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Bush
orders NSA to snoop on US agencies
Cyber attack fear used to expand spy grid
By Ashlee Vance in Mountain View
28/01/08 "The
Register" -- - Not
content with spying on other countries, the NSA (National
Security Agency) will now turn on the US's own government
agencies thanks to a fresh directive from president George Bush.
Under the new guidelines, the NSA and other intelligence
agencies can bore into the internet networks of all their peers.
The Bush administration pulled off this spy expansion by
pointing to an increase in the number of cyber attacks directed
against the US, possibly from foreign nations. The Office of the
Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) will spearhead the
effort around identifying the source of these attacks, while the
Department of Homeland Security and Pentagon will concentrate on
retaliation.
The Washington Post appears to have broken the news about the
new Bush-led joint directive, which remains classified. The
paper reported that the directive - National Security
Presidential Directive 54/Homeland Security Presidential
Directive 23 - was signed on Jan. 8. Earlier reports from the
Baltimore Sun documented the NSA's plans to add US spying to its
international snooping duties.
The new program will - of course - drains billions of dollars
out of US coffers and be part of Bush's 2009 budget.
During Bush's presidency, US citizens have come under an
unprecedented spying regime. In addition to upping its focus on
suspected criminals, the administration permitted a system for
wiretapping the phone calls of Average Joes and Janes. The
government is also funding specialized computers from companies
such as Cray that can search through enormous databases at
incredible speed. Ah, if only Stalin could see us now.
The government points to cyber attacks against the State,
Commerce, Defense and Homeland Security departments as the
impetus for expanding the NSA's powers. "U.S. officials and
cyber-security experts have said Chinese Web sites were involved
in several of the biggest attacks back to 2005, including some
at the country's nuclear-energy labs and large defense
contractors," the Post reported.
Critics of the new directive will point to the NSA's ability to
operate in total secrecy as cause for concern.
More troubling, however, may be the Pentagon and Homeland
Security's aspirations to hit attackers with counter-strikes.
Proving that a nation rather than a rogue set of attackers are
behind a cyber attack will likely be very difficult. In
addition, the international community has yet to address the
rules of cyber war in any meaningful way. ®
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