How Covert Agents Infiltrate The Internet To Manipulate, Deceive, And Destroy Reputations

oathkeepers.org via FirstLook.org ^ | Feb 26, 2014 | Glenn Greenwald

[Sheapdog]

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This article comes from FirstLook.org

by Glenn Greenwald

A page from a GCHQ top secret document prepared by its secretive JTRIG unit

One of the many pressing stories that remains to be told from the Snowden archive is how western intelligence agencies are attempting to manipulate and control online discourse with extreme tactics of deception and reputation-destruction. It’s time to tell a chunk of that story, complete with the relevant documents.

Over the last several weeks, I worked with NBC News to publish a series of articles about “dirty trick” tactics used by GCHQ’s previously secret unit, JTRIG (Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group). These were based on four classified GCHQ documents presented to the NSA and the other three partners in the English-speaking “Five Eyes” alliance. Today, we at the Intercept are publishing another new JTRIG document, in full, entitled “The Art of Deception: Training for Online Covert Operations.”

By publishing these stories one by one, our NBC reporting highlighted some of the key, discrete revelations: the monitoring of YouTube and Blogger, the targeting of Anonymous with the very same DDoS attacks they accuse “hacktivists” of using, the use of “honey traps” (luring people into compromising situations using sex) and destructive viruses. But, here, I want to focus and elaborate on the overarching point revealed by all of these documents: namely, that these agencies are attempting to control, infiltrate, manipulate, and warp online discourse, and in doing so, are compromising the integrity of the internet itself.

Among the core self-identified purposes of JTRIG are two tactics: (1) to inject all sorts of false material onto the internet in order to destroy the reputation of its targets; and (2) to use social sciences and other techniques to manipulate online discourse and activism to generate outcomes it considers desirable. To see how extremist these programs are, just consider the tactics they boast of using to achieve those ends: “false flag operations” (posting material to the internet and falsely attributing it to someone else), fake victim blog posts (pretending to be a victim of the individual whose reputation they want to destroy), and posting “negative information” on various forums. Here is one illustrative list of tactics from the latest GCHQ document we’re publishing today:

Other tactics aimed at individuals are listed here, under the revealing title “discredit a target”:

Read more here.

[MNDude]

And how did infowars get it?

[MtnClimber]

0bama says “If you like your freedom, you can keep your freedom.”

[2ndDivisionVet]

[GeronL]

Yes they will kill their fellow Americans

[NoCmpromiz]

leaked on March 24, 2014 by InfoWars,

As far as I read...

[null and void]

Nut-job Conspiracy Theory Ping!

To get onto The Nut-job Conspiracy Theory Ping List you must threaten to report me to the Mods if I don't add you to the list...

[Red Steel]

The top secret document, mandated to be locked up and only seen by DHS agents—marked on every single one of its 160 pages that it should be seen by “Trusted Agents Only”—is a blueprint for what Obama is planning: Martial law and a declaration of war on the American people. "

Apparently not all so "Trusted Agents" as you got a leak Hoss.

[Jet Jaguar]

Active Duty/Retiree ping.

[One Name]

Interesting.

Painting,then Purging.

Where have we seen that before?

A really human aspiring dictator will even shed a tear (a la Saddam Hussein) as he rounds up his disloyal colleagues, never to be seen again.

[GOPJ]

The IRS was targeting Obama’s political enemies... that’s against the law... If Homeland’s doing the same thing they’re gonna be in a heap of trouble when Obama and dems are out of office...

[depressed in 06]

Any ideas on who is winning?

[Nachum]

The list, Ping

Let me know if you would like to be on or off the ping list

http://www.nachumlist.com/

[LucyT]

.

[centurion316]

Why isn’t Infowars out doing something useful, like looking for that missing airliner. They should be running low on fuel by now.

[holden]

I dare call it treason!

HF

[Zeneta]

Much to the dismay and willful ignorance of liberal/progressives;

“Death by Government”, still trumps all.

http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/NOTE1.HTM

[Mark17]

Yes they will kill their fellow Americans

Yes they will. This is subtle, and maybe not so subtle a way for the dirt bags in government, to program millions of people to accept the murder of Americans by other Americans. By the time they start wholesale slaughter, many people will cheer them on.

[Red Steel]

Cyber attacks are expected throughout the exercise by members of anti-government organizations, such as Free Americans Against Socialist Tyranny and individuals sympathetic to their cause. (Page 5)

DHS fantasy (Obama) exercise. Cyber attacks on what? LoL. On your public website Yawwwwnn. I'm still awaiting for that big cyber attack that takes down the Internet and causes utter destruction. Psssst ...it's not going to happen as the web is too big and too redundant.

While some Free Americans Against Socialist Tyranny members are capable of conducting adverse cyber operations, the greatest threat is current government employees sympathetic to their cause…[Also included] are employees within U.S. Northern Command, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, National Guard, and Defense Information Systems Agency that may support Free Americans Against Socialist Tyranny doctrine…Free Americans against Socialist Tyranny sympathizers may include both former and current members of the military……Recent reductions in force and early separation requirements have raised concern for disgruntled military and Department of Defense civilians… (Page 125)

Whaaat? You can't even trust your own people must tell you something. So what delusional appointed OBot wrote this? LoL.

[sickoflibs]

LOL, you got this one tagged.
Watch the suckers roll in.