Corporate Spys above the law.. But wiki leaks is evil

[revelarts]

WikiLeaks' Stratfor dump lifts lid on intelligence-industrial complex

WikiLeaks' latest release, of hacked emails from Stratfor, shines light on the murky world of private intelligence-gathering



What price bad intelligence? Some 5m internal emails from Stratfor, an Austin, Texas-based company that brands itself as a "global intelligence" provider, were recently obtained by Anonymous, the hacker collective, and are being released in batches by WikiLeaks, the whistleblowing website, starting Monday.
The most striking revelation from the latest disclosure is not simply the military-industrial complex that conspires to spy on citizens, activists and trouble-causers, but the extremely low quality of the information available to the highest bidder. Clients of the company include Dow Chemical, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon, as well as US government agencies like the Department of Homeland Security, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Marines.
Analysts working on the Middle East for the company appeared to be very poorly informed, with no more experience than a semester of studying abroad, according to journalists who have studied the documents. "They used Google translate to read al-Akbar news articles," says an incredulous Jamal Ghosn, associate editor of that newspaper in Beirut, Lebanon. "This is a guaranteed way for good intelligence to be lost in translation."
Mike Bonnano of the Yes Men, a group of international pranksters who impersonate corporate executives and government leaders to highlight environmental and social abuses, was astonished to discover that his group was being tracked by Stratfor, which was apparently making money selling a list of his public-speaking engagements.
"They [are] making it sound better to clients simply so that they can make money," says Bonnano, after reviewing the material provided to him by WikiLeaks. "We're not talking about good intelligence, we're talking about a lot of information because more information means more money. That does not mean that it's smart."
Bonnano gave another example: Stratfor allegedly sent a memo to Dow Chemical summarising a public blogpost on the use of an environmentally-friendly washing machine used by activists campaigning against the 1984 lethal gas leak from Union Carbide's plant in Bhopal, India, which killed over 2,259 people instantly and an estimated 25,000 over the next few years.
Stratfor is not the first company to be caught selling low-quality "intelligence" to government agencies and multinational corporations. Aaron Barr, then CEO of HB Gary Federal, a Sacramento, California-based company that sells similar services, boasted in 2010 that he could extract information about hackers like Anonymous from social media. In early February 2011, the company website was hacked to reveal the company was selling very inaccurate information about WikiLeaks....."

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"Some 5m internal emails from Stratfor, an Austin, Texas-based company that brands itself as a "global intelligence" provider, were recently obtained by Anonymous, the hacker collective, and are being released in batches by WikiLeaks, the whistleblowing website, starting Monday. The most striking revelation from the latest disclosure is not simply the military-industrial complex that conspires to spy on citizens, activists and trouble-causers, but the extremely low quality of the information available to the highest bidder...".* Ana Kasparian and Cenk Uygur discuss on The Young Turks.

* http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/feb/28/wikileaks-inte...

http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2012/02/28/stratfor-email-hints-u-s...

Cenk interviews Julian Assange:

Subscribe to The Young Turks: http://bit.ly/eWuu5i

[Noir]

Not much a fan of the 'young Turks' but thy video is a must watch.

[jimnyc]

Yep, might be damaging to the company, but I'm glad to see that Manning, Assange and now "Anonymous" are on the radar. I believe they arrested like 40 members of the group from around the world overnight.

[Noir]

Yep, might be damaging to the company, but I'm glad to see that Manning, Assange and now "Anonymous" are on the radar. I believe they arrested like 40 members of the group from around the world overnight.

...then surly you want the people in this company arrested too, right?
If not have no idea what moral path you walk exactly.

As for arresting anons, it's the stupidest thing imaginable, and the FBI has already got egg on their face over it, for no gain.

[jimnyc]

...then surly you want the people in this company arrested too, right?
If not have no idea what moral path you walk exactly.

As for arresting anons, it's the stupidest thing imaginable, and the FBI has already got egg on their face over it, for no gain.

Hacking computers is a crime, so I don't see why it's dumb to arrest those involved, and it's Interpol not the FBI. And absolutely, anyone involved in major corruption should be brought to justice. I just don't agree with breaking the law to expose those who break the law. Sorta like being a vigilante. I suppose you guys think it would be OK for a "Charles Bronson" type going around and killing murderers and rapists?

[Noir]

Hacking computers is a crime, so I don't see why it's dumb to arrest those involved, and it's Interpol not the FBI. And absolutely, anyone involved in major corruption should be brought to justice. I just don't agree with breaking the law to expose those who break the law. Sorta like being a vigilante. I suppose you guys think it would be OK for a "Charles Bronson" type going around and killing murderers and rapists?

The FBI paid a private security company to spy on Anons, Anonymous subsequently hacked the spy firm and made an ass out of them. Not to mention that the FBI has said that those who take part in DDoS attacks can be jailed up to 10 years, with your knowledge of computers, would you say that sounds reasonable? Or an irresponsible threat?

As for vilgilantism, you need only look at the work of Anons in Egypt, Iran, and other middle eastern counties to see how breaking the law to serve the greater good is for the greater good when balanced.

Anons have found a company acting above the law, illegally, yet only the (randomly selected) Anons will face the wrath of the law. The known names, with their signatures on the papers that implement Policies that directly violate your constitutional rights will get off Scott free, what does that tell you about your system, and who are the masters.

[jimnyc]

The FBI paid a private security company to spy on Anons, Anonymous subsequently hacked the spy firm and made an ass out of them.

As for vilgilantism, you need only look at the work of Anons in Egypt, Iran, and other middle eastern counties to see how breaking the law to serve the greater good is for the greater good when balanced.

Anons have found a company acting above the law, illegally, yet only the (randomly selected) Anons will face the wrath of the law. The known names, with their signatures on the papers that implement Policies that directly violent your constitutional rights will get of Scott free, what does that tell you about your system, and who are the masters.

They may have made an ass out of them, but they won't be laughing too much when and if Interpol/FBI or other agencies catch up to them.

The law is the law, and not something to be used by some as a tool to be broken, while expecting others to abide by it. It's ironic that those so hell bent on exposing corruption and what not, throw the laws to the wind when they think it suits them. We should ALL abide by the law, and NO ONE should be above it. By the logic I'm reading - it should then be OK for the police to violate the law if what they're doing is trying to bust someone they know is guilty. It serves the greater good, no?

[Noir]

They may have made an ass out of them, but they won't be laughing too much when and if Interpol/FBI or other agencies catch up to them.


The law is the law, and not something to be used by some as a tool to be broken, while expecting others to abide by it. It's ironic that those so hell bent on exposing corruption and what not, throw the laws to the wind when they think it suits them. We should ALL abide by the law, and NO ONE should be above it. By the logic I'm reading - it should then be OK for the police to violate the law if what they're doing is trying to bust someone they know is guilty. It serves the greater good, no?

Catch up with who? Everyone? If people think the 'war on terror' or 'war on drugs' is unwinable, just wait til they see the 'war on the internet'


Ofcourse there is a level in irony in what's happened, and everyone should obey the law. But it's telling that when a citizen breaks the law by say clicking a LOIC link, they're threatened with a decade behind bars. And when a company pisses all over you and your constitutional rights, well, it's your government that asks them to do it, so, they can just you know, do it.

[jimnyc]

By the logic I'm reading - it should then be OK for the police to violate the law if what they're doing is trying to bust someone they know is guilty. It serves the greater good, no? And what about vigilantes killing murderers, rapists & child molesters? The police and vigilantes should be able to work in this fashion, being as I see both thing as for the better good of society.

[jimnyc]

Catch up with who? Everyone? If people think the 'war on terror' or 'war on drugs' is unwinable, just wait til they see the 'war on the internet'

No, I was clearly discussing HACKERS. If you hack into ANY computer, it's against the law. Even worse when you do it on a grand scale and hurt companies. I'm not talking stuff like SOPA and what not, but those that use their skills to damage other networks or hack them.

[Noir]

By the logic I'm reading - it should then be OK for the police to violate the law if what they're doing is trying to bust someone they know is guilty. It serves the greater good, no? And what about vigilantes killing murderers, rapists & child molesters? The police and vigilantes should be able to work in this fashion, being as I see both thing as for the better good of society.

Nope. Those that are breaking the law should be subject to the law in the States.

But we know for a fact that only the citizens will be targetted. If you're running a big company you're above the law, now you may not like that, but that's the way it is, and it's only by these citizens opening themselves up to prosecution that you know that this is how your government operates.

[Noir]

No, I was clearly discussing HACKERS. If you hack into ANY computer, it's against the law. Even worse when you do it on a grand scale and hurt companies. I'm not talking stuff like SOPA and what not, but those that use their skills to damage other networks or hack them.

Land what about DDoS attacks? Criminal? (I mean the FBI claims 10 years in jail so they consider them illegal it seems...)

[jimnyc]

Land what about DDoS attacks? Criminal? (I mean the FBI claims 10 years in jail so they consider them illegal it seems...)

Do you seriously believe anonymous has only done ddos attacks?

[Noir]

Do you seriously believe anonymous has only done ddos attacks?

No ofcourse not, I'm asking if you consider DDoS attacks criminal, like the FBI.

[jimnyc]

Nope. Those that are breaking the law should be subject to the law in the States.

But we know for a fact that only the citizens will be targetted. If you're running a big company you're above the law, now you may not like that, but that's the way it is, and it's only by these citizens opening themselves up to prosecution that you know that this is how your government operates.

So in some places it's ok to break the law for the greater good. Not in the US though because they are subject to laws here? Why should it be ok in some places and not others, if for the greater good of course? Shouldn't the point of breaking these laws be just that, to benefit the greater good? You mentioned quite a few countries - but shouldn't this "concept" be the same everywhere?

And you think it's ok to break the law to go after some people, but not others? Shouldn't the point be to go after those violating the law? Why should they be treated differently? If you break the law, you should be brought to justice. Only if you're in a select group though? Why would you're concept be good to bust corporate corruption or state corruption of sorts, but laws should never be violated to bust law breakers who are "normal citizens"?