com ]

World Court to decide on ‚provisional measures‘ to stop Gaza war in coming days

Less than two weeks after the opening of hearings at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, as part of a petition lodged by South Africa against Israel for alleged „genocide“ in the Gaza Strip, the court is anticipated to deliver in the coming days a ruling on the petitioner‘s request for a provisional order to halt the war.

18.01.2024 - 02:21 [ Daniel Neun / Radio Utopie ]

“Wir können, also lasst es uns tun”: Über die Mentalität im elektronischen Polizeistaat

(12. November 2016)

Aus Interviews mit AussteigerInnen der mutmaßlich eng mit den Mitgliedern und Mitgliedern der “Technischen Aufklärung” des Bundesnachrichtendienstes eingebetteten israelischen Einheit 8200, veröffentlicht im “Guardian” im September 2014:

“Ich nahm eine Funktion an, in der Leute ´Ziele´ genannt wurden, und diese Leute die uns wirklich interessieren sind in keinem Sinne Terroristen, sondern eher generell normale Menschen – die uns interessieren wegen ihrer Funktionen, so dass wir mehr Geheimdienstinformationen über sie bekommen können und mehr Zugang erzielen. Wir nutzen unsere Möglichkeiten über diese Menschen zu unserem Vorteil, um es uns leicht zu machen. Wir nutzen die Einwirkung / die Wucht (“impact) die wir auf deren Leben haben. Manchmal beinhaltet dies das Leben, oder die Seele einer Person wirklich zu verletzen. Ich meine Erpressung, bei Dingen die sie vor Leuten um sich herum verbergen müssen. Ich kann Menschen wirklich das Leben zerstören. Es gab mir das Gefühl omnipotent zu sein.

Als ich diesen Job begann, war ich überrascht von dem Ausmaß meiner Verantwortung. Ich hatte das Gefühl über wichtige Dinge ein Mitspracherecht zu haben. Ich konnte Dinge in Gang setzen, die das Leben (Anm.: es folgt die Bezeichnung der ausspionierten Ortsansässigen) betrafen – ich konnte meine Einheit dazu bringen alle möglichen Maßnahmen zu ergreifen. Die Einstellung war ´Warum nicht? Wir können, also lasst es uns tun.´ Ich dachte, dass das, was ich tun konnte verrückt war. Wir waren die Chefs.”

Ein ex-Spion von 8200 berichtet, wie Soldaten unter seiner Ausbildung systematisch moralisch korrumpiert wurden, um sie zu “vergiften” und die Skrupellosigkeit im Apparat weiter auf Standard zu halten. Bei Razzien “beschlagnahmte” persönliche Gegenstände von Individuen – “Photos von Kindern, Uhren, Familienfotos, Fussballtrophäen, Bücher”, bis hin zu Juwelen – wurden nicht nur zur Mitnahme angeboten, sondern in den Ausbildungsräumen zur Schau gestellt.

“Die Idee war die Auszubildenden (“students”) zu vergiften.“

(…)

Die einzige Schlussfolgerung die gezogen wurde, dass es in dieser Einheit so etwas wie einen illegalen Befehl nicht gibt. Es sind nicht wir, die entscheiden was moralisch ist und was nicht. Heute erkenne ich, dass dies das ist, was auch der Bomberpilot sagt: `Es ist nicht an mir zu sagen was moralisch ist und was nicht.` Jeder reicht die Verantwortung an Andere weiter.”

18.01.2024 - 01:17 [ The Guardian / Twitter ]

‘Any Palestinian is exposed to monitoring by the Israeli Big Brother’

(Sep 12, 2014)

16.01.2024 - 02:00 [ BBC News (World) / Twitter ]

They were Israel‘s eyes on the border – but their Hamas warnings went unheard

28.12.2023 - 12:40 [ New York Times ]

Israel Knew Hamas’s Attack Plan More Than a Year Ago

(30.11.2023)

The document circulated widely among Israeli military and intelligence leaders, but experts determined that an attack of that scale and ambition was beyond Hamas’s capabilities, according to documents and officials. It is unclear whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or other top political leaders saw the document, as well.

(…)

Last year, shortly after the document was obtained, officials in the Israeli military’s Gaza division, which is responsible for defending the border with Gaza, said that Hamas’s intentions were unclear.

“It is not yet possible to determine whether the plan has been fully accepted and how it will be manifested,” read a military assessment reviewed by The Times.

03.12.2023 - 06:59 [ New York Times ]

Israel Knew Hamas’s Attack Plan More Than a Year Ago

The document circulated widely among Israeli military and intelligence leaders, but experts determined that an attack of that scale and ambition was beyond Hamas’s capabilities, according to documents and officials. It is unclear whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or other top political leaders saw the document, as well.

(…)

Last year, shortly after the document was obtained, officials in the Israeli military’s Gaza division, which is responsible for defending the border with Gaza, said that Hamas’s intentions were unclear.

“It is not yet possible to determine whether the plan has been fully accepted and how it will be manifested,” read a military assessment reviewed by The Times.

03.12.2023 - 06:14 [ Tageschau.de ]

New York Times zitiert Sicherheitspapier: Wusste Israel von Hamas-Angriffsplan?

(01.12.2023 16:29 Uhr)

Laut New York Times war der Bericht weiten Kreisen der israelischen Sicherheitskräfte zugänglich – neben den Angriffsplänen habe er auch geheime Informationen über die israelische Armee und deren Kommunikation enthalten. Wie die Hamas an solch sicherheitsrelevante Informationen kommen konnte, sei unklar.

23.11.2023 - 06:48 [ Central Intelligence Agency / Archive.org ]

CIA Document 1035-960 – Concerning Criticism of the Warren Report

(01. April 1967)

Presumably as a result of the increasing challenge to the Warren Commission‘s report, a public opinion poll recently indicated that 46% of the American public did not think that Oswald acted alone, while more than half of those polled thought that the Commission had left some questions unresolved. Doubtless polls abroad would show similar, or possibly more adverse results.

(…)

Innuendo of such seriousness affects not only the individual concerned, but also the whole reputation of the American government. Our organization itself is directly involved: among other facts, we contributed information to the investigation. Conspiracy theories have frequently thrown suspicion on our organization, for example by falsely alleging that Lee Harvey Oswald worked for us. The aim of this dispatch is to provide material countering and discrediting the claims of the conspiracy theorists, so as to inhibit the circulation of such claims in other countries. Background information is supplied in a classified section and in a number of unclassified attachments.

3. Action. We do not recommend that discussion of the assassination question be initiated where it is not already taking place. Where discussion is active, however, addresses are requested:

a. To discuss the publicity problem with liaison and friendly elite contacts (especially politicians and editors), pointing out that the Warren Commission made as thorough an investigation as humanly possible, that the charges of the critics are without serious foundation, and that further speculative discussion only plays into the hands of the opposition. Point out also that parts of the conspiracy talk appear to be deliberately generated by Communist propagandists. Urge them to use their influence to discourage unfounded and irresponsible speculation.

b. To employ propaganda assets to answer and refute the attacks of the critics. Book reviews and feature articles are particularly appropriate for this purpose. The unclassified attachments to this guidance should provide useful background material for passing to assets. Our ploy should point out, as applicable, that the critics are (I) wedded to theories adopted before the evidence was in, (I) politically interested, (III) financially interested, (IV) hasty and inaccurate in their research, or (V) infatuated with their own theories.

(…)

4. In private to media discussions not directed at any particular writer, or in attacking publications which may be yet forthcoming, the following arguments should be useful:

a. No significant new evidence has emerged which the Commission did not consider. The assassination is sometimes compared (e.g., by Joachim Joesten and Bertrand Russell) with the Dreyfus case; however, unlike that case, the attack on the Warren Commission have produced no new evidence, no new culprits have been convincingly identified, and there is no agreement among the critics. (A better parallel, though an imperfect one, might be with the Reichstag fire of 1933, which some competent historians (Fritz Tobias, AJ.P. Taylor, D.C. Watt) now believe was set by Vander Lubbe on his own initiative, without acting for either Nazis or Communists; the Nazis tried to pin the blame on the Communists, but the latter have been more successful in convincing the world that the Nazis were to blame.)

10.11.2023 - 10:50 [ AVM.de ]

Update der FRITZ!Box per FRITZ!OS-Datei

Wie Sie das Update mit der FRITZ!OS-Datei durchführen, ist am Ende der Datei „info.txt” beschrieben. Die „info.txt” finden Sie im selben Ordner wie die FRITZ!OS-Datei selbst.

Hier finden Sie die FRITZ!OS-Dateien zum Download.

10.11.2023 - 10:15 [ Manager-Magazin.de ]

Siemens und der BND: Ehemalige Manager packen aus

(12.04.2008)

Siemens lieferte Abhörtechnik für Geheimdienste in aller Welt, nach Russland, Ägypten, oder Oman. Der Konzern kann sich zur Fehleranalyse in jede große Vermittlungsanlage einwählen, die das Unternehmen geliefert hat. Das legt den Verdacht nahe, der BND habe sich Zugang zu diesen Einwahlschlüsseln verschaffen wollen.

Für den Nachrichtendienst war Siemens auch deshalb interessant, weil Ingenieure des Konzerns beim Bau von Telefonanlagen Räume zu sehen bekommen, die auch einem US-Spionagesatellit verschlossen sind, …

10.11.2023 - 09:42 [ Wikipedia ]

Operation Rubicon

Operation Rubicon (German: Operation Rubikon), until the late 1980s called Operation Thesaurus, was a secret operation by the West German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) and the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), lasting from 1970 to 1993 and 2018, respectively, to gather communication intelligence of encrypted government communications of other countries.[1][2] This was accomplished through the sale of manipulated encryption technology (CX-52) from Swiss-based Crypto AG, which was secretly owned and influenced by the two services from 1970 onwards.[1] In a comprehensive CIA historical account of the operation leaked in early 2020, it was referred to as the „intelligence coup of the century“ in a Washington Post article.

10.11.2023 - 09:20 [ ZDFinfo Dokus & Reportagen / Youtube ]

Streng geheim! Cryptoleaks. Die große BND und CIA Spionage | ZDFinfo Doku

(Aug 29, 2020)

Jahrzehntelang belauschten BND und CIA die verschlüsselte Kommunikation von über 100 Staaten. Die Operation „Rubikon“ wurde bis heute geheim gehalten. Sie gilt als größter Erfolg des BND.

Opfer des Lauschangriffs waren arabische und südamerikanische Länder, aber auch NATO-Partner. Sie vertrauten der Krypto-Technik des schweizerischen Herstellers Crypto AG – und wurden betrogen.

30.10.2023 - 04:25 [ Times of Israel ]

Netanyahu slammed for post blaming intelligence chiefs for Oct. 7 failure; apologizes

“Contrary to the false claims: Under no circumstances and at no stage was Prime Minister Netanyahu warned of Hamas’s war intentions,” read the original tweet, posted shortly after 1 a.m. local time, hours after Netanyahu held a joint press conference with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Minister Benny Gantz.

The tweet elaborated: “On the contrary, all the security officials, including the head of military intelligence and the head of the Shin Bet, assessed that Hamas had been deterred and was looking for a settlement. This assessment was submitted again and again to the prime minister and the cabinet by all the security forces and intelligence community, up until the outbreak of the war.”

27.10.2023 - 21:05 [ Akbar Shahid Ahmed / Huffington Post ]

Biden Cast Doubt On Gaza’s Death Statistics — But Officials Cite Them Internally

(Oct 26, 2023)

The credibility of the ministry’s data is significant because there are few other sources of information about the situation in the blockaded region, and because some defenders of Israel’s actions in Gaza claim the ministry overstates the humanitarian toll of Israeli attacks for political reasons.

Most organizations and analysts tracking Gaza do treat the ministry as a reliable source, however, including the United Nations. The State Department has also publicly cited the ministry’s figures, for example in a report published earlier this year on the human rights situation in Israel-Palestine.

27.10.2023 - 20:56 [ Akbar Shahid Ahmed, Senior foreign affairs reporter @huffpost / Twitter ]

EXCLU: Biden yesterday questioned the death toll from Palestinians. I reviewed ~20 State Dept cables that cited the Gaza Health Ministry to report casualties & rarely included caveats. In one instance that did, the report said the toll was likely higher.

(26.10.2023)

25.10.2023 - 00:13 [ CNN ]

US officials raise concerns over Israeli intelligence after Hamas attacks

(October 7, 2023)

Other US officials familiar with the matter said if the US did have intelligence suggesting an upcoming attack, it would have undoubtedly shared that information with Israel.

The Israelis historically have had dominant capabilities to monitor communications in Gaza. The Israelis also have some of the best capabilities to break into encrypted communications, US officials say.

That’s partly the reason why US officials were shocked that preparation for Saturday’s attacks weren’t detected.

24.10.2023 - 23:25 [ Times of Israel ]

Egypt intelligence official says Israel ignored repeated warnings of ‘something big’

(9 October 2023)

However, Israel was not only reportedly ignoring clear warnings from its allies.

For Palestinians in Gaza, Israel’s eyes are never very far away. Surveillance drones buzz constantly in the skies. The highly secured border is awash with security cameras and soldiers on guard. Intelligence agencies work sources and cyber capabilities to draw out information.

But Israel’s eyes appeared to have been closed in the lead-up to the surprise onslaught by the Hamas terror group, which broke through Israeli border barriers and sent hundreds of terrorists into Israel to carry out a brazen attack that killed over 700 people and wounded over 2,000.

17.10.2023 - 19:40 [ Amnesty International ]

Massive data leak reveals Israeli NSO Group’s spyware used to target activists, journalists, and political leaders globally

(July 19, 2021)

NSO Group’s spyware has been used to facilitate human rights violations around the world on a massive scale, according to a major investigation into the leak of 50,000 phone numbers of potential surveillance targets. These include heads of state, activists and journalists, including Jamal Khashoggi’s family.

17.10.2023 - 19:10 [ ORF.at ]

Israel: Chef von Militärgeheimdienst räumte Versagen ein

Der Chef des israelischen Militärgeheimdienstes, Aharon Chaliva, hat nach dem verheerenden Hamas-Terroranschlag in Israel eine persönliche Verantwortung eingeräumt. (…)

Auch der Chef des Inlandsgeheimdienstes Schin Bet, Ronen Bar, hatte gestern Versäumnisse eingeräumt.

17.10.2023 - 16:15 [ Akevot Institute for Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Research ]

Akevot Institute for Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Research: What We Do

Akevot Institute for Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Research was founded in 2014 out of a recognition of the unique role archives can play in breaking conflict-enhancing myths, fostering fact-based discourse, and supporting the work of human rights defenders. We make archives a tool for change by researching and exposing mechanisms, processes and events who play a role in the perpetuation of the Conflict. We assist human rights defenders and civil society organizations in accessing archival documentation relevant to their work. We campaign to expand the public’s access to government archives to promote transparency and freedom of information.

12.10.2023 - 17:46 [ Times of Israel ]

IDF chief Halevi admits military failed to prevent Hamas attack, vows to investigate

Halevi says a time will come to investigate how Hamas managed to carry out the attack.

11.10.2023 - 17:50 [ New York Times ]

How Israel’s Feared Security Services Failed to Stop Hamas’s Attack

Hamas took advantage of that weakness by sending aerial drones to attack the cellular towers that transmitted signals to and from the surveillance system, according to the officials and also drone footage circulated by Hamas on Saturday and analyzed by The New York Times. (…)

The second operational failure was the clustering of leaders from the army’s Gaza division in a single location along the border. Once the base was overrun, most of the senior officers were killed, injured or taken hostage, according to two of the Israeli officials.

06.10.2023 - 09:45 [ Netzpolitik.org ]

Dänischer Geheimdienstchef und Ex-Minister vor Gericht

Die Staatsanwaltschaft wirft dem derzeit suspendierten Geheimdienstchef Lars Findsen und dem ehemaligen Verteidigungsminister Claus Hjort Frederiksen vor, Staatsgeheimnisse verraten und öffentlich der Presse zugänglich gemacht zu haben.(…)

Die Frankfurter Rundschau berichtet, dass Snowdens Enthüllungen 2013 ans Licht brachten, dass die NSA das globale Datenkreuz Kopenhagen für ihre Zwecke nach Belieben anzapfen konnte. Über die Datenzentrale des dänischen Auslandsgeheimdiensts FE hätten die US-Geheimdienste unter anderem Telefonate von Angela Merkel aus dem Bundeskanzleramt mitgehört.

Findsen und Frederiksen hingegen dürfen die genauen Vorwürfe nicht nennen, obwohl diese bereits öffentlich sind.

16.09.2023 - 07:55 [ World Beyond War ]

Act Now to Save Ukrainian Peace Activist from Prosecution

This week, spokesperson for the Ukrainian military’s “Territorial Defense Forces” Sarah Ashton-Cirillo published a video that included the following words (but you really have to watch it to experience the psychotic, beyond-parody presentation):

“Next week the teeth of the Russian devils will gnash ever harder, and their rabid mouths will foam an uncontrollable frenzy as the world will see a favorite Kremlin propagandist pay for their crimes. And this puppet of Putin is only the first. Russia’s war criminal propagandists will all be hunted down and justice will be served.”

11.09.2023 - 23:59 [ Daniel Neun / Radio Utopie ]

DER 11. SEPTEMBER: Die Attentate – Ablauf, Hergang und Widersprüche

(13. September 2014)

Am Morgen des 11. Septembers 2001 sind im Zuge der in Teil I beschriebenen Militärmanöver eine große Anzahl von Kampfflugzeugen der US-Luftwaffe nach Kanada und Alaska verlegt. Zur Verteidigung des gesamten Nordostens der Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika verbleiben vier Kampfflugzeuge. Während der Attentate bricht in NORAD Verwirrung darüber aus, ob eintreffende Meldungen tatsächliche Ereignisse oder die Manöver betreffen (“Is this real world or exercise?”). Kommunikation wird gejammed, “Phantom”-Flugzeuge tauchen auf den Bildschirmen auf, simulieren in bzw aus entgegengesetzten Richtungen fliegende Maschinen und verschwinden wieder (die Quelle dieser Simulationen wird nie öffentlich) und lenken die verbliebenen Verteidigungskräfte ab.

Wie in Teil III beschrieben, hatte die Luftfahrtbehörde FAA, in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Pentagon, den Kriegskonzern Raytheon in 1996 beauftragt zwecks der Modernisierung des Computersystems der Luftfahrtbehörde deren IT-Systeme auszutauschen. Das Luftraumkontrollsystem “Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System” (STARS) von Raytheon wurde nachfolgend auch vom US-Militär bzw der Air Force eingesetzt. Gleichzeitig war 1996 an Raytheon der Auftrag für ein stationäres Radarsystem zur Überwachung des Luftraums in der Nähe von Flughäfen namens “Digital Airport Surveillance Radars” (DASR) ergangen. In 2011 beschrieb der Kriegskonzern Raytheon in Werbeveröffentlichungen für sein von Militär und ziviler Luftfahrtbehörde verwendetes STARS Luftraumkontrollsystem die Möglichkeit “Geisterziele” (“ghost targets”) auf den Bildschirmen der Fluglotsen erscheinen zu lassen.

Am Morgen des 11. September 2001 werden nun lokale Militärkommandeure, die sich um Hilfe bemühen, von ihren Vorgesetzten hingehalten und von einem Luftwaffenstützpunkt an den nächsten verwiesen, bis hin zum Mittleren Westen. Zwei Militärjets, die schließlich von einem Stützpunkt in Langley aufsteigen (dort befindet sich auch das CIA Hauptquartier) um eine der als entführt gemeldete Passagiermaschine im Anflug auf Washington abzufangen, werden von einem Kommandoposten namens “Giant Killer” auf den Atlantischen Ozean hinaus gelotst.

Die Befehlskette und Abfolge der durch verantwortliche US-Stellen zu treffenden Maßnahmen im Falle im Falle einer Flugzeugentführung im Inland, die wie berichtet in den drei Jahren vor 9/11 im Rahmen der Flugzeugentführungs-Szenarien betreffenden 28 Militärmanöver sechsmal trainiert worden war, eingeschlossen die Simulation von Flugzeugabstürzen in “hochwertige Ziele” wie die New Yorker Freiheitsstatue und das Weiße Haus in Washington, lautete nun wie folgt:

1. eine Identifizierung des entsprechenden Vorgangs durch die Luftfahrtaufsichtsbehörde FAA (“Federal Aviation Administration”)
2. eine Meldung der FAA an NORAD
3. entsprechende Maßnahmen durch NORAD

Diese Kommandokette ist am 11. September während der Attentate durch eine ganze Reihe höchst ungewöhnlicher Umstände erschwert bzw. unterbrochen…

11.09.2023 - 23:04 [ Federation of American Scientists - fas.org ]

CRITICAL FOUNDATIONS: PROTECTING AMERICA’S INFRASTRUCTURES – The Report of the President’s Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection

(13.10.1997)

Existing Information Sharing Efforts

(…) We also found a great deal of information sharing already underway. Trade associations, consortia, and other groups exchange information among their members and, in some cases, directly with government. Many federal, state and local government agencies have existing relationships with infrastructure owners and operators. Within all the infrastructure sectors, at least some portions are subject to regulatory control by government agencies, and information is shared, albeit sometimes within carefully defined constraints. Several federal agencies provide information to infrastructure owners and operators. The FBI’s Awareness of National Security Issues and Response (ANSIR) program gives over 25,000 industry members information that provides threat and vulnerability insights. More narrowly focused programs are the Department of Transportation’s terrorist threat notification to the civil aviation industry and the National Security Agency’s INFOSEC Vulnerability Assessment Program, which provides information systems-related data to private sector partners. The Comptroller of the Currency operates another system providing advisories on information integrity and security risks to financial institutions.

(…)

The third and least predictable threat to the infrastructure comes from deliberate attack. Depending on their objectives, attackers may seek to steal, modify, or destroy data stored in information systems or moving over networks, or to degrade the operation of the systems and net-works themselves, denying service to their users. Attackers include national intelligence organizations, information warriors, terrorists, criminals, industrial competitors, hackers, and aggrieved or disloyal insiders. While insiders constitute the single largest known security threat to information and information systems, controlled testing indicates that large numbers of computer based attacks go undetected, and that the unknown component of the threat may exceed the known component by orders of magnitude.

(…)

The air traffic control system of the FAA is based on decades old technology. The replacement system, while doubtless more efficient, will be more vulnerable unless special security measures are incorporated.

(…)

The Commission recommends the Secretary of Transportation:

1) Fully evaluate actual and potential sources of interference to, and vulnerabilities of, GPS before a final decision is reached to eliminate all other radiovnavigation and aircraft landing guidance systems.

2) Sponsor a risk assessment for GPS-based systems used by the civilian sector, projected from now through the year 2010.

3) Base decisions regarding the proper federal navigation systems mix and the final architecture of the NAS on the results of that assessment. The DOT and FAA must develop a better understanding of interference and other vulnerabilities of GPS before a final decision is reached concerning the status of all other radionavigation and landing guidance systems. A federally sponsored thorough, integrated risk assessment would lay a sound foundation for decisions on future courses of action.

The National Airspace System

The Commission recommends the FAA act immediately to develop, establish, fund, and implement a comprehensive National Airspace System Security Program to protect the modernized NAS from information-based and other disruptions, intrusions and attack. Program implementation should be guided by the recommendations found in the Vulnerability Assessment of the NAS Architecture, prepared for the Commission. The Vulnerability Assessment included the following recommendations: (…)

3) The FAA should consider the implementation of full “trusted” hardware and software security capabilities for only the FAA’s most vulnerable future subsystems, since the software cost for embedded applications, together with full audit, tracking, and monitoring, may be too great if applied to all subsystems. Relaxation of the full capabilities, such as less rapid revalidation (e.g., a slower fifteen minutes down time) and less constant vigilance of data integrity, should be considered on a case-by-case basis for less critical subsystems, particularly in situations where existing air traffic control recovery procedures exist.

4) The FAA should conduct a comprehensive investment analysis of NAS INFOSEC in order to determine the degree of security protection that is needed

(…)

Transportation: A critical infrastructure characterized by the physical distribution system critical to supporting the national security and economic well-being of this nation, including the national airspace system, airlines and aircraft, and airports; roads and highways,trucking and personal vehicles; ports and waterways and the vessels operating thereon; mass transit, both rail and bus; pipelines, including natural gas, petroleum, and other hazardous materials; freight and long haul passenger rail; and delivery services.

11.09.2023 - 22:24 [ Central Intelligence Agency / Archive.org ]

CIA Document 1035-960 – Concerning Criticism of the Warren Report

(01. April 1967)

Presumably as a result of the increasing challenge to the Warren Commission‘s report, a public opinion poll recently indicated that 46% of the American public did not think that Oswald acted alone, while more than half of those polled thought that the Commission had left some questions unresolved. Doubtless polls abroad would show similar, or possibly more adverse results.

(…)

Innuendo of such seriousness affects not only the individual concerned, but also the whole reputation of the American government. Our organization itself is directly involved: among other facts, we contributed information to the investigation. Conspiracy theories have frequently thrown suspicion on our organization, for example by falsely alleging that Lee Harvey Oswald worked for us. The aim of this dispatch is to provide material countering and discrediting the claims of the conspiracy theorists, so as to inhibit the circulation of such claims in other countries. Background information is supplied in a classified section and in a number of unclassified attachments.

3. Action. We do not recommend that discussion of the assassination question be initiated where it is not already taking place. Where discussion is active, however, addresses are requested:

a. To discuss the publicity problem with liaison and friendly elite contacts (especially politicians and editors), pointing out that the Warren Commission made as thorough an investigation as humanly possible, that the charges of the critics are without serious foundation, and that further speculative discussion only plays into the hands of the opposition. Point out also that parts of the conspiracy talk appear to be deliberately generated by Communist propagandists. Urge them to use their influence to discourage unfounded and irresponsible speculation.

b. To employ propaganda assets to answer and refute the attacks of the critics. Book reviews and feature articles are particularly appropriate for this purpose. The unclassified attachments to this guidance should provide useful background material for passing to assets. Our ploy should point out, as applicable, that the critics are (I) wedded to theories adopted before the evidence was in, (I) politically interested, (III) financially interested, (IV) hasty and inaccurate in their research, or (V) infatuated with their own theories.

(…)

4. In private to media discussions not directed at any particular writer, or in attacking publications which may be yet forthcoming, the following arguments should be useful:

a. No significant new evidence has emerged which the Commission did not consider. The assassination is sometimes compared (e.g., by Joachim Joesten and Bertrand Russell) with the Dreyfus case; however, unlike that case, the attack on the Warren Commission have produced no new evidence, no new culprits have been convincingly identified, and there is no agreement among the critics. (A better parallel, though an imperfect one, might be with the Reichstag fire of 1933, which some competent historians (Fritz Tobias, AJ.P. Taylor, D.C. Watt) now believe was set by Vander Lubbe on his own initiative, without acting for either Nazis or Communists; the Nazis tried to pin the blame on the Communists, but the latter have been more successful in convincing the world that the Nazis were to blame.)

11.09.2023 - 20:24 [ New York Times ]

Cable Sought to Discredit Critics of Warren Report

(December 26, 1977, Page 32)

Conspiracy theories,” the cable went on, “have frequently thrown suspicion on our organization, for example by falsely alleging that Lee Harvey Oswald worked for us. The aim of this dispatch is to provide material for countering and discrediting the claims of the conspiracy theorists, so as to inhibit circulation of such claims in other countries.”

The C.I.A. was careful to caution its stations overseas not to initiate a discussion “of the assassination question” where such a discussion was “not already taking place.” But where such discussions were under way, C.I.A. officers abroad were directed to “discuss the publicity problem with liaison and friendly elite contacts, especially politicians and editors,” and to “employ propaganda assets to answer and refute the attacks of the critics.”

04.09.2023 - 20:23 [ Mullvad.net ]

EU chat control law will ban open source operating systems

(1 February 2023)

The proposed Chat control EU law will not only seize totalitarian control of all private communication. It will also ban open source operating systems as an unintended consequence.

04.08.2023 - 08:00 [ CNN ]

Exclusive: CNN obtains the tape of Trump’s 2021 conversation about classified documents

(27.06.2023)

CNN has previously reported that Trump at the time was furious over a New Yorker article about Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley that said Milley argued against striking Iran and was concerned Trump would set in motion a full-scale conflict. (…)

“He said that I wanted to attack Iran, Isn’t it amazing?” Trump says as the sound of papers shuffling can be heard. “I have a big pile of papers, this thing just came up. Look. This was him. They presented me this – this is off the record but – they presented me this. This was him. This was the Defense Department and him.”

04.08.2023 - 07:59 [ Jacobin ]

The Biggest Scandal in Trump’s Indictment: US War Plans for Iran

(13.06.2023)

Wait — war with Iran?

Yes, in a detail that’s been almost entirely glossed over, central to this case are a set of secret government plans for attacking Iran.

04.08.2023 - 07:14 [ USA Today ]

Who has security clearance? More than 4.3M people

(06.06.2017)

Security clearances aren’t that rare, according to an October report by the non-partisan Congressional Research Service.

The government trusted about 4.3 million people with various levels of security clearance as of October 2015, according to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. These included nearly 2.9 million people at the “confidential” or “secret” level and nearly 1.4 million at the “top secret” level.

04.08.2023 - 07:04 [ ABC News ]

2 US Navy sailors arrested for allegedly spying for China

„The charges demonstrate [China‘s] determination to obtain information that is critical to our national defense by any means so it can be used to their advantage,“ Olsen continued. „The alleged conduct also represents a violation of the solemn obligation of members of our military to defend our country to safeguard our secrets and to protect their fellow service members.“

It was not immediately clear if either Wei or Zhao had retained attorneys who could comment on their behalf. They have not yet entered pleas.

Both Wei and Zhao had their initial court appearances later on Thursday:

03.08.2023 - 07:33 [ Heise.de ]

FBI nimmt weltgrößte Biometrie-Datenbank stückweise in Betrieb

(24.03.2011)

Das FBI hat begonnen, ihre 2007 geplante neue Datenbank für biometrische Merkmale in Betrieb zu nehmen. Das „Next Generation Identification“-System habe die erste Phase der „operationalen Einsatzfähigkeit“ erreicht, heißt es in US-Medienberichten. Die Datenbank soll das Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) der US-Polizeibehörde ersetzen und wird daher zunächst mit Fingerabdrücken gefüttert. Später sollen auch Iris-Scans, Stimmproben, Abbildungen von Handabdrücken, Tätowierungen, Narben und Gesichtsformen erfasst werden.

03.08.2023 - 07:00 [ Netzpolitik.org ]

EU-Kommission prüft Zugriff auf Biometriedaten durch US-Polizei

Insgesamt 40 Länder nehmen derzeit am „Visa Waiver Program“ (VWP) der US-Regierung teil. Washington garantiert damit, dass die Bürger:innen der betreffenden Staaten zu geschäftlichen oder touristischen Zwecken für maximal drei Monate ohne Visum einreisen dürfen. Die Regelung gilt gegenseitig, auch US-Staatsangehörige können die 40 Länder visafrei besuchen. Unter den Teilnehmenden des VWP befinden sich fast alle Schengen-Staaten.

Nun verlangt die US-Regierung, dass die am VWP teilnehmenden Staaten im Rahmen einer „Enhanced Border Security Partnership“ (EBSP) Zugang zu ihren polizeilichen Biometrie-Datenbanken gewähren. US-Grenz- und Polizeibehörden sollen dafür Fingerabdrücke und Gesichtsbilder in Informationssystemen in den Schengen-Staaten abfragen dürfen.

17.07.2023 - 17:41 [ searchengineland.com ]

Twitter didn’t just block unregistered users, it blocked Google Search

(July 3, 2023)

Postscript. A few days later, Twitter implemented some SEO changes that showed the content from tweets to both Google and users, but overlayed a modal asking users to register. This allowed Google to regain access to the content for indexing and search ranking purposes.

17.07.2023 - 17:35 [ CNN ]

Elon Musk says Twitter’s ad revenue is down 50% and cash flow is negative

Just 43% of Twitter’s top 1,000 advertisers as of September, the month before Musk’s takeover, were still advertising on the platform as of April, according to data provided to CNN by market intelligence firm Sensor Tower last month.

12.07.2023 - 06:20 [ Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor ]

EU’s shocking greenlighting of spyware against journalists is extremely dangerous for media freedom

In the first place, proposing to give governments the power to spy on journalists’ phones and computers puts journalists’ sources at risk of identification and provides a high deterrent for “whistleblowers”, threatening the fundamental confidentiality of journalists’ sources and fostering a climate of impunity out of the fear of speaking up and being surveilled.

Secondly, through this new provision, the Council strongly incentivizes the deployment of threatening spyware based solely on Member States’ discretion, despite the numerous recent high-profile scandals involving the use of malware, such as Pegasus and Predator, to subtly surveil journalists and politicians’ communications, suppress dissent and undermine democracy.

12.07.2023 - 05:59 [ Spiked ]

The EU’s Orwellian crackdown on the media

The way the EU uses the term ‘media pluralism’ is a kind of Orwellian doublespeak. It means the opposite of what it implies. The EU doesn’t want pluralism – it wants to concentrate power in Brussels. It doesn’t want freedom – it wants to curb free expression and impose technocratic values from above. And it wants to do all of this without any public debate or accountability.

10.07.2023 - 15:22 [ theGuardian.com ]

Twitter traffic sinks in wake of changes and launch of rival platform Threads

Twitter’s website traffic is “tanking” according to the chief of internet services company Cloudflare, amid signs users are migrating to alternative platforms such as Threads, BlueSky and Mastodon.

07.07.2023 - 04:18 [ theGuardian.com ]

We tried Threads, Meta’s new Twitter rival. Here’s what happened

Threads can only be accessed by integrating an existing Instagram username to sign up – meaning if you don’t have an account, you have to get one to enter the new Threads platform.

04.07.2023 - 09:21 [ Fox News ]

Elon Musk‘s rate limits on Twitter send Bluesky‘s traffic to record high

As of the end of April, Bluesky’s website stated that the platform had more than 50,000 users. Aside from users requesting to sign up via a waitlist, Bluesky says on its website that it periodically distributes invitations for existing users to distribute to other participants. Depending on the quality of invitees converted into users, the platform gives certain users more invites.

03.07.2023 - 18:18 [ Forbes ]

Is Elon Musk Trying To Destroy Twitter?

(Nov 11, 2022)

Here’s a question I’ve been wondering about:

Is Elon Musk trying to destroy Twitter?

I’m not sure why the new owner of the social media app would want to do that. Yet, if the decisions he’s making are any indication, it almost seems like that’s the plan.

03.07.2023 - 18:15 [ theVerge.com ]

Twitter has started blocking unregistered users

Update July 1st, 2:42PM ET: Elon Musk has now limited Twitter access for everyone, requiring a verified account to read more than 600 posts per day.

01.07.2023 - 13:48 [ Bloomberg ]

Twitter Blocks People From Seeing Tweets Unless Registered

Twitter has long relied on the accessibility of its tweets around the web to drive interest in the site — for instance, through users sending tweets to friends or contacts who don’t have accounts.

01.07.2023 - 13:08 [ Moguldom.com ]

Elon Musk: The US Government, Intelligence Agencies Had Access To Twitter Backdoor, Ability To Spy On Direct Messages

(Apr 17, 2023)

“The degree to which government agencies effectively had full access to everything that was going on on Twitter blew my mind,” Musk told Carlson. “I was not aware of that.”