CIA, FBI Push Social Networking for Spies 138
node7 writes "The FBI, NSA, and CIA are jointly supporting a newly created 'MySpace' for the intelligence community. Named 'A-Space,' the site will contain highly classified material, so naturally, it won't be available to the public. From CNN: '[Michael Wertheimer, assistant deputy director of national intelligence for analysis] demonstrated the program to CNN to show how analysts will use it to collaborate. "One perfect example is if Osama bin Laden comes out with a new video. How is that video obtained? Where are the very sensitive secret sources we may have to put into a context that's not apparent to the rest of the world?" Wertheimer said. "In the past, whoever captured that video or captured information about the video kept it in-house. It's highly classified because it has so very short a shelf life. That information is considered critical to our understanding."'"
Re:Hacker Target (Score:4, Informative)
It will be in a private restricted network operated by the government. You can't even send packets on that network without a top secret security clearance. Despite all the screwups of most of government, there are a few things they do right. And you will never come near it.
Re:Just Plain Wrong... (Score:3, Informative)
Clearly you have never met any intelligence analysts. More and more they tend to be younger geeks.
Re:Hacker Target (Score:5, Informative)
It would not be on the web - it would be on SIPRnet, the governments own secure IP network that (at least in theory) doesn't touch the public web.
I expect that they will actually have multiple different systems. Top Secret really isn't all that secret. It's once you get to eyes only levels above that things are interesting.
Re:Good idea? (Score:3, Informative)
99.9% of what intelligence agencies do is actually analyst, not spies. The covert(operations) side of the house is a completely different world from what I have read.
Re:Naming? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Sensitive data over HTTP? Four words (Score:2, Informative)
Most government networks require employees to use encrypted VPNs. This includes government agencies that do work that is not confidential, e.g. the NIH. So the FBI and CIA most definitely use secure connections if not private connections for everything.
Re:High Value Target or Honeypot (Score:2, Informative)
Intellipedia also has a less sensitive version out on the WWW, though I don't know how far they'd go with A-Space.
Some more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellipedia [wikipedia.org]
Re:A-Space music video? (Score:2, Informative)
This won't be kept on a regular secure site on the open internet. This will be on the standard SIPRnet or on JWICS behind hardware and software encryption.
Besides aside from curiosity this information won't mean much to anyone who isn't in that line of work.
Re:What middle? (Score:4, Informative)
Ha, ha! Silly boy. You've obviously never been to the Pentagon. If you try this, within a few minutes a very nice gentleman with a very large automatic weapon will politely ask you what you are doing. And you had better be able to satisfactorily explain yourself.