An article in the mailinglist ukcrypto, suggests there is a link between this interception capacity and the pressure for data recovery. That thought is also suggested in a Swedish newspaper; "Storebror vill avlyssna", Dagen Nyheter, 9 Jan 1997
This is also in expressed in a Congressional record, July 15, 1998 
"  Mr. Craig;  ... Export restrictions on encryption products assist the Intelligence Community in its signals intelligence mission. By collecting and analyzing signals intelligence, U.S. intelligence agencies seek to understand the policies, intentions, and plans of foreign state"

• This Current report,is titled; "Code Word, Thoughts on G-Mail

  • Echelon, World Spy Network Exposed "It can intercept two billion phone calls per day, along with faxes and e-mails and other electronic communications

    • The report, dated, 6 January 1998, is titled; "An Appraisal of Technologies of Political Control" and has been sent to the European parliament 'Civil Liberties and Interior Committee.' The report was written by Steve Wright, an analyst with the Omega Foundation, a British human rights organization, based in Manchester, on behalf of a research unit of the European Parliament department for 'Scientific and Technological Option Assessment (STOA). No web page could be found for Omega Foundation.

    Country	Echelon members official web pages	Related web pages
    USA	NSA - National Security Agency	More info and even more info
    England	GCHQ - Government Communications Head Quarters	More Info and even more info
    Canada	CSE - Communications Security Establishment	More info
    Australian	DSD - Defense Signals Directorate
    New Zealand	GCSB - Government Communications Security Bureau	No Web-information found

     

    Historical milestones

    Year	Alliances and succsessfully placed backdoors.
    1943	BRUSA, BRitain - USA alliance is formed
    1947	UKUSA, United Kingdom - USA alliance is formed
    1957	Crypto AG, backdoor in chipher equipment
    1988	The first time Echelon is mentioned in printing.
    1996	Lotus Notes, backdoor in software for international users.
    1998	European parliment receives report on Echelon
    After 1998	Data Recovery, backdoor in all US-exported software

    ---

    Web-articles in chronological order

    • Listening In, Jason Vest, Village Voice, August 11, 1998
      "Indeed, a soon-to-be finalized European Parliament report on ECHELON has created quite a stir on the other side of the Atlantic. The report's revelations are so serious that it strongly recommends an intensive investigation of NSA operations."
      [This is the first reference i have found that indicates a reaction from EU. I have requested for more detail from  editor@villagevoice.com   /Laszlo]

    • Congress needs to act on encryption legislation, Congressional record, July 15, 1998
      "Mr. Craig. " ...We must create legislation that addresses consumer demand for encrypted products while also meeting the needs of law enforcementlegislation that fosters a global marketplace dominated by U.S. encryption products. Those products, of course, will be a great benefit to our national security."
      Mr. Shelby.  ... Export controls on encryption and on other products serve a clearly defined purpose to protect our nation's security. The Intelligence Committee believes that the effects on U.S. national security must be the paramount concern when considering any proposed change to encryption export policy, ... Export restrictions on encryption products assist the Intelligence Community in its signals intelligence mission. By collecting and analyzing signals intelligence, U.S. intelligence agencies seek to understand the policies, intentions, and plans of foreign state and nonstate actors. Signals intelligence plays an important role in the formation of American foreign and defense policy. ... "

    • Echelon: Americas spy in the sky   First published in US Journal, page 34, June 5, 1998
      "But European diplomats are tearing the shroud of secrecy, tired of snooping by the US on their citizens. The use of ECHELON against European citizens was a central topic in a European Parliament STOA report published this past January, “Technologies of Political Control,” which confirmed a decades worth of reports by several determined journalists about global spying by the NSA. ...
      Now you may wonder how it is that the NSA can conduct spying within US borders in violation of its charter barring domestic surveillance. This is where UKUSA works to their advantage. The two primary listening stations at Sugar Grove, West Virginia and Yakima, Washington are manned by “on loan” intelligence officials from the one of the cooperating agencies. If they uncover information regarding a US citizen, they walk across the hall and give the information to the NSA liaison officer, effectively circumventing the domestic surveillance prohibition. ...
      Much of the recent press coverage has focused on the growing European outrage at the use of ECHELON and the British participation in the UKUSA intelligence arrangement.  "
    • Spy Station F83, The Sunday Times (UK) Internet Edition, May 31, 1998
      "Last week Wölfgang Zeitlmann, chairman of the German parliament's commission overseeing its intelligence services, went on the offensive. "It is known that the Americans have spied [on us] in the past. We have caught them at it. The issue is: were these just isolated cases or are they part of a wider strategy by the American government," he demanded. "It is important that both the British and the German governments pursue this matter with the Americans as soon as possible." Unease is also evident in France. "What is Great Britain, as a member of the European Union, doing participating in a programme which since the end of the cold war has concentrated on spying on her European partners on behalf of the United States?" asked David Nataf, a French lawyer for a body representing French defence, aerospace and telecommunications companies. ... In Italy, Franco Frattini, head of the parliamentary committee for information and security services, has demanded an explanation of Menwith Hill's activities from Romano Prodi, the prime minister. "
    • DoD News Briefing, Tuesday, April 21, 1998, Captain Mike Doubleday, DASD (PA)
      "Captain Doubleday: Welcome to the briefing. I have no announcements, so let me try and answer some questions.
      [Big snip, Last question..]
      Q: Can you comment about a report recently to the European parliament concerning the development these last years of U.S. and British eavesdropping system called Echelon.
      A: I'm sorry to say I have absolutely nothing on that.
      Press: Thank you."
      [To verify the text, subscribe to; PERISCOPE's USNI Military Database]
    • [no title found] The Independent, Saturday, 11 April 1998 [search for a direct link to the article]
      "BRITAIN belongs to a consortium of electronic espionage agencies in the Anglo-Saxon world which systematically eavesdrops on business and economic secrets in European Union countries.
      This allegation will be made next month in a report commissioned by the European Parliament, which will denounce Britain's role as a double-agent, spying on its own European partners. ...
      "It is profoundly shocking and should provoke a general outcry," said Jean-Pierre Millet, a French lawyer specialising in computer crime. "Britain's European partners have a right to be furious but [the British] won't abandon their pact with the US."
      
      According to Le Figaro, other EU governments have known of the existence of Echelon, and Britain's part in it, for seven years. They have chosen to make no public complaint but instead warn companies of the dangers of transmitting sensitive information on international telephone lines, which use satellite links."
    • The Austrian parliment made a special report; "Developments and Issues in Surveillance Technology", (04/10/1998)
      "This article is excerpted from a paper entitled "An Appraisal of Technologies of Political Control" written by Steven Wright of the Omega Foundation, Manchester, UK. The report was submitted to the European Parliament earlier this year, but was not released to the public. It's entry into the public domain was two fold, first a German magazine obtained the report and placed it on the Internet resulting in numerous articles being published in Germany. Only after the Austrian Parliamentarian made the document public because it was believed that the Austrian parliament is being bugged, did the article reach world-wide attention."
      [To read this report, subscribe to; "PERISCOPE's USNI Military Database ]
    • Top-secret spy agency passes first inspection  The Toronto Star. April 6, 1998 (no longer on-line, or found on the news papers search engine)
      "Bisson said the issue of whether Canada spies on friendly nations is an operational matter that has national security implications and is outside his mandate of ensuring the lawfulness of CSE activities.
      It is not illegal to intercept foreign communications. "
    • State Department misses boat on telecom Snooping printed in Network Security, March -98.
      The articles gives additional locations of listening stations in several countries that was built up during the cold war. The article says that they forwards interesting information to NSA. Appended to the article i have included source references. It is unclear if this is targeted against non-military traffic, as Echelon.

    Sweden and Denmark "... no mention is made of listening stations at Aflandhage outside Copenhagen and at Bromma Airport outside Stockholm that routinely intercept phone calls and pass them via an intelligence network that includes UK, Germany, Norway and Iceland, to NSA headquarter at fort Mead, Maryland USA."

    From Denmark, i received this information:
    Aflandhage is a known intercepting station which was documented quite thoroughly in the beginning of 1980 by one of the peace organisations. It is located at the edge of the island Amager, south of Kastrup Airport. The station is so close to the Kastrup Airport, that its antennas can be seen to the left at take off in flight direction to the south, and to the right at landing from a flight direction at north.

    The stations purpose was to be one of the links in NATO's early warning system against Russian missiles. It was almost a public secret that the station also intercepted diplomatic traffic to/from Copenhagen.

    FRA is the Swedish military signal intelligence. It is located about 4 kilometers south of Bromma airport on the west side of an island called Lovön. (The east side of lovön, is more known by the public due to the royal castle) In the telephone cataloge, the map over the west side of the island is missing.

    Norway. "... the presence of a Norwegian eavesdropping station at Jessheim, 25 miles Northeast of Oslo which monitors domestic Norwegian Communications. Items of interest are passed to the NSA headquarters in the US."

    From Norway, i received this information.
    The station at Jessheim is clearly described in the Norwegian book; "Onkel Sams Kaniner - teknisk etteretning i Norge", by Owen Wilkes and Nils Petter Gleditsch, Pax forlag, 1981, ISBN 82-530-11423.

    About the station at Jessheim it is said at page 37 (in the first edition) amongst other things, that one possible task for the station was to intercept the embassy traffic from the following countries that used radio to communicate with their homelands; Yugoslavia, China, Polen, Soviet, USA. North Korea has applied for radio communication. The book mentions several other stations, located at; Vadsø, Skage, Randaberg, Jessheim, Viksjøfjell, NORSAR. The book describes a widespread network of radio interception from several stations in Norway. It was mainly financed by USA, and the speculation is that Norway paid back by forwarding information to USA.

    A quote from the book
    "En mulig forklaring er at dete anlegget har til oppgave å avlytte ambassadenes radiosamband inn og ut av Oslo. (fotnote. pr. februar 1979 hadde ambassadene fra følgende land installert radiosendere for samband med hjemlandet: Jugoslavia, Kina, Polen, Sovjet, Storbritannia og USA. I tillegg hadde Nord-Korea en søknad til behandling (NTB-melding 27. februar 1979)). Jessheim er langt nok unna Oslo til å være uforstyrret av elektrisk støy fra industri o.l., men nær nok til å fange opp jordbølgen fra sendere i Oslo."

    More information about Norway can be found in Exchange and Liasion Arrangements Chapter 12 from the book "The U.S. Intelligence Community", by Jeffrey T. Richelson, New York, Ballinger, 1989. Chapter 8: Signals Intelligence might also be of general interrest.

    Chapter 8: Foreign Bases: a Net Spread Wide "Deep Black: Space Espionage and National Security", by William Burrows. New York, Random House, 1986. Has more information on cold war listening bases.

    Italy. "... surveillance stations scattered throughout the country. One of these is a National Security Agency operated microwave intercept station located in Italian military zone near the northern Italian village of Sorico, north of Lake Como. This site not only intercepts northern Italian microwave communications but also those emanating from the Swiss telecommunications centre at the top of Mount Generoso across the Italian border in Ticino."

    References
    The author of the article, Wayne Madsen, faxed me this message:

    "The source reference for the Norwegain/Danish/Swedish SIGINT intercept sites are:
    - "Vejviser til det danske led i kaeden" Militaerkritiskt Forsvar, no 4, 1981, by Soren Moller Christensen.
    - "Intelligence installation in Norway; Their number, location, Function and legality" International Peace reseach institute, Oslo, July 1979.
    - "The ties that bind" Unwin Hyman, London 1990, by Jeffrey Richelsson and Desmond Ball
    - On northern Italy. Sweicher Illustriert, 27 feb, 1989. [There is appeaently an article in that magazine./lb]
    To the best of my knowledge, only those sites formerly targeting USSR have been dismantled or reformed to the US. The diplomatic traffic SIGINT sites remain in operation (Bromma, Jessheim, Aflandshage, Keflavik, and Santahamina outside of Helsinki)"

    Note the aditional information about the existence of stations at Keflavik, Iceland, and Santahamina outside of Helsinki, Finland.

    • [check if there is a linkto;] "A May 31st article by Nicholas Rufford in the Sunday (London) Times quoted several officials from the German, French and Italian intelligence agencies decrying the expansion of the NSA facility on the windswept North Yorkshire moors of Menwith Hill, England (Field Station F83)"
    • European Study Paints a Chilling Portrait of Technology's Uses, New York Times, February 24, 1998. [This article  could not be found with the search engine at New York Times. Perhaps it only exists in the paper verion?  /Laszlo]
      "Wright also reports that in 1995 the EU states signed a memorandum of understanding (which remains classified) to set up a new international telephone tapping network.
      The document apparently reflects concerns among European intelligence agencies that modern scrambling and coding technology  could prevent them from tapping private communications. The EU governments agreed to cooperate closely on this issue with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, "yet early minutes of these meetings suggest that the original initiative came from Washington,"  Wright's report says. ... These plans have "never been subject to proper parliamentary discussion [in Europe]," Wright stresses. ...
      "The European parliament should reject proposals from the United States for making private messages via the Internet accessible to U.S. intelligence agencies," he adds. Nor should it agree on new encryption controls without considering "the civil and human rights of European citizens and the commercial rights of companies to operate without unwarranted surveillance by intelligence agencies operating in conjunction with multinational competitors"  an obvious reference to American agencies, which are often perceived as sharing collateral economic intelligence with U.S. companies."
    • Party Line Civil Liberties, February 10, 1998
      "But the Echelon system is a whole new critter; it doesn’t monitor the communications of just Saddam Hussein and his merry men, or the post-Soviet purveyors of glow-in-the-dark explosives — nope, the Echelon system keeps an eye on everybody."
    • File 4--National & International Communications Interceptions Networks Feb 1, 1998, Computer underground Digest, Volume 10 : Issue 08, ISSN 1004-042X,
      "Whilst there is much information gathered about potential terrorists, there is a lot of economic intelligence, notably intensive monitoring of all the countries participating in the GATT negotiations. But Hager found that by far the main priorities of this system continued to be military and political intelligence applicable to their wider interests."
    • EuroParl Rpt on NSA, Trade, & Crypto Controls 30 Jan 1998, comp.risks Volume 19, Issue 58
      "[...] unlike many of the electronic spy systems developed during the cold war, ECHELON is designed for primarily non- military targets: governments, organizations and businesses in virtually every country. The ECHELON system works by indiscriminately intercepting very large quantities of communications and then siphoning out what is valuable using artificial intelligence aids like Memex to find key words."
    • Watching all over the World, 13th January 1998, TRIBUNE, by Glyn Ford. Member of the European Parliament’s Committees on Civil Liberties and Internal Affairs. (which is the recipient of the report; "An Appraisal of Technologies of Political Control")
      "The report also reinforces the disclosures made early last year that the former Conservative Government colluded with other EU Member States to set up an international telephone tapping network based on the EU, USA, Australia and Canada. In 1995 the EU states signed a Memorandum of Understanding which expressed the concern of European Intelligence agencies first that advancing telecommunications technologies could prevent them from tapping calls on the internet, second that new encryption technologies could lock the doors to electronic snooping, and third that the privatisation of state-owned telephone companies - of whom the Police Co-operation Working Party of the EU reported "initial contacts with various consortia … has met with the most diverse reactions ranging from great willingness to co-operate on the one hand, to an almost total refusal to co-operate" - might prevent them from tapping private communications."
    • Despatches, BBC News December 18, 1997
      "A new report commissioned by the European Parliament has officially confirmed the existence of what it says is a gigantic electronic spy network that monitors almost all phone, fax and other electronic communications in Europe. "
    • Insight On The News published in sept 1997 three articles on economic espionage that took place in 1993 on a five-day conference with leaders of about 15 nations gathered for a APEC, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference.
      Did Clinton Bug Conclave for Cash?, Sept 15, 1997
      "A presidential conference with Asian leaders was bugged by U.S. intelligence agencies, say high-level sources, and information was passed from the White House to big Democratic corporate donors....  the only reason it has come to light is because of concerns raised by high-level sources within federal law-enforcement and intelligence circles that the operation was compromised by politicians ...
      But clandestine snooping on a grand scale is familiar stuff in the Washington area. It is a widely known secret that the NSA has a system known as ECHELON by which the government can -- and routinely does -- intercept E-mail, fax, telex and telephone communications. Designed primarily for nonmilitary targets -- including governments, businesses and individuals -- the system steals communications internationally, says John Pike, the director of cyberstrategy projects at the Washington-based Federation of American Scientists.
      . . . . "I assume that it is all being monitored with keyword scanning," Pike says. "They throw away almost all of the stuff they collect. But they have that watch list for names and they are working on voice-recognition software and that's going to be the big thing in the future." Such technology is used jointly by NSA and its allies as a "creative" means to avoid court orders, Pike claims.
      . . . . In 1992, a year before the alleged bugging of the Seattle conference, a group of agents for GCHQ, the British counterpart of the NSA, blasted ECHELON. "We feel we can no longer remain silent regarding that which we regard to be gross malpractice and negligence within the establishment in which we operate," the intelligence agents told the London Observer. The British agents claimed the NSA even helped intercept communications from Amnesty International and Christian Aid. Asked about ECHELON, the NSA says, "We have no information to provide."
      . . . . Given all this snooping, there is little wonder that a worldwide market has developed for impenetrable encryption,...  "What we need is strong encryption available to everybody. Yes, it's going to cramp the style of the folks at the Puzzle Palace [NSA], but a life more difficult at NSA means life is easier for the rest of the planet. The benefits of promoting global Internet commerce outweigh the harm to the NSA."
      . . . . But, of course, exporting sophisticated encryption technology is prohibited, and everything bureaucratically possible is being done to restrict its widespread dissemination in the United States and overseas."
      Snoops, Sex and Videotape, Sept. 29, 1997
      "The reason for the long silence, .[4 years] ..  is that the assignment was presented as being for the good of the country. National security was at stake....  the classified information was not leaked but deliberately provided through a complex chain of agencies and operatives for the sole purpose of retaining political power. Much of the information was real-time data that went directly to the NSA via satellites, while other confidential information was taken by FBI couriers to the NSA. In total, 10,000 to 15,000 conversations were recorded."
      Snooping on Allies Embarrasses U.S, 10/20/97
      "Blackmail, lies and deceit may be the only fitting description of the 1993 Seattle Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, or APEC, summit where dignitaries from 17 countries are reported to have been placed under electronic surveillance by American agents"
    • NSA'S BUSINESS PLAN: "GLOBAL ACCESS", by Duncan Campbell in  Covert Action Quarterly, No. 59 (Winter 1996-97)  Available in print only
      "The National Security Agency's top secret ECHELON Dictionary system, run with Canada, NZ, UK, and Australia, monitors the world's telephone, e-mail, and telex communications."
    • Inside the US-Canada Spyworld: Secund thoughts from the second oldest profession by Mike Frost. CovertAction, Winter 1997, issue #59. Available in print only
      "After 12 years as a Canadian spy, Frost details how intelligence agencies circumvent laws and accountability to surveil world leaders, peace and labour groups, and private citizens."
      About his book; Spyworld, 1994, amazone.com says:
      " This title is out of print. Although it is no longer available from the publisher, we'll query our network of used bookstores for you and send an update within one to two weeks."

    ---

    Can an ISDN phone be turned into a bugging device?

    One chapter in the report to the European warns about how an ISDN phone can be turned into a bugging device. But the claim is not backed up by any reference to the CCITT - recomendations. This chapter can therefore not be verified. Other researcher can use my notes on how far i got into tracking the references of this claim. The notes also contain information about another technique called frequency flooding that is roumored to allow an ordinary telephone (non-ISDN) to become a listening device. /Laszlo

    "4.4 National & International Communications Interceptions Networks
    Modern communications systems are virtually transparent to the advanced interceptions equipment which can be used to listen in. Some systems even lend themselves to a dual role as a national interceptions network. For example the message switching system used on digital exchanges like System X in the UK supports an Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) protocol. This allows digital devices. E.g. fax to share the system with existing lines. The ISDN subset is defined in their documents as "Signalling CCITT1-series interface for ISDN access. What is not widely known is that built in to the international CCITT protocol is the ability to take phones 'off hook' and listen to the conversations occurring near the phone, without the user being aware that it is happening. (SGR Newsletter, No.4,1993) This effectively means that a national dial up telephone tapping capacity is built into these systems from the start. (System X has been exported to Russia and China) Similarly, the digital technology required to pinpoint mobile phone users for incoming phone calls, means that all mobile phone users in a country when activated, are mini-tracking devices, giving their owners whereabouts at any time and stored in the company's computer for up to two years. Coupled with System X technology, this is a custom built mobile track, tail and tap system par excellence. (Sunday telegraph, 2.2.97)"

    ---

    The Statewatch report
    One of the references in the report to the European parliament is a report from Statewatch on "European Union and FBI Launch Global Surveillance System", 24 Feb 1997. EU and FBI should have made an agreement on big scale interception in Europe in order to catch criminals. Statewatch warns about connections to the existing Echelon-system.
    The ECHELON "...system works by indiscriminately intercepting very large quantities of communications and using computers to identify and extract messages from the mass of unwanted ones."
    "It is the interface of the ECHELON system and its potential development on phone calls combined with the standardisation of "tappable" telecommunications centres and equipment being sponsored by the EU and the USA which presents a truly global threat over which there are no legal or democratic controls. "

    • Wiretaps: Europe is launching a universal wiretap network April 14, 1997, bulletin lambda 3.02
      "The British watchdog group Statewatch revealed confidential documents from the European Union's intergovernmental meetings that show a global wiretapping system is under way among Europe, the United States and other industrialized countries."

    ---

    Secret Power
    

    Another reference in the report to the European parliament is the book;
    "Secret Power- New Zealand's Role in the International Spy Network"
    This book documented in detail, for the first time, the existence of the Echelon-project. This is the point where intelligence agencies stepped over to the civilian sphere. The book can be ordered at FAS, Federation of American Scientists. for $33
    Author: Nicky Hager. 301pp, ISBN: 0-908802-35-8, Craig Potton Publishing (Box 555, Nelson, New Zealand) The first edition seems to be published in august -96, and sold out. A second edition is now out.

    Press Release
    "Few New Zealanders have heard of the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB). Even fewer know what the GCSB does. In fact, the GCSB is New Zealand's largest and most secret intelligence agency, using state-of-the-art electronics to spy on countries throughout the Pacific, including friends, neighbours and trading partners. "
    Foreword by David Lange Prime Minister of New Zealand 1984-89
    "But it was not until I read this book that I had any idea that we had been committed to an international integrated electronic network. ... I as Prime Minister in charge of the intelligence services, was never told....it is an outrage that I and other ministers were told so little, and this raises the question of to whom those concerned saw themselves ultimately answerable. "
    Foreword by Jeffrey Richelson a leading authority on United States intelligence agencies and author of 'America's Secret Eyes in the Sky', and co-author of 'The Ties That Bind'.
    "What the public does know, it knows largely because of the efforts of industrious researchers who have collected and analysed obscure documents and media accounts, and interviewed present and former intelligence officers who can shed light on signals intelligence operations. "
    Chapter 1 1984
    "During his first three years on the NSA posting Singleton hosted 50 or more staff from the Wellington intelligence organisations to 4 July parties at his home. But outside intelligence circles, not even the Prime Minister knew of his role. As another former Prime Minister said about the GCSB: "You don't know what you don't know. The whole thing was a bit of an act of faith.""
    Chapter 2 Hooked up to the spy network: the UKUSA system
    "The NSA pushed for the creation of the system and has the supreme position within it. It has subsidised the allies by providing the sophisticated computer programmes used in the system, it undertakes the bulk of the interception operations and, in return, it can be assumed to have full access to all the allies' capabilities. "

    The author, Nicky Hager, also wrote Exposing the Global Surveillence System in Covert Action Quarterly, No. 59 (Winter 1996-97)
    "In the late 1980s, in a decision it probably regrets, the US prompted New Zealand to join a new and highly secret global intelligence system. Hagers investigation into it and his discovery of the ECHELON dictionary has revealed one of the world's biggest, most closely helt intelligence projects. The system allows spy agencies to monitor most of the world's telephone, e-mail and telex communications."

    Reviews of the book Secret Power ... thirteen reviews

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    New Zealand improves intercepting capability
    Kiwis spied on by base -- opponents The Press On-Line - News Page, Jan 13, 1998
    "Labour MP Tim Barnett has raised concerns over a second $3.6 million antenna being erected at Waihopai, which will allow the Government Communications Security Bureau to intercept more foreign satellite communications than it can now. Mr Barnett and peace activists say there is no guarantee the antenna will not be used to spy on New Zealanders. "
    Improved Capabilities for GCSB, 30 July 1997, Prime Minister, Jim Bolger, New Zealand Executive Government News Release Archive
    "Prime Minister ... announced two decisions ...to enhance the signals intelligence collection capability of the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB).
    Both initiatives relate to the GCSB's satellite monitoring station ...which has made a significant contribution to New Zealand's foreign intelligence collection capability ...Mr Bolger said a second antenna and covering radome will shortly be constructed ...The second decision will enable the station to collect foreign voice communications which have until now been unable to be monitored by GCSB for legal reasons. "
    Alliance condemns GCSB expansion 30th July 1997, New Zealand, Alliance Leader Jim Anderton replies.
    "Who are the enemies we are spying on? New Zealand's real enemies are not our neighbours. Our enemies are sickness, hunger, illiteracy and environmental degradation. Spending money on spies helps our real enemies to prevail. "

    ---

    • Federation of American Scientists defines Echelon as:
      "ECHELON consists of a global network of computers that automatically search through millions of intercepted for pre-programmed keywords or fax, telex and e-mail addresses. Every word of every message in the frequencies and channels selected at a station is automatically searched. The processors in the network are known as the ECHELON Dictionaries. ECHELON connects all these computers and allows the individual stations to function as distributed elements an integrated system. An ECHELON station's Dictionary contains not only its parent agency's chosen keywords, but also lists for each of the other four agencies in the UKUSA system [NSA, GCHQ, DSD, GCSB and CSE] "
    • Memex
      In the report to the European parlament the company Memex is mentioned as an example of computerised processing of information. Memex webpage "Memex for Defence and Intelligence" has pressreleases with titles as:
      Intelligence Newsletter - Memex Software for U.S. Intelligence 10th July 1997
      Memex Wins Two Major Intelligence Contracts 1st July 1997
      Memex Contract Demonstrates Paradigm Shift For Intelligence Systems 30th June 1997
      "The system will be based at the majority of US intelligence agencies, and deployed throughout their organisations world-wide. They can then proliferate the Memex software essentially anywhere that it is needed within their organisation."
      Amongst Memex customers is intelligence agencies:
      Defence and Intelligence Applications
      Memex and the Defence Intelligence Community
      The Need to Know
      "Memex Information Engine. It has proved itself the most powerful available system for retrieving, cross-referencing and analysing data, be it for tactical, operational or strategic intelligence missions. The Memex system collates rapidly and disseminates efficiently vast amounts of information from a multiplicity of sources, including voice recordings, numerical sequences or scanned statements. "
    • Intelligence Resource Program by FAS, Federation of American Scientists
      "With the end of the Cold War the community faces extraordinary challenges. This site is a comprehensive resource on the past and future of the American intelligence community. "
    • Media coverage in Norway and Sweden... 14 articles
      In the article; [USA driver e-spionasje også i Norge, Nettavisen, 18 dec 1997] , the norwegian defence department takes an interresting standpoint. They se no reason to comment on Echelon since is designed to intercept civilian traffic, and thus it is not a military issue.

    ---

    The UKUSA - aliance

    • Original sources regarding the ECHELON sigint network Duncan Campbell, 2 March 1998
      "The original and primary source for information on ECHELON is an article I wrote in New Statesman magazine ten years ago"
    • The UKUSA Community  webpage by Granite Island Group undated.
      A summary of how the inner circle of five intelligence agencies was created after 2:nd world war.
    • Spies like US and Cooking up a charter for snooping, The Electronic Telegraph 16 December 1997
      "Disclosures to the US Congress reveal some of the functions of the agreements. Under the terms of the five nations carved up the Earth into five spheres of influence, and each country was assigned particular targets. (Britain was responsible for intercepting the Chinese)."
    • Confronting the New Intelligence Establishment: Lessons from the Colorado Experience, Fall 1996, Loring Wirbel
      Background information about the satellite ground stations, NSA, intelligence and historical description of how the alliances developed.
    • $pying for Uncle $am -Economic Intelligence by Pratap Chattergee, Covert Action Quarterly, No. 55 (Winter 1996)
      "Now the spy establishment faces threats of a different sort. The Cold War is over, and its future depends on finding new public rationales for its existence. ...the game remains the same, but the face of the foe has changed. The threat is no longer communists, but competing capitalists. "
    • Inside the US-Canada Spyworld: Second thoghts from the second oldest profession by Mike Frost. Covert Action Quarterly, No. 59 (Winter 1996-97) Available in print only.
      "After 12 years as a Canadian spy, Frost details how intelligence agencies circumvent laws and accountability to surveil world leaders, peace and labour groups, and private citizens."
    • "Joined at the Hip" Intelligence Cooperation from Intelligence Online, 7 October 1996, ISSN 1245-2122
      "The UKUSA Treaty was also signed in 1947 and when I say `sign' it's so secret that nobody knows who signed it and in fact it's claimed that there is absolutely no written record. "
    • NSA: America's Fortress of Spies Part one of The Sun's NSA series, Baltimore Sun, 1995
      "From a commercial communications satellite, NSA lifted all the faxes and phone calls between the European consortium Airbus, the Saudi national airline and the Saudi government. The agency found that Airbus agents were offering bribes to a Saudi official. It passed the information to U.S. officials pressing the bid of Boeing Co. and McDonnell Douglas Corp., which triumphed last year in the $6 billion competition."
    • "Spyworld", co-authored by a former staffer of the Canadian CSE, Mike Frost. Published by Doubleday, November 1994, ISBN: 0385254946. Only avalible in print
      "A expose of the Canadian UKUSA agency, ... Mike Frost, blew the whistle on some shocking abuses of power by the members of the UKUSA alliance. He revealed how CSE did favours for the Brits, bugging some of Margaret Thatcher's ministers to see if they were loyal to her. He also revealed CSE did "favours" for its UKUSA allies that helped them evade domestic laws against spying and that CSE spied on its own citizens, often for questionable benefit."
    • Exchange and Liasion Arrangements Chapter 12 from the book "The U.S. Intelligence Community", by Jeffrey T. Richelson, New York, Ballinger, 1989
      Describes the BR-USA and UK-USA, and other countries arrangements with US. For example Finland and Norway.
      "United States relies for a significant portion of its intelligence on exchange and liaison arrangements with a variety of foreign nations. "
    • "Somebody's listening; They've got it taped". New Statesman magazine, 12 August 1988, Duncan Campbell
      [This article is probably the first time that the word Echelon is in print, and reveiled as a computerised network /Laszlo]
      "When the new Interception of Communications Act was passed in 1985, however, it was obviously designed to make special provision for operations like ECHELON ... to trawl all international communications to and from Britain. [it]  allows warrants to be issued to intercept any general type of international messages to or from Britain if this is "in the interests of national security" or "for the purpose of safeguarding the economic well-being of the United Kingdom". Such warrants also allow GCHQ to tap any or all other communications on the same cables or satellites that may have to be picked up in order to select out the messages they want. So whether or not a British government warrant can legally allow American agents to intercept private British communications, there is no doubt that British law as well as British bases have been designed to encourage rather than inhibit the booming industry in international telecommunications surveillance.  ...
      Both British and American domestic communications are also being targeted and intercepted by the ECHELON network, the US investigators have been told. The agencies are alleged to have collaborated not only on targeting and interception, but also on the monitoring of domestic UK communications."
    • The CIA in Australia   at Serendipity web site, by Peter Meyer Part 3. Transcript of a 5-part radio documentary, Watching Brief, Public Radio News Services, Melbourne, Australia, October-November 1986. Part 1, 2, 4, 5, and might also be of general interrest.
      "... CIA and its involvement in Australia and in New Zealand, including an account of its overthrow of the Whitlam Government "
    • "A Spy's Story: USA Traitor Gaoled for Forty Years After Selling codes of Rylite and Argus Projects." Transcript of Australian 60 Minutes, 23 May 1982.
      "Christopher Boyce was the villain in the biggest American spy scandal for 40 years. He was gaoled for selling secrets to the Russians. And why did he do it? He says he was angry at the CIA's dirty tricks to bring down the Whitlam Government."
    • Chapter 8: Partners from The Puzzle Palace: A Report on America's Most Secret Agency, James Bamford, Penguin Books, 1983. ISBN 0 14 00.6748 5. (Chapter 9: Competition and Chapter 10 : Abyss might also be of general interrest.)
    • 1943 BRUSA, BRitain - USA
      "... a highly secret agreement had been signed by the neutral United States and a Britain fighting for her life. The agreement provided for a "full exchange of cryptographic systems, crypto analytical techniques, direction findings, radio interception, and other technical communication matters pertaining to the diplomatic, military, naval, and air services of Germany, Japan, and Italy.""
      This included England's knowledge of the Radar and Germanys Enigma chipher and USA had broken the Japanese high-level diplomatic chipher, Purple. There where some disagreement of who should be the boss, but it all worked out in the next step, the UKUSA-agreement.

    The role of Natos countries is described as:
    "BRUSA [BRitain -USA] was suplemented in 1947 by the five-power UKUSA [United Kingdom - USA] Agreement, which according to one report, established the United States as a first party to the treaty, and Britain, Canada, and Australia-New Zealand as secund parties. NATO nations and such othernations as Japan and Korea later signed on as third paries. Among the first and secind parties there is a general agreement not to restrict data, but with the third parties the sharing is much less generous."

    • U.S. Electronic Espionage: A Memoir Ramparts, Vol. 11, No. 2, August, 1972, pp. 35-50
      "The article begins with commentary on information provided by an anonymous former analyst of the National Security Agency followed by the full interview. The analyst was later named as Perry Fellwock, at the time using the pseudonym Winslow Peck. "

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    Listening stations

    • Meanwith Hill, RSOC - England's ground station Overwiew map
      13th USASA Field Station Association formed to foster renewed friendships among those who served at Menwith Hill Station between 1959-1966.
      Bob Cryer's Last Speech to the House of Commons - Background to the base, outlining its history and giving insights into the spying carried out there
      "The Pusher System at Menwith Hill" July 1997, by Tracy Hart - taken from the booklet describing the High Frequency Direction Finding system.
      BT condemned for listing cables to US sigint station
      " for revealing detailed information about top secret high capacity cables feeding phone and other messages to and from a Yorkshire monitoring base. BT admitted this week that they have connected three digital optical fibre cables - capable of carrying more than 100,000 telephone calls at once - to the American intelligence base at Menwith Hill, near Harrogate. "The national interest of the United Kingdom, even if if is conducted dishonestly, requires this to be kept secret", said Judge Crabtree."
      Victory in the Courts for Women's Peace Camp - 9th September 1997 report - Judge Crabtree at York Crown Court declares that the new military byelaws at the spy base are invalid.
      "Britain is under contract to the US to buy nuclear weapons on the condition that bases like Menwith are allowed to operate from here and on condition that the US controls and has access to all British intelligence operations."
      The Crabtree Judgement in full - The Bylaws Judgement on 9th September at York Crown Court
      "...the Crown say they were and are engaged in secret intelligence gathering. It is common ground that this is being done by means of some form of electronic or scientific eavesdropping on many forms of communication, both international (that is to say, between countries) and indeed it seems that there is a capability for listening into short distance terrestrial communications both in this country and in many other countries, in Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe, all of it for the purpose of abstracting information useful to the military in both the United States of America and the United Kingdom. "
      Federation of American Scientists has more info.and pictures
      CBC Newsworld Documentary - US Communication Interception 02 Jan 94 Volume 4 : Issue: 012, Computer Privacy Digest
      "The show gave the impression that many other individuals are being targeted by having key words and names included in computerized "watch lists". Apparently it is perfectly legal for the US to intercept these communications outside the US, even if they originate in the US from US citizens or companies, without specific authorization from a court."
      At the station is also the. 451st Intelligence Squadron
      "24-hour-a-day signals processing and communications security support to a variety of Department of Defense (DoD) customers. MHS executes decisive information operations for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, United European Command, United States Air Forces in Europe, the National Security Agency, and the National Command Authorities. ...It provides specialists trained and skilled in intelligence and communication systems security to support MHS operational missions. MHS executes intelligence and communications security operations as part of the entire DoD warfighting team. MHS collects, analyzes, and disseminates near real-time intelligence in various products to tactical warfighters, theater-battle commanders, unified and specified commanders, and national-level decision makers."
      And Company C, Marine Support Battalion
      "The mission ... is to support cryptologic mission operations while maintaining readiness for possible augmentation of Fleet Marine Force cryptologic and ground electronic warfare units. ... reached its full strength of 1 officer and 20 enlisted Marines during May 1987."
      
    • Other groundstations for interception
      Pine Gap - Australia (from the Pine Gap Research Area) Federation of American Scientists has more info and pictures
      Leitrim - Canada (I SPY, 10 May 1997, The Ottawa Citizen)
      Yakima - U.S. WA, Washington state.
      Fort Meade in the state of Maryland. NSA's headquarter. Analysis. Even more info
    • American Geosynchronous SIGINT Satellites Major A. Andronov, (ISSN 0134-921X), No.12, 1993, pp. 37-43
      Technical information about SIGnal INTeligence's satellites
      The Satellite Encyclopedia gives more details about satellites. For Echelon, search on communication satelites
      More information about satelites on Intelsat's webpage
      MERCURY [Advanced VORTEX] Commercial spin off from spy satelite.
      "The MERCURY signals intelligence spacecraft are designed to intercept transmissions from broadcast communications systems such as radios, as well as radars and other electronic systems. The interception of such transmissions can provide information on the type and location of even low power transmitters, such as hand-held radios. "

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    Crypto AG

    The cryptographer Boris C. W. Hagelin (1892-1983) created 1952 the company Crypto AG, in Schweich. In 1995 the company sued Mr. Buehler, its fired salesman, who claimed that Crypto AG had since 1957 built in a backdoor to NSA in their encryption machines. But just a few days before engineers were to testify, the suit was withdrawn and  the parties agreed to not disclose the settlement. More details about the Crypto AG story

    The success with Crypto AG was repeated without any secrecy in January 1996 with Lotus Notes. Export was approved in exchange of having Lotus Notes turn in the key to the backdoor. Thus USA have the ability to read all encrypted mail created with Lotus Notes export version. [translate SvD:s article]

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    Unsorted

    • Definition of the word Echelon:
      Etymology: French échelon, literally, rung of a ladder, from Old French eschelon, from eschele ladder, from Late Latin scala. Date: 1796
      1 a (1) : an arrangement of a body of troops with its units each somewhat to the left or right of the one in the rear like a series of steps (2) : a formation of units or individuals resembling such an echelon (3) : a flight formation in which each airplane flies at a certain elevation above or below and at a certain distance behind and to the right or left of the airplane ahead b : any of several military units in echelon formation
      2 a : one of a series of levels or grades (as of leadership or responsibility) in an organization or field of activity b : a group of individuals at a particular level or grade in an organization
    • Information in Germany on the Echelon subject.
      Das Ministerium für Wahrheit, a webpage by Kai Raven
      Wirtschaftsspionage: Deutscher Innenminister unterstützt US-Geheimdienste, Pressrelease from Chaos Computer Club 28.04.1997.
      US-Geheimdienst fängt europaweit EMails ab, 09.01.98 , Heise News
      
    • Known links to this page;
      Echelon: Americas spy in the sky   US Journal, June 5, 1998 [article]
      Cryptome (jya.com) [ Daily news and actual documents, A library of articles]
      Paul Wolf's Echelon Links
      The Global Surveillance System by Rembert Oldenboom
    • "NSA Electronic Surveillance: Selected Readings" more references
    • Some add keywords, also called "spookwords", at the end of their Email, Usenet postings, or Webpages, in order to trigger the filters that searches for keyword. The purpose is to increase the amount of messages that must be further examined and thus increase the cost of monitoring. For example, the Emacs - editor, wellknown within the Unix community, is said to contain a built in command that always appends three lines of random spookwords at the end of each mail.
    
    

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    Research Thanks to: Laszlo Baranyi, lb@qainfo.se

    
    

    
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