A New York drug trafficking ring is celebrating today, following what media headlines portray as a surprise Microsoft Court Victory over the U.S. government. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York yesterday reversed an earlier federal court decision that had ordered Microsoft to turn over emails possibly implicating individuals in drug racketeering. The … [Read more...]
Inside ISS World: Dr. Jerry Lucas and the “Wiretapper’s Ball”
Some 14 years after its founding, ISS World has reached a milestone. Widely recognized as the center point where the world’s finest experts in SIGINT, COMINT, ELINT, OSINT and all other forms Intelligence Support Systems (ISS) convene to share ideas and move product, ISS World has always managed to be in the right place at the right time. At the moment that means it is … [Read more...]
NETI: Government-Run ISS by NATO’s Fickle Friend, Hungary
NETI IT Consulting Ltd. is a versatile surveillance vendor run by the government of Hungary. While the company is ostensibly an exclusive holding of a non-profit entity -- the Theodore Puskás Foundation (PTA) -- the two are one and the same entity, share identical “corporate” officers and one website, and report directly up to the e-Government Center in the Office of the Prime … [Read more...]
Court Tosses ACLU NSA Metadata Suit — Who Cares?
On Friday October 23, the ACLU saw its two-year-old metadata suit against the NSA summarily rejected. Judge T.S. Ellis III, Chief Magistrate of the Eastern District Court of Virginia, ruled that the ACLU's lawsuit was based on "the subjective fear of surveillance" and thereby inadmissible. Maybe he should have ruled the privacy advocates need to stay current on the news, … [Read more...]
Central Asia – The Next Flash Point for Radical Islam
Perceptions of Central Asia terrorism run black or white. The five republics -- Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan -- are alternately described as disinterested in radical Islam, or as hotbeds of young fundamentalists who would relish the opportunity to align with ISIS and start beheading non-believers. The latter point of view gained momentum … [Read more...]