Snowden leaks may embarrass Canberra

Snowden leaks may embarrass Canberra

www.smh.com.au

American intelligence whistle-blower Edward Snowden may expose top secret Australian intelligence gathering operations and embarrass Australia's relations with neighbouring Asian countries, Australian intelligence officials fear.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Australian officials said it was still unclear precisely what information Mr Snowden may have taken from the National Security Agency and his former employer, defence and intelligence consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton.

Despite this officials said there was little doubt that the intelligence contractor had "very wide access, including access to much detail of communications intelligence cooperation between the US and Australia."

"Disclosure of highly sensitive collection operations and methodology will damage Australia's intelligence capabilities. It already has done so. But there’s also risk of serious complications in our relations with our neighbours," one official said.

"The US may be able to brush aside some of the diplomatic fallout from the Snowden leak, but that may not be the case for Australia. China, Malaysia, other countries may respond to us in ways that they would not to Washington."

So the Australian Government has now made public its fears at the possibility of a leak regarding their surveillance system, and the methods of which it uses; despite the fact that they have no idea whether Snowden really has this information or not.

I find it funny though, that in coming out, the Australian Government has basically confirmed that they are conducting their own operations on its civilians and perhaps foreigners (as seen in the fear that the leaks will damage our relationship with other countries).

Considering Snowden has leaked information from Britain and the USA; i wonder if he has the information for the allies of the aforementioned countries (Australia, Canada and New Zealand). If he does, than we could probably expect further leaks soon. After all, he said he wasn't done with the leaks.

www.smh.com.au
(visit the link for the full news article)

I wonder when the revelations of New Zealand will follow...

reply to post by daaskapital


Great find, it certainly makes it seem like all five of the countries you mentioned are complicit in these surveillance activities. Though I am sure we already knew, this just gives credence to our presumptions.

I to see the humour in the Australian governments statement as it basically infers that they are worried about their own surveillance programs being scrutinized.

I also share their concerns about their relationship with their Asian neighbours being impacted, but I do not foresee any major impact as the country shares a strong relationship with the western block.

There is another thread which describes the intricate relationship between the countries as listed and I presume that the Snowden leak has resulted in the entire global operation being compromised based on how interrelated all these agencies or contractors seem to be.

Originally posted by ObservingYou
I wonder when the revelations of New Zealand will follow...

Probably in the near future if Snowden does indeed have information on all 5 countries.

reply to post by daaskapital



This is completely comical as hell.

I thought the U.S. was the only ones caught with their video tapes down and their hands on their junk.

Just goes to show the size of the impact crater. Now it is sucking up half of the planet.

Is there anyone who has been untouched by this?

I just can't wait to see where this will all be in a month or so.

Keep riding the wave Mr. Snowden. . . Your Doin' Good. ... .. . .

Originally posted by MDDoxs
reply to post by daaskapital

 

Great find, it certainly makes it seem like all five of the countries you mentioned are complicit in these surveillance activities. Though I am sure we already knew, this just gives credence to our presumptions.

Thanks. Yeah i agree. It would seem a bit naive to think that all 5 countries don't have shared surveillance systems.

I also share their concerns about their relationship with their Asian neighbours being impacted, but I do not foresee any major impact as the country shares a strong relationship with the western block.

Agreed. I can see why the government is concerned; and it is correct that China (plus other neighbours) would probably react differently to us than they did to the US. But i don't think it would be that bad unless the Aussie government is doing some nasty stuff...

There is another thread which describes the intricate relationship between the countries as listed and I presume that the Snowden leak has resulted in the entire global operation being compromised based on how interrelated all these agencies or contractors seem to be.

Agreed here too. Considering they are all connected in one way or another, it seemed impossible for the leaks to only injure the USA. More than likely, Snowden has information on the global surveillance operations as conducted by the 5 countries, and it planning to release them too.

Originally posted by ShadellacZumbrum
reply to post by daaskapital

 

This is completely comical as hell.

I thought the U.S. was the only ones caught with their video tapes down and their hands on their junk.

Just goes to show the size of the impact crater. Now it is sucking up half of the planet.

Is there anyone who has been untouched by this?

I just can't wait to see where this will all be in a month or so.

Keep riding the wave Mr. Snowden. . . Your Doin' Good. ... .. . .

Yeah, not too many people were initially aware of the extent of the leaks, and i can include myself in that demographic somewhat

We will know just how bad it is if the other involved countries speak up about their systems, and if Snowden does leaks information pertaining to them. Because right now, we have PRISM, Project Tempora; and we are waiting to see what Canada, New Zealand and Australia have...

I have two MySpace accounts, one is in my real name, and the other is under an alias.
Last weekend they were both hacked, all my blogs had been deleted along with 50 or so pictures. My front pages had been wiped clean and I couldn't access any other data.

My alias account had the password changed and when I tried to renew it, the "Change Password" link never arrived in my mailbox. I tried about 6 times before I got the hint, nobody said I was a quick learner.

About 4 or 5 years ago I posted a blog which outlined my belief that all new computer chips are hard coded with
TROJAN BLUETOOTH capabilities. The fact that the Trojan is hard coded into the chip itself means that it will never be seen as a foreign threat by any anti-virus program. The anti-virus program simply sees it's presence and nature as part of the systems operating utilities, which in essence, it is.

As a conclusion I also asked the readers what their definition of the word "INTELLIGENCE" means to them.
In some circles the word INTELLIGENCE is used to describe how smart somebody is
Whereas in Military circles, INTELLIGENCE is defined as the gathering and compiling of information, mostly via stealth.

However weather you identify with the former or later meanings of the two
they can both be abbreviated into INTEL.

My biggest fear isn't merely from having another civil liberty squashed, but by the alternative implications which can result. The implications are not simply limited to gaining INTEL on terror threats,
but it also gives government organisations unlimited access to all your devices, weather you are online or not.
STEALTH BLUETOOTH simply allows an agent to access all of your devices without your consent and knowledge and without an Internet connection.

To put it into other terms, your government , AUS, USA, NZ, UK, CAN, or otherwise can access EVERYTHING on your computer.

Any DESIGN PATENTS, SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES or INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY which you have not yet officially patented, can be stolen right under your nose. Imagine if your the person who finally discovers the secret of cold fusion, do you really think that a government agency will let you keep those designs and patents for yourself?

Snowden leaks may embarrass Canberra

Still don't think Snowy is some super intestinal vault of critical secrets. He's a huge PR coup and a media bonanza... but beyond that? Just a really big embarrassment for those who hide in the marbled halls of power.

reply to post by daaskapital


It says it all when exposing the truth about how the common people are being completely screwed is regarded as a crime.

And Russia are quite right, why should a non-criminal be extradited?

Everybody wave to ASIO

Hia fella's, did you like my dual account conversation on hamburgers today.
I'm sure it was worth all those tax dollars.

reply to post by daaskapital


let us hope snowden's action are copied wordwide and become an avalanche of exposure of governments "secret" activities.

wouldn't it be great if in ten years, historians considered wikileak, snowden, etc as the begining of a trend of exposure to wordwide secret activities.

What do you think Pinegap is for?
The entirety of the world by just a few as evidenced by the leaker.
But don't feel bad,I'm sure theres much worse we don't know that's happening.

There was a Canadian spy who was recently sentenced for giving information related to Five Eyes spying. None of this is a revelation to some people.

He was sentenced 20 years if I remember correctly.

reply to post by ShadellacZumbrum

I thought the U.S. was the only ones caught with their video tapes down and their hands on their junk.

If leakers could get away with such information could you imagine if there would some whom would leak about the top secret bases in America?

I think Canberra is doing a pretty good job embarrassing itself at the moment, eh Julia?

These leaks might actually improve their standing, it might show they are actually doing some work, instead of screwing the population for a chance.

Originally posted by ObservingYou
I wonder when the revelations of New Zealand will follow...

Some sheep went to australia undercover and decided it was too hot and there were too many snakes so they went back home

Spy chief Steve Meekin says Australian intelligence concerned about rogue insiders in wake of Edward Snowden leaks

By defence correspondent Michael Brissenden

www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-28/australian-spy-chief-says-rogue-insiders-a-concern/4788590

One of Australia's most senior spy chiefs says the threat that local intelligence might have a rogue insider like Edward Snowden is real and one that security agencies are increasingly concerned about.

Steve Meekin, the deputy secretary of intelligence and security, is directly responsible for the operations of the Australian Signals Directorate - our equivalent of the National Security Agency (NSA) in the United States.

Snowden is holed up in a Russian airport after being charged with espionage for revealing the NSA has access to vast amounts of internet data such as emails, chat rooms and video under a government program known as PRISM.

In rare public comments, Mr Meekin said the revelations cut to the core of privacy and probity, but there was a fair bit of mythology in the reporting about what has occurred.

Mr Meekin would not comment on Australian capability but said any involvement Australia had in the PRISM program was consistent with Australian law and that "Australians should have confidence that what we do is in accordance with the law".

(...)