NATO Private military DDoS downs Wikileaks over TrapWire

[TonyGosling]

WikiLeaks Has Been Down For Nine Days Following Massive DDoS Attack

By Zach Walton · 2 hours ago · 1 Comment
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WikiLeaks is no stranger to being brought down by DDoS attacks. The Web site has been attacked multiple times, usually after a major leak. This past week has been a little difference because the Web site and all its mirrors have been down for nine days. What did they leak this time that caused such an uproar and who’s behind such a massive attack?

WikiLeaks says that they’ve been under attack since revealing TrapWire. According to a leak from Stratfor, TrapWire is a massive surveillance system operated by a private security company called Abraxas. Its goal is to collect information from security cameras around the nation and feed them into a central database. For more on TrapWire, check out this lengthy and comprehensive post that cuts through all the conspiracy theories that have popped up since its unveiling.

WikiLeaks claims that their servers are being attacked by 10 Gbps of bogus traffic per second. If true, this is one of the largest DDoS attacks on record. Having lasted for nine days, it might also be the longest sustained DDoS attack on record.

A group called AntiLeaks claims responsibility behind the attack. The group claims that Wikileaks is a terrorist organization. The DDoS attack is apparently their way of making sure that the group can’t release any more cables. Here’s a statement from AntiLeaks leader, DietPepsi:

You can call me DietPepsi. I am the leader of AntiLeaks. We are not doing this to call attention to ourselves. We are young adults, citizens of the United States of America
and are deeply concerned about the recent developments with Julian Assange and his attempt at aslyum in Ecuador.

Assange is the head of a new breed of terrorist. We are doing this as a protest against his attempt to escape justice into Ecuador. This would be a catalyst for many more like him to rise up in his place. We will not stop and they will not stop us.

When asked how long AntiLeaks would keep up its DDoS attack, the group simply said, “Forever.” It’s hard to say how possible that goal really is, but they have kept WikiLeaks down for over a week. Only time will tell if they’ll be able to keep WikiLeaks down for longer than two weeks.

It’s hard to actually say who is behind AntiLeaks. There are probably many people in the pro-WikiLeaks camp who think it’s somebody within the U.S. government. There also also some who think that this is all just another self-serving media stunt like their fake NY Times editorial.

Beyond the initial facts, nothing is really clear at the moment. It’s almost like the Internet has enabled a world like the one we see in comic books. I never thought that WikiLeaks would encounter a group called AntiLeaks, let alone do battle with them in cyberspace. Combine this with Trapwire and we have ourselves a great cyberpunk novel.

We’ll continue watching WikiLeaks over the next few days. It’s only five days until AntiLeaks has kept the WikiLeaks down for two weeks. At that point, I think it would be safe to say that AntiLeaks is a legitimate group.

[TonyGosling]

Stratfor emails reveal secret, widespread TrapWire surveillance system
http://rt.com/usa/news/stratfor-trapwire-abraxas-wikileaks-313/
Published: 10 August, 2012, 11:23

Former senior intelligence officials have created a detailed surveillance system more accurate than modern facial recognition technology — and have installed it across the US under the radar of most Americans, according to emails hacked by Anonymous.

Every few seconds, data picked up at surveillance points in major cities and landmarks across the United States are recorded digitally on the spot, then encrypted and instantaneously delivered to a fortified central database center at an undisclosed location to be aggregated with other intelligence. It’s part of a program called TrapWire and it's the brainchild of the Abraxas, a Northern Virginia company staffed with elite from America’s intelligence community. The employee roster at Arbaxas reads like a who’s who of agents once with the Pentagon, CIA and other government entities according to their public LinkedIn profiles, and the corporation's ties are assumed to go deeper than even documented.

The details on Abraxas and, to an even greater extent TrapWire, are scarce, however, and not without reason. For a program touted as a tool to thwart terrorism and monitor activity meant to be under wraps, its understandable that Abraxas would want the program’s public presence to be relatively limited. But thanks to last year’s hack of the Strategic Forecasting intelligence agency, or Stratfor, all of that is quickly changing.

Hacktivists aligned with the loose-knit Anonymous collective took credit for hacking Stratfor on Christmas Eve, 2011, in turn collecting what they claimed to be more than five million emails from within the company. WikiLeaks began releasing those emails as the Global Intelligence Files (GIF) earlier this year and, of those, several discussing the implementing of TrapWire in public spaces across the country were circulated on the Web this week after security researcher Justin Ferguson brought attention to the matter. At the same time, however, WikiLeaks was relentlessly assaulted by a barrage of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, crippling the whistleblower site and its mirrors, significantly cutting short the number of people who would otherwise have unfettered access to the emails.

On Wednesday, an administrator for the WikiLeaks Twitter account wrote that the site suspected that the motivation for the attacks could be that particularly sensitive Stratfor emails were about to be exposed. A hacker group called AntiLeaks soon after took credit for the assaults on WikiLeaks and mirrors of their content, equating the offensive as a protest against editor Julian Assange, “the head of a new breed of terrorist.” As those Stratfor files on TrapWire make their rounds online, though, talk of terrorism is only just beginning.

Mr. Ferguson and others have mirrored what are believed to be most recently-released Global Intelligence Files on external sites, but the original documents uploaded to WikiLeaks have been at times unavailable this week due to the continuing DDoS attacks. Late Thursday and early Friday this week, the GIF mirrors continues to go offline due to what is presumably more DDoS assaults. Australian activist Asher Wolf wrote on Twitter that the DDoS attacks flooding the servers of WikiLeaks supporter sites were reported to be dropping upwards of 40 gigabits of traffic per second. On Friday, WikiLeaks tweeted that their own site was sustaining attacks of 10 Gb/second, adding, "Whoever is running it controls thousands of machines or is able to simulate them."

According to a press release (pdf) dated June 6, 2012, TrapWire is “designed to provide a simple yet powerful means of collecting and recording suspicious activity reports.” A system of interconnected nodes spot anything considered suspect and then input it into the system to be "analyzed and compared with data entered from other areas within a network for the purpose of identifying patterns of behavior that are indicative of pre-attack planning.”

In a 2009 email included in the Anonymous leak, Stratfor Vice President for Intelligence Fred Burton is alleged to write, “TrapWire is a technology solution predicated upon behavior patterns in red zones to identify surveillance. It helps you connect the dots over time and distance.” Burton formerly served with the US Diplomatic Security Service, and Abraxas’ staff includes other security experts with experience in and out of the Armed Forces.

What is believed to be a partnering agreement included in the Stratfor files from August 13, 2009 indicates that they signed a contract with Abraxas to provide them with analysis and reports of their TrapWire system (pdf).

“Suspicious activity reports from all facilities on the TrapWire network are aggregated in a central database and run through a rules engine that searches for patterns indicative of terrorist surveillance operations and other attack preparations,” Crime and Justice International magazine explains in a 2006 article on the program, one of the few publically circulated on the Abraxas product (pdf). “Any patterns detected – links among individuals, vehicles or activities – will be reported back to each affected facility. This information can also be shared with law enforcement organizations, enabling them to begin investigations into the suspected surveillance cell.”

In a 2005 interview with The Entrepreneur Center, Abraxas founder Richard “Hollis” Helms said his signature product “can collect information about people and vehicles that is more accurate than facial recognition, draw patterns, and do threat assessments of areas that may be under observation from terrorists.” He calls it “a proprietary technology designed to protect critical national infrastructure from a terrorist attack by detecting the pre-attack activities of the terrorist and enabling law enforcement to investigate and engage the terrorist long before an attack is executed,” and that, “The beauty of it is that we can protect an infinite number of facilities just as efficiently as we can one and we push information out to local law authorities automatically.”

An internal email from early 2011 included in the Global Intelligence Files has Stratfor’s Burton allegedly saying the program can be used to “[walk] back and track the suspects from the get go w/facial recognition software.”

Since its inception, TrapWire has been implemented in most major American cities at selected high value targets (HVTs) and has appeared abroad as well. The iWatch monitoring system adopted by the Los Angeles Police Department (pdf) works in conjunction with TrapWire, as does the District of Columbia and the "See Something, Say Something" program conducted by law enforcement in New York City, which had 500 surveillance cameras linked to the system in 2010. Private properties including Las Vegas, Nevada casinos have subscribed to the system. The State of Texas reportedly spent half a million dollars with an additional annual licensing fee of $150,000 to employ TrapWire, and the Pentagon and other military facilities have allegedly signed on as well.

In one email from 2010 leaked by Anonymous, Stratfor’s Fred Burton allegedly writes, “God Bless America. Now they have EVERY major HVT in CONUS, the UK, Canada, Vegas, Los Angeles, NYC as clients.” Files on USASpending.gov reveal that the US Department of Homeland Security and Department of Defense together awarded Abraxas and TrapWire more than one million dollars in only the past eleven months.

News of the widespread and largely secretive installation of TrapWire comes amidst a federal witch-hunt to crack down on leaks escaping Washington and at attempt to prosecute whistleblowers. Thomas Drake, a former agent with the NSA, has recently spoken openly about the government’s Trailblazer Project that was used to monitor private communication, and was charged under the Espionage Act for coming forth. Separately, former NSA tech director William Binney and others once with the agency have made claims in recent weeks that the feds have dossiers on every American, an allegation NSA Chief Keith Alexander dismissed during a speech at Def-Con last month in Vegas.

[TonyGosling]

Google, Salesforce were allegedly offered 'TrapWire' spy tool
Summary: Stratfor emails placed in the wild by WikiLeaks have revealed that a video-surveillance program developed by ex-CIA members may be in place in US government organisations and multinational corporations.
http://www.zdnet.com/google-salesforce-were-allegedly-offered-trapwire -spy-tool-7000002505/
By Michael Lee | August 13, 2012 -- 07:11 GMT (08:11 BST)
Now approaching its 10th day of a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, WikiLeaks has released information about a video-surveillance program that is possibly being used by the US government and large organisations, such as Salesforce and Google.
The program, called TrapWire, was developed by US-based Abraxas Corporation, which is alleged to be staffed by many former US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agents. TrapWire is meant to identify terrorists who approach a facility multiple times as they conduct their surveillance. According to Abraxas' documentation on TrapWire, it is able to correlate video surveillance with other data, such as watch lists. It can, for example, identify suspected terrorists using facial recognition or stolen vehicles by reading number plates, and then correlate this information with other event data that it already has.

In internal Stratfor emails leaked by WikiLeaks, it was revealed that TrapWire may have already been implemented in several locations around the world. The leak indicates that Stratfor is in the process of setting up an agreement with Abraxas in order to gain intelligence that it could provide to its own customers.

In an email, Stratfor president Don Kuykendall wrote: "Their clients include Scotland Yard, #10 Downing, the White House and many [multinational corporations]".

"Our consideration is introducing them to companies like Walmart, Dell and other[s]," he wrote.

In a separate email, vice president Fred Burton wrote: "Salesforce HQs in San Fran is interested in TrapWire after I briefed them on their wonderful capabilities". He also wrote that "the timing is right to revisit our relationship with Google and sense growing frustration (and chaos) on their part in light of the Chinese penetrations and intellectual property theft".

"I've been playing constant phone tag with their security director."

Google declined to comment on whether it has been contacted by Stratfor, and whether it has implemented TrapWire. Salesforce has been unable to respond to ZDNet's inquiries at the time of writing.

Burton also wrote that TrapWire is "in place at every [high-value target] in NYC, DC, Vegas, London, Ottawa and LA".

The system may be working for its intended purpose. In leaked emails, Burton revealed that the system may have foiled a terrorist attack on three Los Angeles buildings.

"According to a very good source responsible for domestic surveillance operations, an extremely serious al Qaeda terror plot has been uncovered targeting a financial institution, an entertainment centre and a government office building in Los Angeles. The same terrorist-surveillance team conducted pre-operational surveillance of all three sites. The group is currently under watch," he wrote.

[TonyGosling]

Former senior intelligence officials have created a detailed surveillance system more accurate than modern facial recognition technology — and have installed it across the US under the radar of most Americans, according to emails hacked by Anonymous.

Link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mn1cgT_AgeA

[TonyGosling]

U.S. government is secretly spying on EVERYONE using civilian security cameras, say Wikileaks
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2187602/U-S-Government-secretl y-spying-using-civilian-security-cameras-say-Wikileaks.html
Cameras use facial recognition to log people's activity
Details released by Wikileaks which has now been hacked in cyber attack
Disturbing echoes of CIA officials in hit film The Bourne Identity
By Rick Dewsbury - 14 August 2012
Anyone who takes a photograph at high-risk locations is logged as a suspected terrorist on a vast network of secret spy cameras linked to the U.S. Government, according to leaked emails.
People pointing cameras in New York are regarded as suspicious and the facial recognition images of them from the civilian CCTV are fed into a data centre run by U.S. firm Abraxas.
The system then connects with hundreds of other cameras in a bid to pinpoint potential terrorist activity, it is claimed.
Details of the system emerged from emails released by whistle-blowing website Wikileaks. The issue has caused outrage among privacy campaigners amid fears that it could be abused.
It has disturbing echoes of the film, The Bourne Identity starring Matt Damon, in which CIA officials use a network of spy cameras to track around the world someone they though they had assassinated.
According to the email released by Wikileaks, pictures of people's faces are encrypted and sent to a fortified data centre at a secret location.
The TrapWire system is linked to civilian CCTV cameras.
TrapWire is used by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in a bid to deter terrorist attacks - or catch those responsible once an incident has happened.
According to the company's own documents from 2007, TrapWire is 'a unique, predictive software system designed to detect patterns of per-attack surveillance.' This includes 'photographing, measuring and signaling'.
More than 500 cameras using the technology have been installed on the New York subway. There are estimated to be thousands more around various U.S. cities and in London at potential terrorist targets such as Downing Street.
The firm also operates in several other U.S. states, in Canada and in London. It is said to have cameras also placed at high rick targets in the UK, including Downing Street.
An email from an employee at Strator - a Texas-based intelligence firm linked to Trapwire - in 2010 said the cameras were focused on 'per-operational terrorist surveillance'.
It stated: 'This week, 500 surveillance cameras were activated on the NYC subway system to focus on per-operational terrorist surveillance. The surveillance technology is also operational on high-value targets (HVTs) in DC, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and London and is called TrapWire.
Terrorist target: TrapWire cameras are also in use at Ten Downing Street, home of the British Prime Minister, according to another email from the firm behind them (file picture)
'TrapWire is one of the most innovative tools developed since 9-11 to help mitigate terrorist threats. From a protective intelligence perspective, TrapWire does have the ability to share information on suspicious events or suspects between cities.'
WHAT IS TRAPWIRE AND WHO OWNS THE SECRETIVE SYSTEM?
Trapwire is a security system that uses CCTV cameras to relay encrypted images of people to a data centre. These are then compared with images from various other cameras to track suspicious activity.
The system was developed by security intelligence firm Abraxas Applications now known as Trapwire Inc.
The system is linked to a separate company Stratfor, which sent emails between staff discussing the system. When these emails became public through Wikileaks, they revealed details of the Trapwire spy network.
The people behind Trapwire are understood to be former high-ranking CIA and intelligence officials.
The Trapwire website describes it as a 'unique, predictive software system designed to detect patterns indicative of terrorist attacks or criminal operations'.
In another email, Stratfor president Don Kuykendall wrote: 'Their clients include Scotland Yard, #10 Downing, the White House and many [business].
'Our consideration is introducing them to companies like Walmart, Dell and others.'
In a separate email, vice president Fred Burton wrote: 'Salesforce HQs in San Fran is interested in TrapWire after I briefed them on their wonderful capabilities'.
The emails have caused uproar among activists who believe that the use of the cameras is an infringement on people's freedom.
After the emails were released, WikiLeaks said it has been the victim of a sustained denial-of-service attack which has left its website sluggish or inaccessible for more than a week.
In a statement released late Saturday the group said the assault intensified around the beginning of August and has since expanded to include attacks against affiliated sites.
Denial-of-service attacks work by overwhelming websites with requests for information. WikiLeaks has said it's been flooded with 10 gigabits per second of bogus traffic from thousands of different Internet addresses.
Josh Corman, with online content delivery company Akamai, characterized that as 'a bit larger' than attacks commonly seen in the past few years.
WikiLeaks, which has angered officials in Washington with its spectacular releases of classified U.S. documents, remained inaccessible Sunday.

[TonyGosling]

Assange just granted asylum in Ecuador!

http://rt.com/news/assange-granted-asylum-ecuador-298/
Huzzah!

Was the DDoS attack part of the game?
Hmmmmm....

[TonyGosling]

False alarm - RT now denying this