Russia's Intelligence Agency Wants To Influence Social Networks

Image: Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service. Wikipedia

Facespook: Russian Spies Order $1mln Software To Influence Social Networks -- RT

Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) has ordered three systems worth about US$1 million that will automatically spread information on the Internet.

The systems were ordered in a three separate tenders and the official client’s name is Military Unit 54939, but Kommersant Daily newspaper, which broke the news, writes that according to its sources this military unit belongs to the Foreign Intelligence Service’s structure.

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My Comment: I am surprised that they contracted out this work .... you would think that they would have a group specializing on the internet 'in house'.

Should Facebook And Twitter Be Monitored For Terrorists?

Monitoring Twitter And Facebook Could Foil Terrorists -- The Telegraph

The security services need to make greater use of social media such as Facebook and Twitter to track criminals and terrorists, the former head of GCHQ has said.

Sir David Omand said there was increasing use of social media to communicate and that the police and MI5 need to make use of the technology to keep suspects under surveillance.

If they failed to do so, there was a danger that such websites could become a “secret space” where criminals, paedophiles and terrorists could communicate unhindered, he said.

However, Sir David said the Government had to make it clear in what circumstances they would hack into an individual’s account.

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More News On The Former Head Of GCHQ Calling For Monitoring Facebook And Twitter

'We must be allowed to spy on Facebook and Twitter', says former Whitehall intelligence chief -- Daily Mail
Former spy chief calls for laws on online snooping -- The Guardian
Former GCHQ head calls for greater surveillance of Facebook and Twitter -- The Independent

My Comment: On the day that the former head of Britain's GCHQ calls for monitoring of social media sites, reports are leaked out that Al Qaeda is seeking cyber-attack skills. Is this a coincidence .... who knows.

A Look At The CIA's Open Source Center

CIA Tracks Public Information For The Private Eye -- NPR

Secrets: the currency of spies around the world.

The rise of social media, hash-tags, forums, blogs and online news sites has revealed a new kind of secret — those hiding in plain sight. The CIA calls all this information "open source" material, and it's changing the way America's top spy agency does business.

NPR recently got a rare behind-the-scenes look at the CIA's Open Source Center. It operates on the down-low, though it deals with public material. We aren't allowed to tell you where the Open Source Center is. All we can say is that it's housed in an unmarked and unremarkable office building just off a nondescript, busy street.

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My Comment: It feels strange to know that the sources that I follow and read to fill this blog are probably the same sources that the CIA uses ... but at a larger scale.

CIA Is Watching Twitter And Facebook Traffic

The CIA reportedly keeps eyes on everything from blogs to tweets to more traditional media. Reuters

CIA Monitors Facebook, Twitter: Five Million Tweets A Day -- ZDNet

Summary: Based in an anonymous industrial unit close to CIA headquarters, a unit of the agency, dubbed the “vengeful librarians”, scour Facebook, Twitter and more for real-time intelligence.

The Associated Press this morning reports an exclusive, explaining how the White House can receive real-time updates on a situation on the ground, leading up to a revolution, predicting crime and disorder, or the ‘mood in the air’ shortly after the death of Osama bin Laden.

The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency on a daily basis, out of an “anonymous industrial park in Virginia”, follows over 5 million tweets by users on the ground.

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More News On The CIA Monitoring Facebook And Twitter

AP Exclusive: CIA following Twitter, Facebook -- Yahoo News/AP
CIA's 'vengeful librarians' track Twitter, Facebook -- CNET
CIA 'Open Source Center' monitors Facebook, Twitter -- The Register
Facebook, Twitter Being Monitored by the CIA -- IBTimes
CIA is watching tweets, Facebook -- Washington Post
CIA monitoring Twitter and Facebook to capture global attitude -- The Verge
Be Careful What You Tweet: CIA Monitoring Twitter, Facebook -- PCMag
CIA eyes up to 5M tweets a day -- Politico
CIA center monitors TV, tweets and tantalizing tidbits in Facebook -- Stars and Stripes
How The CIA Uses Social Media to Track How People Feel -- The Atlantic

China's Government Has Found The Enemy, And It Is Social Networking

China Fights To Silence The Social Network -- The Telegraph

China's Communist Party has set out to curtail social networking following years of unfettered growth after its top committee issued an edict launching a new drive to control open messaging.

Websites such as Sina Weibo, a Chinese version of Twitter, have been allowed to grow explosively, with some 400 million Chinese now posting opinions and sharing information.

The Central Committee of the Communist Party, a 300-strong body of party, state and army leaders, has signalled its alarm that there is no equivalent to the Great Firewall that marshals the internet. It promised yesterday to "strengthen the guidance and administration of social internet services and instant communications tools" to ensure "orderly dissemination of information".

Anyone spreading "false rumours" was threatened with stern punishment.

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My Comment: For authoritarian regimes like China, it all comes down to controlling the message. But as the Chinese leadership (and others) have now realized, controlling the message on social networks is next to impossible.

The Battle Against Al Qaeda Is Now Occurring In Social Media

Social Networks Used To Counter al Qaeda -- Washington Times

Team tries to impede jihadi recruiters.

Anwar al-Awlaki may be dead, but the war he helped al Qaeda wage for the hearts and minds of Muslims continues — and on the battlefield of social media, the United States is fighting back with what critics say is a tiny and ineffectual army.

Fewer than 10 diplomats make up the State Department’s digital-outreach team, which is charged with countering al Qaeda’s recruitment efforts via social networks, blog posts and Internet videos, according to current and former officials.

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My Comment: With hundreds of millions logging onto social networks everyday .... it is only natural that the propaganda war will filter into this medium.

Web Firms And Social Networks Co-Opted For Intelligence

Internet Firms Co-Opted For Surveillance: Experts -- Reuters

(Reuters) - Internet companies such as Google, Twitter and Facebook are increasingly co-opted for surveillance work as the information they gather proves irresistible to law enforcement agencies, Web experts said this week.

Although such companies try to keep their users' information private, their business models depend on exploiting it to sell targeted advertising, and when governments demand they hand it over, they have little choice but to comply.

Suggestions that BlackBerry maker RIM might give user data to British police after its messenger service was used to coordinate riots this summer caused outrage -- as has the spying on social media users by more oppressive governments.

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My Comment: The entire world is hooked up to the web .... and with social networks expanding with tens of millions of new users everyday .... the temptation to use this information for intelligence purposes is just too irresistible.

Mexico's Drug Cartels Target Social Media

Mexican Cartel Snuffs Social Media Star as Violence Nears ‘Civil War’ Proportions -- Danger Room

A scrawled sign was placed next to a decapitated body near a main road in the Mexican border city of Nuevo Laredo. Its message was simple: Stop talking about drug cartels on the internet — or anywhere else. “Nuevo Laredo en Vivo and social networking sites,” the sign read, “I’m The Laredo Girl, and I’m here because of my reports, and yours.”

The execution of Marisol Macias Castaneda — known online as “The Laredo Girl” and as “Nena de Laredo” — is the latest in a series of attacks against Mexicans who go online to discuss drug violence. It’s an epidemic which a new report describes as “so horrific as to approach a civil war.”

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More News On Mexico's Drug Cartels Targeting Social Media

Mexican drug violence spreads to social networks -- RT
Mexican social media boom draws drug cartel attacks -- Reuters
Mexican social media boom draws drug cartel attacks -- IBN Live/Reuters
Mexican editor's death linked to work with social media -- CNN
Mexican Journalist Beheaded for Using Social Media to Cover Crime -- FOX News/EFE
Decapitated woman mourned by social media website -- L.A. Times
Newspaper, bloggers stunned by killing in Mexico -- MSNBC
Mexico: Drug cartels shift threats to social media -- Boing Boing
Mexican Drug Cartels Now Menace Social Media -- NPR
The Mexican Drug Wars, on Twitter: Using Social Media for Social Action -- New York Times
Social Media Helps Mexicans Fight Drug Cartels -- IBTimes
In Mexico, Social Media Become a Battleground in the Drug War -- The Lede/New York Times
Mexico: Death by Social Media -- ISN
Mexico Turns to Social Media for Information and Survival -- New York Times
Zetas drug cartel targets Mexican social networks with execution -- Peter Goodspeed, National Post

Britain Decides Not To Block Social Networks During Riots

Government Climbs Down On Social-Network Blocking -- ZDNet

The Home Office has pulled back on plans to introduce blocking of social networks during civil unrest, as promised by prime minister David Cameron in the wake of riots earlier in August.

A meeting on Thursday between home secretary Theresa May and Twitter, Facebook, Research In Motion and police bodies stayed away from calling on the companies to restrict or block their services.

"The government did not seek any additional powers to close down social-media networks," a Home Office spokesman said, according to reports.

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More News On Britain Deciding Not To Block Social Networks During Riots

U.K. Government Won't Ban Social Media in Emergencies -- Time Techland
U.K. Pulls Back From Threat to Control Social Networks -- Wall Street Journal
Government backs down on plan to shut Twitter and Facebook in crises -- The Guardian
UK government not seeking to close social media in riots -- Reuters
England riots: could social networks have done more to stop unrest? -- Laura Oliver, The Guardian

5 Social Uprisings That Were Wired

Image courtesy of iStockphoto/Fleyeing

How 5 Recent Social Uprisings Were Wired -- Scientific American

BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) and other instant communication platforms have helped to fuel riots and find missing persons this week in some major UK cities. But these events are only the most recent example of how new technology has greased the wheels of social change.

From the horseback ride of Paul Revere​—and for millennia before—people have used the latest technology available to rally others sympathetic to their cause. As ubiquitous as Twitter and Facebook have seemed lately in spreading the word for gatherings, whether benevolent or malevolent, many recent demonstrations and revolts have used a variety of primarily digital platforms to spread their message. Here are five examples in just the past two years:

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My comment: Here is an easy prediction .... this is a list that will probably grow with time.

Are Twitter And BlackBerry To Blame For British Riots?

How Much Are Twitter And BlackBerry To Blame For British Riots? -- Christian Science Monitor

British officials have criticized social media for its role in organizing and fanning the riots throughout England. But experts suggest that much of the criticism is misplaced.

Days of rioting across England have sharpened criticism of social media tools like BlackBerry Messenger, Facebook, and Twitter, which are helping criminals organize looting gangs, British officials say.

• David Lammy, a member of parliament from the city's hard-hit Tottenham district, on Tuesday called on Research in Motion, the Canadian owner of BlackBerry, to pull the plug.

• A day earlier, Scotland Yard warned that those "inciting violence" on Twitter would be brought to justice.

• And the deputy assistant commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police, Steve Kavanagh, said "really inflammatory, inaccurate" Twitter postings were a key cause of disorder.

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My Comment: Are Twitter and BlackBerry to blame for for British riots .... no .... but they certainly helped certain gangs of youths to take advantage of the situation.

Will Social Media Sites Be Banned In Britain During Riots?

Cameron Exploring Crackdown On Social Media After Riots -- New York Times

PARIS — Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain said Thursday that the government, seeking to prevent a repeat of riots and looting in London and other British cities this week, might bar suspected troublemakers from using social media and other digital communications tools.

Mr. Cameron said that Theresa May, the Home secretary, would meet with executives of the Web companies Facebook and Twitter, as well as Research In Motion, maker of the BlackBerry smartphone, to discuss possible measures that could be put in place.

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More News On The Possibility That Social Media Sites May Be Banned During Riots In Britain

England riots: Government mulls social media controls -- BBC
U.K. May Block Twitter, Blackberry Services in Future Violence After Riots -- Bloomberg
Rioting leads to Cameron call for social media clampdown -- The Guardian
David Cameron considers banning suspected rioters from social media -- The Guardian
Cameron suggests blocking potential criminals from social media -- Wired
UK prime minister calls for curbs on social media -- TechEye
Blaming the Tools: Britain Proposes a Social-Media Ban -- Bloomberg Businessweek
London Police Struggle To Master Social Media In Controlling Riots -- Wall Street Journal
Social media's role in the riots -- BBC
U.K. riots reveal social media double standard -- CBC
London, Egypt and the nature of social media -- Washington Post
Outcry over plans to block social media -- Financial Times

U.S. To Monitor Social Networking Sites

The Pentagon is to monitor social networking sites for threats such as cyberterrorism and the next Arab revolution. Photograph: Jason Reed/Reuters

Pentagon To Monitor Social Networking Sites For Threats -- The Guardian

US defence department to search for potential cyberterrorism and next Arab revolutions on sites such as Facebook and Twitter

he Pentagon is planning to use social networking sites to tackle threats such as cyberterrorism and to identify where a major event like the Arab revolutions might next take place, reports in the US say.

The US department of defence is offering $42m (£25m) to fund research into monitoring social networks to track the formation, development and spread of ideas, and identify misinformation and attempts to foment unrest. The move by Darpa, the defence advanced research projects agency, comes in the wake of use of social networks by insurgents in Afghanistan and Iraq and by home-grown threats such as Anonymous. Darpa did not respond to requests for comment from the New York Times.

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Update #1: White House to monitor extremism on social networking -- Tech Eye
Update #2: White House: Need to monitor online 'extremism' -- CNet

My Comment: I personally thought that they were already monitoring them. What I am interested in now is .... will this monitoring be done on domestic or foreign contributors/members to these social networks.

How Facebook Is Being Used To Hunt Down Dissidents

The Al Jazeera film uses footage from the Bahrain government's Facebook page Photo: Al Jazeera English

Facebook 'Used To Hunt Down Bahrain Dissidents' -- The Telegraph

A new documentary claims the Bahraini government used Facebook to track down protestors.

In a stark contrast to the way in which social media played a pivotal role during the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia in rallying support among anti-government protesters, the a documentary called Shouting in the Dark - to be screened on Al Jazeera English this evening - claims that the ruling regime in Bahrain whipped up emotion via social media to find a 20-year-old anti-government protestor, identified as Ayat Al Qurmezi.

Visitors were told "write the traitor's name and work place" and, according to the film, masked commandos then arrested her and took her to prison.

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My Comment: While social networks can be used to organize protests, they can also be used by governments to track and identify dissidents for arrest.

Social Media Is The Next Battlefield

DARPA Seeks To Learn From Social For Warfare -- Information Week

Agency aims to explore how the use of social media--particularly on mobile devices--can be used to help wage military campaigns.

The Department of Defense (DOD) aims to develop new ways to use social media sites like YouTube and Facebook to help it better leverage the technology for military engagements.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is seeking proposals for a "new science of social networks" through a program called Social Media in Strategic Communication (SMISC), according to a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) posted on the FedBizOpps.gov site.

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More News On Social Media Being The Next Battlefield

Pentagon Wants a Social Media Propaganda Machine -- Danger Room
Pentagon looks to social media as new battlefield -- AFP
DARPA tool would track social media propaganda -- Defense Systems
Pentagon tries to grok social media -- TG Daily
DARPA in search of meme tracker -- Fierce Government IT

Did Twitter And Facebook Really Build A Global Revolution?

Social Media: Did Twitter And Facebook Really Build A Global Revolution? -- Christian Science Monitor

Social media: From Iran to Tunisia and Egypt and beyond, Twitter and Facebook are the power tools of civic upheaval – but social media is only one factor in the spread of democratic revolution.

Facebook pages blared protest plans. Photographs were uploaded to Flickr, a photo-sharing website, and video clips were hoisted onto YouTube. Protesters mapped their uprisings, and the violence that followed, adapting their online cartography in real time to reports gathered by text message and Facebook updates.

To say nothing of all the tweeting.

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My Comment: These social media websites definitely have had an impact on the civic upheavals that are occurring in the Arab world and elsewhere. But they are only one factor in the spread of this revolution.

How The Dissent Movement In Saudi Arabia Uses Social Media To Survive

Social Media Helps Keep the Door Open to Sustained Dissent Inside Saudi Arabia -- New York Times

AL KHOBAR, Saudi Arabia — When Manal al-Sharif posted a video of herself breaking the law by driving her own black S.U.V. around this hot, flat city and called for a collective protest on Friday, the government responded harshly: she was jailed for nine days.

But unlike in the past, government censure did not quash debate. Instead, the Internet buzzed to life in Ms. Sharif’s defense, building on the surge of social media here after the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. Twitter and Facebook overflowed with comments denouncing both Saudi Arabia’s ruling princes and the clerics who called for her to be flogged as Neanderthals completely detached from the realities of life for women here.

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My Comment: The Saudi Government may wish to shutdown social networks .... but it is not going to happen. Social media is now like television, radio, and cell phones .... if you want to live in the 21rst century these are indispensable tools for a country to survive. Shut it down .... you shut down the country. As for the protest movement, the best action for the Saudi government to pursue is to confront and accommodate some of the needs that many of Saudi Arabia's young want to see implemented. Failure to do so .... will result in dissent on the computer screen being translated into dissent on the street .... a development that no one in the Saudi government should wish for.

How Social Networks And Google Earth Are Being Used In Libya's Civil War

How Social Media Users Are Helping NATO Fight Gadhafi In Libya -- Globe And Mail

Every morning at 7:30 a.m., in the picturesque woodlands of rural Ontario, a retired auto shop manager named Janice Clinch helps her grandson get ready for school and fires up her computer for another day of battle in the Libyan desert.

The 59-year-old has never met anybody from Libya. She has not visited the Arab world; chronic pain makes it hard for her to get around. But from her home near Seeley’s Bay, 40 kilometres northeast of Kingston, she joined a committed cadre of social media users who have become, in effect, volunteer intelligence analysts. On Twitter, Facebook and other services, they discuss satellite images, vessel tracking data and the latest gossip from their sources inside the country.

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More News On How Social Networks And Google Are Being Used In Libya's Civil War

Google points way for Libyan rebel artillery in fight against Gaddafi -- The Australian
Libyan rebels use Google Earth to target enemy -- British Forces News
Libyan rebels harnessing Twitter and Google Earth for insurgency -- The Drum
Libyan opposition turn to Google Earth, Call of Duty in battle against Gaddafi forces -- News.com.au
Google Earth, an iPhone compass and experience playing 'Call of Duty' have been vital to Libya's rebel war plan -- The Australian
Nato, Twitter And Air Strikes In Libya -- The Guardian
Nato using Twitter for airstrikes on Libya -- CBR Online
Anti-Gaddafi forces add Twitter to armoury -- Financial Times
Twitter Now a Part of the Intelligence Community's Toolbox: NATO -- TMCNet

Social Networks Also Empower The Enemies Of Freedom And Of The West (A Commentary)

Photo: Libyan opposition members set up base in Benghazi, gathering video and photos to distribute online. Ed Ou / The New York Times-Redux

The Mash of Civilizations -- Niall Ferguson, Newsweek

Social networks might promote democracy, but they also empower the enemies of freedom.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that information technology—in particular social networking through the Internet—is changing the global balance of power. The “Facebook Generation” has already been credited with the overthrow of the Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak. For a brief period, the darling of Tahrir Square was the young Google executive Wael Ghonim.

Yet there is another side to the story. It is not only proponents of democracy who know how to exploit the power of online networking. It is also the enemies of freedom.

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My Comment: Niall Ferguson from Newsweek is spot on in his analysis on how Islamists and other extremists are using the web to promote their cause. Read it all.

The Role Of Social Media In Syria's Revolution

On Facebook And Twitter, Spreading Revolution In Syria -- Christian Science Monitor

Social networks are playing a central role in fueling protests in Syria, where demonstrations Friday were the largest since anti-Assad activists took to the street last month.

Five years ago, Malath Aumran was a normal young Syrian man with little interest in politics and, like millions of his fellow countrymen, a passive supporter of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

But a brutal act of violence set him on a path of political activism that today has turned him into an exile hiding in Beirut. Now, surrounded by laptop computers and Internet cables, the young, technologically savvy activist is using social networking tools to help build and sustain the popular uprising that has convulsed Syria and shaken the regime in the past three weeks.

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My Comment: What I find incredibly fascinating about the role of social media in politics .... or in this case .... Syria's revolution .... is that the options that government have in stopping it and/or controlling the message are severely limited. Short of shutting down the entire communications grid, there is nothing else that these despotic regimes can do.