How Effective is the NSA’s Fight Against Terrorism?

We are all aware of the NSA’s use of tools such as XKeyscore and Prism to gain access to all of our information and internet activities and, in a nutshell, spy on us. The claim is that it is to protect us. But how effective are these methods in preventing acts of terrorism?

               

According to the training materials for XKeyscore that Edward Snowden leaked to The Guardian, by 2008, 300 terrorist had been captured (Wills). When asking yourself how many groups of individuals would have the guts to attempt to terrorize a country or wage war on it, this number seems extreme and it does in fact sound as if these methods are indeed effective. However, this summer, after the leak from Snowden, the NSA disclosed that by using these methods of spying, 52 “terrorist events” had been interrupted (“NSA”). This number contradicts the 300 given in the training materials for just XKeyscore, let alone the whole NSA. The chief of the NSA later said that those numbers had been dramatically exaggerated, and that only one or two terrorist plots had been foiled. This information was followed by the deputy director stating that only one terrorist plot had been foiled. As it turns out, the plot was a taxi driver who had been sending monetary funds to a group of individuals who, were in fact, labeled as a terrorist group in 2008. The FBI declared, however, that the individual sending the funds was in no way associated with the group, and his acts of support were more about loyalty and politics (“NSA”).

               

So that brings me back to my main question. How effective is the NSA’s methods of collecting data in keeping us safe from terrorist? Dozens of websites I visited talked about the NSA being in an uproar against Snowden because of his leak and how terrorist now have the information of how we have been tracking them, which will make these methods useless. It seems to me, however, that they were already useless, which brings me to a second question. What is the real reason for the government using programs such as XKeyscore and Prism? I’m not a radical who thinks that the government is out to take our freedom and use our information against us, but I do have to question their motives as of late. If this information is indeed being used only to spy on us, what exactly are they looking for? What good can billions of new data being sent to their databases do if it’s not being used to track terrorist or terrorist plots? These are the questions that I ponder when I read articles about the reality of these programs and how inefficient they seem to be, and it makes me wonder, what else are they doing that we do not yet know about?

Citations:

"NSA Spying Did Not Result In a SINGLE Foiled Terrorist Plot." Web log post. Washingtons Blog. N.p., 15 Oct. 2013. Web. 28 Oct. 2013. <http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/10/nsa-spying-did-not-result-in-one-stopped-terrorist-plot-and-the-government-actually-did-spy-on-the-bad-guys-before-911.html>.

Wills, Amanda. "New Snowden Leak: NSA Program Taps All You Do Online." Web. CNN. Cable News Network, 01 Aug. 2013. Web. 28 Oct. 2013. <http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/31/tech/web/snowden-leak-xkeyscore/index.html?iref=allsearch>.

Net Neutrality

What is Net Neutrality? In a nutshell, it is about choice. Who controls what you can see and use on the internet? You do right now, you can open up your browser and choose what search engine you want to use, whether its Google, Yahoo or Bing you have the freedom. But what if one day you  tried to use Google's search engine and it was so painfully slow that you could not even use it or worse yet, Google would completely be restricted to use, forcing you to use another search engine instead.?

Without Net Neutrality that scenario would most likely happen. Your internet service provider(ISP) would degrade your access or block certain websites such as Google. They will do this  mainly because a contract agreement with another search engine company or perhaps your ISP will  have their own search engine. It would only make sense for them to degrade or block other search engines to bring more business to theirs.

Here is another scenario, lets say one day your current phone service appears to performing horribly. The signal is seems to be weak and calls are filled with static. Then a few months later your ISP starts to offer their own phone service. The question now is, was your phone service really that bad or did your ISP have something to do with it?

Voice calls are only one of the applications that run over the internet. ISP are now getting into the video content business, so they will be competing with other companies such as Youtube now. If your ISP has a financial interest in a certain video provider, then you ISP will have the incentive to degrade your access to any other video content provider.

Scenarios like these are not only possible but has already happened and will continue to happen if Net Neutrality is not enforced. The internet is a huge and open place and should be kept free.











http://www.commoncause.org/site/pp.asp?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=1234951

IT, Edward Snowden, and International Politics

By Timothy Mulligan

In a world with rapidly shifting international powers, tense political relationships, new technologies, and general uncertainty about the future of the internet, Edward Snowden stands apart. Uniquely, one man has shaken the foundations of government-to-government interaction. His actions (treachery in the minds of some) have ignited a massive power struggle between the world’s greatest nations. How specifically, has Snowden affected the United States? What is the impact of his actions? Let’s look at several of the Unites States internationally relevant relationships.

USA to Snowden

Why is the American Government hunting Edward Snowden down and demanding his return to be tried for treason? His actions clearly violated the charge he had to protect the confidential information he had access to. Moreover, his actions have greatly embarrassed the United States internationally, hurting their international reputation. Snowden’s impact is much greater than is immediately evident, and he is perhaps one of the single most influential individuals in the world today. He has the ear of nations and the public as Americans and beyond wonder what his motivation possibly could be.

USA to China

As the mega-powers of the world clash in a diplomatic battle, The Chinese and American governments have faced a challenge. The Chinese government has been quick to use the leaked information, even in light of the US-China summit. Though the US requested that Snowden be held at the airport in Hong-Kong, the Chinese government allowed him through. Both of these things have most certainly challenged the relationship of trust between the two entities.

USA to Russia

Similarly to China, Russia has taken advantage of Snowden’s asylum. It seems clear that the Russian government has little use for the information that Snowden has with him. Vladmir Putin, however, is eager to do anything to remind the United States of the historical tensions between the two nations. Russia harboring Snowden isn’t directly hurtful to the US, it is an annoyance that recalls Cold War memories.

USA to the World

Perhaps the most concerning relational damage that came as a result of Snowden’s whistleblowing is to the United States’ relationship with the World. Previously, the US was a champion of internet freedom, a white knight is a world strongly controlled by government influence. Snowden revealed how much of a hand the US government actually had in the day-to-day internet activities of its citizens, greatly hurting that image. Now, in the face of international talks about internet freedom, the United states can no longer negotiate from a place of strength.

So what do you think? Considering the effects of Snowden’s actions, should he be crowned champion or labeled traitor? Should we even take his actions into consideration when passing judgment?

Citation: 
Logan, Sarah. "Snowden, International Relations and the Transit Lounge…." Circuit International Relations and Information Technology. East Asia Forum, 1 Aug. 2013. Web. 21 Oct. 2013.

The Silk Road: Should the Internet be more Controlled?

There has been a topic arousing a lot of attention lately: The Silk Road. The Silk Road was a site that allowed users to buy and sell anything, from art and apparel, to illegal drugs and weapons.  The site, started by Ross William Ulbricht, was founded in January 2011 and operated until earlier this month when Ulbricht was arrested.  The Silk Road was able to operate for so long because it relied on a program which allows users to visit the page anonymously, and a new form a currency known as bitcoin. Therefore, a person could access the site and purchase an item (legal or illegal) with their identity completely protected.

The L.A. Time published an article about The Silk Road on the day of Ulbricht's arrest:
http://articles.latimes.com/2013/oct/02/business/la-fi-silk-road-bitcoin-20131003

The fall of this site brings up an interesting topic: Should the internet be more controlled?

Currently, there is a program known as The Onion Router (TOR), which The Silk Road relied on. TOR's site announces the programs purpose openly on the main page:
"Tor is free software and an open network that helps you defend against traffic analysis, a form of network surveillance that threatens personal freedom and privacy, confidential business activities and relationships, and state security."

This program allowed The Silk Road users to anonymously buy a large number of illegal items, even going as far as having drugs delivered through the mail.

Should programs like this be allowed for free download? I think not. While in theory this program is a good thing, to help law-abiding citizens protect their identities, it has ended up in the hands of criminals. This program, combined with the online currency of Bitcoins, allowed The Silk Road to develop into a site with sales totaling $1.2 billion over 3 years. Clearly there needs to be a certain level of restriction on the internet; there is something wrong when anyone can go online to purchase narcotics and illegal weapons.  Personally, I do not think internet-censorship is bad. Unfortunately it has been given a bad name by countries such as China, where the internet is restricted extensively. The government should be able to better control what is posted to the internet so criminals cannot act freely behind a wall of anonymity. 

What is your opinion on internet censorship? Should anyone be able to post anything? Or should the government be able to restrict what is online?

What are ways that the government uses internet that we agree or disagree with?

I agree and disagree with how the Government uses internet to spy on "citizens" of America. I found an article of the "4 ways government is spying on americans everyday." The article actually makes it seem like the Government is being to inconspicuous and intrusive. When really, the government is using these ways to look for suspects of terrorism while keeping us safe. The government uses "fusion centers", which is how the DHS would work between the federal intelligence agencies and local law enforcement. The current government does not seem to support this center but in all reality, I think it's good to have a center devoted to just spying. One way I might not completely agree on is the Cell phone GPS accessed by the government. Cellular networks have GPS on all cell phones because that is how phones are connected to the service towers. Now, the government is asking for permission to that. If they get the access to everyone's cellphone, they will know where you are going and when, at all times. I understand they are mainly using this to catch suspects but that truly feels like an outright invasion of privacy. I would argue that is crossing their boundaries.

Wyss, James. "PolicyMic." PolicyMic. N.p., 09 Oct. 2013. Web. 09 Oct. 2013.
http://www.policymic.com/articles/43773/4-ways-the-government-is-spying-on-americans-every-day