Interesting Examples

[Babette Bensoussan]

Came across this interesting article.....http://news.yahoo.com/digging-china-nuclear-tunnels-013008319.html  and was delighted to hear that undergrads (CI team) with the assistance of their professor (CI Director) were able to shake the top of the tree (Intelligence Users), using standard CI processes.  For me the bottom line - one blindspot brought out in the open!

It reminds me also of the court case against Tom Clancy following his book "The Hunt for Red October".  He sourced his submarine and weapons info, which was supposedly classified, all on the net and he showed how he found it in court.

Does anyone know of any other similar examples? 

It would be great to build up a resource we could all use to show simple examples of different types of CI activities/processes in the public arena.  What do you think?

Any good stories?

[Vivek Raghuvanshi]

Babette,

Irrespective what happens to  Julian Paul Assange, the WikiLeaks data is on Public Domain for all to harvest.

So maybe Julian Paul Assange may be considered unethical by the community BUT  now  WikiLeaks data is on Public Domain and therefore ETHICAL?

[Babette Bensoussan]

Good point Vivek regarding the "restricted Chinese military documents" however I wonder were the documents really restricted or it served the purpose of the article to say so.  Just like Tom Clancy who had to defend his charge of espionage. Yes, the KGB and western military intelligence claimed he stole the submarine and weapons blueprints......and Wikileaks did not exist then.

[Vivek Raghuvanshi]

Digging into China’s nuclear tunnels
By William Wan | The Washington Post – Wed, Nov 30, 2011

http://news.yahoo.com/digging-china-nuclear-tunnels-013008319.html

@Babette,

I had certain observations regarding this article:

......Led by their hard-charging professor, a former top Pentagon official, they have translated hundreds of documents, combed through satellite imagery, obtained restricted Chinese military documents and waded through hundreds of gigabytes of online data...............

1. obtained restricted Chinese military documents

Surely these  restricted Chinese military documents  were not on Public Domain.

I wonder what do chinese spooks think about it.

How did obtained restricted Chinese military documents land up in the hands of students and their wise Professor.

2. By talking about "obtained restricted Chinese military documents", on Public Domain, I am sure Chinese spooks would be pissed and if so, they will like to identify the vulnerability which was exploited. Surely HUMINT was used and if so, I feel Nick Yarosh and Dustin Walker have been compromised as their names are on Public Domain ie By William Wan | The Washington Post

Think about it. 

If Nick Yarosh and Dustin Walker are not protected by the American Govt, Can we rule out a snatch operation by Chinese spooks on foreign soil?

3. Surely Nick Yarosh and Dustin Walker will know the weasels in the Chinese Army through whom they had access to 

restricted Chinese military documents.

What extent will Chinese spooks go to identify who in the Chinese army compromised "restricted Chinese military documents"

4. The old fox Phillip A. Karber is smart but Nick Yarosh and Dustin Walker, if they step out of US, are easy prey to a snatch ops by Chinese spooks, unless Nick Yarosh and Dustin Walker are employed by the Agency.

This is just my humble observation.

[Vivek Raghuvanshi]

If the client is the Government, then I guess in Intelligence and not CI, everything is legal and ethical, especially when WMD are concerned.

Typical of little boys playing the game "Mine is bigger than yours". (WMD).

Since Nick Yarosh and Dustin Walker have been compromised, these boys need to be careful, as such is the world of Intelligence.