Revealed: Hundreds of words to avoid using online if you don’t want the government spying on you

June 1, 2013

Source: Daily Mail

Dept. of Homeland Security Forced to Release List of Keywords Used to Monitor Social Networking Sites.

• Department of Homeland Security forced to release list following freedom of information request
• Agency insists it only looks for evidence of genuine threats to the U.S. and not for signs of general dissent

The Department of Homeland Security has been forced to release a list of keywords and phrases it uses to monitor social networking sites and online media for signs of terrorist or other threats against the U.S.

The intriguing the list includes obvious choices such as ‘attack’, ‘Al Qaeda’, ‘terrorism’ and ‘dirty bomb’ alongside dozens of seemingly innocent words like ‘pork’, ‘cloud’, ‘team’ and ‘Mexico’.

Released under a freedom of information request, the information sheds new light on how government analysts are instructed to patrol the internet searching for domestic and external threats.

The words are included in the department’s 2011 ‘Analyst’s Desktop Binder‘ used by workers at their National Operations Center which instructs workers to identify ‘media reports that reflect adversely on DHS and response activities’.

Department chiefs were forced to release the manual following a House hearing over documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit which revealed how analysts monitor social networks and media organisations for comments that ‘reflect adversely’ on the government.

However they insisted the practice was aimed not at policing the internet for disparaging remarks about the government and signs of general dissent, but to provide awareness of any potential threats.

As well as terrorism, analysts are instructed to search for evidence of unfolding natural disasters, public health threats and serious crimes such as mall/school shootings, major drug busts, illegal immigrant busts.

The list has been posted online by the Electronic Privacy Information Center – a privacy watchdog group who filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act before suing to obtain the release of the documents.

In a letter to the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counter-terrorism and Intelligence, the centre described the choice of words as ‘broad, vague and ambiguous’.

Scroll down for full list

Threat detection: Released under a freedom of information request, the information sheds new light on how government analysts are instructed to patrol the internet searching for domestic and external threats

They point out that it includes ‘vast amounts of First Amendment protected speech that is entirely unrelated to the Department of Homeland Security mission to protect the public against terrorism and disasters.’

A senior Homeland Security official told the Huffington Post that the manual ‘is a starting point, not the endgame’ in maintaining situational awareness of natural and man-made threats and denied that the government was monitoring signs of dissent.

However the agency admitted that the language used was vague and in need of updating.

Spokesman Matthew Chandler told website: ‘To ensure clarity, as part of … routine compliance review, DHS will review the language contained in all materials to clearly and accurately convey the parameters and intention of the program.’

MIND YOUR LANGUAGE: THE LIST OF KEYWORDS IN FULL

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Risk Assessment – Threat of ‘lone wolf’ terrorism growing, experts warn

April 30, 2013

Source: The daily telegraph

All eyes may be on Africa, but there are fears of a new, unpredictable threat in the west: the so-called “lone wolf”.

This isn’t about a particular country or cause, and some worry it could be a growing trend.

In 2011 Anders Behring Breivik shocked the world with a Norwegian terror rampage. He bombed government buildings in Oslo before going on a shooting spree at a camp held by the country’s Labour Party. The bombings killed eight people, and the shooting left 69 dead.

Breivik was later found to hold various far-right beliefs, including a perception of Islam and Marxism as “the enemy”.

There are fears this kind of attack could happen more often.

Workplace violence

In America, Nidal Malik Hasan is set to undergo court martial proceedings this year after being accused of carrying out a mass shooting at the Fort Hood military base in Texas. The shooting, which happened in 2009, left 13 dead and 30 injured.

The Fort Hood attack is regarded by some as terrorism because of Hasan’s alleged radicalisation, with reports he had been emailing Anwar al-Awlaki, a cleric and alleged al-Qaeda recruiter based in Yemen, and monitored for several years as a security threat. The US Department of Defence, however, has referred to it as an act of workplace violence.

Lone wolf attacks could be related to various forms of extremism – for example, Islamism or neo-Nazism – but the danger is that they are hard to track. People operating alone can be harder to follow than a large organisation.

In a recent book, Lone Wolf Terrorism: Understand the Growing Threat, security consultant Jeffrey D Simon argues that lone wolves can be more creative than terrorist groups.

Terrorist breeding ground

He also points out the importance of the internet as a potential breeding ground for terrorists – though this is also an opportunity for counter-terrorism agencies to monitor potential threats.

Britons present their own risks, with a potential rise in British-born terrorists who have trained abroad before returning to the UK.

Last year the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think tank predicted that terrorists could put their training in countries including Somalia, Yemen or Nigeria to use on UK streets.

In a report, RUSI director-general Michael Clarke wrote: “The threat they pose, so far, is in the possibility that high numbers of such individuals, operating alone and unsupported, albeit in an amateur way, may nevertheless be lucky in a few attempts.

“They are harder to track and their behaviour much harder to predict.”

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NOTE: We are always available 24/7

(646) 502-7443 United States

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Irish media reports on parental child abduction to Japan

Source: seanandrenee.cordpress.com

Parental child abduction to Japan got a lot of welcome media coverage in Ireland this week thanks to Douglas Galbraith’s new book; “My Son, My Son”.

Douglas’s book is very well written. It is my hope that it further raises awareness of Japan as a country where children can be abducted to, and denied all forms of access to one of their parent’s for their complete childhood.

Later in the day, Doulgas was on radio programme, “Today with Pat Kenny”. This is one of Ireland most listened to Current-Affairs Programmes. His interview can be listened to by clicking on the below link.

Douglas Galbraith RTE Radio 1 Interview

Finally, on Saturday an article on his book appeared in the Irish Times newspaper. Click here to read it.

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Ansar Al-Islam Leader Mullah Krekar jailed for five years in Norway

Source: BBC

Mullah Krekar, the Kurdish founder of radical Islamic group Ansar al-Islam, has been sentenced to five years in jail in Norway for making death threats against officials and others.

Mullah Krekar, 55, came to Norway as a refugee in 1991.

Krekar, who says he is no longer involved with Ansar al-Islam, said in court he would appeal the ruling.

Ansar al-Islam, which is based in northern Iraq, is regarded by the UN and US as a terrorist organisation.

Mullah Krekar was found guilty of threatening the life of Erna Solberg, an ex-minister who signed his expulsion order in 2003 because he was considered a threat to national security.

He was also found guilty of threatening three other Kurds living in Norway who had burnt pages of the Koran or insulted it in another way.

Mullah Krekar – born Najm Faraj Ahmad – has lived in suburban eastern Oslo with his family since 1991 when he was granted refugee status in Norway.

From this base, he founded Ansar al-Islam, which Washington blames for attacks on coalition forces in Iraq. In 2006, the UN added the cleric to a list of people believed to have links with al-Qaeda.

The Kurdish cleric says he stepped down as leader of Ansar al-Islam in 2002 and denies any links with al-Qaeda.

He remains in Norway despite the deportation order against him because of the security situation in Iraq.

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Top Farc rebel leader Alfonso Cano killed in Colombia

Source: BBC

The leader of Colombia’s left wing Farc rebel group, Alfonso Cano, has been killed in a military raid, President Juan Manuel Santos has confirmed.

He called it the most devastating blow to the group in its decades-long insurgency and urged it to disband.

Defence Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon said Cano was killed in an operation in mountains in Colombia’s south-west.

Security forces have killed a number of Farc commanders and arrested many others in recent years. Giving details of the operation, Mr Pinzon said government forces first bombed a Farc jungle camp in Cauca state. Troops were then lowered from helicopters to search the area and killed Cano and several other Farc (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) members in a gun battle.

‘Prison or a tomb’

Pictures of the dead leader, with his trademark bushy beard shaved off, were broadcast on Colombian television.

“It is the most devastating blow that this group has suffered in its history,” President Santos said in a televised address.

“I want to send a message to each and every member of that organization: demobilise… or otherwise you will end up in a prison or in a tomb. We will achieve peace.”

Cano, 63, was reportedly tracked down to the jungle camp with the aid of telephone intercepts. Colombia had offered a reward of nearly $4m (£2.5m) for information leading to his capture.

Analysts say Cano’s death deals a further blow to the rebel group’s ability to co-ordinate attacks on security forces and other targets.

The Marxist-inspired Farc has already been weakened by a military offensive which began 10 years ago. Mr Cano, a former academic from Bogota, became the Farc’s leader in 2008 after his predecessor, Manuel Marulanda died of a heart attack. His real name was Guillermo Leon Saenz.

In July, he narrowly escaped a raid on his camp, Colombian officials said.

Continue reading the main story

Alfonso Cano

• Born 1948
• Real name Guillermo Leon Saenz
• Former academic from Bogota
• Became Farc leader in 2008
• Had been Colombian army’s main target in recent months

In September 2010, Mono Jojoy, another top Farc commander, was killed in a bombing raid.

The Colombian army also said earlier this year that it had killed Mr Cano’s head of security, Alirio Rojas Bocanegra.

The military has been able to expand its operations against the rebels with the help of the US, which has provided billions of dollars in funding, training and intelligence-sharing.

However, the Farc – the oldest and largest among Colombia’s left-wing rebel groups – retains the ability to mount hit-and-run attacks, partly owing to cash raised through its involvement in the illegal drugs trade and partly thanks to the country’s thick jungles.

The Farc is on US and European lists of terrorist organisations.

Colombia’s civil conflict has lasted more than four decades, drawing in left-wing rebels and right-wing paramilitaries.

Published by: ABP World Group International Risk Management

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