In 2009, the National Security Agency intercepted an email sent from someone in Pakistan to an individual in Denver, Colorado discussing a recipe for explosives. NSA analysts identified the Denver phone number and tracked other phone numbers the person had called. The NSA handed the information over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who arrested the co-conspirators and thwarted a planned attack against New York City's subway system.
This was just one of the several terrorist-related activities the NSA helped detect and disrupt under the PRISM program, General Keith Alexander, NSA chief and leader of US Cyber Command, told attendees in his keynote speech at the Black Hat conference on Wednesday. The subsequent arrest of Najibullah Zazi and Adis Medunjanin by the FBI based on the intelligence gathered by the NSA helped stop the subway attack, he said.
If the conspirators had succeeded, "it would have been the biggest attack in the United States since 9/11," Alexander said.
"I Promise You The Truth."The general was at Black Hat to provide some details behind the data collection programs and answer questions "to the fullest extent possible," he said. "I promise you the truth," he said.
Recent media disclosures had tarnished the reputation of the NSA, when "the tools and things we use are very much the same tools you use in securing networks," he said. "The difference is the oversight and compliance that we have in these programs. That part is missing in much of the discussion," Alexander said.
Alexander never referenced ex-Booz Hamilton contractor Edward Snowden by name, but everyone in the room knew who he was talking about.
"I believe it's important for you to hear that, for you to understand what these people have to do to do their job to defend the nation and the oversight regime we have with the courts, Congress and the administration. You need to understand that to get a full understanding of what we do and do not do," he said.
For the most part, the audience was fairly respectful throughout the general's nearly one-hour talk, although one person shouted out in towards the end, "You lied to Congress. How do we know you're not lying to us right now?"
The general calmly replied, "I've never lied to Congress."
"What I'm saying is that we don't trust you," someone shouted during the speech.
Explaining What the NSA CollectsAlexander leaned heavily on the counter-terrorism explanation to justify the programs, saying the level of data collection was necessary to stop terrorism. He insisted, however, that there were safeguards built in to protect civil liberties, and that oversight from the courts, Congress, and the White House was in place to prevent any abusive behavior by NSA analysts.
The Section 215 Authority, the business records program, collects only telephone metadata and is used only for counterterrorism purposes, Alexander said. The NSA collects the data and time of the call, the phone number initiating the call and the number of the recipient, the duration of the call, and the source and site of the call—such as carrier name. The NSA does "not collect the content of the communications," such as recording the calls or intercepting the SMS messages. Identifying information such as names, addresses, or credit card information, are not collected. Location data is also not used.
If the NSA gets a tip that a certain phone number may be used in connection to terrorist activity, thebusiness records related to that number is passed to the FBI, who has the legal authority to investigate and take action, Alexander said.
In 2012, only 300 phone numbers were approved to be queried against the database, which resulted in 12 reports to the FBI, he said. The reports resulted in less than 500 numbers. "Not thousands, not hundreds of thousands," he said.
Section 702 of the FISA Amendment Act, is used for foreign intelligence purposes and applies only to communications of "foreign persons abroad," and does not target and US citizens anywhere in the world. Intercepting email communications and phone calls, "requires a valid documented foreign intelligene purpose such as counterterrorism," Alexander said.
The programs were launched in 2007 largely because the intelligence agencies had failed to connect the dots on information about various terrorism-related activities prior to the September 11 attacks. With these programs, the United States has identified or disrupted 54 attacks, with 25 in Europe, 13 in the US, 11 in Asia, and five in Africa, Alexander said.
Can We Trust the NSA?Less than 30 analysts are authorized to access the information, and they have to undergo rigorous examination and training process first. Agents are not authorized to listen to communications and that a Senate Select Committee review of the program found no "willful or knowledgeable violations of the law under this program," he said.
"There are allegations [the NSA] listen to all our emails; that's wrong. We don't," Alexander said. Even if someone did go rogue, because analysts are required to provide sufficient evidence and are audited regularly, there is 100 percent accountability, he said.
There are accusations that the NSA is collecting everything, which is not true. There are also people saying that NSA could collect everything. "The fact is, [we] don't," Alexander said.
Internet companies share data only when compelled to do so by a court order, Alexander said.
It was important to understand that "virtually all countries have lawful intercept programs," Alexander said, but the key difference was that the US has strict oversight by the courts, Congress, and the White House to make sure the government is not abusing the information gathered.
Limited Q&A
There was no open question-and-answer session at the end of the keynote. Instead, Trey Ford, the general manager of Black Hat, asked several questions solicited from its advisory board and select people in the security community.While it wasn't a free-for-all session, there were less softballs than was expected.
When Ford asked if the NSA could intercept his mother's phone calls, Gen. Alexander replied, "No Trey, we can't intercept your calls to your mom." He noted that he had four daughters, and he couldn't intercept their emails, either. "You guys probably can, though," he joked to the audience.
"You want to help get this to work, be part of that discussion," Alexander said, saying the NSA wants the security community to help make the counter-terrorism efforts better. "If you disagree with what we are doing, then you should help us twice as much," he said.
Even with theheckling and scattered applause in support of the comments, Gen. Alexander remained calm, polite, and focused. In many ways, his lack of aggressiveness went a long way towards getting a lot of the audience's support, or at least, cooperation, during his speech.
Some people took to Twitter to criticize the hecklers, calling for civilized discourse and respectful conversation. Others defended the hecklers, noting that it is difficult to have a honest conversation with a party that has been shown to be deceitful.
At the end, someone shouted, "You should read the Constitution!" The general, without missing a beat, said, "I have. You should, too.
No comments:
Post a Comment