DefenceTalkThe US military is building a new cyber defense corps that can be used to protect the nation and possibly for offensive purposes, the commander of the unit said Tuesday. National Security Agency director Michael Rogers, who also heads the US Cyber Command, said the 6,200-member unit should be fully operational by 2016, to bolster […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-bolstering-cyber-defense-with-new-corps-nsa-chief-60603/

DefenceTalkThe US National Security Agency is scooping up large quantities of images of people for use in facial recognition programs, the New York Times reported Sunday, citing top secret documents. The Times said documents, which were obtained from fugitive former US intelligence analyst Edward Snowden, show a significant increase in reliance on facial recognition technology […]https://www.defencetalk.com/nsa-scoops-up-images-for-facial-recognition-programs-report-59741/

DefenceTalkThe use of home-made servers in Beijing’s national banks may prevent inclusion of hidden backdoors that facilitate intelligence gathering by the US National Security Agency, according to expert in the US-China relations, RIA Novosti reports. Chinese government institutions, including the People’s Bank of China and the Ministry of Finance, are reviewing domestic commercial banks’ reliance […]https://www.defencetalk.com/chinas-replace-ibm-servers-national-security-59729/

DefenceTalkA new push to encrypt email, keeping messages free from government snooping, is gaining momentum. One new email service promising “end-to-end” encryption launched on Friday, and others are being developed while major services such as Google Gmail and Yahoo Mail have stepped up security measures. A major catalyst for email encryption were revelations about widespread […]https://www.defencetalk.com/nsa-row-sparks-rush-for-encrypted-email-59615/

DefenceTalkThe National Security Agency has developed malware that allows it to collect data automatically from millions of computers worldwide, a report based on leaked documents showed Wednesday. The report co-authored by former Guardian reporter Glenn Greenwald for the online news site The Intercept said the program has dramatically expanded the US spy agency’s ability to […]https://www.defencetalk.com/nsa-has-industrial-scale-malware-for-spying-report-59010/

DefenceTalkThe US National Security Agency has developed a secret technology to spy on computers via radio signals, gathering information even when the devices are offline, a report said Wednesday. The New York Times reported that the NSA has implanted software on 100,000 computers around the world to be able to conduct surveillance, and which gives […]https://www.defencetalk.com/nsa-taps-offline-computers-with-secret-bug-report-50127/

DefenceTalkThe sale of two intelligence satellites to the UAE by France for nearly a billion dollars could go south after they were found to contain American technology designed to intercept data transmitted to the ground station. The equipment, costing 3.4 billion dirhams ($930 million), constitutes two high-resolution Pleiades-type Falcon Eye military intelligence satellites, which a […]https://www.defencetalk.com/france-uae-satellite-deal-shaky-after-us-spy-tech-discovered-onboard-50043/

DefenceTalkThe US National Security Agency has tapped into key communications links from Yahoo and Google data centers around the world, the Washington Post reported Wednesday. The Post, citing documents obtained from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden and interviews with officials, said the program can collect data at will from hundreds of millions of user accounts, […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-taps-links-to-google-yahoo-data-centers-report-49531/

DefenceTalkUS law enforcement and intelligence agencies are collecting massive amounts of data on Americans and storing it for too long, creating a potential for abuse, a research report said Tuesday. The report by Brennan Center for Justice at New York University found that data collection and storage on Americans, often with no connection to terrorist […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-data-collection-opens-doors-to-abuse-report-49322/

DefenceTalkNever mind the non-stop collection of metadata and other sneaky surveillance tools being implemented by the NSA: a new report has revealed that the National Security Agency’s spy powers allow the government to grab location data on just about anyone. In an article published by the Washington Post over the weekend, journalist Dana Priest detailed […]https://www.defencetalk.com/nsa-locates-cell-phones-even-when-they-are-turned-off-48558/