Daily Archives: July 15, 2017

Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper famously (or infamously) told Congress the National Security Agency did not wittingly collect data on Americans. That turned out to be false.

More recently, Sen. Ron WydenRon WydenOPINION | On Trump-Russia probe, dont underestimate Senator Chuck Grassley How many Americans are swept up in the NSA's snooping programs? Overnight Finance: Yellen pushes back on GOP banking deregulation plan | Trump dodges on Russia sanctions bill | Trump floats tariffs on steel imports | Budget director touts MAGAnomics MORE (D-Ore.) asked the current director of national intelligence, Dan CoatsDan CoatsHouse moves to bar Pentagon contracts with firms backing North Korean cyberattacks How many Americans are swept up in the NSA's snooping programs? Granting NSA permanent bulk surveillance authority would be a mistake MORE whether the government could use Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to collect communications it knows are entirely domestic.

Not to my knowledge. That would be illegal, Coats responded.

However, a subsequent letter from Coats office to Wydens office suggests the directors answer was incomplete. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence clarified that section 702(b)(4) plainly states we may not intentionally acquire any communication as to which the sender and all intended recipients are known at the time of acquisition to be located in the United States. The DNI interpreted Senator Wydens question to ask about this provision and answered accordingly.

FISA Section 702 authorizes two major NSA snooping programs. One is upstream collection, a process in which the NSA collects digital communications through the internets backbone undersea cables that process large volumes of internet traffic, which internet service providers send to the government. The government attempts to sort the data for foreign targets information and then is supposed to discard the rest.

We know some Americans information is retained when they communicate with a target, though minimization procedures are in place to protect their identities. Until recently, the information also could be swept up if they communicated about a target. The NSA recently announced it was ending about collection in the wake of a series of compliance incidents and privacy concerns. Some other Americans data may be swept up due to technological limitations that affect scope of collection. In other words, the NSA hasnt invested in infrastructure that can narrow their collection.

The problem is that we do not know how many Americans are swept up in 702 surveillance. We do not even have a rough estimate. A recent letter from privacy groups admonished Coats for refusing to provide information on the number of Americans swept up in 702 collection information that both he and his predecessor had promised to deliver.

Coats intransigence follows a familiar pattern of the NSA promising transparency and then reneging on those promises. Indeed, for the past six years the agency has flummoxed congressional oversight, with its reluctance to give the public hard data on this matter. When a powerful bureaucracy ignores both civil-society groups and its constitutional overseers, what is the solution?

Congress should step in and do its job, which requires going beyond public reprimands from a handful of members. The first branch has the power to legislate and write laws requiring the executive branch to reveal the number of Americans swept up in 702 collection. The letter from privacy groups recommended such a deep dive, but the intelligence community argued it would be counterproductively invasive. A clear legal mandate from Congress could outline how the search would be conducted, with accurate protections for Americans who potentially could be unmasked.

As to why the NSA would be so reluctant to answer such a simple request, privacy blogger Marcy Wheeler recently detailed a culture of ignorance that has emerged within the NSA in the wake of an July 2010 ruling by Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court Judge John Bates concerning the deliberate collection of domestic content via upstream collection. In Wheeler's characterization, Bates said that if the government knew it had obtained domestic content, it had to delete the data, but if it didnt know, it could keep it. A perfect catch-22.

These instructions cultivate a practice of willful ignorance, which probably explains the hesitance of the intelligence community to answer Wyden's question publicly. A new law would nip this habit in the bud and place heavy incentives for transparency. Until a new law is passed, privacy advocates will be at the mercy of the NSAs mood.

Civil-society groups have nobly tried to fill the gap where Congress has been lacking in its oversight and lawmaking role. It is imperative then that Section 702 be updated substantially, before it is reauthorized at the end of the year. Both Americans privacy rights and the intelligence community stand to benefit from clearer legal boundaries. It is Congress job to hold the executive branchs feet to the fire the very notion of the separation of powers, of checks and balances and of a free democracy depend on it.

Jonathan Haggerty (@RplusLequalsJLH) is a research assistant at the R Street InstituteandArthur Rizer (@ArthurRizer) is the national security and justice policy director.

The views expressed by contributors are their own and are not the views of The Hill.

Originally posted here:
How many Americans are swept up in the NSA's snooping programs? - The Hill (blog)

It has been almost three months since the Moscow Board of Adjustment approved a conditional use permit allowing New Saint Andrews College to expand into the former Cadillac Jack's building on North Main Street.

After appeals and City Council review, the board will make a decision on the CUP again at 7 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall's council chambers.

Mike Ray, assistant community development director, said the board will reconsider all the information previously presented to them in addition to reviewing a new survey of the availability of public parking in the area that city staff conducted at the direction of the City Council. After considering all the information, Ray said the board can approve the CUP with or without conditions, reject it or table the matter for a future meeting.

The board voted 3-2 to approve the CUP April 25 but five people appealed the board's decision during a 10-day appeal period in early May.

While the board approved the CUP in late April, it said NSA must provide 47 off-street parking spaces within about half a mile of the former CJ's property, subject to the approval of the zoning administrator. The other condition was NSA would be allowed to phase in the off-street parking requirement by providing 50 percent of it on occupancy of the building and the remainder when NSA's enrollment reaches 150 students, or five years from the date of occupancy, whichever comes first.

The City Council listened to the five appellants June 5. It upheld Ryanne Pilgeram's appeal and remanded the CUP decision to the board.

At the June 5 council meeting, the City Council directed city staff to conduct an additional survey of parking use within 600 feet of the proposed educational institute. City staff had conducted a parking survey over a five-day work week in April to assess the average availability of public parking spaces within 600 feet of the property. Counts were taken at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Ray said city staff conducted new counts at 9 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m, and those results will be presented to the board Tuesday night.

Ray said the City Council also wanted the board to consider studying the parking mitigation calculation, which determined that 47 off-street parking spaces be required within roughly half of a mile of the former CJ's building.

The City Council further directed the board to reconsider its decisions that "the location, design and size of the proposed use will be adequately served by existing streets, public facilities and services" and "will not be in conflict with the Comprehensive Plan."

Although Tuesday's public hearing is open to the public, no public comment will be allowed at the direction of the City Council.

Ray said it is a public hearing only to accept the new parking count information that the City Council requested the board to consider.

"The City Council did not intend for additional public comment to be considered since there was already three, four hours of public comment at the initial hearing," Ray said.

The NSA's proposed expansion would include a maximum enrollment of 300 full-time equivalent students with up to an additional 44 faculty and staff.

The roughly 15,900 square-foot facility would include five classrooms/studios, nine offices, a multi-purpose room, a student lounge and a music conservatory with seating for 680 occupants.

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Moscow board to reconsider NSA permit Tuesday - Moscow-Pullman Daily News

Adm. Mike Rogers heads both the NSA and Cyber Command, which would separate under a White House plan.

Jacquelyn Martin - Associated Press

By LOLITA C. BALDOR , Associated Press July 15, 2017 - 5:46 PM

WASHINGTON After months of delay, the Trump administration is finalizing plans to revamp the nation's military command for defensive and offensive cyber operations in hopes of intensifying America's ability to wage cyberwar against the Islamic State group and other foes, according to U.S. officials.

Under the plans, U.S. Cyber Command would eventually be split off from the intelligence-focused National Security Agency.

Details are still being worked out, but officials say they expect a decision and announcement in the coming weeks. The officials weren't authorized to speak publicly on the matter so requested anonymity.

The goal, they said, is to give U.S. Cyber Command more autonomy, freeing it from any constraints that stem from working alongside the NSA, which is responsible for monitoring and collecting telephone, internet and other intelligence data from around the world a responsibility that can sometimes clash with military operations against enemy forces.

Making cyber an independent military command will put the fight in digital space on the same footing as more traditional realms of battle on land, in the air, at sea and in space. The move reflects the escalating threat of cyberattacks and intrusions from other nation states, terrorist groups and hackers, and comes as the U.S. faces ever-widening fears about Russian hacking following Moscow's efforts to meddle in the 2016 American election.

The U.S. has long operated quietly in cyberspace, using it to collect information, disrupt enemy networks and aid conventional military missions. But as other nations and foes expand their use of cyberspying and attacks, the U.S. is determined to improve its ability to incorporate cyber operations into its everyday warfighting.

Experts said the command will need time to find its footing.

"Right now I think it's inevitable, but it's on a very slow glide path," said Jim Lewis, a cybersecurity expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. But, he added, "A new entity is not going to be able to duplicate NSA's capabilities."

The NSA, for examples, has 300 of the country's leading mathematicians "and a gigantic super computer," Lewis said. "Things like this are hard to duplicate."

He added, however, that over time, the U.S. has increasingly used cyber as a tactical weapon, bolstering the argument for separating it from the NSA.

The two highly secretive organizations, based at Fort Meade, Maryland, have been under the same four-star commander since Cyber Command's creation in 2009.

But the Defense Department has been agitating for a separation, perceiving the NSA and intelligence community as resistant to more aggressive cyberwarfare, particularly after the Islamic State's transformation in recent years from an obscure insurgent force into an organization holding significant territory across Iraq and Syria and with a worldwide recruiting network.

While the military wanted to attack IS networks, intelligence objectives prioritized gathering information from them, according to U.S. officials familiar with the debate. They weren't authorized to discuss internal deliberations publicly and requested anonymity.

Then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter sent a plan to President Barack Obama last year to make Cyber Command an independent military headquarters and break it away from the NSA, believing that the agency's desire to collect intelligence was at times preventing the military from eliminating IS' ability to raise money, inspire attacks and command its widely dispersed network of fighters.

Carter, at the time, also pushed for the ouster of Adm. Mike Rogers, who still heads both bodies. The Pentagon, he warned, was losing the war in the cyber domain, focusing on cyberthreats from nations such as Iran, Russia and China, rather than on countering the communications and propaganda campaigns of internet-savvy insurgents.

Officials also grew alarmed by the growing number of cyberattacks against the U.S. government, including several serious, high-level Defense Department breaches that occurred under Rogers' watch.

"NSA is truly an intelligence-collection organization," said Lauren Fish, a research associate with the Center for a New American Security. "It should be collecting information, writing reports on it. Cyber Command is meant to be an organization that uses tools to have military operational effect."

After President Donald Trump's inauguration, officials said Defense Secretary Jim Mattis endorsed much of the plan. But debate over details has dragged on for months.

It's unclear how fast the Cyber Command will break off on its own. Some officials believe the new command isn't battle-ready, given its current reliance on the NSA's expertise, staff and equipment. That effort will require the department to continue to attract and retain cyber experts.

Cyber Command was created in 2009 by the Obama administration to address threats of cyber espionage and other attacks. It was set up as a sub-unit under U.S. Strategic Command to coordinate the Pentagon's ability to conduct cyberwarfare and to defend its own networks, including those that are used by combat forces in battle.

Officials originally said the new cyber effort would likely involve hundreds, rather than thousands, of new employees.

Since then, the command has grown to more than 700 military and civilian employees. The military services also have their own cyber units, with a goal of having 133 fully operational teams with as many as 6,200 personnel.

Its proposed budget for next year is $647 million. Rogers told Congress in May that represents a 16 percent increase over this year's budget to cover costs associated with building the cyber force, fighting IS and becoming an independent command.

Under the new plan being forwarded by the Pentagon to the White House, officials said Army Lt. Gen. William Mayville would be nominated to lead Cyber Command. Leadership of the NSA could be turned over to a civilian.

Mayville is currently the director of the military's joint staff and has extensive experience as a combat-hardened commander. He deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan, leading the 173rd Airborne Brigade when it made its assault into Iraq in March 2003 and later heading coalition operations in eastern Afghanistan.

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Military cyberoperations headed for revamp after long delay - Minneapolis Star Tribune

Cmdr. Douglas Huggan, who has a long and illustrious career with the Navy, serving on three continents in five countries and six states, had led NSA Panama City since July 2015.

NAVAL SUPPORT ACTIVITY I relieve you sir.

With those words, command over Naval Support Activity Panama City passed from Cmdr. Douglas Huggan, known as Huggie to friends and associates, to Cmdr. Jay Sego in a simple but tradition-steeped ceremony Friday morning.

Huggan, who has a long and illustrious career with the Navy, serving on three continents in five countries and six states, had led NSA Panama City since July 2015. Capt. Stephen Barnett, the chief of staff for the Navys Southeast Region, and retired Navy Capt. Dennis Warren were among a dozen military and local officials on hand to wish Huggan fair winds on his retirement and return to Oklahoma, where he attended the University of Oklahomaand met his wife, Inge, more than 20 years ago.

Huggie has made a really big impact on the community during his command, Barnett said, adding that Huggans name is synonymous with pride in the community.

Warren, who has known Huggan for 17 years after they met at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma, said the Navy and the country as a whole are better because of Huggans service. From a hockey-playing kid from Boston to safely landing a Cessna aircraft with his family on board when its engine seized, to turning a small naval air operation in Japan into a major international airport after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, Warren commended Huggan for his lifetime of dedication and service.

Doug, Warren said, you will now be known as Skipper by those who served with you for the rest of your life.

Sego, who like Huggan is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma, hails originally from Fayetteville, Ark. He comes to Panama City from Duke University, where he was a public policy fellow at the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Defense. He has worked at the Pentagon with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and with legislators developing defense policy. He also has completed numerous deployments during Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, as well as a deployment in the South China Sea.

Im truly and extremely blessed with this opportunity to join Naval Support Activity Panama City, Sego said. Im dedicated to giving you my all.

Sego said he was extremely excited to start working with the talented team at NSA Panama City, saying the bases stellar reputation is well known throughout the country.

More here:
Huggan retires, hands over command of NSA Panama City - The News Herald