intelNews.org

News you may have missed #742

Ian Allen — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 19:48:52 +0000

Obama warns Congress of overspending on intelligence. US forces use fake rocks to spy on Afghans. Pakistan spy chief postpones US trip.

Colombian government to probe calls for ‘military coup’

Ian Allen — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 04:24:44 +0000

Colombian authorities have opened an official investigation into calls to remove the government of the country, which were found circulating among former and current military officials.

News you may have missed #741

Ian Allen — Thu, 31 May 2012 19:12:10 +0000

MI6 role in rendition could be concealed in new bill. Aussie spy agency defends new headquarters. Good interview with ex-CIA officer Glenn Carle.

News you may have missed #740

Ian Allen — Thu, 31 May 2012 04:06:40 +0000

Denmark professor accused of spying challenges court secrecy. CIA's links with Hollywood are longstanding. CIA funds helped launch literary journal.

News you may have missed #739

Ian Allen — Wed, 30 May 2012 19:48:47 +0000

US Supreme Court to consider case on secret wiretapping. Why is CIA applauding DoD’s intel grab? FBI forms secretive online surveillance unit.

New Israeli special forces command escalates covert action

Joseph Fitsanakis — Wed, 30 May 2012 04:05:13 +0000

In recent months, intelNews has paid particular attention to senior Israeli security officials, or former officials, who routinely caution against plans for an Israeli military attack on Iran. These include Amos Yadlin, former head of Israel’s Military Intelligence directorate, and former Mossad Directors Meir Dagan and Tamir Pardo, who believes that a nuclear-armed Iran “would not be an existential threat to Israel”. But such current or former Israeli officials, who view a possible Israeli military attack on Iran as catastrophic, should not be seen as advocating pacifist views. On the contrary, they caution against an open Israeli military attack on Iran, favoring instead a covert-action approach. There are now signs that, under pressure by the United States, the Israeli administration of Benjamin Netanyahu is gradually heeding such advice.

News you may have missed #738

Ian Allen — Tue, 29 May 2012 18:58:29 +0000

Pathologist says MI6 spy may have died alone. Turkey may indict Israeli officers Over Gaza flotilla raid. Czech counterintelligence services alarmed by drastic drop in funding.

News you may have missed #737

Ian Allen — Tue, 29 May 2012 04:43:52 +0000

Turkey suspects bird of being Israeli spy. CIA discloses names of 15 killed officers. Pakistan convicts doctor who helped CIA find bin Laden.

Comment: US Cybersecurity Posture is not Purely Defensive

Joseph Fitsanakis — Mon, 28 May 2012 04:08:00 +0000

In recent years, news coverage of cyberespionage and cybersecurity has increased several times over; both subjects have escaped the narrow confines of technical literature and have entered the broad expanses of popular news media. This blog is no exception; since 2008, we have covered both cybersecurity and cyberespionage at length. In looking back at our coverage, it takes but a cursory glance to conclude that most of our reports feature the names of two countries: China and --to a far lesser extent-- Russia. Moreover, the vast majority of our cybersecurity and cyberespionage coverage portrays the United States as a defensive actor, trying desperately to protect the integrity of its networks from foreign hackers. But is this accurate? How realistic is it to assume that the US, the world’s leading military power, abstains from offensive cyberespionage as a matter of strategy? The most likely answer is: not very.

Comment: US helped Canada nab accused spy Jeff Delisle

Joseph Fitsanakis — Fri, 25 May 2012 04:07:11 +0000

Back in January of this year, when the Jeffrey Delisle spy affair made headlines around the world, I spoke with several journalists from The Globe & Mail, The Canadian Press, and other Canadian news outlets, who were --rightly-- curious about the role of the United States in the affair. I told them that it could be “safely assumed” that US counterintelligence agencies were “fully involved in the Delisle case, and probably ha[d] been for several months”. By the latter phrase, I implied that US counterintelligence agencies had been closely involved in helping their Canadian counterparts build their case against Delisle. Now a new report in The Globe & Mail suggests that US counterintelligence officials “supplied vital information” to their Canadian colleagues during “the early days of the investigation” into the Delisle affair.

Car explosion in Port Sudan linked to Israel

Ian Allen — Thu, 24 May 2012 16:39:33 +0000

A powerful car explosion, which rocked Sudan’s main port on Tuesday, killing one person, has been linked to Israel by Sudanese government officials.

News you may have missed #736

Ian Allen — Thu, 24 May 2012 10:32:58 +0000

Convicted Lockerbie bomber dies. Federal appeals panel to hear CIA leak case. New study of British Empire's spies published.

How an ambitious Nazi spy operation in the US ended in failure

Ian Allen — Wed, 23 May 2012 04:12:38 +0000

A well-researched article in The Chicago Tribune revisits one of the least known covert action episodes of World War II, which involved an ambitious Nazi espionage operation on US soil.

News you may have missed #735

Ian Allen — Tue, 22 May 2012 19:26:54 +0000

Pakistan imposes new restrictions on CIA operatives. Car bomb strikes near Syrian intelligence agency. China denies US cyberespionage claims.

News you may have missed #734

Ian Allen — Tue, 22 May 2012 04:19:42 +0000

Australian spy agency in rent dispute. US unveils spy model of bin Laden compound. Israel military intelligence head in secret US visit.

News you may have missed #733

Ian Allen — Mon, 21 May 2012 19:45:59 +0000

Women in US intelligence seek balance in life. Interview with ex-MI5 Director Stella Rimington. US government think-tank warns against strikes on Iran.

French terrorist Merah planned attack on Indian embassy in Paris

Joseph Fitsanakis — Mon, 21 May 2012 04:10:02 +0000

Mohamed Merah, the French Muslim who killed seven and injured five people in Toulouse last March, had planned to launch a massive attack on the Indian Embassy in Paris, according to new revelations.

News you may have missed #732 (interview edition)

Ian Allen — Fri, 18 May 2012 19:28:51 +0000

Interview with H. Keith Melton. Interview with editor of Eye Spy magazine. Interview with NSA whistleblower Thomas Drake.

Is US considering transferring convicted arms smuggler to Russia?

Joseph Fitsanakis — Fri, 18 May 2012 04:29:16 +0000

Former Soviet military intelligence officer Viktor Bout is one of the world’s most notorious weapons dealers. In 2008, Bout, known informally as ‘the merchant of death’, was finally arrested in Bangkok by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, with the cooperation of the Royal Thai Police. He was eventually extradited to the US and convicted to a 25-year prison term, which he is serving at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center in New York. On Tuesday, it was suddenly reported that the Bureau had decided to delay Bout’s transfer to the Supermax prison complex in Colorado. Bout’s attorney, Albert Y. Dayan, said he had been notified in a letter that the Bureau was “re-evaluating where to send Bout” and that it was “reconsidering its plan” to send the notorious weapons merchant to the Colorado maximum security facility. What's going on?

News you may have missed #731 (Henry Crumpton edition)

Ian Allen — Thu, 17 May 2012 19:08:01 +0000

Ex-CIA officer says more spies in US than ever before. Introduction to Crumpton's The Art of Intelligence. Can the FBI understand intelligence?

News you may have missed #730

Ian Allen — Thu, 17 May 2012 04:17:54 +0000

Iran executes man convicted of killing nuclear physicist. Bahrain sentences man accused of spying for Iran. NSA declassifies document after publishing it.

News you may have missed #729 (intel blunder edition)

Ian Allen — Wed, 16 May 2012 19:04:30 +0000

US drones 'incidentally' spy on Americans. Indian intel blunder sparks anger in Pakistan. Venezuelan spies face criticism over 'crossword puzzle' plot.

US resumes controversial weapons sale to Bahrain

Joseph Fitsanakis — Wed, 16 May 2012 04:44:53 +0000

The United States has announced that it will resume a controversial weapons deal with the Kingdom of Bahrain, despite its government’s substandard human rights record, which has been internationally criticized in the context of the Arab Spring.

Russia charges engineer with spying for foreign agency

Joseph Fitsanakis — Tue, 15 May 2012 04:21:49 +0000

Russian authorities have charged an engineer working at a top-secret military facility in the Urals with espionage, accusing him of passing classified information about Russian ballistic missiles to agents of a foreign government.

News you may have missed #728 (foiled AQAP bomb plot edition)

Ian Allen — Mon, 14 May 2012 19:31:16 +0000

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org | ►►UK had central role in foiled bomb operation. The Reuters news agency has quoted unnamed “counterterrorism sources” as saying that the undercover informant in the plot linked to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) was a British citizen, possibly of Saudi origin. The informant was allegedly working in [...]

US judge denies release of CIA report on Bay of Pigs invasion

intelNews — Mon, 14 May 2012 04:32:19 +0000

A US federal judge has rejected a request by an academic research group to declassify the fifth and final volume in an official Central Intelligence Agency report on the Bay of Pigsinvasion, the US-sponsored effort to topple the Cuban government of Fidel Castro.

News you may have missed #727

intelNews — Fri, 11 May 2012 05:09:46 +0000

US government-authorized wiretaps increased in 2011. Australia axes spy agency funding. Canada spy case adjourned until June.

News you may have missed #726

intelNews — Thu, 10 May 2012 04:46:31 +0000

Portrait of first female CIA officer to die in line of duty. US Jewish leader says release of Israeli spy Pollard 'inevitable'. Senior reshuffle at South Korean spy agency.

Would be al-Qaeda bomber was Saudi double agent

intelNews — Wed, 09 May 2012 05:07:28 +0000

The man tasked by al-Qaeda’s Yemeni branch to blow up an airliner bound for the United States last month, was a mole who had been recruited by Saudi intelligence. IntelNews understands that the double agent is a Saudi citizen who volunteered to act as an informant for Saudi authorities.

News you may have missed #725 (al-Qaeda edition)

intelNews — Tue, 08 May 2012 18:58:31 +0000

Al-Qaida airline bomb plot thwarted by CIA. CIA kills al-Quaeda man wanted for attack on USS Cole. Al-Qaeda attacks Yemeni base hours after CIA strike.