'RAHSIA Teras' TERDEDAH: NSA digunakan EJEN Menyamar dalam SYARIKAT-syarikat ASING . . .

Reuters/Jason Reed

tvR - Menyusup rangkaian asing dan mendapat akses kepada sistem yang sensitif, NSA telah menggunakan taktik "subversif fizikal" - menggerakkan ejen menyamar di, Korea Selatan dan mungkin juga syarikat-syarikat Amerika, Laporan Intercept Cina, Jerman.

Laporan lepas di Agensi Keselamatan Kebangsaan (NSA) telah biasanya digam-barkan organ kerajaan yg hacks sistem lain atau bekerja dgn syarikat-syarikat swasta untuk memintas perlindungan penyulitan mereka sendiri, tetapi laporan terbaru berdasarkan fail dibocorkan oleh Edward Snowden mencadangkan agensi boleh menerapkan koperasi ke luar negara, serta domestik, "entiti komersial."

Dalam satu 13 document  muka surat yang dikeluarkan oleh The Intercept, NSA menerangkan enam program yang berbeza yang dianggapnya "rahsia teras," yang kesemuanya difailkan di bawah panji-panji "Sentry Eagle." Dokumen tersebut mem-beri amaran bahawa sebarang pendedahan dpd "rahsia "akan menyebabkan" kerosakan sangat serius kepada keselamatan negara Amerika Syarikat" dan tidak boleh dilakukan tanpa kebenaran daripada seorang pegawai perisikan kanan.

Program-program ini, ada yang masih berjalan sehingga 2012, terdiri daripada yang berikut:

Sentry Hawk: Yang melibatkan kerjasama antara NSA dan juga syarikat-syarikat asing dan domestik untuk mengeksploitasi rangkaian komputer.

Sentry Falcon: Yang termasuk mempertahankan rangkaian komputer.

Sentry Osprey: Yang melibatkan NSA bekerjasama dengan CIA, FBI dan Pentagon untuk mengambil koperasi manusia yang boleh membantu memberikan akses agensi kepada rangkaian.

Sentry Raven: Yang menerangkan rundingan NSA dengan syarikat-syarikat Amerika untuk melemahkan penyulitan mereka untuk memberikan agensi akses yang lebih mudah.

Sentry Condor: Yang termasuk serangan rangkaian serangan yang boleh memusnahkan atau melemahkan sistem komputer.

Sentry Owl: Yang melibatkan NSA bekerjasama dengan syarikat-syarikat asing untuk membuat produk mereka terdedah kepada pengumpulan data NSA.

Salah satu yang paling besar adalah ayat-ayat yang di bawah Sentry Osprey, ejen menyamar - Aset kecerdasan manusia, atau "HUMINT" - telah tertanam untuk membantu NSA berjaya menjalankan operasi risikan isyarat (SIGINT), yang melibatkan pemintasan komunikasi dan isyarat elektronik. Sama ada ejen-ejen ini adalah menyamar sebagai pekerja, ahli perniagaan di luar, atau beberapa jenis lain kakitangan adalah tdk diketahui. Syarikat-syarikat asing & juga syarikat-syarikat tempatan boleh disasarkan.

Ini "eksploitasi sasaran" Kumpulan - dilabel "TAREX" - dilaporkan mempunyai ope-rasi di Korea Selatan, Jerman dan China, dengan kehadiran tempatan di Georgia, Hawaii dan Texas.

Sudah, Kesatuan Kebebasan Sivil Amerika kepada The Intercept bahawa ia telah mengadakan perbincangan dengan eksekutif berteknologi domestik lebih banyak kemungkinan bahawa NSA secara fizikal menyusup syarikat mereka.

‘CORE Secrets’ EXPOSED: NSA used UnderCover AGENTS 

in foreign COMPANIES . . .

To infiltrate foreign networks and gain access to sensitive systems, the NSA has been using the tactics of “physical subversion” – deploying undercover agents in Chinese, German, South Korean and possibly even American companies, The Intercept reports.

Past reports on the National Security Agency (NSA) have typically depicted a government organ that hacks other systems or works with private corporations to bypass their own encryption protections, but the latest report based on files leaked by Edward Snowden suggests the agency could be embedding operatives into foreign, as well as domestic, “commercial entities.”

In a 13-page document published by  The Intercept, the NSA describes six different programs that it considers to be “core secrets,” all of which are filed under the banner of “Sentry Eagle.” The document warns that any disclosure of the “secrets” will cause “exceptionally grave damage to US national security” and should not be done without an authorization from a senior intelligence official.

These programs, some of which were ongoing as of 2012, are composed of the following:

Sentry Hawk: Which involves cooperation between the NSA as well as foreign and domestic companies to exploit computer networks.

Sentry Falcon: Which includes the defense of computer networks.

Sentry Osprey: Which involves the NSA cooperating with the CIA, FBI and Pentagon to employ human operatives that can help give the agency access to networks.

Sentry Raven: Which describes the NSA’s negotiations with American companies to weaken their encryption in order to give the agency easier access.

Sentry Condor: Which includes offensive network attacks that can destroy or weaken computer systems.

Sentry Owl: Which involves the NSA working with foreign companies to make their products susceptible to NSA data gathering.

One of the biggest revelations is that under Sentry Osprey, undercover agents – human intelligence assets, or “HUMINT” - have been embedded to help the NSA successfully conduct signals intelligence operations (SIGINT), which involve the interception of communications and electronic signals. Whether these agents are impersonating employees, outside businessmen, or some other type of personnel is unknown. Foreign companies as well as domestic companies could be targeted.

This “target exploitation” group – labeled “TAREX” – reportedly has a presence in South Korea, Germany, and China, with a domestic presence in Georgia, Hawaii, and Texas.

Already, the American Civil Liberties Union told The Intercept that it has had discussions with domestic tech executives over the possibility that the NSA is physically infiltrating their companies.

AFP Photo/Credit PAUL J. Richards

Sementara itu, laporan itu menyatakan bahawa agensi perisikan Amerika Syarikat bukan satu-satunya yang mahu data  syarikat2 berteknologi memegang, menunjuk ke kumpulan di China yang disyaki mahu maklumat tersebut hanya sebagai yang teruk.

Dokumen-dokumen baru juga menunjukkan bahawa NSA adalah atau telah beker-jasama dengan ketara dengan syarikat-syarikat asing di bawah Sentry Owl, teru-tama apabila ia datang kepada produk pembuatan ia boleh mengeksploitasi.

Liputan mendedahkan keluasan akses NSA untuk data yang dipegang oleh firma Amerika telah mencetuskan kebimbangan bagi ekonomi Amerika Syarikat - ekse-kutif baru-baru ini memberi amaran ‘recently warned’ berteknologi pengawasan boleh "break" internet - tetapi kini terdapat petunjuk bahawa walaupun syarikat-syarikat asing telah terjejas.

Bukan sahaja yang membuat lebih sukar bagi pengguna utk mendapatkan perka-kasan komunikasi dilindungi, tetapi jika kerajaan asing tidak mengetahui bahawa syarikat-syarikat mereka sendiri bekerja dengan agensi perisikan, bekas ahli pem-bacaan sandi NSA William Binney berkata berita yang boleh mencetuskan tindak balas dan penyiasatan di luar negara.

Bagi sebahagian, NSA enggan menjelaskan butiran untuk Intercept ini. Ia menge-luarkan kenyataan berkata, "Ia harus datang tidak mengejutkan bahawa NSA menjalankan operasi disasarkan utk melawan musuh2 yang semakin tangkas."

Pada masa yang sama, agensi itu berkata ia "mengambil kira globalisasi perda-gangan, pelaburan dan aliran maklumat, dan komitmen kepada Internet global terbuka, saling beroperasi, dan selamat."

Meanwhile, the report noted that the US intelligence agency isn’t the only one that would want the data that tech companies are holding, pointing to groups in China that are suspected to want such information just as badly.

The new documents also show that the NSA is or was cooperating significantly with foreign companies under Sentry Owl, particularly when it comes to manufacturing products it can easily exploit. Coverage exposing the breadth of the NSA’s access to data held by American firms has already sparked concern for the US economy – tech executives recently warned the surveillance could “break” the internet – but now there’s indication that even foreign companies have been affected.

Not only does that make it harder for consumers to obtain protected communi-cations hardware, but if foreign governments are not aware that their own companies are working with intelligence agency, former NSA cryptographer William Binney said the news could spark backlash and investigations overseas.

For its part, the NSA declined to clarify details to The Intercept. It released a statement saying, “It should come as no surprise that NSA conducts targeted operations to counter increasingly agile adversaries.”

At the same time, the agency said it “takes into account the globalization of trade, investment and information flows, and the commitment to an open, interoperable, and secure global Internet.”

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