See #14:
Abel Danger Mischief Makers - Mistress of the Revels - 'Man-In-The-Middle' Attacks (Revised)
Obama 'Nobody is Listening to your telephone Calls'
Death Of A Welsh Spy (Full)
Capo | May 5, 2012 | 0 Comments
MI6 coder Gareth Williams captured by a surveillance camera before his death. Image: Courtesy of the Metropolitan Police
A top British codebreaker who died a mysterious death in his flat two years ago had just returned from a computer security conference in the United States before his death, according to information disclosed during an inquest this week.
The body of Gareth Williams, a codebreaker with Britain’s MI6 spy agency, was discovered stuffed into a sports bag in his bathtub on Aug. 23, 2010, though he’s believed to have been killed Aug. 15.
Williams had just returned to London on Aug. 11 after spending six weeks in the United States, where he attended the annual Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas as part of a contingent of British spies, according to witnesses who spoke at the inquest. He attended Black Hat in 2008 as well.
It’s believed Williams may have also attended Black Hat’s companion hacker conference, DefCon, which follows Black Hat and draws many of the same attendees. In 2010, Black Hat was held July 24 to 29, while DefCon ran fromJuly 30 to Aug. 1.
Black Hat is one of the top security conferences in the world, targeting the professional security crowd, while DefCon is geared more specifically to hackers. Law enforcement agents, the military and undercover spies regularly attend both conferences — often undercover — to keep pace with the latest research and learn what hackers are up to. They also recruit hackers for professional work.
DefCon holds an annual spot-the-fed contest to out undercover agents as a good-natured sport. Attendees who spot a fed receive an “I spotted a Fed” T-shirt, while the outed agent gets a trophy T-shirt of his own to take back to his office, sporting the phrase “I was spotted at DefCon.”
Not everyone wants to be outed or plays by the conference ground rules for working undercover. Several years ago, undercover agents believed to be working for Israel’s Mossad spy agency were kicked out of the conference after registering as journalists and posing as a French film crew from Canal Plus.
It’s not known specifically why Williams attended Black Hat or if he and his colleagues attended incognito. A Black Hat organizer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Williams, who was 31 when he died, was found inside a North Face nylon sports bag in the bathtub of his apartment. His nude body was in the fetal position, with his arms folded across his chest. The bag was closed with a padlock, and two keys to the padlock were found underneath Williams’ body inside the bag.
His mobile phone and a number of SIM cards were laid out on a table nearby; the phone had been restored to its factory settings. There were no signs of forced entry to the apartment and no signs of a struggle.
Williams was described by those who knew him as a “math genius” who graduated from Bangor University at the age of 17 with a degree in mathematics. He’d begun his university studies while still in secondary school. In 2001 he joined Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), Britain’s listening post, helping to break coded Taliban communications, among other things. He was considered a “world-class intelligence officer” and had won two awards for codebreaking, according to his boss at GCHQ.
In 2009, he was loaned out to MI6, Britain’s foreign intelligence service, for a three-year stint, but asked to be transferred back to GCHQ after a year. He was preparing to move back to his old job around the time he was killed.
Williams had worked in a four-man team as an expert codebreaker and shortly before his death had been in contact with two secret agents working in the field in the U.K., according to testimony at the inquest.
The Daily Mail quoted anonymous sources last year saying that Williams had been working on secret technology [allegedly PRISM and its backdoor into Amazon’s IMDb metadata for financing of child pornmography] to track stolen money being laundered through Britain by Russian mafia. The technology was reportedly designed to allow MI6 agents to follow money from bank accounts in Russia to criminal gangs in Europe via internet and wire transfers.
He also worked on another secretive project to develop devices for stealing data from mobile phones and laptops using wireless technology.
“He was involved in a very sensitive project with the highest security clearance,” the anonymous source told the Daily Mail. “He was not an agent doing surveillance, but was very much part of the team, working on the technology side, devising stuff like software.”
The source indicated that Williams’ work to disrupt the Russian mafia could have put him at risk.
“Some of these powerful criminal networks have links with, and employ, former KGB agents who can track down people like Williams,” the source said.
Williams also had reportedly worked with the NSA and British intelligence to intercept e-mail messages that helped convict would-be bombers in the United Kingdom. He had made repeated visits to the United States to meet with the National Security Agency and worked closely with British and U.S. spy agencies to intercept and examine communications that passed between an al-Qaida official in Pakistan and three men who were convicted in 2009 of plotting to bomb transcontinental flights.
Investigators said during the inquest that there was no evidence Williams was killed as a result of the work he was doing, but they acknowledged that a full investigation had been thwarted by the spy agencies who employed Williams, raising suspicions that the agencies might have been involved in his death or at least know who was responsible for it.
Hours before he died, surveillance cameras captured Williams in London’s Knightsbridge neighborhood while he was shopping at the luxury department store Harrods. Williams was expected at work the next day, but never showed up. MI6 did not report him missing, however, until Aug. 23, at which point his body had decomposed, thwarting attempts to determine the precise cause of death.
The spy agencies also failed to hand over nine thumb drives found in Williams’ locker at work. The drives were released to investigators only this week. Other electronic equipment that Williams used at work was handed over to Scotland Yard investigators four days after Williams’ body was discovered, raising questions about whether they had been cleaned by the spy agencies first.
Family and friends testified that Williams was unhappy with his work environment at MI6 and felt he didn’t fit in with his colleagues. During the inquest, testimony revealed that the coder had conducted unauthorized searches of an MI6 database that could have put him at risk if he was discovered. Investigators said, however, that MI6 was apparently unaware that Williams had conducted the searches.
A coroner said at the inquest that while it appeared unlikely that British spy agencies played a role in the coder’s death, it was still a “legitimate line of inquiry” for the investigation.
Investigators found no fingerprints or any other evidence indicating someone had been with Williams the night he died, or that anyone beyond his family had ever been in his apartment. Investigators said at the inquest that small traces of incomplete DNA had been found on the tiny padlock that had been used to close the bag in which Williams’ body was stuffed. The only other DNA evidence found in the apartment that didn’t belong to Williams or his family was found on a green hand towel in the kitchen.
Authorities plan to take DNA evidence from 50 colleagues who worked with Williams at MI6 to determine if there is a match.
Source: wired.com”
“PRUDEN: Would the government lie to you? By Wesley Pruden .. The Washington Times Tuesday, June 11, 2013 … President Obama insists that nobody at the National Security Agency is listening to anybody’s telephone calls. That may be true. Not unless they have to listen, anyway. But “aggregated metadata,” collected and analyzed by computer technology, is more revealing than content. Two NSA whistleblowers, J. Kirk Wiebe and Billy Binney, told Megyn Kelly of Fox News how it works. When the government’s computers collect information “about you that includes locations, bank transactions, credit card transactions, travel plans, EZ Pass on and off tollways; all of that can be time-lined. To track you day to day to the point where people can get insight into your intentions and what you’re going to do next.””
David W. Ogden, Another Anti-Family Obama Appointment
President Barrack Obama is at it again. This time, instead of appointing someone who evades paying taxes, his nominee for Deputy Attorney General, David W. Ogden evades moral judgment.
Ogden, a former top aide to Attorney General Janet Reno [reporting to Deuty AG Jamie Gorelick] from the Clinton era, has worked tirelessly to undermine the heart and soul of the family. Ogden has litigated on behalf of anti-life powerhouse Planned Parenthood and top pornography giants, Penthouse and Playboy; supporting the exploitation of women and children in the process. With his inherent anti-family background, it is imperative that we try to stop the Obama nomination train from coming down the track.
Deputy Attorney General Influences Laws and Policy
Taken directly from the U.S. Department of Justice’s website, the Deputy Attorney General holds a vast amount of power and authority:
“The Deputy Attorney General advises and assists the Attorney General in formulating and implementing Departmental policies and programs and in providing overall supervision and direction to all organizational units of the Department. The Deputy Attorney General is authorized to exercise all the power and authority of the Attorney General, except where such power or authority is prohibited by law from delegation or has been delegated to another official. In the absence of the Attorney General, the Deputy Attorney General acts as the Attorney General.”
Being nominated to the position of second command of the Department of Justice means David W. Ogden will not only control the day-to-day operations of the agency, his influence will be felt in policy and rulemaking throughout the agency.
Through review of Ogden’s own written legal briefs, it is clear he has an agenda that opposes parental rights, favors abortion on demand, homosexual rights, and supports the pornography industry over children. Ogden also uses international law to override U.S. policies and believes strongly in a “compassionate and living” interpretation of the U.S. constitution.”
“Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Deputy Attorney General David W. Ogden Announces Francey Hakes as National Coordinator for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction
The Department of Justice has appointed Francey Hakes to serve as the National Coordinator for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction. The position, working out of the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, was created by Congress in the Protect Our Children Act of 2008.
"I am thrilled to announce Francey in this important position at the Department of Justice," said Deputy Attorney General Ogden. "The national coordinator will play a crucial role in combating child exploitation around the country, and I am certain that Francey will do an outstanding job."
The national coordinator is charged with formulating and implementing a national strategy to combat child exploitation, and with submitting the strategy and relevant reports to Congress. This effort has been underway at the Justice Department since the legislation was enacted. As the national coordinator, Hakes will serve as the department’s liaison with all federal agencies regarding the development and implementation of the national strategy, work to ensure proper coordination among agencies involved in child exploitation prevention and interdiction, and communicate with Congress on issues relating to the national strategy.
Hakes is currently an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Northern District of Georgia. She joined the U.S. Attorney’s office in 2002, after having served as an Assistant District Attorney in Georgia for six years. Over the last 13 years, Hakes has focused on child exploitation offenses, and has worked with international, federal, state and local law enforcement as well as victim’s groups to prosecute offenders and protect children.”
“Children in Conflict: Child Soldiers
Over the last ten years, two million children have been killed in conflict. Over one million have been orphaned, over six million have been seriously injured or permanently disabled and over ten million have been left with serious psychological trauma.
War affects every aspect of a child's development. Children affected by armed conflict can be injured or killed, uprooted from their homes and communities, internally displaced or refugees, orphaned or separated from their parents and families, subjected to sexual abuse and exploitation, victims of trauma as a result of being exposed to violence, deprived of education and recreation, at risk of becoming child soldiers. It is highly probable that children living in conflict areas will be deprived of basic needs such as shelter, food and medical attention. In addition, relief for children tends to be the last priority in war, resulting in insufficient or no protection for minors. Besides, children are, due to their physical constitution and growth, most vulnerable to being deprived of food, medical assistance and education, which has a severe and lasting impact on their development.
Since 1998 there have been armed conflicts involving child soldiers in at least 36 countries. However, the traumatic scars left on children are just one of a vast aftermath of post war problems: refugees, food shortages and mourning for lost relatives. Former Child Soldiers may at best have their needs forgotten and at worst be blamed by their communities for what happened.
Children from poor and disadvantaged families who are seeking physical support, revenge for their losses or the sense of belonging are particularly vulnerable to exploitation during conflict. Other children are kidnapped and forced to become fighters. It is estimated that over the last 15 years 10,000 children have been abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) around Gulu in northern Uganda, alone. Children are deliberately targeted as they are manipulated more easily than adults and can be indoctrinated to perform crimes and atrocities without asking questions.
As you would expect, SOS Children works in many countries to help Child Soldiers and other children scarred by conflict. As well as our current focus projects for Ugandan Child Soldiers and children in Palestine, we are working around the world with children whose lives will never be the same. Other current child soldier projects include rehabilitation of child soldiers in Sudan where SOS is providing counselling, family-tracing, education and support for former child soldiers.
We are also able to look back from long experience at the issue of child soldiers. Ten years after the massacre in Rwanda, we are working to rebuild lives. Nine members of our community were murdered in the genocide there. Another, who was forced to became a child soldier and join the conflict, only to lose a leg to a land-mine, is interviewed on our Rwanda page.
“War violates every right of a child – the right to life, the right to be with family and nurtured and respected”, (Grace Machel, UN, 1996).”
Happy Googling
Links:
PresidentialField Mandate
Abel Danger Blog
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