ECHELON

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Echelon (signals intelligence) Echelon (signals intelligence) (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States, known as AUSCANZUKUS).[1] It has also been described only as the software system which controls the download and dissemination of the intercept of commercial satellite trunk communications.[2] The system has been reported in a number of public sources.[3] Its capabilities and political implications were investigated by a committee of the European Parliament during 2000 and 2001 with a report published in 2001,[4] and by author James Bamford in his books on the National Security Agency of the United States.[2] In its report, the European Parliament states that the term ECHELON is used in a number of contexts, but that the evidence presented indicates that it was the name for a signals intelligence collection system. The report concludes that, on the basis of information presented, ECHELON was capable of interception and content inspection of telephone calls, fax, e-mail and other data traffic globally through the interception of communication bearers including satellite transmission, public switched telephone networks (which carries most Internet traffic) and microwave links.[4] Bamford describes the system as the software controlling the collection and distribution of civilian telecommunications traffic conveyed using communication satellites, with the collection being undertaken by groundstations located in the footprint of the downlink leg. A radome at RAF Menwith Hill, a site with satellite downlink capabilities believed to be used by ECHELON. Organization UKUSA Community RAF Menwith Hill ECHELON is a name used in global media and in popular culture to describe a signals intelligence (SIGINT) collection and analysis network operated on behalf of the five signatory states to the UK-USA Security Agreement 1 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Australia Canada New Zealand United Kingdom United States of America Echelon (signals intelligence) microwave signals, which is possible only to a limited extent.[4] One approach is to place intercept equipment at locations where fiber optic communications are switched. For the Internet, much of the switching occurs at a relatively small number of sites. There have been reports of one such intercept site, Room 641A, in the United States. In the past, much Internet traffic was routed through the U.S. and the UK; this is less true today, with, for example, 95 percent of intra-German Internet communications being routed via the DE-CIX Internet exchange point in Frankfurt in 2000.[4] Thus for a worldwide surveillance network to be comprehensive, either illegal intercept sites would be required on the territory of friendly nations or cooperation of local authorities would be needed. The report to the European Parliament points out that interception of private communications by foreign intelligence services is not necessarily limited to the American or British foreign intelligence services.[4] Most reports on ECHELON focus on satellite interception, with no credible evidence for other capabilities.[8] The UKUSA intelligence community is assessed by the European Parliament to include the signals intelligence agencies of each of the member states - the National Security Agency of the United States, the Government Communications Headquarters of Britain, the Communications Security Establishment of Canada, the Defence Signals Directorate of Australia, and the Government Communications Security Bureau of New Zealand. The EP report concludes that it seems likely that ECHELON is a method of sorting captured signal traffic, rather than a comprehensive analysis tool.[4] Capabilities The ability to intercept communications depends on the medium used, be it radio, satellite, microwave, cellular or fiber-optic.[4] During World War II and through the 1950s, high frequency ("short wave") radio was widely used for military and diplomatic communication,[5] and could be intercepted at great distances.[4] The rise of geostationary communications satellites in the 1960s presented new possibilities for intercepting international communications. The report to the European Parliament of 2001 states: "If UKUSA states operate listening stations in the relevant regions of the earth, in principle they can intercept all telephone, fax and data traffic transmitted via such satellites."[4] The role of satellites in point-to-point voice and data communications has largely been supplanted by fiber optics. As of 2006, 99 percent of the world’s long-distance voice and data traffic is carried over opticalfiber.[6] The proportion of international communications accounted for by satellite links is said to have decreased substantially over the past few years in Central Europe to amount to between 0.4 and 5%.[4] Even in less developed parts of the world, communications satellites are used largely for point-to-multipoint applications, such as video.[7] Thus the majority of communications cannot be intercepted by earth stations, but only by tapping cables and intercepting line of sight Controversy Reportedly created to monitor the military and diplomatic communications of the Soviet Union and its Eastern Bloc allies during the Cold War in the early sixties, today ECHELON is believed to search also for hints of terrorist plots, drug dealers’ plans, and political and diplomatic intelligence. Some critics claim the system is also being used for large-scale commercial theft, international economic espionage and invasion of privacy. British journalist Duncan Campbell and New Zealand journalist Nicky Hager asserted in the 1990s that the United States was exploiting ECHELON traffic for industrial espionage, rather than military and diplomatic purposes.[9] Examples alleged by the journalists include the gear-less wind turbine technology designed by the German firm Enercon[10][11] and the speech technology developed by the Belgian firm Lernout & Hauspie.[12] An article in the US newspaper Baltimore Sun reported in 1995 that European aerospace company Airbus lost a $6 billion contract with Saudi Arabia in 1994 after the US National Security Agency 2 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia reported that Airbus officials had been bribing Saudi officials to secure the contract.[13][14] In 2001, the Temporary Committee on the ECHELON Interception System recommended to the European Parliament that citizens of member states routinely use cryptography in their communications to protect their privacy.[4] Bamford provides an alternate view, highlighting that legislation prohibits the use of intercepted communications for commercial purposes, although does elaborate on how intercepted communications are used as part of an all-source intelligence process. Echelon (signals intelligence) network itself. Lockheed called it P415. The software programs were called SILKWORTH and SIRE. A satellite named VORTEX would intercept communications. An image available on the internet of a fragment apparently torn from a job description shows Echelon listed along with several other code names.[17] Ground stations The 2001 European Parliamentary (EP) report[4] lists several ground stations as possibly belonging to or participating in the ECHELON network. These include: Hardware According to its website, the USA’s National Security Agency is "a high technology organization... on the frontiers of communications and data processing". In 1999 the Australian Senate Joint Standing Committee on Treaties was told by Professor Desmond Ball that the Pine Gap facility was used as a ground station for a satellite based interception network. The satellites are claimed to be large radio dishes between 20 and 100 meters across, parked in geostationary orbits. The original purpose of the network was to monitor the telemetry from 1970s Soviet weapons, air defense radar, communications satellites and ground based microwave communications.[15] Likely satellite intercept stations The following stations are listed in the EP report (p.54 ff) as likely to have a role in intercepting transmissions from telecommunications satellites: • Hong Kong (since closed) • Australian Defence Satellite Communications Station (Geraldton, Western Australia) • Menwith Hill (Yorkshire, UK) Map • Misawa Air Base (Japan) • GCHQ Bude, formerly known as GCHQ CSO Morwenstow, (Cornwall, UK) Map • Pine Gap (Northern Territory, Australia close to Alice Springs) Map • Sugar Grove (West Virginia, US) Map • Yakima Training Center (Washington, US) Map • GCSB Waihopai (New Zealand) Name The European Parliament’s Temporary Committee on the ECHELON Interception System stated: "It seems likely, in view of the evidence and the consistent pattern of statements from a very wide range of individuals and organisations, including American sources, that its name is in fact ECHELON, although this is a relatively minor detail."[4] The U.S. intelligence community uses many code names (see, for example, CIA cryptonym). Margaret Newsham claims that she worked on the configuration and installation of some of the software that makes up the ECHELON system while employed at Lockheed Martin, for whom she worked from 1974 to 1984 in Sunnyvale, California, USA and in Menwith Hill, England, UK.[16] At that time, according to Newsham, the code name ECHELON was NSA’s term for the computer Other potentially related stations The following stations are listed in the EP report (p.57 ff) as ones whose roles "cannot be clearly established": • Ayios Nikolaos (Cyprus - UK) • Bad Aibling Station (Bad Aibling, Germany - US) - moved to Griesheim in 2004[18] • Buckley Air Force Base (Denver, Colorado, US) • Fort Gordon (Georgia, US) • Guam (Pacific Ocean, US) • Kunia (Hawaii, US) • Leitrim (south of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) • Lackland Air Force Base, Medina Annex (San Antonio, Texas, US) 3 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Echelon (signals intelligence) See also [7] "Commercial Geostationary Satellite Transponder Markets for Latin America : • ANCHORY SIGINT intercept database Market Research Report". • Frenchelon http://www.marketresearch.com/map/ • Onyx (interception system), the Swiss prod/1117944.html. Retrieved on "Echelon" equivalent 2006-08-27. • Mass surveillance [8] For example: "Nicky Hager Appearance before the European Parliament ECHELON Committee". April 2001. http://cryptome.org/echelon-nh.htm. • Bamford, James; The Puzzle Palace, Retrieved on 2006-07-02. Penguin, ISBN 0-14-006748-5; 1983 [9] "Nicky Hager Appearance before the • Hager, Nicky; Secret Power, New European Parliament ECHELON Zealand’s Role in the International Spy Committee". April 2001. Network; Craig Potton Publishing, Nelson, http://cryptome.org/echelon-nh.htm. NZ; ISBN 0-908802-35-8; 1996 Retrieved on 2006-07-02. • Bamford, James; Body of Secrets: Anatomy [10] Die Zeit: 40/1999 "Verrat unter of the Ultra-Secret National Security Freunden" ("Treachery among friends", Agency , Anchor, ISBN 0385499086; 2002 German), available at archiv.zeit.de • Keefe, Patrick Radden Chatter: dispatches [11] Report A5-0264/2001 of the European from the secret world of global Parliament (English), available at eavesdropping; Random House Publishing, European Parliament website New York, NY; ISBN 1-4000-6034-6; 2005 [12] "Amerikanen maakten met Echelon L&H • Bamford, James; The Shadow Factory: The kapot". [1]. 2002-03-30. Ultra-Secret NSA from 9/11 to the http://www.daanspeak.com/ Eavesdropping on America, Doubleday, Hypocratie09.html. Retrieved on ISBN 0385521324; 2008 2008-03-28. (Google’s translation of the article into English). [13] "BBC News". http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/ world/europe/820758.stm. Retrieved on [1] "AUSCANNZUKUS Information Portal". 2006-08-27. auscannzukus.org.. [14] "Interception capabilities 2000". http://auscannzukus.org/intro.asp. http://www.cyber-rights.org/interception/ Retrieved on 2008-03-27. stoa/ic2kreport.htm#Report. Retrieved [2] ^ Bamford, James; Body of Secrets, on 2006-08-27. Anchor, ISBN 0-385-49908-6; 2002 [15] Commonwealth of Australia, Official [3] One of the earliest was a New Statesman Committee Hansard (9 August 1999). article entitled Someone’s Listening in JOINT STANDING COMMITTEE ON 1988 TREATIES, Reference: Pine Gap. [4] ^ Schmid, Gerhard (2001-07-11). "On [16] Elkjær, Bo; Kenan Seeberg (1999-11-17). the existence of a global system for the "ECHELON Was My Baby". Ekstra interception of private and commercial Bladet. http://cryptome.org/echeloncommunications (ECHELON interception baby.htm. Retrieved on system), (2001/2098(INI))" (pdf - 194 2006-05-17. “Unfortunately, I can’t tell pages). European Parliament: Temporary you all my duties. I am still bound by Committee on the ECHELON professional secrecy, and I would hate to Interception System. go to prison or get involved in any http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/ trouble, if you know what I mean. In getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//NONSGML+REPORT+A5-2001-0264+0+DOC+PDF+V0//EN&language=EN general, I can tell you that I was Retrieved on 2008-03-27. responsible for compiling the various [5] The Codebreakers, Ch. 10, 11 systems and programs, configuring the [6] "NSA eavesdropping: How it might whole thing and making it operational on work". http://news.com.com/ main frames"; "Margaret Newsham NSA+eavesdropping+How+it+might+work/ worked for the NSA through her 2100-1028_3-6035910.html. Retrieved on employment at Ford and Lockheed from 2006-08-27. 1974 to 1984. In 1977 and 1978, Further reading Notes 4 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Newsham was stationed at the largest listening post in the world at Menwith Hill, England...Ekstra Bladet has Margaret Newsham’s stationing orders from the US Department of Defense. She possessed the high security classification TOP SECRET CRYPTO." [17] "Names of ECHELON associated projects – image without any context". http://www.ladlass.com/intel/archives/ Echelon (signals intelligence) images/menwith.jpg. in "Interception Capabilities 2000 - PART 1". 2003-12-18. http://www.ladlass.com/intel/archives/ 006457.html. Retrieved on 2006-08-27. [18] According to a statement by Terence Dudlee, the speaker of the US Navy in London in an interview to the German HR US-Armee lauscht von Darmstadt aus (German), hr online, 1 Oct 2004 Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echelon_(signals_intelligence)" Categories: National Security Agency, Government databases in the United States, Espionage, Data collection, Mass surveillance, Privacy of telecommunications, Lockheed Martin, Surveillance, Mass intelligence-gathering systems This page was last modified on 24 May 2009, at 04:08 (UTC). All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.) Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) taxdeductible nonprofit charity. Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers 5