[Image] [Image][Image] -----------KEEP FREE MEDIA FREE----------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Exposing_the_Surveillance_System_Title] IN THE LATE 1980S, IN A [Exposing_The_Global_Surveillance_System] DECISION IT PROBABLY REGRETS, THE US PROMPTED NEW ZEALAND TO JOIN A NEW AND HIGHLY SECRET GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE SYSTEM. HAGER'S INVESTIGATION INTO IT AND HIS DISCOVERY OF THE ECHELON DICTIONARY HAS REVEALED ONE OF THE WORLD'S BIGGEST, MOST CLOSELY HELD INTELLIGENCE PROJECTS. THE SYSTEM ALLOWS SPY AGENCIES TO MONITOR MOST OF THE WORLD'S TELEPHONE, E-MAIL, AND TELEX COMMUNICATIONS. by Nicky Hager from his book SECRET POWER For 40 years, New and documents Designed and coordinated Zealand's largest exposing New by NSA, the ECHELON intelligence agency, Zealand's system is used to the Government intelligence intercept ordinary Communications activities. e-mail, fax, telex, and Security Bureau Eventually, more telephone communications (GCSB) the nation's than 50 people who carried over the world's equivalent of the US work or have worked telecommunications National Security in intelligence and networks. Unlike many of Agency (NSA) had related fields the electronic spy been helping its agreed to be systems developed during Western allies to interviewed. the Cold War, ECHELON is spy on countries designed primarily for throughout the The activities they non-military targets: Pacific region, described made it governments, without the possible to organizations, knowledge of the New document, from the businesses, and Zealand public or South Pacific, some individuals in virtually many of its highest alliance-wide every country. It elected officials. systems and projects potentially affects every What the NSA did not which have been kept person communicating know is that by the secret elsewhere. Of between (and sometimes late 1980s, various these, by far the within) countries intelligence staff most important is had decided these ECHELON. activities had been too secret for too long, and were providing me with interviews ------------------- anywhere in the particular and its allies with the world. individual's e-mail ability to intercept a or fax link. Rather, large proportion of the It is, of course, not the system works by communications on the a new idea that indiscriminately planet. intelligence intercepting very organizations tap large quantities of The computers at each into e-mail and other communications and station in the ECHELON public using computers to network automatically telecommunications identify and extract search through the networks. What was messages of interest millions of messages new in the material from the mass of intercepted for ones leaked by the New unwanted ones. A containing Zealand intelligence chain of secret pre-programmed staff was precise interception keywords. Keywords information on where facilities has been include all the names, the spying is done, established around localities, subjects, how the system works, the world to tap into and so on that might be its capabilities and all the major mentioned. Every word shortcomings, and components of the of every message many details such as international intercepted at each the codenames. telecommunications station gets networks. Some automatically searched The ECHELON system is monitor whether or not a not designed to communications specific telephone eavesdrop on a satellites, others number or e-mail land-based address is on the list. communications networks, and others radio communications. ECHELON links together all these facilities, providing the US ------------------- [The_Map] [Satellite_Dish] Six UKUSA station target Intelsat satellites used to relay-and to intercept-most of the world's e-mail,fax, and telex communications. ------------------- The thousands of keywords have The alliance, which grew simultaneous messages existed since at from cooperative efforts are read in "real least the 1970s, but during World War II to time" as they pour the ECHELON system intercept radio into the station, was designed by NSA transmissions, was hour after hour, day to interconnect all formalized into the after day, as the these computers and UKUSA agreement in 1948 computer finds allow the stations and aimed primarily intelligence needles to function as against the USSR. The in telecommunications components of an five UKUSA agencies are haystacks. integrated whole. today the largest The NSA and GCSB are intelligence SOMEONE IS LISTENING bound together under organizations in their The computers in the five-nation respective countries. stations around the UKUSA signals With much of the world's globe are known, intelligence business occurring by within the network, agreement. The other fax, e-mail, and phone, as the ECHELON three partners all spying on these Dictionaries. with equally obscure communications receives Computers that can names are the the bulk of intelligence automatically search Government resources. For decades through traffic for Communications before the introduction Headquarters (GCHQ) of the ECHELON system, in Britain, the the UKUSA allies did Communications intelligence Security Establishment (CSE) in Canada, and the Defense Signals Directorate (DSD) in Australia. ------------------- collection containing one of to the headquarters of operations for each the agencies' the agency concerned. No other, but each keywords, it one in New Zealand agency usually screens, or even sees, processed and Every word of every the intelligence analyzed the message intercepted collected by the New intercept from its at each station gets Zealand station for the own stations. automatically foreign agencies. Thus, searched- whether or the stations of the Under ECHELON, a not a specific junior UKUSA allies particular station's telephone number or function for the NSA no Dictionary computer e-mail address is on differently than if they contains not only the list. were overtly NSA-run its parent agency's bases located on their chosen keywords, but automatically picks soil. also has lists it and sends it entered in for other directly The first component of agencies. In New the ECHELON network are Zealand's satellite stations specifically interception station targeted on the at Waihopai (in the international South Island), for telecommunications example, the satellites (Intelsats) computer has used by the telephone separate search companies of most lists for the NSA, countries. A ring of GCHQ, DSD, and CSE Intelsats is in addition to its own. Whenever the Dictionary encounters a message ------------------- positioned around Europe, and, that cannot be the world, inclined almost to intercepted at Yakima stationary above the the horizon, the went to New Zealand and equator, each Indian Ocean. An NSA Australia. Their South serving as a relay station at Sugar Pacific location helps station for tens of Grove, located 250 to ensure global thousands of kilometers southwest interception. New simultaneous phone of Washington, DC, Zealand provides the calls, fax, and in the mountains of station at Waihopai and e-mail. Five UKUSA West Virginia, Australia supplies the stations have been covers Atlantic Geraldton station in established to Intelsats West Australia (which intercept the transmitting down targets both Pacific and communications toward North and Indian Ocean Intelsats). carried by the South America. Intelsats. Another NSA station Each of the five is in Washington stations' Dictionary The British GCHQ State, 200 computers has a codename station is located kilometers southwest to distinguish it from at the top of high of Seattle, inside others in the network. cliffs above the sea the Army's Yakima The Yakima station, for at Morwenstow in Firing Center. Its instance, located in Cornwall. Satellite satellite dishes desert country dishes beside point out toward the sprawling operations Pacific Intelsats buildings point and to the east. toward Intelsats above the Atlantic, The job of intercepting Pacific Intelsat communications ------------------- between the Saddle New Zealand for general UKUSA Mountains and intelligence staff monitoring. Until New Rattlesnake Hills, has been closely Zealand's integration has the COWBOY involved with the into ECHELON with the Dictionary, while NSA's Yakima station opening of the Waihopai the Waihopai station since 1981, when NSA station in 1989, its has the FLINTLOCK pushed the GCSB to share of the Japanese Dictionary. These contribute to a communications was codenames are project targeting intercepted at Yakima recorded at the Japanese embassy and sent unprocessed to beginning of every communications. the GCSB headquarters in intercepted message, Since then, all five Wellington for before it is UKUSA agencies have decryption, translation, transmitted around been responsible for and writing into the ECHELON network, monitoring UKUSA-format allowing analysts to diplomatic cables intelligence reports recognize at which from all Japanese (the NSA provides the station the posts within the codebreaking programs). interception same segments of the occurred. globe they are assigned next page -------------------------------------------------------------------- CAQ59 Contents | CAQ Contents | Subscribe to CAQ | MediaFilter | PoMoWar