Friday, April 15, 2011

Game over



Most of us assume that our conversations might be monitored
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At least I hope you do
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You do don't you?
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Just a simple article gives an indication of just how far this has gone


Read on
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.........................."Among Narus' many cyber-sleuthing products is one called 'Hone,' 
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which can filter through billions of packets of online data to target individuals on social networks target individuals on social networks 
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and then link that information to their "VOIP conversations, biometrically identify someone's voice or photograph and then associate it with different phone numbers."
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Those using cell phones or Wi-Fi connections can then be located geographically
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Narus CEO Greg Oslan said the company's software is designed to allow carriers to monitor all Internet traffic, including Web searches, e-mail content and attachments, and Internet phone calls
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There are business reasons for this: AT& T could decide to charge a customer more if they're putting more strain on the network, such as by downloading movies.
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There are also security reasons: As the Internet is increasingly used for new purposes such as watching TV, new ways of spreading viruses and other malicious online behavior are popping up.
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For example, Narus says viruses can hitchhike on encrypted Internet phone calls. 
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Traditional security software can't spot these invisible intruders, but Narus can. ``We provide a unique level of protection,'' Oslan said
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Good stuff. 
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But more sobering is that the company is selling its technology to folks like China's Shanghai Telecom for a system we'll never know exactly how it  is being used.
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At the minimum, the Chinese government can use it to detect and block certain "unauthorized" telephone calls placed over the Internet, but it could be used for much more aggressive monitoring of its citizens.
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And here is Narus' response to questions about how customers are using its product: 
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"Once our customers buy your product, it's relatively opaque to us," said Steve Bannerman, vice president of marketing.
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Enough said?

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