Leaked NSA Document Directly Ties Suadi Arabia Providing Arms To Syrian Rebels At The Start Of The Civil War

The NSA issued three single source reports on March 14-18, 2013 based on PRISM Skype collection which detailed directions from the Saudis to the Syrian opposition to “light up Damascus” in attacks on the airport and other locations. Graphic: NSA

The Intercept: NSA Document Says Saudi Prince Directly Ordered Coordinated Attack By Syrian Rebels On Damascus

A loosely knit collection of Syrian rebel fighters set up positions on March 18, 2013, and fired several barrages of rockets at targets in the heart of Damascus, Bashar al-Assad’s capital. The attack was a brazen show of force by rebels under the banner of the Free Syrian Army, targeting the presidential palace, Damascus International Airport, and a government security compound. It sent a chilling message to the regime about its increasingly shaky hold on the country, two years after an uprising against its rule began.

Behind the attacks, the influence of a foreign power loomed. According to a top-secret National Security Agency document provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden, the March 2013 rocket attacks were directly ordered by a member of the Saudi royal family, Prince Salman bin Sultan, to help mark the second anniversary of the Syrian revolution. Salman had provided 120 tons of explosives and other weaponry to opposition forces, giving them instructions to “light up Damascus” and “flatten” the airport, the document, produced by U.S. government surveillance on Syrian opposition factions, shows.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: The story on how Saudi Arabia fermented the Syrian civil war is not new. So why has the The Intercept decided to post this document now? Your guess is as good as mine.

Declassified Memos: The FBI Leaked And Shared Spy Intercepts On Americans To Outside Parties

REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

John Solomon and Sara Carter, Circa: Declassified memos show FBI illegally shared spy data on Americans with private parties

The FBI has illegally shared raw intelligence about Americans with unauthorized third parties and violated other constitutional privacy protections, according to newly declassified government documents that undercut the bureau’s public assurances about how carefully it handles warrantless spy data to avoid abuses or leaks.

In his final congressional testimony before he was fired by President Trump this month, then-FBI Director James Comey unequivocally told lawmakers his agency used sensitive espionage data gathered about Americans without a warrant only when it was “lawfully collected, carefully overseen and checked.”

Read more ....

Update: More Revelations On How The NSA Routinely Violated Privacy Protections During The Obama Administration (May 23, 2017)

WNU Editor: On top of obtaining a lot of declassified memos, someone has been feeding Circa in the past few weeks with with a lot of embarrassing and disturbing information on how Americans were put under surveillance during the Obama administration. But what is even more revealing is that no one in the White House, former Obama officials, and the Congress .... are denying any of it. As for the main stream media .... complete silence.

Update: Speaking of the FBI .... FBI won’t provide Comey memos to Congress yet (Politico). The FBI is saying that they must consult Robert Mueller before releasing the memos to Congress .... so when is the FBI going to call the special counsel to get his A-OK? Something tells me that they are not going to call him or be very accommodating .... especially since there are now growing demands that the FBI releases all of Comey's memos .... not only those relating to his meetings with Trump, but also with former AG Loretta Lynch, as well as with President Obama and Hillary Clinton. In the end .... I do think all of these memos will eventually be made public, and I also suspect that many people will be disappointed when they learn that there really is nothing there.

More Revelations On How The NSA Routinely Violated Privacy Protections During The Obama Administration

John Solomon and Sara Carter, Circa: Obama intel agency secretly conducted illegal searches on Americans for years

The National Security Agency under former President Barack Obama routinely violated American privacy protections while scouring through overseas intercepts and failed to disclose the extent of the problems until the final days before Donald Trump was elected president last fall, according to once top-secret documents that chronicle some of the most serious constitutional abuses to date by the U.S. intelligence community.

More than 5 percent, or one out of every 20 searches seeking upstream Internet data on Americans inside the NSA’s so-called Section 702 database violated the safeguards Obama and his intelligence chiefs vowed to follow in 2011, according to one classified internal report reviewed by Circa.

The Obama administration self-disclosed the problems at a closed-door hearing Oct. 26 before the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that set off alarm. Trump was elected less than two weeks later.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: This is one of those stories that deserves far more coverage than what it has received. But for the moment the media .... and Congress .... are giving the former Obama administration a pass.

Former Obama Administration Underreported The Number Of Americans Who Have Been Unmasked By The NSA In 2016

John Solomon and Sara Carter, CIRCA: Obama administration underreported number of Americans who were unmasked by NSA in 2016

The Obama administration made history during the 2016 election by releasing statistics for the first time showing how many times government officials sought to unmask the names of Americans captured in accidental National Security Agency intercepts. There was just one problem: the number of affected Americans was grossly underreported.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, now under new management with President Donald Trump, confirms that the 654 unmaskings reported last year for fiscal 2015 was underreported by a factor of more than three times. The correct number was actually 2,232.

So how does an agency entrusted with producing some of the nation’s most sensitive intelligence and secrets get its math so mixed up? Apparently, it was a case of providing statistics from the wrong category.

Read more ...

WNU Editor: On any normal news day .... this story should be on the top of every news cast .... especially since we now know that some these unmasked reports involved individuals involved in last year's election. But not today.

Should President Trump Declassify Data On The NSA's Unmasking Of Americans?

FOX News Video

Circa News: Hey Mr. President, tear down the veil of secrecy surrounding unmasked NSA intercepts

Circa has formally requested that the Trump administration declassify records showing how often government officials have searched National Security Agency intercepts for intelligence on U.S. presidential candidates, members of Congress, journalists, clergy, lawyers, federal judges and doctors and how often such Americans had their identities unmasked by the intelligence community after Barack Obama made it easier to do so in 2011.

The request follows anexclusive Circa report on Wednesday that revealed that the Obama administration conducted more than 35,000 searches on NSA intercepts seeking information about Americans during the divisive 2016 election year.

Read more ....

Update: President Obama Sought NSA Intel On 1000s Of Americans During The 2016 Election (Zero Hedge)

Previous Post: The NSA Collected 151 Million Million American Phone Calls Last Year

WNU Editor: This story is not receiving the news coverage that it deserves.

Hackers Have Released The Latest NSA Hacking Tools That Put Every Computer Windows User At Risk

The Intercept: Leaked NSA Malware Threatens Windows Users Around the World

The ShadowBrokers, an entity previously confirmed by The Intercept to have leaked authentic malware used by the NSA to attack computers around the world, today released another cache of what appears to be extremely potent (and previously unknown) software capable of breaking into systems running Windows. The software could give nearly anyone with sufficient technical knowledge the ability to wreak havoc on millions of Microsoft users.

The leak includes a litany of typically codenamed software “implants” with names like ODDJOB, ZIPPYBEER, and ESTEEMAUDIT, capable of breaking into — and in some cases seizing control of — computers running version of the Windows operating system earlier than the most recent Windows 10. The vulnerable Windows versions ran more than 65 percent of desktop computers surfing the web last month, according to estimates from the tracking firm Net Market Share.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: Windows zero-days, SWIFT bank hacks, slick exploit loader .... my friends who understand this stuff are telling me that this leak is the worse one out there, and every person who uses Windows is at risk. Not surprising, Microsoft is rushing in and telling everyone that they have corrected the problem .... Microsoft has already patched the NSA's leaked Windows hacks (Verge). More here .... Microsoft says users are protected from alleged NSA malware (Mercury News). I guess this explains why I had a huge update from Microsoft on my Windows system yesterday.

More News On The Recent Release Of NSA Hacking Tools

NSA-leaking Shadow Brokers just dumped its most damaging release yet -- Ars Technica
New leak suggests NSA penetrated banking networks in Middle East -- CBS/AP
Hackers Release Files Indicating NSA Monitored Global Bank Transfers -- VOA
Hackers have just dumped a treasure trove of NSA data. Here’s what it means. -- Washington Post

Hacker Group 'The Shadow Brokers' Releases More Secret NSA Files

Tech Crunch: Alleged NSA hack group Shadow Brokers releases new trove of exploits

Shadow Brokers, the group behind last year’s release of hacking exploits allegedly used by the National Security Agency, has dropped another trove of files. In a Medium post today, the hacker group offered up a password giving free access to files it had previously tried to auction off.

The Shadow Brokers first came to prominence last August when they leaked exploits linked to the NSA and the Equation Group containing vulnerabilities in major firewall products. The group would later release a list of IP addresses it claimed were compromised by the Equation Group.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: They even made a letter for President Trump .... Don’t Forget Your Base (The Shadow Brokers).

More News On The Hacker Group 'The Shadow Brokers' Releasing More Secret NSA Files

Hacker group releases password to alleged NSA files -- ABC News
'President Trump what the f**k are you doing' say Shadow Brokers and dump more NSA hacking tools -- International Business Times
Hackers Warn Trump to Get Back in Line on Syria -- Daily Beast
Hackers post code in Trump protest: 'Don't forget about your base' -- The Hill
'Shadow Brokers' give away more NSA hacking tools -- Endgadget
Shadow Brokers hackers release NSA hacking tools to punish Trump for ‘abandoning’ his base -- RT
NSA Hacking Tools Leak Online But Are 'The Shadow Brokers' About To Be Unmasked? -- Paul Armstrong, Forbes

More Edward Snowden Files Posted

The Intercept: SNOWDEN ARCHIVE —— THE SIDTODAY FILES

SIDtoday is the internal newsletter for the NSA’s most important division, the Signals Intelligence Directorate. After editorial review, The Intercept is releasing nine years’ worth of newsletters in batches, starting with 2003. The agency’s spies explain a surprising amount about what they were doing, how they were doing it, and why.

The Intercept’s first SIDtoday release comprises 166 articles, including all articles published between March 31, 2003, when SIDtoday began, and June 30, 2003, plus installments of all article series begun during this period through the end of the year. Major topics include the National Security Agency’s role in interrogations, the Iraq War, the war on terror, new leadership in the Signals Intelligence Directorate, and new, popular uses of the internet and of mobile computing devices.

Along with this batch, we are publishing the stories featured below, which explain how and why we’re releasing these documents, provide an overview of SIDtoday as a publication, report on one especially newsworthy set of revelations, and round up other interesting tidbits from the files.

Read more ....

More News On The Recent Document Release From NSA Leaker Edward Snwoden

How we prepared the NSA's sensitive internal reports for release -- The Intercept
The Intercept Publishes N.S.A.’s Internal Articles Detailing Employee Life -- NYT
Internal NSA newsletters leaked by Snowden published online -- The Hill
Guantanamo, Bosnia & flip-flops: New NSA revelations from Snowden leaks -- RT
The Intercept Begins Releasing Snowden Files, Starting With the NSA's Quirky Crazy Cool Internal Newsletter -- Gawker
The Intercept is opening up access to the Snowden archive -- Endgadget
More Classified Snowden Documents Released Online, More to Come -- Epoch Times

U.S. And British Intelligence Spied On Feeds From Israeli Drones And Jets For Years

An Israel Aerospace Industries Heron 1 drone flies over the airbase in the central Swiss town of Emmen, September 20, 2012. New leaked documents show that British and American intelligence services hacked into Israeli drone systems to monitor their activities. ARND WIEGMANN/REUTERS

The Guardian: Snowden files reveal US and UK spied on feeds from Israeli drones and jets

Feeds including from cockpit cameras reportedly hacked using freely available software under programme run from GCHQ

A joint UK-US intelligence programme has been spying on electronic feeds – including video – from Israel’s military drones and jet fighters going back to 1998.

In a potentially embarrassing disclosure for Israel, which prides itself on its technical capabilities, a new release from material held by the former NSA contractor Edward Snowden has revealed that UK and US intelligence officials have been regularly accessing Israeli cockpit cameras even in the midst of operations in Gaza and Lebanon.

Codenamed Anarchist, the programme was revealed by the Intercept, a US website.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: The web site The Intercept broke this story. For more details from The Intercept the link is here.  As to what is my take ... I suspect the Israelis are now wondering on who else has hacked into their feeds.

More News On U.S. And British Intelligence Spying On Feeds From Israeli Drones And Jets For Years

US and UK 'hacked into Israeli drones and planes' -- BBC
U.S. and Britain Spied on Israeli Drone Flights, Documents Show -- NYT
U.S., British spies hacked Israeli air force: reports citing Snowden -- Reuters
US, UK hacked into Israeli air surveillance -- AFP
Report: US, UK spied on Israeli drones for years, according to Snowden leak -- AP
British and US intelligence 'hacked into Israeli drones' -- The Telegraph
Edward Snowden leaks prove GCHQ and NSA hacked into Israeli drones and fighter jets -- IBTimes
U.S. and Britain spied on Israeli drone flights: report -- Washington Times
UK and US Spies Hacked Israeli Drone Feeds To Watch Gaza Strikes, Snowden Leaks Reveal -- Newsweek
Report: NSA Hacked Israeli Drones -- Gizmodo
NSA, GCHQ hacked Israeli drone data in Operation Anarchist – report -- RT
'US, British spies hacked Israeli drone systems' -- Israeli Hayom
US, UK's 'Anarchist' spy program targeted Israeli drones and fighter jets -- i24 News

NSA Has Shut Down Its Bulk Phone Surveillance Program

CNN: NSA ends bulk phone data collection

(CNN)The U.S. intelligence community on Sunday will cease its bulk collection of telephone metadata.

The government will move to a more "focused and targeted" approach in gathering intelligence, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a statement. The shift comes more than two years after details about the program were leaked by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.

President Barack Obama in June signed a reform measure that took away the National Security Agency's authority to collect in bulk the phone records of millions of Americans.

The USA Freedom Act requires the government obtain a targeted warrant or court order to collect phone metadata from telecommunications companies.

More News On The NSA Shutting Down Its Bulk Phone Surveillance Program

“Snowden Effect” in Action: NSA Authority to Collect Bulk Phone Metadata Expires -- The Intercept
NSA’s bulk collection of Americans’ phone records ends Sunday -- Washington Post
US Ends Bulk Telephone Data Program -- VOA
NSA bulk phone surveillance program shutting down Sunday -- The Hill
The NSA will no longer collect your metadata starting tonight -- Digital Trends
NSA to end phone-snooping, but asks for three-month extension to keep records -- Washington Times
The NSA Will Finally Stop Tracking Your Phone Calls (But They Can Still Spy On Your Social Media) -- Inverse
At 11:59pm EST on Saturday, the NSA will stop in-house phone metadata collection -- ARS Technica
NSA begins new phone surveillance program as bulk metadata collection ends -- RT
NSA Stops Phone Collection, But Agency Can Still Receive Your Call Records, Social Media Data -- IBTimes
The NSA's bulk metadata collection authority just expired. What now? -- The Guardian

U.S. Appeals Court Halts A Lower Judge's Order That Would Have Shut Down The NSA's Phone Surveillance Program

Washington Post: Appeals court stays U.S. judge’s ban on bulk collection of phone data

A U.S. appeals court Tuesday temporarily blocked the ruling of a federal judge who this week called the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of Americans’ telephone records almost certainly unconstitutional, just weeks before the program’s scheduled phase-out.

The order by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit came one day after U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon of the District granted a request for an injunction and barred the NSA from collecting telephone data related to a California lawyer, J.J. Little, and his law firm.

Attorneys for the Justice Department warned that it would take weeks for the NSA to make the necessary technical changes to comply with Leon’s order. The inability to hasten those technical changes, the department said, could force the agency to shut down the entire program as it approaches a Nov. 29 deadline to transition to a new system in which data is held by private telephone companies.

WNU editor: This program was going to be shut down at the end of this month anyway, replaced by another program (see above video). The judge who first ordered the shut-down of the NSA's phone surveillance program and its impact can be read here .... Judge Deals a Blow to N.S.A. Data Collection Program (NYT)

More News On The U.S. Appeals Court Halting A Lower Judge's Order That Would Have Shut Down The NSA's Phone Surveillance Program

Appeals court halts order NSA says would shutter surveillance program -- Politico
Appeals court clears hurdle for NSA -- The Hill
Appeals court halts judge's order against NSA's phone surveillance program -- UPI

How To Find Out If The NSA And GCHQ Spied On You

Image from Mother Jones

Kim Zetter, Wired: Now You Can Find Out if the NSA and GCHQ Spied on You

YOU JUST KNOW in your bones that the NSA spied on you and shared that data with Britain’s GCHQ spy agency, right? So how can you confirm this? Through a new online tool offered by the British civil liberties group Privacy International.

Thanks to a legal victory Privacy International obtained earlier this year, the UK’s Investigatory Powers Tribunal is now required to search through data the GCHQ obtained from the NSA for information collected on anyone in the world if that person so requests it. If you request the info and the Tribunal finds something, it must let you know. The catch is you have to make the request before December 5, 2015. Privacy International has made this easy with its “Did GCHQ Illegally Spy on You?” online tool.

WNU Editor: Hmmm .... am I being watched? Nah .... I am just a small person in the cog of life .... but I suspect that a few people who read this blog are. :)

Top U.S. Intelligence Chief: NSA Leaker Edward Snowden Killed 'Important' Intelligence Gathering Program In Afghanistan

Nominee for Director of National Intelligence retired Gen. James Clapper speaks alongside President Barack Obama in the White House Rose Garden Saturday June 5. Newscom

The Hill: Spy chief: Snowden killed 'important' spy program in Afghanistan

Edward Snowden’s disclosures about American spy powers directly led to the end of a critical program in Afghanistan, the nation’s top spy said on Wednesday.

By forcing the end of the program that recorded practically every cellphone call in the country — as well as scuttling other efforts — Snowden “has done untold damage” to U.S. intelligence, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said.

“Terrorists, particularly, have gone to school on the revelations caused by Snowden,” Clapper said at the Intelligence and National Security Summit.

Update #1: Top spy bemoans loss of key information-gathering program -- Washington Post
Update #2: Top intel official: Edward Snowden forced 'needed transparency' -- CNN

WNU Editor: The article that exposed this U.S. intelligence program is here. It lists the five countries that were part of this cell phone gathering program .... country X is Afghanistan.

NSA's Phone Data Collection Is 'Not Illegal' According To The U.S. Appeals Court

Wall Street Journal: Appeals Court Reverses Judge’s Order Against NSA Phone Surveillance

Case sent back to lower court for further hearings between privacy advocates, government lawyers.

WASHINGTON—A federal appeals court Friday reversed a judge’s order to stop the National Security Agency from collecting phone records, setting the stage for further legal battles between privacy advocates and government lawyers.

The three-judge panel’s ruling comes after Congress has already passed legislation ending the government’s collection of bulk phone records. That program will be replaced by a system in which the phone companies retain the data, which can be searched by the government only when authorized by a court.

More News On Yesterday's Court Ruling On The NSA's Phone Data Collection Program

Appeals court rejects challenge to NSA's ongoing mass collection of phone data -- The Guardian
Court: We Can’t Rule on NSA Bulk Data Collection Because We Don’t Know Whose Data Was Collected -- The Intercept
U.S. court hands win to NSA over metadata collection -- Reuters
Setback for Suit Against N.S.A. on Phone Data -- NYT
NSA phone data collection 'not illegal', US court rules -- BBC
Spy court renews NSA phone records program for last time -- The Hill
Court allows NSA sweep of phone records -- USA Today
NSA Phone Surveillance Ruling Reversed, Court Sides With National Security Agency In Klayman V Obama -- IBTimes
NSA phone-snooping program approved through November -- Washington Times
Why It’s Hard to Sue the NSA: You Have to Prove It Spied on You -- Wired

Wikileaks: US Spied On President Rousseff, Dozens Of Top Brazilian Officials

U.S. President Barack Obama listens to Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff during a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House on June 30, 2015. Reuters/Jonathan Ernst

BBC: Wikileaks: US 'routinely spied' on Brazil

The Wikileaks website says it has evidence that a number of senior Brazilian government officials were routinely spied on by the National Security Agency in the United States.

It says the NSA was particularly active in economic espionage against Brazil.

Wikileaks published a list of 29 phone numbers of Brazilians in banking, finance and the economy.

According to the website the espionage apparently began in early 2011 or even earlier.

President Dilma Rousseff cancelled a state visit to Washington two years ago when former CIA contractor Edward Snowden revealed that her phones and emails were being spied on.

WNU Editor: The Brazilians .... at least publicly .... are downplaying these leaks .... Brazil brushes aside latest WikiLeaks release on U.S. spying (CNN).

More News On Reports That The US Spied On President Rousseff And Dozens Of Top Brazilian Officials

NSA’s Top Brazilian Political and Financial Targets Revealed by New WikiLeaks Disclosure -- The Intercept
WikiLeaks: U.S. wiretapped Brazilian presidents -- USA Today
Wikileaks: NSA spied on Brazilian officials and business figures - Deutsche Welle
WikiLeaks: NSA spied on Brazil's president -- The Hill
Wikileaks NSA Brazil Spying: Latest Release Alleges US Spied On President Rousseff, Dozens Of Top Brazilian Officials -- IBTimes

A New NSA Whistleblower?

Newswire: Is There a New NSA Whistleblower?

National Security Agency suspects there is a new whistleblower behind the French President surveillance leak.

Newswire.net -- March 6, 2017) -- After WikiLeaks published documents that exposed alleged NSA spying on French presidents and top officials, US and EU security agencies are investigating a possibility of a new whistleblower, Russia Today News reported.

This Tuesday the website released what appear to be classified NSA documents alleging the US agency spied on three successive French presidents: Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy and incumbent François Hollande.

Update: New NSA whistleblower suspected behind French president surveillance leak -- RT

WNU Editor: Someone is responsible for leaking this intel .... and it does not appear from the usual sources.

Wikileaks: U.S. Spied On Three French Presidents

Reuters: NSA spied on French presidents: WikiLeaks

The United States National Security Agency spied on French presidents Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande, WikiLeaks said in a press statement published on Tuesday, citing top secret intelligence reports and technical documents.

The revelations were first reported in French daily Liberation and on news website Mediapart, which said the NSA spied on the presidents during a period of at least 2006 until May 2012, the month when Hollande took over from Sarkozy.

WikiLeaks said the documents derived from directly targeted NSA surveillance of the communications of Hollande (2012–present), Sarkozy (2007–2012) and Chirac (1995–2007), as well as French cabinet ministers and the French ambassador to the U.S.

WNU Editor: The Wikileaks expose is here .... Espionnage Élysée (Wikileaks).

More News Or Reports That The U.S. Spied On Three French Presidents

US wiretapped French presidents: media citing WikiLeaks -- AFP
WikiLeaks: NSA eavesdropped on the last 3 French presidents -- AP
Hollande calls defence council meeting after US spying reports: aide -- AFP
'Espionnage Élysée': US says 'We do not and will not' spy on France -- The Telegraph
White House says not targeting French president's communications -- Expatica

NSA Was Authorized To Conduct Internet Surveillance Without A Warrant

New York Times: Hunting for Hackers, N.S.A. Secretly Expands Internet Spying at U.S. Border

WASHINGTON — Without public notice or debate, the Obama administration has expanded the National Security Agency’s warrantless surveillance of Americans’ international Internet traffic to search for evidence of malicious computer hacking, according to classified N.S.A. documents.

In mid-2012, Justice Department lawyers wrote two secret memos permitting the spy agency to begin hunting on Internet cables, without a warrant and on American soil, for data linked to computer intrusions originating abroad — including traffic that flows to suspicious Internet addresses or contains malware, the documents show.

The Justice Department allowed the agency to monitor only addresses and “cybersignatures” — patterns associated with computer intrusions — that it could tie to foreign governments. But the documents also note that the N.S.A. sought permission to target hackers even when it could not establish any links to foreign powers.

More News On The NSA Being Authorized To Conduct Internet Surveillance Without A Warrant

Leaked documents show U.S. widened Internet spying: N.Y. Times -- Reuters
Revealed: U.S. government secretly EXPANDED NSA powers to spy on web traffic in 2012, new Snowden files show -- Daily Mail/AP
DOJ approved NSA targeting of foreign hacker ‘signatures’ under 2008 law -- Washington Post
Snowden leak: NSA uses warrantless web surveillance to watch cyberattacks -- RT
New Snowden Leak: Obama Secretly Expanded NSA Surveillance of Americans -- Sputnik
U.S. spy agency secretly expands warrantless Internet surveillance: report -- Xinhua
White House secretly expands NSA power to collect US internet data -- Endgadget
NSA's secret hunt for hackers: How widespread? -- Peter Grier, CSM
New Snowden Docs Show How The NSA and FBI Became BFFs -- Shane Harris, Daily Beast

Is The N.S.A.’s Warrantless Spying Program A Waste of Time?

New York Times: Declassified Report Shows Doubts About Value of N.S.A.’s Warrantless Spying

WASHINGTON — The secrecy surrounding the National Security Agency’s post-9/11 warrantless surveillance and bulk data collection program hampered its effectiveness, and many members of the intelligence community later struggled to identify any specific terrorist attacks it thwarted, a newly declassified document shows.

The document is a lengthy report on a once secret N.S.A. program code-named Stellarwind. The report was a joint project in 2009 by inspectors general for five intelligence and law enforcement agencies, and it was withheld from the public at the time, although a short, unclassified version was made public. The government released a redacted version of the full report to The New York Times on Friday evening in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.

Shortly after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, President George W. Bush secretly told the N.S.A. that it could wiretap Americans’ international phone calls and collect bulk data about their phone calls and emails without obeying the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Over time, Stellarwind’s legal basis evolved, and pieces of it emerged into public view, starting with an article in The Times about warrantless wiretapping in 2005.

WNU Editor: Too much information .... not enough time or resources to sift through it in real time. My guess is that this information will be valuable only "after the fact" for intelligence officials to connect the dots to find out who was responsible (directly or indirectly) in a major terror attack .... to follow leads and to find suspects. Otherwise .... in regards to preventing a terror attack .... I have trouble seeing how that can be possible. The declassified report on the NSA's warrantless spying program is here.

Leaked Documents: New Zealand Teamed Up With The NSA To Spy On China

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key says he will declassify documents that prove the government's mass spying initiative never pushed through. Reuters

The Intercept: New Zealand Plotted Hack on China With NSA

New Zealand spies teamed with National Security Agency hackers to break into a data link in the country’s largest city, Auckland, as part of a secret plan to eavesdrop on Chinese diplomats, documents reveal.

The covert operation, reported Saturday by New Zealand’s Herald on Sunday in collaboration with The Intercept, highlights the contrast between New Zealand’s public and secret approaches to its relationship with China, its largest and most important trading partner.

The hacking project suggests that New Zealand’s electronic surveillance agency, Government Communications Security Bureau, or GCSB, may have violated international treaties that prohibit the interception of diplomatic communications.

More News On Reports That New Zealand Teamed Up With The NSA To Spy On China

Leaked papers reveal NZ plan to spy on China for US -- New Zealand Herald
How NZ and US agents plotted to spy on China -- New Zealand Herald
Claim Govt prepared to spy on Chinese consulate -- Radio New Zealand
New Zealand Plotted to Spy on China for US - NSA Documents -- Sputnik
New Zealand Plotted To Spy On China For The U.S., According to Leaked Documents -- China Topix
China concerned at reports of New Zealand-US plan to spy on diplomats -- China Daily/Xinhua
Key: No proof NZ spied on China -- 3 News