Former NSA Spies Hacked BBC Host, Al Jazeera Chairman for UAE (reuters.com) 50
A UAE cyber espionage contractor staffed with several former U.S. intelligence agents hacked journalists or news executives at Al Jazeera, the BBC, Al Arabi and others throughout June 2017, Reuters reported Monday. From the report: The American operatives worked for Project Raven, a secret Emirati intelligence program that spied on dissidents, militants and political opponents of the UAE monarchy. A Reuters investigation in January revealed Project Raven's existence and inner workings, including the fact that it surveilled a British activist and several unnamed U.S. journalists. The Raven operatives -- who included at least nine former employees of the U.S. National Security Agency and the U.S. military -- found themselves thrust into the thick of a high-stakes dispute among America's Gulf allies. The Americans' role in the UAE-Qatar imbroglio highlights how former U.S. intelligence officials have become key players in the cyber wars of other nations, with little oversight from Washington.
The crisis erupted in the spring of 2017, when the UAE and allies -- including Saudi Arabia and Egypt -- accused Qatar of sowing unrest in the Middle East through its support of media outlets and political groups. The UAE camp demanded Qatar take a series of actions, including shuttering the Qatar-funded Al Jazeera satellite television network, withdrawing funding from other media outlets Doha supports, and cracking down on the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamic movement some Arab governments regard as a threat.
The crisis erupted in the spring of 2017, when the UAE and allies -- including Saudi Arabia and Egypt -- accused Qatar of sowing unrest in the Middle East through its support of media outlets and political groups. The UAE camp demanded Qatar take a series of actions, including shuttering the Qatar-funded Al Jazeera satellite television network, withdrawing funding from other media outlets Doha supports, and cracking down on the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamic movement some Arab governments regard as a threat.
iNSAne (Score:4, Insightful)
The NSA teaches them how to spy on their own people and then they ply this trade around all the world's slavestates. How is this a surprise?
Agents or agentless (Score:2)
It's actually fairly common for Americans to sell out and work for other nation states. It's one of our primary risk factors, HUMINT wise.
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*cough*Google Employees*cough*
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Unless they are over fifty, most 'FORMER' spies are not in reality 'FORMER' but simply off balance sheet spies with two paymasters. Seriously if they were any good how many would be allowed to work for foreign governments, without their government deciding that was an excessive risk and terminating them 'er' their employability. It is interesting how 'FORMER' spies still push their own countries policies, especially the really dirty off balance sheet ones. There is only one reason to hire a former spy, to i
Newsflash (Score:1)
People loose their ethics if offered enough money Film at 11
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And they'll continue to be called out for it. It may be a weak response, but it's all we've got.
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I'm pretty sure we're the LARGEST arms dealer.
According to the BBC [bbc.com]
The US's arms exports are 58% higher than those of Russia, the world's second-largest exporter. And while US arms exports grew by 25% in 2013-17 compared with 2008-12, Russia's exports fell by 7.1% over the same period.
It is Middle East states that have been among the US's biggest customers - Saudi Arabia tops the list - with the region as a whole accounting for almost half of US arms exports during 2013-17.
Why exactly are we arming Saudi Arabia to fight a war in Yemen? Trump says the US cannot survive without arms sales to Saudi Arabia so we must accept all their violations of human rights and war crimes. And yet most Americans can't even find Yemen on a map. I fancy myself to be up on the news, but I can't imagine why the poorest Arab country is of any consequence to us. Is it because Abu Rasasa owns Trump?
And we wonder why we're constant
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Just for the record, the whole "Allah's will" bit is a bit overblown. First off, Allah is so other as to not actually have a will. And Allah isn't really a He, not even an it. To put a finer theological point on it, Allah doesn't really have a name which would mean an "it". You'd have to go into Early Christian and Jewish theology to get at the notion. It is more akin to Buddhism without the divine being internal. The way I understand the situation is that Allah is more akin to the fabric of space and time,
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> Sound like bullshit? I tend to think it is.
And yet you still can't bring yourself to put the 'o' in 'god'. Unless you're being ironic, of course.
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We should start spelling Allah as "-ll-h". Except then nobody would know what the hell we were talking about.
Hacked Amazon (Score:2)
https://arstechnica.com/tech-p... [arstechnica.com]
https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/31... [cnn.com]
it was really US NSA operatives that hacked him.. got it....
not sure if it's all that smart to screw with the worlds richest man.
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saudi's are not technically == UAE
but who knows for sure which is in charge.
maybe the world richest man can then decide to do something so that things like that don;t happen by investing in a secure communication device.
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assuming most NSA employees with the right skills would have security clearances, and their job and travel is probably tracked... who knows who is really in charge.
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Did everybody really miss the first word, "Former" as in don't work for the NSA. Fired/quit I mean is the outrage all that much of the rage that we just pretend the word doesn't exist? Singapore would not approve.
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Sure it does when the people in this thread are salivating like the guys are hacking from langley for Singapore. I see no reason a NSA hacker should have access to secrets outside of exploits and wotnot which, have you seen the vault leaks? Everybody knows about them now so...
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Maybe the UAE and Saudi Arabia are technically different countries, but lately I see them as big and little brother who march in lockstep.
Full disclosure: I watch Al Jazeera all the time. It's only because I'm lazy that my TV is on PBS right now. Al Jazeera is biased, especially when it comes to news about Qatar, but I'm not convinced they're worse than Saudi Arabia or the UAE.
Is Bezos really richer than the Saudi royal family? Even if he is on paper, can he put his hands on more cash?
Former U.S. intelligence agents (Score:2)
Also known as NOC [wikipedia.org].
"As always, should you or any of your IM Force be caught or killed, the secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions. This tape will self-destruct in five seconds."
What was the --actual-- offense of Al Jazeera TV? (Score:1)
Showing things from the perspective of the oppressed in places such as Palestine, no doubt.
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Al Jazeera's Crime - Being Funded by Qatar (Score:2)
Former? (Score:2)
at least nine former employees of the U.S. National Security Agency
"former members" of criminal groups are still criminals. It does not matter if they are Mafia, MAFIAA, US spooks or whatever. Whether they wear suits (Al Capones ones did) or jeans and T-shirts, they are criminals of varying legality.
Most gangs are not happy let you really leave. Whether it is a street gang, or the CIA, you are regarded as still being bound by their rules. Some groups promise violence if you try and leave, others just refuse to recognise that if you leave, you are no longer part of them
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I mentioned the other gangs as examples. Pick your preferred bunch of sociopaths or psychopaths. To mention them all would need a very long list.
Irony (Score:2)
A UAE cyber espionage contractor staffed with several former U.S. intelligence agents hacked journalists or news executives at Al Jazeera, the BBC, Al Arabi and others throughout June 2017, Reuters reported Monday.
What an irony. After the fall of the Soviet Union, we had this fear (not that irrational mind you) of unemployed former USSR agents selling their (insert Liam Neeson's voice) "very particular set of skills", nukes and shit to whatever rogue state, terror groups or criminal syndicates.
We even made movies out of that shit.
And yet, 2019 comes and says "hi, here you are."