11 Dec 14. Fighting Terror & Crime using Intel-Visualization. Intelligence agencies generate massive amounts of information and espionage and counter-terrorism organizations all over the world connect their data mining and collection systems to every civilian communications infrastructure, including cellular, landline and internet service providers, effectively acquiring the ability to intercept any phone call, location of cellular phones, SMS message contents, e-mails or surfing data. The total amount of information is immense and constantly growing. All the information that’s collected using signal intelligence systems, or SIGINT, in addition to large amounts of additional civilian information held by intelligence organizations, such as population registries, border crossings, banking transactions and more, is entered into massive databases that must support quick retrieval of large amounts of data. In order to present the large amounts of intercepted data regarding groups or individuals in a way that makes sense, and to help intelligence officers understand the information and use it effectively, the data has to be presented in a graphical, visual way, rather than textual. One of the most important means of deducing a suspect’s routine and establishing his connection to an event is carried out using a “connections map”. The sum total of the suspect’s communications with his various social circles (friends, co-workers, family, bosses, etc.) – incoming and outgoing cellular phone calls, text messages, calls using landlines, VOIP chats – are presented visually, with every line representing his entire communication history with a specific target. This can be done in real time and used to direct tactical units on their way to arrest or neutralize the suspect. The layers can include topographic information, road images, demographic, intelligence and municipal information, and more. (Source: Cyber Security Intelligence/wiki / i-hls)
11 Dec 14. Darknet Drug Arrest – Can the criminals be stopped? In an operation involving 17 countries, law enforcement agencies arrested 17 people believed to be involved with Darknet markets. The operation, code named “Onymous”, first came to light with the announcement by the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations of the arrest of Blake Benthall (also known as “Defcon”) the operator of Silk Road 2.0. This arrest was followed up with news that a number of other Darknet sites had been seized. These sites dealt with the sale of drugs, firearms, stolen credit cards and money laundering. The long-term impact of Operation Onymous, an international law enforcement operation targeting illegal dark net marketplaces, can be questioned given the ability of alternative websites to absorb customers. A study by the Digital Citizens Alliance (DCA) found that the six dark net marketplaces with the highest total product listings were Silk Road 2.0, Agora, Evolution, Pandora, Andromeda and Bluesky. Operation Onymous captured just three of these with Agora, Evolution and Andromeda remaining online. Agora had already surpassed Silk Road 2.0 prior to its closure whilst other sites such as Evolution have also grown in popularity. Evolution is an online contraband bazaar that sells drugs in addition to stolen credit card numbers, weapons, and counterfeit documents. It has around 22,000 product listings (more than Silk Road 2.0 ever offered). According to data collected by the DCA, Evolution was growing quickly before Operation Onymous, adding 80 to 90 new products a day. However, it would appear that Evolution has profited from the closure of its competitor sites – drug offerings have grown over 50 per cent and it is now adding around 280 new products a day. There has been continued speculation over the methods law enforcement used to locate and seize the dark net sites in Operation Onymous. A study by Professor Sambuddho Chakravarty suggests that the original IP addresses of over 81 per cent of Tor users can be revea