60 lines
3.4 KiB
Plaintext
60 lines
3.4 KiB
Plaintext
Hackers retaliate by leaking manual
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By Keay Davidson`
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EXAMINER SCIENCE WRITER`
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Computer hackers waging what they say is a war against government
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electronic snooping have distributed over international computer
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networks a copy of the supersecret U.S. National Security Agency's
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employee manual. The NSA manual, which was sent to dozens of news
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organizations Tuesday, was distributed ""to embarrass the NSA'' and
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prove that even the U.S. government's most covert agency can't keep
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documents secret, said Grady Ward, a software designer from Arcata in
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Humboldt County. Ward said the document initially appeared on a
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Texas-based hackers network late last week, and he helped
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redistribute it over other electronic networks. ""The intent is to
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embarrass the NSA and demonstrate that even their own security manual
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can be distributed,'' Ward said. NSA officials said the document
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is an unclassified employee handbook. Anyone seeking a copy of it
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would need to file a Freedom of Information Act request, said NSA
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spokeswoman Judi Emmel. The identity of the person who initially
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obtained the document and how it was obtained was not clear. The
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manual warns employees to safeguard the document: ""While you may
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take this handbook home for further study, remember that is does
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contain "FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY' information which should be
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protected. ... Appropriate administrative action will be taken to
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determine responsibility and to apply corrective and/or disciplinary
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measures in cases of unauthorized disclosure. .
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The document describes the basic goals and responsibilities of NSA
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employees. Among the document's instructions: ""Should strangers
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or casual acquaintances question you about your place of employment,
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an appropriate reply would be that you work for the Department of
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Defense. If questioned further as to where you are employed within
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the Department of Defense, you may reply, "NSA.' When you inform
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someone that you work for NSA (or the Department of Defense) you may
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expect that the next question will be, "What do you do?' ""It is a
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good idea to anticipate this question and to formulate an appropriate
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answer. Do not act mysteriously about your employment, as that would
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only succeed in drawing more attention to yourself. .x
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""If you are employed as a linguist, you may say that you are a
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linguist, if necessary. However, you should not indicate the specific
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language(s) with which you are involved.'' Ward told The Examiner he
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obtained the document from an electronic computer ""magazine''
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published in Texas. The magazine is accessible over the Internet, the
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global data network that any computer user can access with a
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computer, telephone and modem. Ward and others who have distributed
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the document on electronic networks did so to undermine a federal
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push for data-encryption regulations that would let the government
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tap into computer networks, Ward said. In recent months, the Clinton
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administration has pushed for future information systems to use a
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microchip called the ""Clipper Chip,'' which would allow the
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government, after receiving a court order, to tap any electronic
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transmission. They government said the chip would allow it to monitor
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criminal, espionage and terrorist activities. The plan is vehemently
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opposed by personal computer users and groups such as the Electronic
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Frontier Foundation, which fears the Clipper Chip could lead to
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government snooping on private citizens' legitimate activities and
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private lives.`
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