Originally posted by jhill76
reply to post by schrodingers dog

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Sometimes they don't just track IP's either. They also track Mac Addresses and Computer Names...

Originally posted by 12m8keall2c
Sure... there are threads/posts on ATS which actually garner response(s) from .gov, etc. IP's but those are truly in the minority given the grand scheme/scale of things.

Really? I have heard more than once here on ATS Springer commenting about the sudden surge of IP hits from .gov and .mil sites generating peaks when certain topics or threads are created...

I personally would love to see the stats on that (for obvious reasons)... though I know its confidential... maybe there is a way just to do it by numbers like Thread 'X' had 2034 'official' hits this weekend

What I don't understand is why we are 'teased' with comments like that, yet cannot get any real data... all the while these threads about ATS being 'monitored' keep cropping up because it IS a concern of those that do not understand how easy it is for them to track you... IF they want to...

I KNOW there are NASA people watching threads... and I don't mean just the average Joe... because I have had emails directly related to issues... like the time when the directory of tiff files I found was removed while we were discussing them

I KNOW there are DoD people here that have an interest in what is being said because one of them came to visit several of the Pegasus team...

Are they involved with ATS? NO absolutely not... but they ARE here

And on the other side of the coin... I get some of my best leads because of this 'presence'

Me? I'd be Moar concerned with the last minute and sudden tag-along inclusion of this in the most Sure to pass Housing Bill!? Housing?

Pentagon: The internet needs to be dealt with as if it were an enemy "weapons system".

The Pentagon's Information Operations Roadmap is blunt about the fact that an internet, with the potential for free speech, is in direct opposition to their goals. The internet needs to be dealt with as if it were an enemy "weapons system".

Internet Presents Web of Security Issues

Internet Presents Web of Security Issues
By Paul Stone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 25, 1998 – In a briefing room deep in the Pentagon earlier this year, Air Force Lt. Col. Buzz Walsh and Maj. Brad Ashley presented a series of briefings to top DoD leaders that raised more than just a few eyebrows.

Selected leaders were shown how it was possible to obtain their individual social security numbers, unlisted home phone numbers, and a host of other personal information about themselves and their families simply by cruising the Internet.

Walsh and Ashley, members of the Pentagon's Joint Staff, were not playing a joke on the leaders. Nor were they trying to be clever. Rather they were dramatically, and effectively demonstrating the ease of accessing and gathering personal and military data on the information highway information which, in the wrong hands, could translate into a vulnerability.

"You don't need a Ph.D. to do this," Walsh said about the ability to gather the information. "There's no rocket science in this capability. What's amazing is the ease and speed and the minimal know-how needed. The tools (of the Net) are designed for you to do this."

The concern over personal information on key DoD leaders began with a simple inquiry from one particular flag officer who said he was receiving a large number of unsolicited calls at home. In addition to having the general's unlisted number, the callers knew specifically who he was.

Beginning with that one inquiry, the Joint Staff set out to discover just how easy it is to collect data not only on military personnel, but the military in general. They used personal computers at home, used no privileged information not even a DoD phone book and did not use any on-line services that perform investigative searches for a fee.

In less than five minutes on the Net Ashley, starting with only the general's name, was able to extract his complete address, unlisted phone number, and using a map search engine, build a map and driving directions to his house.

Using the same techniques and Internet search engines, they visited various military and military-related Web sites to see how much and the types of data they could gather. What they discovered was too much about too much, and seemingly too little concern about the free flow of information vs. what the public needs to know.

Eavesdropping 101: What Can The NSA Do?

The recent revelations about illegal eavesdropping on American citizens by the U.S. National Security Agency have raised many questions about just what the agency is doing. Although the facts are just beginning to emerge, information that has come to light about the NSA's activities and capabilities over the years, as well as the recent reporting by the New York Times and others, allows us to discern the outlines of what they are likely doing and how they are doing it.

The NSA is not only the world's largest spy agency (far larger than the CIA, for example), but it possesses the most advanced technology for intercepting communications. We know it has long had the ability to focus powerful surveillance capabilities on particular individuals or communications. But the current scandal has indicated two new and significant elements of the agency's eavesdropping:

1. The NSA has gained direct access to the telecommunications infrastructure through some of America's largest companies
2. The agency appears to be not only targeting individuals, but also using broad "data mining" systems that allow them to intercept and evaluate the communications of millions of people within the United States.

NSA electronic surveillance program

An electronic surveillance program was implemented by the National Security Agency (NSA) of the United States in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks as part of the broader War on Terrorism. The NSA, a signals intelligence agency, implemented the program to intercept al Qaeda communications overseas where at least one party is not a US person. It was later disclosed that some of the intercepts included communications were "purely domestic" in nature, igniting the NSA warrantless surveillance controversy. [1] The technical details of the program are still classified, and it is unknown how many domestic communications were intercepted.