Obama Orders US to Draw Up Overseas Target List for Cyber-Attacks

[Hissyspit]

Source: Guardian (UK) / Glenn Greenwald and Ewen McAskill

Obama orders US to draw up overseas target list for cyber-attacks

Exclusive: Top-secret directive steps up offensive cyber capabilities to 'advance US objectives around the world'

• Read the secret presidential directive here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2013/jun/07/obama-cyber-directive-full-text

Glenn Greenwald and Ewen MacAskill
guardian.co.uk, Friday 7 June 2013 15.06 EDT

Barack Obama has ordered his senior national security and intelligence officials to draw up a list of potential overseas targets for US cyber-attacks, a top secret presidential directive obtained by the Guardian reveals.

The 18-page Presidential Policy Directive 20, issued in October last year but never published, states that what it calls Offensive Cyber Effects Operations (OCEO) "can offer unique and unconventional capabilities to advance US national objectives around the world with little or no warning to the adversary or target and with potential effects ranging from subtle to severely damaging".

- snip -

The directive also contemplates the possible use of cyber actions inside the US, though it specifies that no such domestic operations can be conducted without the prior order of the president, except in cases of emergency.

The aim of the document was "to put in place tools and a framework to enable government to make decisions" on cyber actions, a senior administration official told the Guardian.

The administration published some declassified talking points from the directive in January 2013, but those did not mention the stepping up of America's offensive capability and the drawing up of a target list.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/07/obama-china-targets-cyber-overseas

[geek tragedy]

1. Somehow I am less than horrified and even less surprised.

The US tries to hack into the computer networks of other countries?

That's almost like spying.

[shawn703]

2. So now leaks will be to the foreign press

Rather than to the American press? I wonder if that was an unintended consequence.

[lamp_shade]

3. Greenwald.

[Iliyah]

7. Thanks Greenwald

again you have let the world know what the US government is doing (although I think they already knew). Now just give the world all the codes, names of all the spies and their cover, inside and outside of the US. Much appreciated, yours truly.

[OKNancy]

4. good. the US needs to be prepared. Sounds like something Richard Clarke

suggested some time back.
Plus it says "draw up". Like so many other outrages that have come and gone on DU, this might be just a contingency.

[karynnj]

12. Yeah - and notice how they dropped the word "potential" before targets

There really should be a serious national discussion on all these issues - balancing privacy and security, spying on Americans - and overseas, and tools like drones. This is not best done by a series of leaks that assume the worst possible motives.

Some things might be better accepted if explained, while others may be unacceptable and people may have to lobby to stop them. An example of what might be acceptable is that the US government has apparently collected telephone records for years. The information on these records show who called and the time and duration - this is not taping the call. This actually is a pretty valuable database, but if there are strict rules on it being used just for investigations of known criminals, this is not really new. Crime shows decades ago often had the prosecutor get the phone records of various suspects. The big difference - a warrant was needed. (Could a solution here be that the government needs something like a warrant to pull information on someone?)

Using the warrant example, which I think was not controversial, the fact that it identifies all the people who call or were called by the suspect means that using the data to be able to map out who connected with the suspect and then connected with each other to get circles of people to investigate is not new. What is slightly different is that the computer can pull this together in seconds and the data is already archived.

A major question is who is (are) leaking all of this now - and why the sudden group of leaks? Are there people unhappy with changes in the Obama administration or are these things they had a problem with but did not want to help the Republicans win? It does seem weird.

[Hestia]

5. Pirate Bay? Anonymous?

Let me guess - a large, far sweeping "metadata" of the internet tubes in those countries. Somebody is really pissed now...

[geek tragedy]

8. No, just hacking into government systems in China and Iran, other such places.

Exactly the kind of stuff everyone expects our spy agencies to be doing.

[JDPriestly]

6. Re: Domestic cyberattacks.

Your government of the people, by the people and for the people at work.

I hope we will be told in advance what we can and cannot say or do.

Oh, and I almost forgot. I hope "our" "representative" government will tell us what we can and cannot know.

I hope they will let us know whenever they decide to hide the embarrassing stuff from us.

This could mean total information control or it could mean just preventing foreign spies from gathering our real defense secrets. Very hard to say.

This is promising.

The official added: "As a citizen, you expect your government to plan for scenarios. We're very interested in having a discussion with our international partners about what the appropriate boundaries are."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/07/obama-china-targets-cyber-overseas

I hope the appropriate boundaries will be set and respected by all countries even domestically. If this is to prevent foreign countries from spying on us, then that is good.

If this will make it easier for our government and other governments to spy on individual citizens, then it is bad.

[MikefromMass]

9. Is anyone else a bit concerned...

That top secret information is getting to the public at an alarming rate?

[geek tragedy]

11. This one seems like a leak designed to hurt the President in advance of

his negotiations with China.

Not really whistleblowing.

Fundamentally different than the FISA warrant and PRISM leaks, which doubtlessly were whistle-blowing.

[Alamuti Lotus]

13. More concered about the contents of that aforementioned information, personally

The fact that it's getting out means there's still a small handful of men (and women) of conscience in this aggressively burgeoning surveillance state.

[karynnj]

14. Yes - and I'm wondering why

Are these idealistic Democrats in the administration leaking to try to end practices, who waited until after the election? Is there some disgruntled former administration person who was high enough to know all of this? It is curious.

[usGovOwesUs3Trillion]

10. They don't have a problem killing people via the www

Last edited Fri Jun 7, 2013, 08:14 PM - Edit history (1)

e.g. drones, not to mention, spying on everyone, I doubt there will be any qualms in regards to this... except when other countries start doing the same (especially the drones).

[dipsydoodle]

15. Odd timing

given he's about to meet the Chinese President. Maybe its ok for all countries to it.

[OKNancy]

16. anyone actually read the directive

which is obvious Obama didn't write himself....

I'm not far along, but I did a screen cap of two parts:

[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

and this which is interesting

[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

[Iliyah]

17. Yep and so has other countries.

These documents basically are open to whomever want to view them, maybe thats why Pres O is meeting with China today in California, plus China and other countries have hackers and so do we, nothing new.

What I find puzzling is that the major internet news organizations are not covering this particular article. Now there is a conspiracy theory of one out of thousands that thinks that the leaks are indeed from the administration BECAUSE, seriously, they want the American public to know and hopefully get the public to scream loudly to congress to change and/or repeal the Patriot Act.

Then you have Rand Paul submitting a bill that requires a warrant to obtain telephone information, which to my understanding there is already one since recent changes were made that was approved by Congress and Paul knows that.

[BenzoDia]

18. Not feeling the outrage.

[geek tragedy]

19. No one is. Greenwald himself didn't bother to denounce it. nt

[rug]

20. That can be put in the drawer next to the list of drone targets.