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  From: Arinze Ike <uai2101@columbia.edu>
  To  : <cpc@emoglen.law.columbia.edu>
  Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2006 09:30:59 -0400

open source spying

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http://www.washtimes.com/national/20060418-110124-3694r.htm

 CIA mines 'rich' content from blogs

By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
April 19, 2006

President Bush and U.S. policy-makers are receiving more intelligence from
open sources such as Internet blogs and foreign newspapers than they
previously did, senior intelligence officials said.
    The new Open Source Center (OSC) at CIA headquarters recently stepped u=
p
data collection and analysis based on bloggers worldwide and is developing
new methods to gauge the reliability of the content, said OSC Director
Douglas J. Naquin.
    "A lot of blogs now have become very big on the Internet, and we're
getting a lot of rich information on blogs that are telling us a lot about
social perspectives and everything from what the general feeling is to ...
people putting information on there that doesn't exist anywhere else," Mr.
Naquin told The Washington Times.
    Eliot A. Jardines, assistant deputy director of national intelligence
for open source, said the amount of unclassified intelligence reaching Mr.
Bush and senior policy-makers has increased as a result of the center's
creation in November.
    "We're certainly scoring a number of wins with our ultimate customer,"
said Mr. Jardines, who became the first high-level official in charge of th=
e
government's nonsecret intelligence in December.
    "I can't get into detail of what, but I'll just say the amount of open
source reporting that goes into the president's daily brief has gone up
rather significantly," Mr. Jardines said. "There has been a real interest a=
t
the highest levels of our government, and we've been able to consistently
deliver products that are on par with the rest of the intelligence
community."
    Mr. Naquin said recent OSC successes have included the discovery of a
technology advance in a foreign country. Also, most data on avian flu
outbreaks come from open sources, he said.
    "Have we got coups out of it? Close to it," Mr. Naquin said. "But
certainly we've had more insight than we've ever had before."
    The OSC uses powerful computers and software technology to "sift" the
Internet for valuable intelligence. It also buys information from commercia=
l
databases.
    In the past, open-source reports were used mainly by intelligence
analysts.
    "But now our customer base literally ranges from the president to local
police departments," Mr. Naquin said. The Fairfax County police use OSC
products, as do police departments in San Diego, New York and Baltimore. Th=
e
center also provides support to the U.S. military.
    A Defense Department official said Chinese military bloggers have becom=
e
a valuable source of intelligence on Beijing's secret military buildup. For
example, China built its first Yuan-class attack submarine at an undergroun=
d
factory that was unknown to U.S. intelligence until a photo of the submarin=
e
appeared on the Internet in 2004.
    The center took over the CIA's Foreign Broadcast Information Service,
known as FBIS, that was formed in 1941 to translate foreign broadcasts.
    The OSC is doubling its staff and bringing in material from 32
government agencies that also produce unclassified reports, Mr. Jardines
said.

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<span class=3D"twt-article-hdr"></span><div class=3D"twt-to-right twt-story=
-options twt-image-caption-width"><div id=3D"twt-story-ad"><a href=3D"http:=
//www.washtimes.com/national/20060418-110124-3694r.htm">http://www.washtime=
s.com/national/20060418-110124-3694r.htm
</a><br>  =20
=09=09=09=09</div>
=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09
=09=09=09=09=09=09</div>=09=09
=09=09=09=09=09=09
=09=09=09=09=09=09<h2>CIA mines 'rich' content from blogs</h2>
=09=09=09=09=09=09<p id=3D"twt-byline">
=09=09=09=09=09=09=09
=09=09=09=09=09=09=09By Bill Gertz<br>
=09=09=09=09=09=09=09THE WASHINGTON TIMES<br>
=09=09=09=09=09=09=09April 19, 2006=09=09=09=09=09
=09=09=09=09=09=09  </p><br>President
Bush and U.S. policy-makers are receiving more intelligence from open
sources such as Internet blogs and foreign newspapers than they
previously did, senior intelligence officials said.
<br>    The new Open Source Center (OSC) at CIA headqua=
rters recently
stepped up data collection and analysis based on bloggers worldwide and
is developing new methods to gauge the reliability of the content, said
OSC Director Douglas J. Naquin.
<br>    "A lot of blogs now have become very big o=
n the Internet, and
we're getting a lot of rich information on blogs that are telling us a
lot about social perspectives and everything from what the general
feeling is to ... people putting information on there that doesn't
exist anywhere else," Mr. Naquin told The Washington Times.
<br>    Eliot A. Jardines, assistant deputy director of=
 national
intelligence for open source, said the amount of unclassified
intelligence reaching Mr. Bush and senior policy-makers has increased
as a result of the center's creation in November.
<br>    "We're certainly scoring a number of wins =
with our ultimate
customer," said Mr. Jardines, who became the first high-level official
in charge of the government's nonsecret intelligence in December.
<br>    "I can't get into detail of what, but I'll=
 just say the amount
of open source reporting that goes into the president's daily brief has
gone up rather significantly," Mr. Jardines said. "There has been=
 a
real interest at the highest levels of our government, and we've been
able to consistently deliver products that are on par with the rest of
the intelligence community."
<br>    Mr. Naquin said recent OSC successes have inclu=
ded the
discovery of a technology advance in a foreign country. Also, most data
on avian flu outbreaks come from open sources, he said.
<br>    "Have we got coups out of it? Close to it,=
" Mr. Naquin said.
"But certainly we've had more insight than we've ever had before."=
;
<br>    The OSC uses powerful computers and software te=
chnology to
"sift" the Internet for valuable intelligence. It also buys infor=
mation
from commercial databases.
<br>    In the past, open-source reports were used main=
ly by intelligence analysts.

<br>    "But now our customer base literally range=
s from the president
to local police departments," Mr. Naquin said. The Fairfax County
police use OSC products, as do police departments in San Diego, New
York and Baltimore. The center also provides support to the U.S.
military.
<br>    A Defense Department official said Chinese mili=
tary bloggers
have become a valuable source of intelligence on Beijing's secret
military buildup. For example, China built its first Yuan-class attack
submarine at an underground factory that was unknown to U.S.
intelligence until a photo of the submarine appeared on the Internet in
2004.
<br>    The center took over the CIA's Foreign Broadcas=
t Information
Service, known as FBIS, that was formed in 1941 to translate foreign
broadcasts.
<br>    The OSC is doubling its staff and bringing in m=
aterial from 32
government agencies that also produce unclassified reports, Mr.
Jardines said.

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