International security

NATO chief on European security: 'This is not a new Cold War'

NATO Secretary Jens Stoltenberg is calling for European powers to "modernize" security protocols in the region as tensions grow between the alliance and Russia.

Stoltenberg, the top official of the alliance said the continent's security atmosphere has destabilized in the face of Russian militarism in a recent editorial, adding issues like the tensions between Moscow and the Turkish government over the shooting down of a Russian fighter should be resolved diplomatically. The NATO chief also called for the alliance to strengthen its security capabilities.

"This is not a new Cold War. But it is a wake-up call," Stoltenberg wrote. "The reality is that the rule-book of European security is out of date. We need to modernise it to reflect today's reality and re-engage Russia."

Seismic security

Oklahoma’s booming oil industry could be shaken by earthquakes of its own making

A series of earthquakes at Oklahoma’s oil hub are causing some to worry that future quakes could be catastrophic to the industry that is suspected to be causing them.

The oil industry in Oklahoma might be becoming a victim of its own success. Officials are worried that the Cushing, Oklahoma oil storage center – the largest in North America – could be hit by a large earthquake capable of causing a massive disruption in energy markets and even a national security issue.

Oklahoma has seen more than 5,000 earthquakes this year, which means that 2015 is set to have more than any other, according to NPR.

Electronic surveillance

Revealed: FBI can demand web history, phone location data without a warrant

The FBI can compel companies and individuals to turn over vast sums of personal data without a warrant, it has been revealed for the first time.

In a case that's lasted more than a decade, a court filing released Mondayshowed how the FBI used secret interpretations to determine the scope of national security letters (NSLs).

Nicholas Merrill, founder of internet provider Calyx Internet Access, who brought the 11-year-old case to court after his company was served a national security letter, won the case earlier this year.

National security letters are almost always bundled with a gag order, preventing Merrill from speaking freely about the letter he received.

While it was known that national security letters can demand customer and user data, it wasn't known exactly what.

Extremism

The GOP Ignores the Bigger Terror Threat—From the Right

“I want surveillance of certain mosques,” bellowed Donald Trump to his followers at a campaign rally in Birmingham, Alabama, over the weekend. Ted Cruz recently declared that it would be “lunacy” to allow Muslim refugees into the United States because they “could be jihadists coming here to kill Americans.” And in the aftermath of the Paris attacks, Marco Rubio exclaimed that in order to keep Americans safe, we need to be vigilant in our war against “radical Islam.”

The threat posed by ISIS is real and must be forcefully addressed. But if these Republicans truly want to keep us safe, why don’t they ever raise the issue of right-wing terrorists? After all, as The New York Times reported just a few months ago, “Since Sept. 11, 2001, nearly twice as many people have been killed by white supremacists, antigovernment fanatics and other non-Muslim extremists than by radical Muslims.”

Mass media security

Pro-Russian, Putinist, go to Moscow, traitor, soldier of Medvedev

No matter whether you graduated from the best universities in the U.S., no matter what degrees you hold, no matter how competent an expert you are, no matter how good a career you have, no matter how suitable you are for the position even if you weren’t the son-in-law, you are still the son-in-law… 

Even if you are the most deserving person for this cabinet post with your career, with the schools you graduated from, with your expertise, you are, nevertheless, irredeemable of becoming the most debatable name in the government. 

Take-home message: Being the son-in-law is, contrary to what is believed, a disadvantage instead of an advantage. 

Sport security

Branded a traitor, Russian sports whistleblower hides abroad

The sportswoman who blew the whistle on doping in Russian athletics is in hiding abroad, pursued by a barrage of criticism from former colleagues and officials at home who accuse her of betraying her country.

Yulia Stepanova, an international runner who was herself suspended for doping offences, secretly recorded Russian coaches and athletes over almost two years describing how they used performance-enhancing drugs.

The 29-year-old's evidence formed a major part of an investigation that led to Russian athletes being suspended from international competition this month, triggering the deepest crisis in Russian sport since the boycott-hit 1980 Moscow Olympics.

NGOs

Prosecutors ban Soros Foundation as ‘threat to Russian national security’

The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office has recognized George Soros’s Open Society Institute and another affiliated organization as undesirable groups, banning Russian citizens and organizations from participation in any of their projects.

In a statement released on Monday, prosecutors said the activities of the Open Society Institute and the Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation were a threat to the foundations of Russia’s Constitutional order and national security. They added that the Justice Ministry would be duly informed about these conclusions and would add the two groups to Russia’s list of undesirable foreign organizations.

Prosecutors launched a probe into the activities of the two organizations - both sponsored by the well-known US financier George Soros - in July this year, after Russian senators approved the so-called “patriotic stop-list” of 12 groups that required immediate attention over their supposed anti-Russian activities. Other groups on the list included the National Endowment for Democracy; the International Republican Institute; the National Democratic Institute; the MacArthur Foundation and Freedom House.

Cybersecurity

Russian Hacker Stole 1.2B Login Credentials

The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation has linked a Russian hacker to the theft of more than 1.2 billion login credentials.

The Russian hacker, so-called “Mr. Grey,” is part of the Russian cyber gang CyberVor and allegedly stole more then 1 billion login credentials from over 420,000 websites in the summer of 2014. Reports suggest more than 542 unique email addresses were also included in the stolen data.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation linked the hacker to the major login theft using open source data that shows email addresses and other information posted on Russian crime forums. Mr. Grey posts on the forums selling information and stolen data containing users’ login information for social media accounts and other sites, according to reports.

Flights security

Toy Drones Are Serious Risk to Aircraft: Aerospace Firm

The study by Aero Kinetics, a Texas-based aerospace and defense company, examined what might happen when a collision occurs between a toy drone and a manned aircraft, including the potential for damage and death. The study then compared a toy drone strike with historical data on bird strikes, which the report says are proven to cause significant damage to manned aircraft and loss of human life.

Citing figures that bird strikes cost $951,000,000 per year in the U.S. alone, the study concludes that the impact of a toy drone — made of plastic, metal, and engineered materials— with a manned aircraft in a collision would be even more catastrophic.

Between 1990 and 2013, there were more than 70,000 bird strikes with planes during take-off or landing, according to FAA statistics cited by Aero Kinetics.

Gun control

FBI: Black Friday marks record background checks

According to the FBI, Black Friday is at the top of the list for the most background checks performed in a single day. All are recorded in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System keeping tabs on legal transactions, a process Rodriguez says he's grateful for.

"I wouldn't be safe if somebody mentally unstable would walk around with a weapon," said Rodriguez.

Staff at Second Amendment Sport said they would continue some of the sales throughout the holidays.

JFK assassination

THE CIA, MAFIA, MEXICO — AND OSWALD, PART 6

When John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, the United States lost more than its president. It lost its innocence. The subsequent investigations into the young president’s killing raised more questions than they answered — and caused Americans to lose faith in their government. Indeed, for many people in the US and across the world, the assassination marked the point at which their fundamental perceptions changed.

Just after the Warren Commission released its report on the assassination, the level of public trust in government was at 77 percent. A decade later it had plummeted to less than half that (36 percent).

Nuclear security

Your Radiation This Week No 32

Colorado Springs is the No 1 Radioactive City in America for this week! Congrats to Colorado Springs as the most Radioactive City in America for this week. The United States Air Force Academy is located immediately north of Colorado Springs.

Thirty-two (32) American cities exceeded 1,000 CPM this week. Another thirteen (13) cities are clustered between 999 and 900 CPM. Stay Alert and take all appropriate precautions. The most prevalent isotope, Cesium 137, takes a daunting 600 years to decay to infinitesimal levels and it is not even particularly long-lived radiation. The Cesium will remain for 600 years, though; we won’t.

Intel warning

FBI warned of Planned Parenthood attacks months ago

For the past several months, law enforcement has been wary of people potentially targeting reproductive health clinics — specifically Planned Parenthood locations — after the FBI sent out an intelligence bulletin to police departments nationwide with that warning.The FBI’s warning came as Congress was debating gutting funding for Planned Parenthood after a series of videos released by the the Center for Medical Progress purported to show Planned Parenthood doctors discussing harvesting fetal tissue from abortions for profit.

 

Spy elite revelations

Oh, the suffering of the CIA: In Showtime’s “The Spymasters,” America’s chief spooks bare their souls on the pain of the terror war

José Rodriguez is a Harley-riding hardass who spent many years as a clandestine counter-terrorism operative in the Central Intelligence Agency, and he’s sick to death of hearing people whine about waterboarding. Some people may have understood Kathryn Bigelow’s “Zero Dark Thirty” as a pro-CIA movie, but Rodriguez assures us its depiction of waterboarding as brutal and nightmarish was “total bullshit.” Yeah, that venerable technique of “enhanced interrogation” has been used as torture at other times in history, Rodriguez admits, including by the Nazis, the Soviets and the witch-hunters of the Spanish Inquisition. But not by the CIA. Our guys always had doctors on hand to make sure nobody died, he says.

Intel career

Grove grad finds niche in CIA

The Grove High School graduate is the Deputy Intelligence Community Chief Information Officer for the Office of the Director for National Intelligence.

In that role, she is shaping one of the largest and most fundamental technology initiatives in the history of the CIA.

In everyday lingo, Leubecker protects the CIA’s internal computer systems from cyber threats.

Leubecker has been with the CIA since 1988. She was promoted into the Senior Intelligence Service in 2003 and was recently chosen Washington D.C.’s Top 50 Women in Tech 2015.

“I was honored to be selected to serve on the team charged with this historical effort – to stand up a new Directorate in the Agency; our first new Directorate in nearly 50 years,” Leubecker said.

War on terror

GET HER: Punk jihadi Sally Jones top of SAS kill list as special forces hit BACK at ISIS

THE SAS will be sent to Syria with a hit list of 20 top jihadis, including 10 Britons, military sources revealed last night.

The kill mission is part of renewed efforts to eliminate Islamic State commanders in Syria and will happen regardless of the outcome of Wednesday’s vote in parliament. 

A mother of two from Kent, who has made herself invaluable to IS, is believed to be among the targets. 

Other moves will include the deploying of Britain’s most sophisticated nuclear submarine into the eastern Mediterranean, armed and ready to launch a Tomahawk cruise missile strike on IS’s Raqqa power base. 

Around 40 members of the SAS are already supporting US Special Forces in Syria but that number is to be doubled after defence chiefs ordered the head of Britain’s special forces to focus all efforts against IS jihadis in Iraq and Syria.

Corruption

BIMCO Launches Anti-Corruption Clause For Shipping Contracts Worldwide

BIMCO, the world’s largest international shipping organisation, has now launched an anti-corruption clause for charter parties. The new clause will give owners and charterers a contractual platform for cooperative action to resist demands for illegal payments from port officials and others.BIMCO Secretary General, Angus Frew, said: “BIMCO recognises the importance of a united approach by the shipping industry towards stamping out corruption in the ports and places where the world’s merchant fleet trades.

Airspace security

Israel: Russian Plane Entered Our Airspace

A Russian warplane recently entered Israeli-controlled airspace from Syria but the intrusion was resolved without incident, Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said on Sunday.

Yaalon’s comments come amid deep concern over the downing of a Russian warplane by Turkey, which claims it strayed over the Syrian border into its airspace and ignored repeated warnings to change course. Moscow denies the allegations.

“There was a slight intrusion a mile (1.6 kilometres) deep by a Russian plane from Syria into our airspace, but it was immediately resolved and the Russian plane returned towards Syria,” Yaalon told public radio.

Information security

Vladimir Putin: U.S. Implicated in Turkish Jet Downing

Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the U.S. of leaking the flight path of a downed Russian jet to Turkey, allowing the latter country to shoot it down.

“The American side, which leads the coalition that Turkey belongs to, knew about the location and time of our planes’ flights, and we were hit exactly there and at that time,” he said according to The Independent. “Why did we give this information to the Americans if they did not pass it along to the rest of the coalition?”

Turkish forces shot down a SU-24 bomber on Nov. 24 after the jet allegedly violated their airspace. The forces claim they sent the jet numerous warnings, but Russian officials saidnone were received. The Turkish military released audio of the warnings sent to the Russian plane the following day, but Russia said the recordings are fake.

Concepts & opinions

Jimmy Carter: The U.S. is an 'oligarchy with unlimited political bribery'

HARTMANN: Our Supreme Court has now said, "unlimited money in politics." It seems like a violation of principles of democracy. ... Your thoughts on that?

CARTER: It violates the essence of what made America a great country in its political system. Now it's just an oligarchy, with unlimited political bribery being the essence of getting the nominations for president or to elect the president. And the same thing applies to governors and U.S. senators and congress members. So now we've just seen a complete subversion of our political system as a payoff to major contributors, who want and expect and sometimes get favors for themselves after the election's over. ... The incumbents, Democrats and Republicans, look upon this unlimited money as a great benefit to themselves. Somebody's who's already in Congress has a lot more to sell to an avid contributor than somebody who's just a challenger.

Intel revenge

Breaking: Turkey Arrests Generals for Stopping Syria-Bound Trucks ‘Filled With Arms’

The recent developments are taking place in the wake of a major government crackdown on two Turkish journalists of the Cumhuriyet newspaper, Can Dunbar and Erdem Gul, who we arrested for covering a story and releasing pictures, claiming that Turkish trucks provided weapons to Syrian opposition rebels.

The reason why the Turkish government arrested the journalists is because Erdogan and his ruling party don’t want reporters to write about certain things, such as the government’s support of Syrian rebels, corruption and other important things that people should actually know about, human rights activist Arzu Geybulla said.

Gun control

'Enough Is Enough,' Obama Says After Shooting at Colorado Planned Parenthood

"Enough is enough," President Barack Obama said in a statement on Saturday morning, hours after suspect Robert Lewis Dear was taken into custody for opening fire at a Planned Parenthood facility in Colorado Springs, killing three people.

Dear, 57, is suspected of killing police officer Garrett Swasey along with two unidentified civilians.

Just before noon on Friday, gunfire erupted at the health care provider's clinic with patrons inside. A standoff ensued that lasted for about five hours, as authorities worked to rescue those trapped inside. Dear surrendered after officers made verbal contact. His motive for the shooting remains unknown.

Biometrics

German Hacker Replicates German Defense Minister's Fingerprints from Photo!

A short while ago, I posted an article titled "The Biometric Authentication Conumdrum". In that article, I pointed out that biometrics may have problems that were unanticipated by the security professionals advocating for them. Generally, most security engineers have been pressing forward for biometrics as THE solution to our authentication problems. They hold the belief that biometrics are unique to the individual and therefore can not be broken or guessed by hackers. I refute that argument and point out that biometrics may have some very serious security flaws and that the implications could be very dangerous for information security in general.

Climate security

Another danger of climate change: Giant flying boulders?

Standing atop a 60-foot cliff overlooking the Atlantic, James Hansen — the retired NASA scientist sometimes dubbed the “father of global warming” — examines two small rocks through a magnifying glass. Towering above him is the source of one of the shards: a huge boulder from a pair locals call “the Cow and the Bull,” the largest of which is estimated to weigh more than 1,000 tons.

The two giants have long been tourist attractions along this rocky coast. Perched not far from the edge of a steep cliff that plunges down into blue water, they raise an obvious question: How did they get up here?

Compounding the mystery, these two are among a series of giant boulders arranged in an almost perfect line across a narrow part of this 110-mile-long, wishbone-shaped island.

Remote viewing & national security

Military use of Remote Viewing & the CIA FOIA documents

Project Star gate is the collective name for advanced psychic functioning or Remote viewing experiments and programs that were undertaken for over twenty years to create a trainable, repeatable, operational and if at all possible, accurate method of psychic spying or information gathering for the U.S. Military and intelligence agencies (CIA, NSA, DIA).

To view a visual Remote Viewing History map - click here

The actual projects involved in this 23+ year mammoth operational and scientific endeavor were...

Communications security

The Smartphone Wars are Coming

We are living today in the midst of the greatest democratization of information since the invention of the printing press. Smartphones transform any person into a citizen reporter, the leader of a digitally-enabled smart mob, or the spark of a new viral movement. Information technology connects people and empowers. This technology (literally) in the hands of everyday people is changing the operating environment in profound ways for U.S. military forces, creating a world of radical transparency, connectivity, and atomization of conflict.

National security strategy

UK Beefs Up Its Defenses for a More Secure World

On Monday, the British Government set out the Strategic Defense and Security Review and National Security Strategy, a comprehensive look at how we plan to counter today’s threats by investing more in our armed forces and intelligence agencies in a way that’s smart and strategic.

What will this mean? It will mean increasing security and intelligence staff by 1,900 and establishing a highly capable deployable joint military force of up to 50,000 personnel. It will mean investing over $270 billion in our capabilities over the next decade—including doubling our investment in equipment to support our Special Forces. It will mean buying new nuclear deterrent submarines and maritime patrol aircraft.

Mass surveillance

NSA bulk phone snooping program shuts down

The National Security Agency will no longer be able to collect phone records in bulk starting Nov. 29, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a statement Friday.

The program's closure was required by the USA Freedom Act, signed by President Barack Obama in early June. The program was allowed to continue since then as part of a six-month wind-down period, in which intelligence officials could create and test a new phone records program where the government can only obtain records connected to a specific entity like a person or device that is associated with a foreign power or terrorist group.

Intel history

Give Thanks for the OSS

As we commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II this year - and increasingly rely on our intelligence and special operations communities to defend the United States - we should remember that they were born in the crucible of World War II.

In June 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt created the OSS. Roosevelt appointed as its director the legendary General William “Wild Bill” Donovan, the only American to receive our nation’s four highest decorations, including the Medal of Honor. Donovan dedicated his entire life to serving the United States, starting in World War I as part of the “Fighting 69th” Infantry Regiment. One of our nation’s leading attorneys, he served as an assistant United States attorney general and as the U.S.attorney for the Western District of New York. President Roosevelt sent him to Great Britain in 1940 as one of his personal emissaries. Following World War II, he served as ambassador to Thailand during the height of the Cold War.

Drills

Soldiers seize simulated WMD site during exercise

During Exercise Gryphon Longsword, the 110th Chemical Battalion (Technical Escort) trained with the 4-23rd Infantry and 502nd Military Intelligence Battalion at the Satsop Nuclear Power Plant, an unfinished nuclear power plant near Elma, Washington.

After fighting through an underground maze where mock enemy ambushes and improvised explosive devices awaited them, the troops secured a VX laboratory.

The 110th Chemical Battalion is part of the 48th Chemical Brigade, 20th CBRNE Command (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives), the U.S. Department of Defense's only multifunctional formation that combats CBRNE threats.

Based on 19 posts in 16 states, 20th CBRNE Command Soldiers and civilians counter Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), eliminate CBRNE threats and defeat improvised explosive devices (IEDs) around the world.

Terror supply chain

Paris attacks guns 'traced to German arms dealer'

German prosecutors said Friday they were investigating whether an illegal arms dealer had sold four assault rifles to a person in the French capital and whether there were "possible links to the attacks in Paris".

Police had found several handguns during a search of his home, said prosecutors in the nearby city of Stuttgart.

"Investigations so far suggest that the accused could have sold four assault rifles to a buyer in Paris in November," said the prosecutors' statement.

"Possible links to the attacks in Paris are being checked," it added, referring to the series of gun and explosive assaults that claimed 130 lives on November 13.

Communications security

China To Build Spy-proof Smartphones

For years digital security experts have worried over possible backdoors implemented into equipment manufactured at Chinese factories. Over the years there have been several reports of backdoor being found in CPUs in use in the DoD’s computers. Code implemented at this level could allow an attacker to spy or even take control of the affected system. It now emerges that the Chinese have been having the same sort of fears all along.

China is planning to manufacture its very own secure smartphone in an attempt to lock down any possible avenue for US surveillance. This move should come as no surprise in the current, post-Edward Snowden climate. Now that the extent of NSA surveillance has been revealed, it is clear that we should all be worried about who is listening in to what conversations.

Terror support

Turkish weapons ‘heading to end in ISIS hands’: RT speaks to Cumhuriyet journalists

...In May, the outlet which is considered to be the opponent of the government, published photos of weapons it said were then transferred to Syria by Turkey's intelligence agency.

Those who sent the convoy from Turkey knew that the weapons were "heading to end [up] in ISIS hands," one of the Cumhuriyet bosses told RT's Ilya Petrenko. "There was that flag that belongs to ISIS... [it could be seen] very clearly [from] Turkish border line," the journalist said.

Turkish officials made contradictory statements after the paper blew the whistle, first saying that the arms "were going to the Free Syrian Army," then denying the delivery altogether, and then saying the "aid was destined for the Turkmen."

Putin approves economic sanctions against Turkey following downing of Russian warplane

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree imposing a package of economic sanctions against Turkey following its downing of a Russian Su-24 bomber in Syria. The measures include banning several Turkish organizations and the import of certain goods.

A decree on "measures providing the national security of the Russian Federation and the protection of its citizens against criminal and other unlawful acts, and on imposing special economic measures in relation to Turkish Republic" was signed on Saturday, the Kremlin press service said.

Under the decree, the import of certain products originating from Turkey will be temporarily banned or restricted.

A number of Turkish organizations operating in Russia will also be restricted.

Follow the money

Erodgan Owes Syria 100Bn for Stolen Oil, Iraq Owed $1.5Tn

Over the last two weeks, Russia has been destroying the “living pipeline” that has allowed Turkey to steal tens of millions of barrels of Syrian crude oil, much of it at peak market prices, while only paying their ISIS allies a pittance.

This process isn’t new.  Turkey did this all during the Bush era, having cut a deal with US “manager” Paul Bremmer, a deal VT insiders helped manage for Bremmer and that I was witness to personally.

The game involved playing Baghdad against Erbil and bleeding off oil revenues from the Kirkuk Oil Fields, largest oil reserves in the world, as they moved by pipeline through Kurdistan and into Turkey.  There they were offloaded onto American tankers in the Mediterranean where these huge ships, largest in the world, were filled with oil but it was never recorded and the oil never paid for.

Border security

DHS: More than 500 cited daily for ‘security concerns’

Hundreds of travelers passing through airports, seaports and both borders are flagged for “suspected national security concerns” by customs police on a typical day, according to Homeland Security data.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers identified 548 individuals nationwide with suspected national security concerns on average each day in fiscal 2014, according to the most recent agency figures.

CBP officials wouldn’t say how many known or suspected terrorists are among those identified for security concerns. Nor would they reveal how many of those flagged travelers have been identified at Logan International Airport. An agency spokesman did say that some with national security concerns are stopped before they even board planes headed to the U.S.

Middle East

Turkey: Wrong Partner to Fight Terror

Racism is bad, no doubt. But it cannot be the reason why jihadists kill "infidels," including fellow Muslims in Muslim lands. Sadly, the free world feels compelled to partner with the wrong country in its fight against Islamic terror.

The host of this year's G-20 summit, which came right after the Nov. 13 Paris attacks, was Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In his usual Sunni supremacist language, he accused the victims of jihad rather than the jihadists. "New tragedies will be inevitable," he said, "if the rising racism in Europe and other countries is not stopped. Racism, coupled with enmity against Islam, is the greatest disaster, the greatest threat."

Yet Erdogan willingly ignores the rising racism, xenophobia, and anti-western, jihadist sentiments that increasingly command the hearts and minds of his fellow Turks. A quick look at a few sports games and fan behavior in recent weeks would reveal much about the Turkish mind and heart.

Health security

6 Ways To Kick Added Sugar Out, According To A Sugar Scientist

The Food and Drug Administration’s new recommendation that Americans eat no more than 10 percent of calories from added sugar is a giant leap in the right direction, according to sugar scientist Laura Schmidt of the University of California, San Francisco. But confusion about the difference between added sugar and naturally-occurring sugar, as well as the way foods are marketed and labeled, have created a food environment in which people aren’t quite sure how much added sugar they’re actually eating -- much less how to strategize ways to lower those numbers.

Sport security

Russia accepts full, indefinite ban from world athletics over doping scandal

The Russian athletics federation has accepted its ban from international competition and has promised to cooperate with inspectors who will oversee changes to its drug-testing system.

...Russia became the first country to be banned from international competition because of doping offences after a meeting of IAAF council members earlier this month. Officials voted 22-1 in favour of the provisional sanction, which came in the wake of damning revelations by the World Anti-Doping Agency of systematic doping and cover-ups in Russia.