{EOB}Hackers break into US Senate computers

Senate security office acknowledges hack.

REPORT | XLI CODEWASHINGTON:The US Senate’s website was hacked over the weekend, leading to a review of all of its websites, in the latest embarrassing breach of security to hit a major US-based institution.

The loosely organized hacker group Lulz Security broke into a public portion of the Senate website but did not reach behind a firewall into a more sensitive portion of the network, Martina Bradford, the deputy Senate sergeant at arms, said on Monday.Despite the breach, the Sergeant at Arms Office, which provides security for the Senate, said that the breach had not compromised any individual senator’s information.

Lulz announced the hack on Monday.

“We were responding to their allegations. Basically what we’re saying that the server they got into is for public access and is in the public side,” said Bradford.

Lulz Security, who have hacked into Sony’s website and the US Public Broadcasting System, posted online a list of files that appear not to be sensitive but indicate the hackers had been into the Senate’s computer network.

“We don’t like the US government very much,” Lulz Security said at the top of their release. “This is a small, just-for-kicks release of some internal data from Senate.gov – is this an act of war, gentlemen? Problem?”

The comment refers to reports that the US military had decided that it could respond to cyber attacks from foreign countries with traditional military force.

Senate staffers were alerted about the breach late Monday.

“Although this intrusion is inconvenient, it does not compromise the security of the Senate’s network, its members or staff,” Bradford said in a statement. “Specifically, there is no individual user account information on the server supporting senate.gov that could have been compromised.”

“The hackers may have done the equivalent of burglarizing the Senate and bragging because they managed to steal a bunch of souvenirs from the gift shop,” said Stewart Baker, a former cyber official at the Department of Homeland Security. He is now with the law firm Steptoe and Johnson.

‘Especially embarrassing’

The Senate has been the frequent target of hacking attacks, with tens of thousands thwarted each month, Senate Sergeant at Arms Terrance Gainer told Reuters in early June.

Still, the break-in is just the latest in a series of embarrassing hacks against companies and organizations. The International Monetary Fund has been hit, as have Lockheed Martin Corp, Citigroup Inc, Google and Michaels Stores.

The break-in would cause embarrassment at the Senate, said John Bumgarner of the US Cyber Consequences Unit, a think tank.

“They’re all valid directories,” he said after looking at data that Lulz posted online. “This is an especially embarrassing incident for the US Senate, because they are often asking others to explain why their cybersecurity programs have failed.”

“The information disclosed online … shows that the intruders had administrator-level access to the Senate server. This access could have potentially been used as a jump-off point to compromise other systems in the network,” he said.

Lulz, which is Internet slang for ‘laugh out loud,’ has claimed hacks into websites owned by Sony Corp. It has also claimed responsibility for defacing the US Public Broadcasting Service network websites, and for posting on Monday data from PBS servers to protest a “Front Line” documentary about WikiLeaks.

Lulz claimed credit for breaking into a Fox.com website and publishing data about contestants for the upcoming Fox TV talent show, “X Factor.” Fox is a unit of News Corp.

Another loosely affiliated hacking group, Anonymous, gained prominence when it temporarily crippled the websites of MasterCard, Visa and PayPal after they cut off financial services to WikiLeaks.

It has also attacked websites in Syria, Tunisia, Egypt and India for political reasons.

{EOB}Israhell legalizing drugs

WRITER | Enticing Fury
A special committee has been tasked with studying the prospect of legalizing 'soft drugs' in Israhell as traditional methods of fighting drugs continue to fail. Following a major rise in the number of drug addicts amongst the Israhelli population, several members of the Israhelli Parliament (Knesset) have called for the formation of a special anti-drug committee to consider legalizing the possession and use of soft narcotics. They have described the existing anti-drugs mechanisms in Israhell as ineffective and obsolete.

Knesset members argue that the traditional policies employed in the fight against drugs have not only failed to reduce drug consumption but also led to an alarming rise in organized crime. They have also asked for the committee to make an assessment into the position of soft drugs in society compared to cigarettes and alcohol. Many advocates of drug legalization argue that the prohibition of drugs is the backbone of organized crime and drug trafficking. They argue that taxing soft drugs would pay for public education on the issue of drug use.

{EOB}Pakistan arrests 5 CIA informant spies in OBL Circus

WRITER | Enticing Fury

Five CIA informants, who fed information to the USZ spy agency in the months leading up to the raid that led to the Osama Bin Laden Circus in which he was "killed" for the 8th time in the last 10 years, have been arrested by Pakistani security forces, The New York Times reported Wednesday. The Times cited the arrests as further evidence of the troubled nature of the USZ-Pakistan relationship in the struggle against terrorism. Tensions have increased since the bin Laden hoax which was shamelessly carried out by USZ on the basis of sheer lies. USZ drone strikes on the so called "militants" hideouts which have butchered hundreds of women and innocent children have been another area of friction, with a strong degree of public opposition in Pakistan.Husain Haqqani, Pakistan’s stooge CIA appointed ambassador to the United States of Zionism, told The New York Times that the CIA and the ISI “are working out mutually agreeable terms for their cooperation in fighting the menace of terrorism. It is not appropriate for us to get into the details at this stage”, a statement quite similar to that issued by American State Department a few days ago.

The fate of the CIA informants arrested in Pakistan is unclear, the Times said, but it cited American officials as saying that the CIA director, Leon Panetta, raised the issue when he travelled to Islamabad last week to meet with Pakistani military and intelligence officers. At a closed briefing last week, members of the Senate Intelligence Committee asked Michael Morell, the deputy CIA director, to rate Pakistan’s cooperation with the United States of Zionism on counterterrorism operations, on a scale of 1 to 10, according to the Times. “Three,” Morell replied, the paper said, citing officials familiar with the exchange. However, American officials cautioned that Morell’s comments about Pakistani support was a snapshot of the current relationship, and did not represent the administration’s overall assessment.

“We have a strong relationship with our Pakistani counterparts and work through issues when they arise”, said Marie Harf, a CIA spokeswoman. “Director Panetta had productive meetings last week in Islamabad. It’s a crucial partnership, and we will continue to work together in the fight against Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups who threaten our country and theirs.” The CIA spokeswoman however took absolutely no notice of the fact that CIA itself is supporting Al-CIA-Da in Libya whereas in the rest of the world Al-CIA-Da is its "number one enemy" as per America's trademark hypocrisy. "Some in Washington see the arrests as illustrative of the disconnect between Pakistani and American priorities at a time when they are supposed to be allies in the fight against Al Qaeda — instead of hunting down the support network that allowed bin Laden to live comfortably for years, the Pakistani authorities are arresting those who assisted in the raid that killed the world’s most wanted man", the dispatch said.

The dispatch didn't, however, answer the basic questions regarding why was Osama Bin Laden killed for the 8th time in the last 10 years? Is killing a man once in 2001 as per Madeline Albright, Benazir Bhutto and dozens of other high profile people in the recent history, not enough? Where are the pictures of the dead body which are not photoshopped? Where is the video of the dead body? But it's silly to raise basic questions in front of a society which is standing on the basis of lies and deception itself and whose capital itself is a remarkable specimen of Illuminati occult symbolism; The United States of Zionism.

{EOB}Psychological War Against Pakistan's Nukes

WRITER | Brig. (R) Asif Haroon Raja

Our suspicions about ill-designs of USA and its strategic allies Israel and India concerning Pakistan’s nuclear program are now turning into reality. President Ahmadinejad’s recent statement that USA has evil designs against our nuclear program has further heightened our anxieties. Psychological war on our nuclear program was ignited by US government and Jewish controlled think tanks and media sometime in 2004 and became more and more vicious with each passing year. Pakistan ’s nuclear program was made to look unsafe after overplaying threat of terrorism, which was also inflamed by USA and its allies by invading and occupying Afghanistan and then deliberately pushing terrorism into Pakistan .

While launching of military operations by the Army in Waziristan at the behest of USA led to emergence of Pakistani Taliban, two drone attacks in Bajaur Agency in 2006 instilled hatred against the Army particularly when October strike on a seminary killing 80 students was wrongly owned by the Army. Brutal military action against inmates of Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafza in July 2007 triggered recruitment of young Taliban. It also ignited spate of suicide bombings in cities. Thereon, it became easy for the senior members of TTP to motivate young boys aged 12-16 years to become suicide bombers.

Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) established in December 2007 under deceased Baitullah Mehsud, which has its tentacles in all seven tribal agencies as well as in settled areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Swat, Malakand, South Punjab, Pashtun belt of Balochistan and its long arm can reach any part of Pakistan is of chief concern for Pakistan but of no concern to USA. Several foreign agencies are providing massive funds, weapons, equipment, explosives, training facilities, guidance and manpower reinforcements from Afghan soil to TTP since they desire this force to possibly defeat or as a minimum contain bulk of Army.

But for foreign support in huge quantities, it would not have been possible for the TTP to rebound after its backbone had been broken in the two decisive battles of Bajaur and South Waziristan in 2009. Footprints of foreign hands were clearly seen in all the regions that were recaptured from the militants. In the Bajaur battle which raged from July 2008 till February 2009, large number of Tajik and Uzbek fighters used to supplement Maulana Faqir’s force. Even now Afghans are involved in Mohmand Agency and in Dir. Once the main bases of militants were dismantled and its leaders sought refuge in Afghanistan , the conspirators then shifted terrorism to major cities. This was made possible after the induction of Blackwater in 2008. Several security companies like Dyncorps cropped up in capital cities. Dozens of militant groups affiliated with TTP and al-Qaeda and linked with Blackwater are wreaking havoc in cities.

While the people have not come out of the shock of two attacks in May, the foreign and local media is adding to their apprehensions by floating rumor balloons of despondency and trying to undermine the capabilities of armed forces. An impression is being created that the military is incapable of safeguarding our vital interests. Great majority in Pakistan distrusts USA and suspect that it will again strike Pakistan to denuclearize it. They are not convinced with John Kerry assurances that the US is not interested in Pak nukes particularly after NATO Secretary General’s statement that it is the collective responsibility of international community to secure nuclear assets of Pakistan.

Despite multi-layered system of security evolved by Pakistan which is second to none, doubts are still being aired by vested interests that Pakistan ’s nuclear program is unsafe and needs to be secured before they fall into wrong hands. Although our leaders are claiming that no harm can befall upon our strategic assets, in my humble view the threat is of different nature about which our policy makers have given no thought. Their eyes are fixed on local terrorists about whom the US is repeatedly ringing alarm bells.

The biggest threat is not from US or Indo-Israeli direct assault, or from local terrorists who are anti-American, but from foreign backed terrorists trained to undertake special operations, like the ones against GHQ and Mehran Base. Another possible dangerous threat is from pro-American elements or sympathizers of foreign sponsored terrorists working inside nuclear setups who may be bribed to steal fissile material and fuses and pass them on to wrong people. One must not forget that CIA had been able to buy the loyalties of several scientists working in a nuclear plant in 1990s. Brig Imtiaz working in ISI had busted the band on the payroll of CIA, after he accidentally found out from a girl ditched by one of the scientists belonging to this group.

I am certain that the heavy CIA network established in Pakistan since 2010 must be continuing with its efforts to cultivate scientists, officials and security guards employed in sensitive organizations. The theme of nukes falling in hands of religious extremists was purposely floated to provide smoke screen to its own covert actions. USA , Israel and India are the actual thieves bent upon stealing or destroying our nukes. Varieties of contingencies have been prepared to destroy, steal or overpower the arsenal. The noose has been sufficiently tightened and the thieves have prowled closer to the intended sites and believably have stealthily encircled them.

After performing the gory act, irrespective of marginal success or complete failure, red alert will be sounded and the whole blame put on al-Qaeda/affiliated groups. The UN and the world will be ready to accept US contention since the latter has already poisoned the minds of world power centers. Our rulers too would promptly blame local militant groups. The UN will then come into action and will seek immediate closure of our nuclear program and demand transfer of all the nukes along with fissile material to safer location outside Pakistan .

With regard to the last option of destruction by drones and bombers, or physical occupation by US Special Forces, complete homework has been done. The only thing left is to decide the date and time. In my reckoning, this reckless option may coincide with final phase of withdrawal of forces from Afghanistan . God forbid, if our adversaries succeed in their evil designs, that will be day of mourning for Pakistan and a day of rejoicing for USA, western world, Israel and India.

Pakistan Army managed to get out of the deathtrap laid by its adversaries in Swat and South Waziristan . USA has now prepared another deadly deathtrap in North Waziristan and is once again trying to lure in Pak Army with a hope that this time it will get trapped. It is only when major portion of our combat divisions get embroiled in the war in northwest that India will make its Cold Start doctrine operational on the weakened eastern front. 5/2 and 5/22 incidents have already helped our adversaries in creating despondency, in discrediting armed forces and intelligence agencies and in spoiling civil-armed forces relations. Economically, Pakistan has become dependent upon IMF and US aid. Politically it is polarized and dysfunctional. Socially the society stands divided. Pakistan has been brought to this abysmal situation under an orchestrated program to make it helpless.

While I pray that our security forces are able to thwart hostile attempts made on our nuclear arsenal and delivery means and are able to safeguard the frontiers against foreign aggression under such insalubrious environments, what I am worried is that we have still not identified our foes and taken preventive measures. Unless we guard against the designs of our foes pretending to be friends, we will not be able to confront the worst threat which is looming over Pakistan’s horizons.

The writer is a retired Brigadier of the Pakistan Army and a defence analyst

{EOB}Indian RAW's Technical Wing Nabbed For Scam Worth Rs. 450 Crores In Purchase Of Israeli Drones

The comptroller and auditor general has unearthed a Rs 450-crore scam involving the purchase of Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles by the Hyderabad-based National Technical Research Organisation, a technical arm of the external intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing.

In the first-ever audit of any intelligence agency in India, it was found that these UAVs were lying as junk. The CAG said that this was a major concern of accountability.

 

Efforts were mounted to prevent the probe sought by the CAG on the basis of a complaint from a whistle-blower, but Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh allowed the inquiry overruling all objections. He felt such a serious charge on an agency providing technical intelligence capabilities to the country with a huge budget to fight cyber piracy is too serious to be overlooked, said insiders. 

The CAG submitted its report to the government in the second week of February, marking it as "top secret" since its release in the public domain can blow off the secrecy of the NTRO's operations. The research body was set up in 2004, primarily for the strategic monitoring of satellite, terrestrial and Internet communications.

The government decided to keep the report under wraps and did not table it the Parliament, accepting the CAG's "top secret" label, but the Prime Minister's Office has now ordered an internal inquiry into the 2007 purchase.

The budget and expenditures incurred by intelligence agencies are treated as sacrosanct, as they are not allowed scrutiny by the CAG or even Parliament. But such a scandal has made Dr Singh think of making them accountable, sources in the said. The next meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security may take a view on subjecting all intelligence agencies to CAG scrutiny.

The CCS had sanctioned Rs 300 crore in 2007 for the purchase of UAVs from Israel Aerospace Industries. NTRO, however, purchased additional satellite link and electronic intelligence equipment worth Rs 150 crore from the company without keeping the CCS in the loop.

The then NTRO chief tweaked the rules that empowered him to spend up to Rs 20 crore without clearance from the CCS by paying the additional Rs 150 crores in several smaller installments to show he was not overstepping his financial powers.

The then national security adviser M K Narayanan, who is now the West Bengal governor, had tried to scuttle the inquiry the CAG wanted to carry out in December 2009 on the complaint by a whistle-blower. Narayanan pointed out that intelligence agencies were not brought under the scanner to maintain secrecy. The NTRO reports directly to the NSA and the R&AW chief, and hence Narayanan's refusal of permission meant a dead end.

The CAG, however, felt the tip-off was too serious to be ignored and hence approached the prime minister who overruled Narayanan's objections and allowed the CAG sleuths to get cracking in January last year. NTRO chairman KVSS Prasada Rao, a scientist who retired last October, and its current adviser M S Vijayaraghavan, have been indicted in the CAG report. Rao had also served in the space department and the Defence Research and Development Organisation earlier.

As part of the inquiry ordered by the PMO, some major generals who were on deputation to the NTRO, as also some senior finance officials involved in the deal, are being questioned. Once this internal inquiry is over, the government may hand over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation, sources said.

The CAG has noted that the UAVs are lying grounded as the satellite link purchased was not meant for dedicated transmission and the military personnel in the NTRO objected to launching them, as it would allow any person to download sensitive data.  

The decision by the NTRO top brass not to include the satellite link and electronic intelligence equipment in the proposal put before the CCS is itself intriguing as without them the UAVs could be nothing more than electronic-controlled toy aircraft.

The CAG has faulted NTRO officials engaged in the dubious purchase for taking the Israeli vendor on his word that the "satellite link was successfully tested in Australia.

Source: Rediff

{EOB}Mossad Agent Captured In Egypt Was Involved In Pipeline Blast

The Egyptian authorities and the state news agency revealed on Sunday June 12 2011 that they have arrested Ilan Chaim Grappelli/Grapel, (אילן גרפל ), known in Israel as Ilan Goren (אילן גורן), an American-Israeli Mossad agent, a war criminal who participated in the atrocities of the Lebanon “second war” in 2006, and a former paratrooper soldier who had infiltrated the Egyptian revolutionists and was causing trouble, spying on the military and the revolutionaries, photographing people and reporting to the Mossad, distributing money to some Egyptians and recruiting them in order to cause chaos, to steal and to sabotage public infrastructure in the country.

Grappelli had also been organizing a series of protest movements and preparing them to disobey orders of the military authorities after the overthrow of  President Hosni Mubarak.

According to Egyptian authorities, judge Hesham Badawi of the supreme state security prosecution ordered the detention of the israeli spy for 15 days for pending investigations into his alleged spying on Egypt with the aim of sabotaging and harming its economic and political interests. The israeli mossad spy was arrested at a famous hotel in Cairo with a laptop and three mobile phones.

According to the Egyptian intelligence services, Grappelli, the Mossad officer appeared in Egypt shortly before the start of the January 25 uprising, he entered the country with forged Visa and he was among the first elements that existed in Tahrir Square, and he was photographed and his movements followed closely after he had raised suspicions. He visited several regions in Egypt, including North of Sinai, He monitored gas pipelines, the relationship between the Egyptians and the Palestinians. The spy introduced himself to the resistance at Al-Tahrir Square as a “foreign correspondent” supposedly covering the anti-government protests in Cairo. The movements and phone calls of the spy were monitored and filmed in Egypt before his arrest.

Several images of the spy were released by the Egyptian authorities, showing that he had appeared in various places throughout Egypt. In some images is seen raising signs among the demonstrators, in another one he appears at the jewish synagogue, and in others he is seen around areas affected by violence and troubles.

The Egyptian intelligence service was able to track the messages and contacts of the mossad agent with the Israeli government and to some western countries and the USA. The monitoring process confirmed the suspicions about the seditious role which the spy and his backers played in creating chaos in Egypt in an attempt at pre-empting the revolution of the twenty-fifth of January, by way of fomenting sectarian violence between the Egyptians.

Information gathered by the Egyptian intelligence service confirmed that the Israeli spy belonged to the Israeli military and that he had been injured during the Lebanon war of 2006.

According to intelligence sources, Goren/Grapel/Grappelli had participated in the perpetration heinous massacres, war crimes against Lebanese villagers in southern Lebanon. They also published some of his pictures with military uniform during the second Lebanon war.

The Mossad spy admitted that he was assigned to a variety of roles in Egypt in order to generate trouble and that he had paid money to some elements in Egypt so that they would assist him in the implementation of the plan, which was about causing strife and chaos in the country and repeating rumors that would prevent the stabilization of the situation in Egypt. He also admitted that he had paid some elements for the dissemination of rumors and for exploding the pipeline which provides Israel and Jordan with gas.

Egyptian sources pointed out that the confessions of the this Mossad operative will reveal amazing facts about some of the horrible incidents which took place during the last months, especially during the outbreak of the people’s 'revolution' and 'liberation' of Egypt.

It should be noted that previously, three alleged Mossad espionage cells were dismantled in Lebanon and Syria and that Israel has a history of implanting Mossad cells all over western and Arab countries and that there are no doubts that it is behind many horrible crimes such as assassinations of politicians, theft, smuggling of drugs, jewelry, diamonds, weapons, organ trafficking etc., all perpetrated for the advantage of Israel and other Zionist interests. Simply said, Israel is a big threat for security of all people and countries of the world.

The US State Department issued a statement on Sunday reacting to Grapelli’s detention, saying that their Embassy in Cairo “is providing Grapel with the necessary help which provided to all US citizens arrested overseas”. The statement pointed that consular officers visited Gabrel and that the embassy will be in contact with the Egyptian authorities to ensure that he is “being treated fairly under local law”.