C5IS reviews CSRA GangNET. With gangs contributing to some 80 percent of violent crimes in the U.S., analytics solutions that can identify and track criminals in real time are always popular with law enforcement. One player in this marketplace is Washington, DC-based CSRA. While primarily known as a private contractor serving the US Department of Defense and Intelligence … [Read more...]
BrightPlanet Adds Tor Cracking to its Deep Web Repertoire
Since it unceremoniously dumped its Twitter monitoring product BlueJay for law enforcement in 2016, BrightPlanet has remodeled itself as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider of Deep Web content and global Newsfeeds for a broader marketplace including commercial enterprises. This updated suite is re-cast as tools designed to help financial institutions and other businesses … [Read more...]
Three Years After Phineas Fisher, FinFisher Sprouts New Wings
FinFisher is the best-recognized brand in the field of "ethical malware," with market leadership established for more than a decade. Originally known as Gamma International, a subsidiary of Gamma Group based in Andover, UK, the company was ostensibly spun off in 2013 as an independent entity based in Munich and renamed FinFisher. The facts of FinFisher's corporate … [Read more...]
In U.S., Subpoenas for Records Far Outnumber Wiretaps
One overlooked fact in the ongoing debate over surveillance is that the volume of warrants for records far outweighs the annual number of court orders for wiretaps. Of the two -- lawful intercept court orders or warrants for call data -- the latter presents the far greater burden on a service provider’s time and resources. A company such as Verizon, for example, may receive a … [Read more...]
Nokia 1357 ULIS – Big Iron Lawful Intercept Still Going Strong
C5IS reviews the Nokia 1357 ULIS (Unified Lawful Interception Suite) inherited from Alcatel-Lucent. When Nokia acquired Alcatel-Lucent in January 2016, one of the lesser-known assets picked up was the 1357 ULIS. Similar to products made by its larger competitors Huawei and Ericsson, the 1357 ULIS still plays a central role in government and LEA surveillance by building in, … [Read more...]