p2pnet - rss feed: Is the NSA snooping on you?
p2p news / p2pnet: “Smith’s avocation as a digital bloodhound started last year, when he heard that Intel Corp. (INTC) was encoding a unique serial number into every new Pentium III microprocessor,” says a BusinessWeek Online story “
Under discussion is Richard M. Smith whose mission: was to, “track the efforts of software companies and online services to collect information about what individual Web surfers are doing” and Federal Trade Commission associate director David Medine is quoted as saying, ”You don’t want to be next on Richard Smith’s list.”
The story dates back to 2000, but Smith’s mission hasn’t changed and one of his newest concerns centers on George W. Bush’s decision to say, “To hell with search warrants” when it comes to spying on Americans.
But Smith is doing more than merely complaining: he’s posted suggestions on how to see if Bush and his buddies are violating your privacy »»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»
Who is snooping on my email?
By Richard M. Smith - www.ComputerBytesMan.com
With all of the controversy about the news that the NSA has been monitoring, since 9/11, telephone calls and email messages of Americans, some folks might now be wondering if they are being snooped on. Here’s a quick and easy method to see if one’s email messages are being read by someone else.
The steps are:
1. Set up a Hotmail account.
2. Set up a second email account with a non-U.S. provider. (eg. Rediffmail.com)
3. Send messages between the two accounts which might be interesting to the NSA.
4. In each message, include a unique URL to a Web server that you have access to its server logs. This URL should only be known by you and not linked to from any other Web page. The text of the message should encourage an NSA monitor to visit the URL.
5. If the server log file ever shows this URL being accessed, then you know that you are being snooped on. The IP address of the access can also provide clues about who is doing the snooping.
The trick is to make the link enticing enough for someone or something to want to click on it. As part of a large-scale research project, I would suggest sending out a few hundred thousand messages using various tricks to find one that might work. Here are some possible ideas:
* Include a variety of terrorist related trigger words
* Include other links in a message to known AQ message boards
* Include a fake CC: to Mohamed Atta’s old email address (el-amir@tu-harburg.de)
* Send the message from an SMTP server in Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.
* Use a fake return address from a known terrorist organization
* Use a ziplip or hushmail account.
Besides monitoring the NSA, this same technique can be used if you suspect your email account password has been stolen or if a family member or coworker is reading your email on your computer of the sly.
Also See:
BusinessWeek Online - The Privacy War of Richard Smith, February 14, 2000
spying On Americans - Bush admits spying on US citizens, December 19, 2005
December 27th, 2005 at 3:34 pm
An interesting idea, but if they were not reading your email before they sure as hell will be afterwards. The telecoms have been giving the NSA no warrant required back doors, which means I doubt that using a random email address will help you keep your identity a secret. If the telecoms are helping them, who knows who else has agreed to give them a free backdoor to whatever information they want. For all we know they already have one in Microsoft’s hotmail system.
Also, I would be surprised if they haven’t made a few visits to p2pnet, as there is often anti-bush and anti-government comments posted here. Unfortunately they seem to classify anything that criticizes the powers that be a threat now.
December 27th, 2005 at 4:21 pm
http://www.slyck.com/news.php?story=990
December 27th, 2005 at 5:44 pm
Unique web adresses?
Terrorist related keywords?
CC to Mohamed Atta?
Is your intention to land everyone that does it in Guantanamo Bay??? Any1 thinking about doing this - don’t! You’d just give them a reason to have you put away…
December 27th, 2005 at 5:47 pm
hey jon are you gonna start posting links to your stories on slyck? hehe
December 27th, 2005 at 6:28 pm
When words are put into an email that contain words of interest to the government of the P.S.A. The N.S.A.’s computer flags the message for further analysis. A feed forward neural network compares the number of each word of interest to profiles stored on computers at Fort Mead.
One of the profiles include a jammers profile. Different random words of interest at a high count is likely to be considered a jammer’s message and is therefore not escalated any further.
If the message does happen to fall into a possible “terrorist’s” message profile, the message is further classified into one of several catagories. Once catagorized, the message is escallated to a human intercept operator for further inspection.
Any URL contained within a message can be added to a watchlist. The N.S.A.’s surveillance network will monitor internet protocol packets for this specific URL. Once (or if) a URL is referenced the NSA network will intercept the information transmitted back to the requestor. That way, the NSA will get an exact copy of the URL without having to visit the webpage.
The NSA will not be very likely to visit a URL contained within a message for the exact reason that it does not wish its surveillance of the message to be discovered. The only thing that provokatative words is likely to do is get you listed among many others who protests the NSA’s monitoring program (ECHELON).
December 27th, 2005 at 6:33 pm
So what? Let the feds visit us all… there’s nothing they can do.
If you allow their intimidations to work, they win. I don’t give a fuck they can knock on my door 10 times a day and every time they will get the same answer: “Fuck off I don’t talk to police. Now get off my property.”
BTW criticizing the powers is a threat to THEM. After all, what would happen if the pleebs actually woke up to what’s been happening?
If/when the pleebs wake up to the fact that 9/11 was a totally inside job there will be fucking ANARCHY on main-street USA. Good thing for the regime that John Q Public is so fucking stupid and too busy talking about sports or a myriad of other retarded topics.
(Go hit the torrent sites and download “911 eyewitness” a 700 meg avi. Fast forward to the section where WTC building 7 collapeses and you tell me that isn’t a classical controlled demo. Fire DID NOT do that.)
December 27th, 2005 at 8:19 pm
This is the dumbest thing I have ever seen offered. Why invite trouble? If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about. I don’t go around slapping a big dog because eventually he will take your arm off.
December 27th, 2005 at 8:19 pm
It seems to me that the purpose of the article is to GET the NSA to spy on you, rather than to find out if they already are. Thanks, but no thanks.
December 28th, 2005 at 12:29 am
He already does!
December 28th, 2005 at 12:51 am
“If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about.”
That’s what all facist governments say.
December 28th, 2005 at 3:49 am
>If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about.
You have to worry about the loss of your rights! Go read the constitution, and then go hit the history books and you will understand WHAT YOU HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT you ignorant fool.
And BTW another real thing you need to be worried about is the loss of confidence in the US stock markets, because what few people realize is the dragnet CAN ALSO CATCH VAST AMOUNTS OF INSIDER INFORMATION from corporations! Sort of the ultimate ‘insider trading from the outside’ scheme.
December 28th, 2005 at 8:26 am
Do you have an internet account? Do you own a phone?
If you’ve answered yes to any of those questions, then the answer is probly “yes it is”. And if it’s not, some other agency is.
December 28th, 2005 at 8:35 am
If you are ULTRA paranoid and a conspiracy theorist, this is a great idea. If you are a normal American, just laugh at the notion.
December 28th, 2005 at 3:49 pm
I logged SOCOM.MIL as visiting my website, as well as various state governments.
Funny thing is, the website had only a link to my livejournal, and since I can’t track hits on my livejournal (and it can be read through a feed) that was the only way I had to know who was reading it. So I posted a link from the LJ to the other website, which just linked back to LJ.
signed:
A political Liberal.
December 28th, 2005 at 4:52 pm
Right. I bet you would say just that. If you make them angry enough, they’ll find something. You simply would probably say…”Yes, sir, may I have another?”
December 28th, 2005 at 11:50 pm
I agree, one of the most disturbing things about this entire debacle is the fact that President Bush’s approval ratings have actually gone UP since this came out. I am starting to wonder if George Washington was correct with his views on political parties. It seems that blind party loyalty has completely infected 80% of America, with politics being more of a “make the other party look bad” game instead of deciding whats actually best for the country. I can understand this with the politicians themselves, but with the level of information freely available to the general public nowadays, there are absolutely no excuses except apathy and stupidity.
“They serve to Organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force–to put in the place of the delegated will of the Nation, the will of a party; often a small but artful and enterprizing minority of the Community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public Administration the Mirror of the ill concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the Organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common councils…”
-George Washington, Speaking on Political Party’s in his Farewell Address
December 29th, 2005 at 1:05 pm
>>If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about.
While this isn’t a true statement. (Innocent people are accused and aquited or found guilty all the time.)
I believe the rest of what you say is true. How dumb.
It would be one thing to have a link to see if someone was reading your e-mails but to seed e-mail messages . What does that prove?..it proves the Government is doing exactly what it says it is doing, that it is only looking at suspicious communications. If they are looking at only suspicious communications then I would say you are guilty of treason by sapping intelligence resources and providing cover for the enemy because you want to play games.
Bush only lies when his lips are moving but this idea is natural selection at work.