government eavesdropping

[Jeff Ogden]

So what is the real story here?  Is all, most, some of our 
international Internet traffic being intercepted by various 
governments?  Is it only international traffic that is at issue or is 
domestic traffic within the US subject to routine eavesdropping 
without a court order?

For years I've been telling people that while there was some risk 
that traffic on the Internet could be intercepted, that the risk was 
greatest at the ends of a connection and that as long as they were 
working with a reputable ISP that there was almost no risk that 
anyone was eavesdropping on the traffic from the more central 
networks.  I've also been telling people that data "at rest" on disks 
or stored in servers is much more at risk than data "in motion" as it 
moves across the Internet. Have I been misleading people?

   -Jeff Ogden
    Merit

> From http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20000223/wl/eu_espionage_1.html
>
> Wednesday February 23 9:50 AM ET
>
> Report Details Vast Spy Network
>
> By CONSTANT BRAND Associated Press Writer
>
> BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - A U.S.-led communications
> monitoring network is intercepting ``billions of messages per
> hour'' including telephone calls, fax transmissions and private
> e-mails, according to a European Parliament report made public
> Wednesday.
>
> ``We are not talking about a trivial thing here ... we cannot stop
> them, they will continue,'' said Ducan Campbell, author of the
> special parliament-commissioned report on the Echelon
> spy-network.
>
> Campbell said that the intelligence network monitors and
> intercepts sensitive European-wide commercial communications.
> ``The level of use is getting out of control,'' he told a packed
> hearing of the Parliament's Committee for Justice and Home
> Affairs.
>
> He said Canada, Britain, Australia and New Zealand are also
> involved in Echelon. Other nations including France and Germany
> also participate in a lower level in the spy-network which dates
> back 50 years to the beginning of the Cold War.
>
> ``The capacity of the filtering systems is enormous,'' Campbell
> said. He added that most international internet communications
> are being routed through the United States and through nine known
> U.S. National Security Agency interception sites.
>
> Intelligence facilities located in the five countries can intercept fax,
> e-mail or telephone communications easily he said. Campbell
> urged the European Union to take action to protect against
> unwanted interception of communications, which he said were
> violations of human rights.
>
> Committee chairman Graham Watson said he wanted to be sure
> the international surveillance system was not abusing its powers.
>
> Campbell said Microsoft, IBM, and a certain ``large American
> microchip maker'' were providing certain product features which
> allow the interception of information flow.
>
> Campbell said he did not know whether the U.S. corporations were
> benefitting from the information gathering but said previous
> commercial espionage resulted in the collapse of several European
> contracts in the airline industry - both military and commercial.