Secret Echelon Spy Network Failed
Secret Echelon Spy Network Fails To Thwart Terrorists
U.S. officials decline to even admit to the existence of "Echelon," the sophisticated electronic communications spy system that apparently was outsmarted by the perpetrators of terrorist acts.
Proponents of an international satellite spying network known as "Echelon" have cited terrorism as its justification, but the top-secret technology, whose use was recently confirmed by the European Parliament, is being criticized in the wake of 09/11 stunning sneak attacks on the United States.
While U.S. officials refuse to even comment on Echelon's existence, experts say that terrorism awareness and prevention are among its main purposes. However, members of the European Parliament, which voted to support a committee report confirming the existence of the global surveillance network, are now calling the intelligence effort a failure.
Echelon committee vice chairwoman Elly Plooij-Van Gorsel of the Netherlands reportedly said that because it failed to intercept the communications of those behind the deadly attacks, "intelligence has failed."
Eluding Echelon
Saying that technology is not a solution, Plooij-Van Gorsel told news sources that Echelon should have intercepted any phone calls or faxes on the dire plans unleashed by terrorists. However, she added, their communications could have been encrypted or accomplished by other than electronic means.
A computer security expert, who declined to comment on Echelon citing a defense background, told NewsFactor Network that officials do collect intelligence and analysis primarily through open-source electronic communications, but that terrorist plans are not necessarily found on such sources.
"There are definitely people trying to intercept these plans, if they're even interceptable," the source said.
No Web Warning
The source told that he was surprised at the lack of early indications of terrorist communications on the Internet before and after the attacks.
"There's not a lot of activity or discussion of this on the Web, and that's sort of unexpected," he said.
A day after the attacks that killed and injured thousands and shocked all Americans, authorities were reportedly closing in on suspects using more conventional methods of law enforcement -- tracking suspects' movements and relying on tips from other government agencies and the public.
ISPs Contacted
Still, experts indicated that Echelon is probably being put to use to find any trace of planning or communication that led up to the vicious attacks, as well as boasting or celebration after them.
Investigators served major Internet service providers (ISPs) such as EarthLink and AOL with orders to release information about users and online activities related to suspects in the attacks.
"We were contacted by the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) and we're cooperating with them," EarthLink spokesman Arley Baker told NewsFactor. "It's safe to assume that every ISP has been contacted. It's a big dragnet, and we're all cooperating."
Protection Over Privacy?
The devastating attacks shed a new light on Echelon, which has been criticized as a massive monitoring system that threatens the privacy of citizens. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) are among the groups that have lobbied for more disclosure regarding the system, reportedly run by the U.S., Great Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
Privacy advocates have also been critical of an e-mail scanning technology formerly known as "Carnivore," but FBI agents reportedly installed the technology in a number of Internet e-mail and network companies immediately following the terrorist attacks.
Government officials may now find more support for invasive technologies, particularly if it results in the capture of those responsible for the terrorist attacks, but civil libertarians worry that privacy may be forgotten in the process.
There is also speculation that Internet re-mailers, which hide the origin of e-mailed messages, and e-mail encryption -- promoted by the European Parliament for all Internet users in response to Echelon -- could be blamed for the lack of warning in the attacks and may ultimately be regulated by government.