I have no doubt that it is no use talking about the PRISM, because almost everything has already been revealed to the press about it. Its ability to easily access anyone's personal data with one or two clicks on the mouse would scare even optimistic George Orwell's staff.
However, much more than being amazed at the PRISM, I was really surprised by the astonishment of the people at the revelation of the existence of such a program. It's because of what I've been following since 2000 / 2001, PRISM already existed, although it seems that with other names, that is, the US has always had its electronic surveillance systems. Let's go to a review, if you forgot, you'll probably remember most of them:
1 - FBI Carnivore
They electronic surveillance system gave that talk at the beginning of 2000. It was a simple matter, though. A Windows NT or 2000 computer and promiscuous mode packet sniffer software that was strategically positioned on Internet providers of interest to FBI surveillance. As there were many data to be received in submultiples of seconds, the software acted as a classifier of data, storing and discarding information. This form of software action, as well as the fact that it was revealed to the press, caused the FBI to discontinue its use.
The repercussion of it was so great that I had a colleague who said with his feet that he knew people in Luanda who used the Carnivore. Of course the colleague was traveling, but was able to measure the impact of the information on the Carnivore (also, with such a name?).
2 - Prosecutor's Management Information System (PROMIS)
Information about the PROMIS are so movie style that until today I wonder if it really came into being. In 2000 / 2001 it was said that it was software that could know the number of your bank account, and track your financial transactions anywhere in the world, indeed this was the number one objective of your creation. It is said that it did not depend on the Internet for the transmission of collected data, but it was theorized that PROMIS was sold and introduced to the target companies along with hardware. The latter had secretly installed a data transmission system spectral scattering, which even makes sense, because who has read a lot of modulation techniques CDMA knows that the signal appears as noise and the pseudo-random spreading codes make interpreting the information difficult.
However, among 'rolled-up' information, such as the one who realized that Bin Laden had a copy of him (yes, you must remember the 'computerzeco' found in Abbottabad, lol) were practically never confirmed, by official source. Today there are almost no people interested in talking about him.
3 - National Security Agency (NSA) ECHELON / Five Eyes / UKUSA
This is the only one that I believe could exist. It is already larger system and with a very interesting geographical coverage, passing through the USA, UK, New Zealand and Australia. It is said of it as a set of systems SIGINT (Signal Intelligence) capable of intercepting communications involving radio, fax, email and web transmissions. For this, it benefits from being strategically installed and with technological resources of high capacity of interception via radio and via switching systems of telephony and Internet providers.
On the other hand, powerful filters that act in real time are able to classify information more accurately and 'trigger alarms' for interceptors. These characteristics make it something different from the 'modest' Carnivore.
4 - National Security Agency (NSA) PRISM
The years passed, 11/50 came, the level of electronic surveillance increased, but above all, a new concept of using the Web appeared: Social networks. The amount of information that these networks started to manage was a brutal astonishment. It has always been said, and it has always been suspected that Microsoft, Google, Facebook, etc., delivered data from whomever they wanted to whomever 'rightfully' asked. This information has never been confirmed by these companies and even today with the PRISM scandal, which also involves another recent scandal involving wiretaps on Verizon, they continue to vehemently deny any involvement. And we are talking about completely 'galactic' data volumes. Facebook alone has more than 1 billion photos and XNUMX billion users. Google transports millions of communications and requests per second, so managing and interpreting this is no child's play. Or at least it was not until quite a few years ago, because from this time on, important advances have been made in data interpretation, facial recognition and voice recognition, to the point of having terms available in domestic devices such as Smartphones and smart TVs. It is these advances that have allowed Edward Snowden sit in his chair at NSA headquarters and know the life of whoever he wants to know, without anyone's supervision.
In my opinion, only those who have something to hide can be surprised by this information. Those who have nothing to hide have no reason to be concerned about the fact that there are young people who like to walk around the 'sniffing' for information about the lives of others. To think that a country like the USA remains standing, without walking the 'gossip' of other people's lives is pure illusion. And they will continue regardless of who complains about it. It is the conjuncture of a world system that is at its end and will soon collapse.
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Article originally published in SNNAngola and kindly given to MenosFios by its author, Eng. Nataniel Baião, whom we thank.
