Journal ISSN 1078-1935 – Page 1715 – Public Intelligence Blog

$450M Cloud Contract Stalled Due to DOD Concerns Over Demand

The article titled DOD Says “No Mas” On Commercial Cloud, Puts Brakes on $450M Contract on Ars Technica has some concerned that the government is rethinking its commitment to the cloud. Scott Stewart, contracting officer for the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) explained the decision was caused by a lack of demand from the Defense Department.

The article explains:

“The contract, for which the DISA began drafting a request for proposals this summer, would have picked up to 10 cloud providers to supply Internet-accessible file storage, database hosting, Web hosting, and virtual servers—allowing the military to offload public, non-sensitive systems from its own infrastructure. As it turns out, the various military services and other DOD agencies that the DISA serves aren’t terribly interested in doing that. The federal government… has been trying to reduce the number of public-facing websites it maintains.”

It is yet to be determined whether the contract is being adjusted to meet the more modest requirements or scrapped entirely. As mentioned in the quote, this is not the only instance of concerns of overspending. In 2011 the White House froze all creation of new websites. In the meantime, the military has been dealing with security issues that have caused them to rely on DISA’s data centers.

Chelsea Kerwin, November 28, 2013

Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext

Continue reading “Stephen E. Arnold: $450M Cloud Contract Stalled Due to DOD Concerns Over Demand”

2013/11/282013/11/28

Owl: Bill Gates Eugenics Eradicates Children Not Polio

07 Health, 07 Other Atrocities

Bill Gates Eugenics Campaign Turns Its Attention to Children

It will be quite a feat of explanation for historians in the future to explain how the world's richest man could get away with funding a widespread eugenics campaign killing both adults and children. This account of Gates supporting polio vaccine will surely be examined to determine part of the explanation:

“In the depths of cyberspace lurks a press release written by the CDC, confirming that the OPV, or oral polio vaccination, given to millions of children throughout the developing world, is causing them to develop vaccine-induced polio. Instead of banning the vaccination, as one would expect, the CDC has decided in its wisdom that the best way to tackle the problem is to maintain a high rate of vaccination in all countries! Yes, that is correct. The CDC recommends maintaining a high rate of vaccination, vaccinating as many children as possible with a vaccine that causes polio.”

The writer of this extraordinary article lacks awareness of all the proof of Gates eugenics agenda and thereby is much too forgiving of Gates when she says his foundation is ignorant of the fact polio vaccine is causing polio:

“In order for governments to mass vaccinate more efficiently, they are fully backing the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a group that has made it very clear that their aim is to wipe out wild polio from the planet. The Gates Foundation appears to be ignorant of the fact that they are causing tens of thousands of children to suffer from vaccine-induced polio. While a large majority of us look on in sheer horror at the number of children who now suffer life-threatening disabilities caused by the vaccine itself, vaccine-crazed Bill Gates has decided to step up his polio campaign by hiring an array of Bollywood stars such as the notorious Bollywood mega-star Amitabh Bachchan to help him dish out the vaccination.” [Check out the video at the page to see this.]

Continue reading “Owl: Bill Gates Eugenics Eradicates Children Not Polio”

2013/11/28

NIGHTWATCH: White House Utterly Incompetent on Iran

05 Iran, 08 Proliferation

Iran-US: This week the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman denounced the US “fact sheet” on the Iran agreement as a misrepresentation. Today, 27 November, Foreign Minister Zarif clarified the situation, obliquely.

Zarf said the capacity at the Arak plutonium nuclear reactor construction site is not going to increase. “It means no new nuclear fuel will be produced and no new installations will be installed, but construction will continue there,” Zarif told Iran's parliament in translated comments broadcast on Iran's Press TV.

Zarif also said that uranium enrichment at the Natanz and Fordow facilities will continue at levels around 3.5-5 percent purity, but the facilities' capacities will not be expanded.

When asked about this, French Foreign Ministry spokesman Romain Nadal said: “In the interim accord, the Arak reactor is specifically targeted and the end of all work at this reactor. In the agreement and the text, which has been approved by the Iranian authorities, the Arak reactor is clearly targeted.”

Comment: Basic contract law in US jurisprudence stipulates no agreement exists when there is no meeting of the minds of the contracting parties, regardless of the words of the agreement. The absence of a meeting of the minds, i.e., the existence of different interpretations of terms, is prima facie evidence that no agreement exists.

That is what appears to have taken place in Geneva – two sides used the same words in English, but meant different things. In short, there was no agreement at Geneva.

The strongest evidence of sharp legal practice is the US “fact sheet.” In almost no significant substantive respect, the fact sheet fails to correspond to the actual four-page agreement, which NightWatch used in its analysis. Whoever wrote that fact sheet should be fired because it makes assertions about Iranian undertakings that are factual misrepresentations.

For example, Iran did not agree to freeze construction at Arak. Iran agreed not to expand Arak beyond existing plans and the US agreed to that, according to the Iranians. The US fact sheet, however, says Iran agreed to freeze construction at Arak, the plutonium producing reactor. This is a pivotal issue about which there is no agreement.

Today, the US said that construction at Arak does not violate the agreement. The US statement indicates the Iranian interpretation is the accurate interpretation, not the fact sheet. It also means the Iranians gave up nothing at Arak because that nuclear site will be under construction far beyond the six month time term of the agreement.

Iran agreed to not expand its capacity to enrich, meaning it agreed to not add more centrifuges. It did not agree to not use its existing centrifuges, as the US fact sheet contends. It agreed to not expand its nuclear program, but did not agree to not continue is development under existing capacity limits. The US fact sheet indicates it agreed to halt nuclear development.

The actual agreement requires no “roll back” of the Iranian nuclear program, though the US fact sheet indicates it does.

These inconsistencies are the signs of a rushed job. If the White House fact sheet represents the US understanding of the terms of the agreement, there is no agreement because the Iranians have an entirely different understanding. They got everything they wanted and sanctions relief. That explains the Iranian declarations of a diplomatic victory and the celebrations in Tehran.

2013/11/272013/11/27

Steve Aftergood: HPSCI Seeks Continuous Monitoring of Security-Cleared Employees [We Do NOT Make This Stuff Up!]

Cultural Intelligence, Government, Idiocy

HPSCI Seeks “Continuous Evaluation” of Security-Cleared Employees

Recent unauthorized disclosures of classified information might have been prevented if U.S. intelligence agencies “continuously evaluated the backgrounds of employees and contractors,” according to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI).

In its new report on the FY 2014 intelligence authorization bill, the Committee would require intelligence agencies to “continuously determine whether their employees and contractors are eligible for access to classified information” by using all available transactional records and social media.

“Continuous evaluation allows the IC to take advantage of lawfully available government and public information to detect warning signals that the current system of five-year periodic reinvestigation misses,” the HPSCI report said. “That information might include: foreign travel; reports of foreign contacts financial disclosure information; checks of criminal, commercial marketing, and credit databases; and other appropriate publicly available information.”

The recently developed concept of continuous evaluation (CE) “allows for a review at any time of an individual with eligibility or access to classified information or in a sensitive position to ensure that that individual continues to meet the requirements for eligibility,” said Brian Prioletti of the ODNI National Counterintelligence Executive at a November 13 hearing of the House Homeland Security Committee.

“As envisioned in the reformed security clearance process, [continuous evaluation] includes automated record checks of commercial databases, government databases, and other information lawfully available,” Mr. Prioletti said. “Manual checks are inefficient and resource-intensive. The C.E. initiative currently under development will enable us to more reliably determine an individual’s eligibility to hold a security clearance or a sensitive position on an ongoing basis.” Continue reading “Steve Aftergood: HPSCI Seeks Continuous Monitoring of Security-Cleared Employees [We Do NOT Make This Stuff Up!]”

2013/11/272013/11/27

Eagle: Charles Hughes Smith on China Falling Flat

02 China, 03 Economy

300 Million Talons... — 300 Million Talons…

Take the Money and Run: China's Ill-Gotten Wealth Flees Overseas

The front door is covered with official pronouncements of “the China Dream” and blustery demands of hegemony, but the back door is choked with members of the financial/political Elite fleeing China and taking their wealth with them.The first thing to understand about China is there is always a front door and a back door to everything. The front door is what's presented to the outside world; the back door is for everything that doesn't fit the PR image created by the front door.

The front door presents positive “face,” the back door is for everything that would “lose face,” so it's hidden and never discussed, except in private, and only with trusted family or friends.

A friend who once worked for the Chinese government recently returned home after several years absence, and found that all her bosses had moved to the West: Australia, Canada, etc. These were typical officials: their base salary was low but they managed to buy multiple homes, support mistresses, have upscale autos, and so on.

In a word, ill-gotten wealth. There are tens of thousands of these beneficiaries of China's boom in credit and corruption, and they have all either fled (with their ill-gotten wealth) to the West or “safe-haven” East (Singapore, for example). Those who haven't fled yet have passports to a safe haven, and cash and homes overseas awaiting their arrival.

It is common knowledge that the offspring of top officials all have passports and homes awaiting them in the West.

That every one of your political bosses has left China is an astounding revelation into the mindset of those who have benefited most from China's boom: they obviously fear that some upheaval could strip away their ill-gotten wealth, otherwise, why not simply move to some wealthy enclave in China?

Continue reading “Eagle: Charles Hughes Smith on China Falling Flat”

2013/11/27

SmartPlanet: Voiceprints to Fight Fraud? 97% Accuracy, 100 Identifiable Attributes

Commercial Intelligence

What businesses want with your voice

You'd be forgiven for not wanting to give businesses a recording of your voice. They get your email address and your inbox is flooded; the same goes for physical address. But, if a business asks for voiceprint in the near future, it might actually be for your own benefit.

One way hackers go about breaking into your accounts is through the phone. They obtain a few pieces of information and pretend to be you to try and dupe workers at a call center into giving up your “forgotten password.” But now businesses are increasingly looking to collect voiceprints to verify your identity when you call saying you forgot your credentials. As BBC reports:

Digital voiceprints contain over 100 identifiable elements. And, by using complex mathematical algorithms and the latest high-definition audio equipment, voice biometric companies believe they can now identify people accurately more than 97% of the time.

Even identical twins, who share the same DNA, can be told apart from their voiceprints, making the technology reliable enough to be used as evidence in courts of law.

Like any biometric security, it's not a perfect system. Depending on how strict the system is, someone could use a recording of your voice. Still, it's working better than the alternative, so far. According to BBC, before Barclays Wealth started using voiceprints, 25 percent of fraud phone calls got past the bank's security system. That percentage has since dropped to zero.

Read more: BBC

2013/11/272013/11/27

Stephen E. Arnold: NSA and Google Compete for Internet – We All Lose

Commerce, Corruption, Government, IO Deeds of War, IO Impotency, IO Privacy, IO Secrets

The NSA and Google Compete for the Internet, and We All Lose

An article posted on Tech Eye titled US Spying is Killing the Internet Claims Google explains the outrage expressed by Google when it was released that the NSA had tapped into their system in order to obtain user information. Google’s security director Richard Salgado warns that the US government’s snooping could eventually lead to a “splinter net” in which governments put up barriers and cause the market to be restricted.

The article explains:

“Salgado warned that the NSA operations led to “a real concern” inside and outside the United States about the role of government and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which decides in secret on legal problems about electronic surveillance efforts.”

But is the lady protesting too much? Google has been accused of its own plans to take over the Internet, as this article titled Google’s Latest Scheme to Control the Internet May Surprise You investigates on Worldcrunch. Google Plus in particular might warrant extra attention. In spite of being considered a failure when likened to Facebook, the article suggests that comparison is faulty. The number of Google Plus members may be small, but more important is Google’s ability to track and store the information we input.

And the money talks:

“Perhaps the proof is in the numbers: Google generated $50 billion in 2012 revenue, $40 billion of it from advertising. And though 2.7 billion Facebook “likes” are being registered every day, its revenue during the same period was just $4 billion.”

So let Google worry about the NSA all they want. Some of us are preoccupied with our paranoia about another company, which the article sums up as a Keanu Reeves style matrix in which we will all stay happily ignorant of our dependence.

Chelsea Kerwin, November 27, 2013

Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext