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NSA Monitors Americans' International Internet Traffic to Hunt Hackers for FBI

posted by janrinok on Saturday June 06 2015, @03:16AM   Printer-friendly
from the but-we-won't-abuse-our-position dept.

takyon writes:

The National Security Agency has been warrantlessly sifting through Americans' international Internet traffic on behalf of the FBI in order to identify malicious hackers since 2012, according to the New York Times, ProPublica, and The Intercept:

The revelation calls into question previous statements made by senior U.S. officials about a claimed lack of ability to detect cyberattacks within the United States. During his time as director of the NSA, for instance, Keith Alexander continually lobbied for more cybersecurity powers, but did not mention the scope of those already obtained by the agency. In March 2014, the then-NSA director told a cybersecurity conference at Georgetown University: "An attack on Wall Street or an exploit going against Wall Street — NSA and Cyber Command would probably not see that. We have no capability there. Against everything that's been said, the fact is we don't have the ability to see it."

The Times report, an embargoed copy of which was shared with The Intercept because co-founder Laura Poitras contributed to it, also reveals that the FBI negotiated in 2012 to use the NSA's surveillance capabilities to monitor Internet traffic passing over "chokepoints operated by U.S. providers through which international communications enter and leave the United States." The NSA would reportedly send the intercepted traffic to a "cyberdata repository" maintained by the bureau in Quantico, Virginia.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 06 2015, @03:18AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 06 2015, @03:18AM (#192777)

    I knew I shouldn't have downloaded that free OS from Ireland!

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 06 2015, @01:19PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 06 2015, @01:19PM (#192866)

      Not to worry. Judging from the OPM hack they're not very good at it.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 06 2015, @03:45AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 06 2015, @03:45AM (#192782)

    They protect us from the bad man.

    The bad man watches us while we


    PPPPP EEEEE EEEEE  PPPPP EEEEE EEEEE
    P   P E     E      P   P E     E
    PPPPP EEEEE EEEEE  PPPPP EEEEE EEEEE
    P     E     E      P     E     E
    P     EEEEE EEEEE  P     EEEEE EEEEE

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Nerdfest on Saturday June 06 2015, @06:27AM

    by Nerdfest (80) on Saturday June 06 2015, @06:27AM (#192810)

    Pardon me for asking, but isn't just about every aspect of that illegal, going against both the intent and letter of several laws, the Constitution, and the mandates of both agencies?

    • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 06 2015, @02:04PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 06 2015, @02:04PM (#192876)

      Yeah, so?

      Regards,
      The US Government

    • (Score: 2) by TrumpetPower! on Saturday June 06 2015, @04:54PM

      by TrumpetPower! (590) <ben@trumpetpower.com> on Saturday June 06 2015, @04:54PM (#192946) Homepage

      Seems you didn't get the memo. We're no longer a nation of laws; laws are irrelevant save for those the men who govern us wish to bring down. We are now a nation of men, not of laws.

      ...and we've been that way for a while, now, in fact....

      b&

      --
      All but God can prove this sentence true.

    • (Score: 2) by davester666 on Sunday June 07 2015, @08:48AM

      by davester666 (155) on Sunday June 07 2015, @08:48AM (#193178)

      No, because once your data leaves the borders of the US, the constitution no longer applies to it.

      And if major trunk lines just happen to briefly cross into, say, Canada, before continuing on to the next US city...

  • (Score: 3, Informative) by kadal on Saturday June 06 2015, @02:10PM

    by kadal (4731) on Saturday June 06 2015, @02:10PM (#192878)

    Or as Schneier [schneier.com] puts it,

    the NSA is operating a signature-based intrusion detection system on the Internet backbone

    He links to this really good blog piece: http://webpolicy.org/2015/06/04/nsa-cybersecurity/ [webpolicy.org]

    In my view, the key takeaway is this: for over a decade, there has been a public policy debate about what role the NSA should play in domestic cybersecurity. The debate has largely presupposed that the NSA's domestic authority is narrowly circumscribed, and that DHS and DOJ play a far greater role. Today, we learn that assumption is incorrect. The NSA already asserts broad domestic cybersecurity powers. Recognizing the scope of the NSA's authority is particularly critical for pending legislation.