Stratfor emails reveal secret, widespread TrapWire surveillance system

Former senior intelligence officials have created a detailed surveillance system more accurate than modern facial recognition technology — and have installed it across the US under the radar of most Americans, according to emails hacked by Anonymous.

Every few seconds, data picked up at surveillance points in major cities and landmarks across the United States are recorded digitally on the spot, then encrypted and instantaneously delivered to a fortified central database center at an undisclosed location to be aggregated with other intelligence. It’s part of a program called TrapWire and it's the brainchild of the Abraxas, a Northern Virginia company staffed with elite from America’s intelligence community. The employee roster at Arbaxas reads like a who’s who of agents once with the Pentagon, CIA and other government entities according to their public LinkedIn profiles, and the corporation's ties are assumed to go deeper than even documented.

The details on Abraxas and, to an even greater extent TrapWire, are scarce, however, and not without reason. For a program touted as a tool to thwart terrorism and monitor activity meant to be under wraps, its understandable that Abraxas would want the program’s public presence to be relatively limited. But thanks to last year’s hack of the Strategic Forecasting intelligence agency, or Stratfor, all of that is quickly changing.

Hacktivists aligned with the loose-knit Anonymous collective took credit for hacking Stratfor on Christmas Eve, 2011, in turn collecting what they claimed to be more than five million emails from within the company. WikiLeaks began releasing those emails as the Global Intelligence Files (GIF) earlier this year and, of those, several discussing the implementing of TrapWire in public spaces across the country were circulated on the Web this week after security researcher Justin Ferguson brought attention to the matter. At the same time, however, WikiLeaks was relentlessly assaulted by a barrage of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, crippling the whistleblower site and its mirrors, significantly cutting short the number of people who would otherwise have unfettered access to the emails.

On Wednesday, an administrator for the WikiLeaks Twitter account wrote that the site suspected that the motivation for the attacks could be that particularly sensitive Stratfor emails were about to be exposed. A hacker group called AntiLeaks soon after took credit for the assaults on WikiLeaks and mirrors of their content, equating the offensive as a protest against editor Julian Assange, “the head of a new breed of terrorist.” As those Stratfor files on TrapWire make their rounds online, though, talk of terrorism is only just beginning.

Mr. Ferguson and others have mirrored what are believed to be most recently-released Global Intelligence Files on external sites, but the original documents uploaded to WikiLeaks have been at times unavailable this week due to the continuing DDoS attacks. Late Thursday and early Friday this week, the GIF mirrors continues to go offline due to what is presumably more DDoS assaults. Australian activist Asher Wolf wrote on Twitter that the DDoS attacks flooding the servers of WikiLeaks supporter sites were reported to be dropping upwards of 40 gigabits of traffic per second. On Friday, WikiLeaks tweeted that their own site was sustaining attacks of 10 Gb/second, adding, "Whoever is running it controls thousands of machines or is able to simulate them."

According to a press release (pdf) dated June 6, 2012, TrapWire is “designed to provide a simple yet powerful means of collecting and recording suspicious activity reports.” A system of interconnected nodes spot anything considered suspect and then input it into the system to be "analyzed and compared with data entered from other areas within a network for the purpose of identifying patterns of behavior that are indicative of pre-attack planning.”

In a 2009 email included in the Anonymous leak, Stratfor Vice President for Intelligence Fred Burton is alleged to write, “TrapWire is a technology solution predicated upon behavior patterns in red zones to identify surveillance. It helps you connect the dots over time and distance.” Burton formerly served with the US Diplomatic Security Service, and Abraxas’ staff includes other security experts with experience in and out of the Armed Forces.

What is believed to be a partnering agreement included in the Stratfor files from August 13, 2009 indicates that they signed a contract with Abraxas to provide them with analysis and reports of their TrapWire system (pdf).

“Suspicious activity reports from all facilities on the TrapWire network are aggregated in a central database and run through a rules engine that searches for patterns indicative of terrorist surveillance operations and other attack preparations,” Crime and Justice International magazine explains in a 2006 article on the program, one of the few publically circulated on the Abraxas product (pdf). “Any patterns detected – links among individuals, vehicles or activities – will be reported back to each affected facility. This information can also be shared with law enforcement organizations, enabling them to begin investigations into the suspected surveillance cell.”

In a 2005 interview with The Entrepreneur Center, Abraxas founder Richard “Hollis” Helms said his signature product “can collect information about people and vehicles that is more accurate than facial recognition, draw patterns, and do threat assessments of areas that may be under observation from terrorists.” He calls it “a proprietary technology designed to protect critical national infrastructure from a terrorist attack by detecting the pre-attack activities of the terrorist and enabling law enforcement to investigate and engage the terrorist long before an attack is executed,” and that, “The beauty of it is that we can protect an infinite number of facilities just as efficiently as we can one and we push information out to local law authorities automatically.”

An internal email from early 2011 included in the Global Intelligence Files has Stratfor’s Burton allegedly saying the program can be used to “[walk] back and track the suspects from the get go w/facial recognition software.”

Since its inception, TrapWire has been implemented in most major American cities at selected high value targets (HVTs) and has appeared abroad as well. The iWatch monitoring system adopted by the Los Angeles Police Department (pdf) works in conjunction with TrapWire, as does the District of Columbia and the "See Something, Say Something" program conducted by law enforcement in New York City, which had 500 surveillance cameras linked to the system in 2010. Private properties including Las Vegas, Nevada casinos have subscribed to the system. The State of Texas reportedly spent half a million dollars with an additional annual licensing fee of $150,000 to employ TrapWire, and the Pentagon and other military facilities have allegedly signed on as well.

In one email from 2010 leaked by Anonymous, Stratfor’s Fred Burton allegedly writes, “God Bless America. Now they have EVERY major HVT in CONUS, the UK, Canada, Vegas, Los Angeles, NYC as clients.” Files on USASpending.gov reveal that the US Department of Homeland Security and Department of Defense together awarded Abraxas and TrapWire more than one million dollars in only the past eleven months.

News of the widespread and largely secretive installation of TrapWire comes amidst a federal witch-hunt to crack down on leaks escaping Washington and at attempt to prosecute whistleblowers. Thomas Drake, a former agent with the NSA, has recently spoken openly about the government’s Trailblazer Project that was used to monitor private communication, and was charged under the Espionage Act for coming forth. Separately, former NSA tech director William Binney and others once with the agency have made claims in recent weeks that the feds have dossiers on every American, an allegation NSA Chief Keith Alexander dismissed during a speech at Def-Con last month in Vegas.

Source: RT

Scientist: Life on Mars Could be Our Cousins

US Army: ‘Super Soldier’ Genetically Modified Humans Won’t Need Food, Sleep

The next frontier of genetic modification is not centered around a certain fruit or vegetable, but humans. More specifically, military personnel. Genetically modified humans is the next venture for biotechnology companies working with the United States military, with the admitted goal of producing a ‘super soldier’ that does not require food or sleep to perform Olympic-style physical feats.

The genetically modified humans, or ‘super soldiers’, will even be able to regrow limbs that were destroyed by enemy fire and live off of their fat stores for extreme lengths of time.

Backed by $2 billion a year in funding, the Pentagon’s Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) recently unleashed the news after years of secret experimentation and study. The organization did not say whether or not genetically modified humans currently exist to any extent; however, it is known based on previous reports that human chimeras have already been created outside of the public spotlight. Such scientific experiments have drawn fire from scientists and activists alike, who are demanding for laws to forbid the creation of ‘monsters’.

As of right now, DARPA has a functioning exoskeleton that enables soldiers to run much faster and handle heavy weights. This is but a step in the direct of full modification of the genetic coding of soldiers.

DARPA, of course, has earned the nickname of the ‘mad scientist’ wing of the military for its rampant experiments in modifying life and fusing biology and technology. In working with killer drones, DARPA earlier this year was developing research into contact lens-mounted displays that could transport information from drones into the eyeballs of soldiers. Furthermore, the agency is also developing helmets in which the soldiers could communicate ‘telepathically’ with the kill drones.

The announcement ties in with the 2045 project, which I’ve covered in the past. The project offers ‘immortality’ to the wealthy elite who financially back it, and touts artificial bodies and brains for humans to achieve ‘immortality’.

This entire system, of course, ties into a larger ‘singularity’ project as outlined by the creator of the 2045 plan and others like Ray Kurzweil. In a nutshell, ‘consciousness singularity’ can be defined by a merging of all ‘transhuman’ bodies into one ‘hive mind’ of sorts. Likely a massive super computer that has full control over the minds of those ‘hooked in’.

It truly sounds insane, yet it is plainly stated out in the open. A number of issues arise from this singularity plan (not to even mention the fact that ‘soldiers’ are slowly becoming more of DARPA creations than human), such as the serious threat to humanity’s very integrity. We’ve seen the many issues regarding traditional GMOs on public health and the environment, now what about human modification?

Scientists Create Genetically Modified Plants to Produce Pharmaceutical Drugs

Re-creating the world one genetic manipulation at a time. For centuries, humankind has been utilizing the naturally occurring medicinal and healing compounds of plants to overcome illness and disease. But scientists just don’t seem to be happy with what nature has to offer.

Up until just a few years ago, scientists had to manually splice natural plant compounds to patent them for pharmaceutical drug companies; now, a way has been discovered to genetically modify plants which are actually programmed to produce pharmaceutical drugs instead of their natural compounds. Of course not everyone is excited for genetically modified plants.

Creating Pharmaceutical Drug-Producing Genetically Modified Plants

The researchers, from MIT and led by Associate Professor Sarah O’Connor, added bacterial genes to a plant known as the periwinkle plant, altering the plants natural alkaloid production system. Scientists would be “enabling it to attach halogens such as chlorine or bromine to a class of compounds called alkaloids that the plant normally produces.” In essence, the genetically modified plants, in stead of producing natural alkaloids, will actually produce variant pharmaceutical drug versions of the alkaloids.

“We’re trying to use plant biosynthetic mechanisms to easily make a whole range of different iterations of natural products. If you tweak the structure of natural products, very often you get different or improved biological and pharmacological activity,” she said.

It certainly isn’t the first time genes were engineered into plants. Remember Bt corn? That was created the same way, with Bt corn engineered to produce an insecticide called Bt.

But the process used by O’Connor is a bit different than what scientists have done in the past. Using a process called ‘metabolic engineering’, scientists like O’Connor alter the actual molecular output of plants, which helps to mold the compounds being produced. Ultimately, this can lead to a large variety of end products.

The idea of genetically modified plants is disturbing alone, but why tamper with nature already producing natural, beneficial compounds? In the periwinkle plant specifically, the scientists targeted an alkaloid called vinblastine, which is effective at treating cancers such as Hodgkin’s lymphoma. So why create genetically modified plants and other organisms? Some scientists may think they are benefiting society, but no one can ignore the genetic and patented creation gifted to Big Pharma, and the stealing from nature.

Source: Activist Post

Monsanto Award of $1 Billion Against DuPont Reveals New Dimension of Genetic Patent Wars

The legal battle between Monsanto and farmers around the world continues unabated. On one hand, farming groups of all sizes, as well as seed businesses, are increasingly suing Monsanto for widespread genetic manipulation; and also to counter Monsanto's own vast patent infringement attacks against those unwitting enough to have their (even organic) crops cross-pollenated by Monsanto's GM products.

However, Monsanto exerts an overwhelming amount of pressure for perceived patent infringements, constantly suing farmers for their contamination of the farmers' own land. Aside from being a billion dollar industry with their biotechnology used in genetically engineered seeds and companion products like Roundup herbicide, they use patent infringement lawsuits to thickly line their coffers. And apparently they have the support of the legal system in doing so.

A huge verdict has come down on the side of Monsanto in the absurd amount of $1 billion to be paid by competitor DuPont. While it might seem like something to almost be happy about, since DuPont is yet another mega chemical corporation which has been implicated in damage to the environment and human health, this potentially sets a bad precedent to be cited in future legal verdicts, thus giving Monsanto even more legal standing and power. Perhaps most ominous of all, this legal victory was granted for a product that was never even on the market, taking on a new dimension in the area of patent infringement. (Source)

TechDirt makes the following particularly salient points about the implications of this verdict against DuPont's never-released Optimum GAT soybean line:

Normally, companies can build on top of others' products as patents are set to expire, so they're ready to launch once the patent has expired. But, in this case, even trying to build new offerings in a lab for use later is apparently an insane billion dollar issue. Even worse, it means that any real competition, which will create more market-reasonable prices, gets significantly delayed as no one can prepare for when the patent expires. (Source)

Beyond this, however, is the aspect that this verdict highlights the lack of regulation in the genetically modified food industry. In the world of pharmaceuticals and medical devices, for example, 35 U.S.C. § 271(e) specifically offers a research exemption for companies engaged in testing other products for development of their own proprietary offerings. This is presumably done to increase competition and allow for the development and introduction of low-cost generics in a timely manner.

The verdict against DuPont* stifles competition by creating a monopoly on a certain form of agriculture.  This gets into the convoluted world of patent law and territoriality, which ultimately leads to potential outsourcing of research to later be brought back to the U.S. when patents hit their expiration date. For those with a strong stomach, these legal and ethical arguments can be sifted through in the comments section HERE.

Regardless of the minutiae of patent law, enforcement, and research outsourcing, the central issue remains that even in the world of the mega-chemical apparatus, Monsanto currently holds favor. Furthermore, it solidifies the position that Monsanto is pursuing against the individual farmer in cross-contamination claims, which have even involved Monsanto trespassing on private property, sampling a crop, then suing for royalties. This has led to the destruction of family businesses and farmer suicides.

And where does it stop? Here are some interesting questions and answers posed by commenters to the above-linked comment section at patent law blog Patently-O.

I own an apartment. Someone builds a drivein movie next door. Can they charge me the price of a ticket if I sit in my apartment and watch the movie? 

I send you a 'free gift' in the mail. A note says, if you don't return the free gift in two days, you owe me a million dollars. Can I collect? 

HBO broadcasts its programming into the public domain. You watch it on your TV. Can they collect a fee? 

A patented dog with cute fur escapes. I find the a puppy in the wild that has cute fur. I breed the dog, and sell its puppies. It turns out, the puppy has the patented genes. Am I an infringer? 

A hunter with dogs pursues a fox. Another man kills its and takes the fox home. Does the second man owe the first damages?

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