[Arm-netbook] Open Source Intelligence (Was: offlineimap syncing off of gmail...)

[Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton]

On 12/16/16, Alexander Ross <maillist_arm-netbook at aross.me> wrote:
> heh this guy. i was read that article the other day :) and found some
> more on shared website, inc ones written by a curtain someone from this
> list, hint hint ;)

 ... so you know where i'm going with this.  it was the "open
manifesto" (open health, open intelligence, open source, open
information etc.) that robert steele wrote, after being accidentally
inspired by the open approach in intelligence and finding that people
in the wider intelligence community *liked* it, that caught my eye.

> heres the article:
>
> https://www.theguardian.com/environment/earth-insight/2014/jun/19/open-source-revolution-conquer-one-percent-cia-spy

 that's the one.

> basically it looks like hes a open minded, innovator type person, who
> questioned the current way and attitude of the way the security services
> do things and looked, thought, seeked, tried,exploded alt ways

 you mean explored not exploded :)

 yep, after forming the u.s. navy seals intelligence corp, he looked
at setting up a conference on "open sources in intelligence", and it
was highly successful.  but his bosses at the CIA didn't like it and
refused to fund the next conference or permit him to go to it... so he
quit.

 basically he can see that the current approach is self-perpetuating,
corrupt, and, from being *in* the CIA he *KNOWS* damn well that their
approach is completely ineffective.  aaaalll that
information-gathering, with the associated violations of privacy, and
it's completely ineffective at achieving its intended goal: stopping
"terrorists" and criminals alike because it *doesn't provide
actionable intelligence*.

it's *word-of-mouth* and sources *outside* of the intelligence
community that *actually* provides the valuable, actionable
intelligence and corroborated facts!

let me reiterate: people in the U.S. govt do *NOT* go to the CIA to
find sources of information on which to make intelligence decisions,
they go out on... guess what?  the internet!  and they communicate
with people via... the internet!

so it's really not hard to imagine why robert made the intuitive leap
that security is achieved through open access to information, but
that's not enough: he had to witness how utterly ineffective the CIA
really was (is), from the inside.

> the article still holds out on its own anyway. still makes for new
> incites to alt way of security being done, one which sounds like a far
> less bad will spreading one.

 yeah.

 so, part of the series i'm writing is to advocate the funding of
OpenBTS and projects like it, and to curtail the powers of the FCC.

l.