Bush orders NSA to snoop on US agencies

[CGowen]

Cyber attack fear used to expand spy grid

Published Sunday 27th January 2008 21:25 GMT


Not content with spying on other countries, the NSA (National Security Agency) will now turn on the US's own government agencies thanks to a fresh directive from president George Bush.

Under the new guidelines, the NSA and other intelligence agencies can bore into the internet networks of all their peers. The Bush administration pulled off this spy expansion by pointing to an increase in the number of cyber attacks directed against the US, possibly from foreign nations. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) will spearhead the effort around identifying the source of these attacks, while the Department of Homeland Security and Pentagon will concentrate on retaliation.

The Washington Post appears to have broken the news about the new Bush-led joint directive, which remains classified. The paper reported that the directive - National Security Presidential Directive 54/Homeland Security Presidential Directive 23 - was signed on Jan. 8. Earlier reports from the Baltimore Sun documented the NSA's plans to add US spying to its international snooping duties.

The new program will - of course - drains billions of dollars out of US coffers and be part of Bush's 2009 budget.


...

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/27/bush_nsa_internal/

[DJ13]

1. They're all against me!

[lurky]

2. Who will control this after * is gone?

If certain partisan operatives wanted to spy on the next administration, all they would need would be a couple loyalists in the NSA with access to this system. Just sayin'...