Intelligence and National Security Discussion

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 26 Jun 2015 03:37

The left liberals will end up in those ghettoes with them. They already are in the intellectual sense..

Karan M · Post by **Karan M** » 26 Jun 2015 03:45

If GOI puts the squeeze on all these left lib parasites eg media and NGO apparatus, what worth are left libs? They dont know anything productive so how will they sustain their rich lifestyle? Any fool can become a journalist and most, have

ravip · Post by **ravip** » 26 Jun 2015 23:09

Mukesh.Kumar wrote:Black Tiger.

How true is this story. it's this source credible?

What could have India done to rescue him? i feel we ditched him once cover was blown off. Truly heart wrenching story, one could only dream such a life. Truly inspiring.

Surya · Post by **Surya** » 06 Jul 2015 04:12

surprised to see no posts here on former RAW Chief AS Dulat blabbering on the news media

RoyG · Post by **RoyG** » 06 Jul 2015 05:30

Surya wrote:surprised to see no posts here on former RAW Chief AS Dulat blabbering on the news media

It's not surprising to anyone. He is apart of C-System just like SSM.

Vayutuvan · Post by **Vayutuvan** » 06 Jul 2015 06:00

Is dulat == daulat?

arun · Post by **arun** » 09 Jul 2015 09:04

X Posted from the STFUP thread.

Looks like the notorious Mohammadden Terrorism fomenting intelligence arm of the Punjabi dominated Uniformed Jihadi’s of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Inter Services Intelligence Directorate aka ISID aka ISI has planted this story in online newspaper Independent News Pakistan (INP):

Indian RAW establishes new set up to sabotage CPEC project: Sources

ISLAMABAD, July 08 (INP): The Indian top intelligence agency, RAW has established a new set up to sabotage the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project. Reliable sources said that Mr. Anil Dhasmana (Special Secretary to Secretary RAW) has been appointed head of new set up who will directly report to Secretary RAW. The report said that Mr Anil has been given three officers as members of this team: A Major General, Rajeshwer Singh and Two Joint Secretaries, Mr JS Ramesh and Mr Vivek K Johri. Major General Rajeshwer will be responsible for military aspects. He has been tasked to focus on military dimension of CPEC, Pak-China defence relations, Gwadar Expressway, Karakoram Highway and Economic Corridor projects. Joint Secretary Ramesh has been tasked to identify and exploit at political fault lines of Balochistan to disrupt CPEC, Sindh’s political and public stance on CPEC and KP and Punjab’s stance on CPEC. Joint Secretary Vivek Johri will be responsible for economic aspects of CPEC. His mandate would be to plan sabotage the Power, Coal Plant and economic zones affiliated with CPEC. He will also be responsible for funding of project. It will also plan to disrupt digital network in GB and AJ&K INP/SB/AJ

Mainstream newspapers in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan are repeating the same story, presumably under directions of the Punjabi dominated Uniformed Jihadi’s of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, taking care to cover-up any likely embarrassment caused by an ISID planted story by showing the source as INP.

The Nation:

‘RAW forms new set-up to sabotage CPEC’

Daily Times:

RAW establishes new set up to sabotage CPEC: sources

nits · Post by **nits** » 09 Jul 2015 12:51

If this is a plant up; level of details is quite Micro level mentioning names, Designation and there responsibilities...

Reading the article i felt i am reading some Memo or Minutes of Meetings....

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 09 Jul 2015 12:56

Usual fantasy bullshyte by our too-clever-by-half friends in the pind.

sum · Post by **sum** » 09 Jul 2015 14:20

nits wrote:If this is a plant up; level of details is quite Micro level mentioning names, Designation and there responsibilities...

Reading the article i felt i am reading some Memo or Minutes of Meetings....

I believe their assets here have given some info on certain Kaccha folks and their designations, current line of work etc and the Pakis have spun a story using their names.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 13 Jul 2015 17:15

it's very likely any half decent googler can locate names of a couple of senior officers and the rest is down to usual paki BS.

meanwhile, I am not sure this was posted earlier. it has the eye bee logo as well !

I am told that the structure on left bottom is part of a memorial at HQ dedicated to personnel fallen in the line of duty.

article to go with it. http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Tir ... 473433.ece

sum · Post by **sum** » 14 Jul 2015 04:09

^^ So i guess the each star/dot in the structure is for each agent KIA?

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 14 Jul 2015 07:35

yes, although agent may not be the correct word. the memorial is for folk who worked for the organisation. agents are simply people who provide info, usually for money. supposedly, only the fbi calls its officers agents and hollywood portrayal of that has ruined the terminology worldwide.

VinodTK · Post by **VinodTK** » 15 Jul 2015 03:13

Reuters: From remote outpost, India looks to check China's Indian Ocean thrust

One by one, the four Indian warships cruised into a sleepy harbor in the country's remote Andaman and Nicobar islands, fresh from visiting Southeast Asian capitals and conducting exercises in the disputed South China Sea.

The arrival of the warships at Port Blair earlier this month symbolizes how an island chain better known for its beaches and diving is quietly becoming a key plank in New Delhi's strategy to counter China's growing naval presence in the Indian Ocean.

In interviews in New Delhi and Port Blair, the archipelago's administrative hub, Indian defense officials outlined plans to transform a modest military base into a strategic listening post with strengthened air force, navy and army capabilities.

While some of the officials noted that earlier expansion plans had largely faltered, they said there was fresh energy under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who wants to reassert New Delhi's traditional dominance of the Indian Ocean.

All agreed the chain's location was its biggest asset in watching China's navy.

Scattered between the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea, the Andaman and Nicobar islands are closer to Myanmar and Indonesia than the Indian mainland. More importantly, its southern isles lie near the top of the Malacca Straits, a gateway to the Indian Ocean and through which China gets three-quarters of its oil.

"The world's busiest shipping lanes are just to the south," Lieutenant Governor A. K. Singh, a former military commander who runs the Andamans, told Reuters from his hill-top office in Port Blair, a one-time British penal colony.

"For too long we have had a fortress mentality about the islands, that they had to be defended. The time has come for us to start looking at these very strategically placed islands as a springboard for India."

SUBMARINE SURVEILLANCE

India has long had an uneasy relationship with China - a dispute over their Himalayan border led to war in 1962. More recently New Delhi has worried about Chinese submarines venturing into the Indian Ocean.

China's Foreign Ministry rejected the notion that Chinese naval forays were behind any rise in Indian deployments.

The Chinese Defense Ministry said Beijing cooperated with militaries around the region, including India's.

"This is an added positive factor for regional peace and stability," the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Nevertheless, India is building longer airstrips at the top and bottom of the Andaman and Nicobar chain, partly for long-range surveillance planes, defense officials said.

One is at Campbell Bay on Great Nicobar Island in the south, 240 km (150 miles) from the mouth of the Malacca Straits.

When that air base opened in 2012 with a runway of 3,500 feet (1,060 meters), Chinese military commentators saw it as an offensive move. The military plans to extend the runway to 6,000 feet by next year and then to 10,000 feet.

The air force has been flying new Boeing P8i surveillance aircraft with anti-submarine capabilities from India to Port Blair but once the runway was at 6,000 feet they would also rotate through Campbell Bay from time to time, said a navy pilot in Port Blair who has knowledge of the plans.

"Of all the plans, and some are grand, upgrading Campbell is the critical one. You can watch a lot of stuff from there," he said.

BUT NO SUBMARINE BASE

India also expects the number of naval vessels based in the island chain to double to 32 before a targeted timeframe of 2022, defense officials said.

Those ships would initially comprise patrol boats, fast attack craft and amphibious landing ships, similar to vessels already here. Frontline warships such as those that spent two months in and around the South China Sea would be stationed in the Andamans in the final phase of the 2022 plan.

The big naval gap is under water.

As early as 2002 the local military command proposed building a submarine base in the sheltered harbor of Kamorta in the southern islands, but defense officials said those plans were on ice.

India has only 13 ageing diesel-electric submarines compared to China's fleet of around 70 submarines, including nuclear-powered vessels.

On land, India is adding a second infantry brigade of around 3,000 troops to the Andamans over the next three years.

One military official in Port Blair, speaking on condition of anonymity, said force levels needed to rise more quickly.

"But we are starting to make investments and we are stronger here than at any time," he said.

One notable roadblock had been erecting a radar station on Narcondum Island, which was delayed for years by local environmentalists who said it would endanger a rare hornbill bird. Modi's administration approved the installation.

Indeed, India was finally realizing the Andamans were a "strategic goldmine", said Jeff Smith, author of "Cold Peace: China-India Rivalry in the 21st Century".

"I get the impression that growing concern over the pace of Chinese activity in the Indian Ocean increases the likelihood India will begin to take the Andamans more seriously," he said.

VinodTK · Post by **VinodTK** » 18 Jul 2015 18:04

Tajikistan Entertains Indian Offer for Air Base

Both China and India are betting that Central Asia’s economic future is brighter than the instability engulfing Afghanistan, China with its ambitious multi-billion dollar Silk Road programs and India’s Prime Minister visiting the post-Soviet nations Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan earlier this month.

Tajikistan was the last stop on Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi’s eight-day tour of the five post-Soviet Central Asian Republics and Russia. His agenda in Dushanbe was different from all his other visits however, as he requested military access. Specifically, Modi revived a previous Indian request for a lease on Tajikistan’s Ayni airbase near Dushanbe, which India refurbished in 2007 but could not base fighters and helicopters there because of Russian pressure.

As to the question of why India would seek such a facility in Central Asia, the answer lies in India’s problems with terrorism.

On December 24, 1999 Indian Airlines Flight IC 814 was flying from Nepal’s Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu to Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhwhen when it was hijacked by Pakistan-based Harkat-ul-Mujahideen Islamic extremists. The hijackers finally forced Flight IC 814 to land in Kandahar, Afghanistan, which at the time was controlled by the Taliban, where they demanded the release of fellow extremists imprisoned for terrorism in India. The subsequent hostage crisis lasted for seven days and ended after India agreed to release three militants – Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and Maulana Masood Azhar.

The Flight IC-814 crisis brought home to the government of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee the need for proximate access to Afghanistan should similar situations arise in the future, after which the Indian government began talks for leasing a Tajik airbase.

The post-Soviet nations of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan share borders with Afghanistan that collectively stretch roughly 1,240 miles. The Afghan border with Tajikistan, along the eastern edge of Afghanistan, makes up more than two-thirds of that distance, at 835 miles. Most of the Tajik-Afghan border is mountainous and poorly demarcated.

As the Taliban had been resolutely unhelpful during the crisis, in the mid-1990s India established a field hospital at another Tajik airbase in Farkhor, 65 miles south of Dushanbe, from where it supported the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance forces of Ahmad Shah Massoud, as did Uzbekistan, Russia and Iran.

Deepening their relations, in 2002, India and Tajikistan signed a bilateral defense agreement, under which India undertook the refurbishment of the disused Ayni Soviet-era airbase, 6 miles west of Dushanbe. The Indian Air Force (IAF) planned to base a squadron of Mi-17 transport helicopters there and under the terms of the defense agreement, also train Tajik Air Force pilots. In 2007 India’s Border Roads Organization spent $70 million restoring Ayni, lengthening its runway to 1.9 miles, and building hangars and an air traffic control tower.

Russia objected to the arrangement, pressuring the Tajik government to deny India access to the airbase, and the plans went into cold storage until now.

Indian access to Ayni is not yet a done deal, for as former IAF Chief Marshal PV Naik explained, “Getting a foreign airbase, particularly in Central Asia is a significant development. But in this case, two other countries, Tajikistan and Russia, have to agree.”

Further complicating the issue, Ayni is just a half-hour flying time away from the Tajik-China border. Tajikistan has no land boundary with China’s close ally Pakistan, as the two countries are separated by Afghanistan’s narrow Wakhan Corridor, but the prospect of an Indian airbase in Tajikistan has raised alarms in Pakistan, which in 2012, counteroffered to reactivate two other disused airbases and provide free training for the Tajikistan Air Force if they would not provide Ayni to India.

As for Russian assent to the agreement, much has changed between Russia and India since 2007. First, the two are charter members of the BRICS economic grouping, which just concluded a meeting in the Russian city of Ufa. That meeting was followed by a two-day summit in Ufa of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which was notable for the group’s invitation to both India and Pakistan began accession talks to become full-fledged members.

Following the summit the group said in a declaration, “The evolution of the SCO is taking place at a complicated stage in the development of international relations and amidst the emergence of a multi-polar world. These processes are accompanied by increasing security challenges and threats, increasing uncertainty and instability in various regions of the world.”

The advantages of SCO membership for energy-starved India are obvious, as the organization includes energy producers Kazakhstan and Russia. Furthermore, India lacks direct access to Central Asia, and SCO membership would give Delhi access to Central Asia’s vast natural gas reserves.

Less than a year after the U.S. drawdown in Afghanistan, Central Asia’s geostrategic picture is in flux. Most unsettling to the Afghan government is the apparent rise of an Islamic State faction in the country, a development which is also unnerving the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). On December 28, 2014 ISAF ended Operation Enduring Freedom, which lasted more than 13 years.

The United States then began Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, which meshed with ISAF’s Operation Resolute Support mission and consists of more than 12,500 troops from 28 NATO Allies and 14 partner nations, focusing on building Afghan National Security Force (ANSF) sustainability.

ISAF’s lasting legacy, accomplished with Afghan partners, was the establishment of a 350,000-strong ANSF, which today is fully responsible for security in Afghanistan.

But the ANSF is weak in one critical component, which was previously supplied by ISAF – airpower. On July 11, during a media round table in Resolute Support Headquarters in Kabul Gen. John F. Campbell, commander of the NATO-led Resolute Support (RS) mission in Afghanistan, told reporters that NATO is looking to the mid- and long-term to build Afghan Air Force capabilities. Campbell remarked that building an air force is very hard, as it takes a long time to build the pilots and maintenance crews, and admitted that ISAF work on the Afghan Air Force rehabilitation started late.

Indian air assets in Tajikistan might prove key in developing events in neighboring Afghanistan, especially if the IS presence there continues to metastasize. The growth of the IS and its threat potential was a major topic of discussion at the SCO Ufa summit. In such a volatile situation, IAF pilots, previously fixated on countering Pakistan as India’s frontline enemy may find their new SCO membership involving them in SCO aerial operations supporting the fledgling Afghan Air Force instead.

member_29112 · Post by **member_29112** » 18 Jul 2015 21:18

VinodTK wrote: Tajikistan Entertains Indian Offer for Air Base

Link 404s.
Correct link: Clicky

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 19 Jul 2015 11:13

Intel agencies detect online honey traps aimed at military units

Intelligence agencies have detected an elaborate effort on the part of foreign intelligence networks to gather information about the Order of Battle (ORBAT) of key military units by trying to lure defence officers through friendship on social media sites.

One particular instance has come to light where a fake name ‘Simran Chaudhary’, along with a fake photograph, was used to entice some Army officers into conversations and friendship. After befriending these officers, the profile holder then went on to ask the details of various units under the many frontline brigades of the Army.

In one of the chats, which is under investigation at present and which has been accessed by The Sunday Express, the conversation turns towards the units which constitute an armoured brigade.

This armoured brigade is part of a Strike Corps and hence any information relating to it can be of immense value to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), since this strike corps is primarily oriented as an offensive formation to be deployed on Pakistan border in case of hostilities.

During the conversation, the fake profile user manages to get the information sought in return for posting some photographs asked for by the person she is conversing with. After getting information about one brigade, ‘Simran” demands more information saying, “Now its ur turn, send next brigade, I hv kept my promise”.

The chat under investigation reveals the person getting suspicious about the photographs not being real, about which he is told: “me in office now, how can I take fresh pics, it is not easy to take nude pics at every moment…these are mine pics…u can see my face”.

Intelligence outfits have detected another conversation of ‘Simran’ with another person, who identified himself to be a Captain in an infantry battalion and went on to give the details of infantry battalions presently in an infantry brigade. In the chat under investigation, he also shares information on which unit has moved out from the brigade. But when asked about its destination, the person replies that he does not know.

Speaking to The Sunday Express, a senior officer in Army Headquarters confirmed that there have been instances where such attempts were made to secure vital operational information from social networking sites.

“These are enemy intelligence agents who pose as women by creating fake profiles with fake pictures and try to lure military personnel into revealing details,” he said, adding that investigations in the cases detected so far were already on.

The Army as well the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force, have detailed instructions regarding the use of social media and the level of secrecy which has to be maintained.

A social media monitoring cell has also been established and officers are encouraged to provide information to this cell if they feel that something suspicious is being circulated on social media and which needs deeper investigation.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 22 Jul 2015 22:33

Ongoing Army probe reveals complicity of army officials and irregularities in contract with private sector software firm

Army spooks under the scanner

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 22 Jul 2015 22:36

Dulat left out crucial details from his book: RK Yadav

sum · Post by **sum** » 23 Jul 2015 04:13

The key witness for the prosecution was going to be the original whistleblower, Colonel Banerjee. This was when matters took another curious turn. On January 26, 2014, just a day before he was to depose before the Board of Inquiry, Colonel Banerjee was found dead in his room in the United Services Institution (USI) in south Delhi.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 18 Sep 2015 19:41

Doval flattening heirachy and hidden centers of waste.

RAW to Fold ARC

RAW to fold ARC merge assets into NTRO and IAF

Plans have been firmed up to shut down the Aviation Research Centre (ARC), India’s premier imaging-intelligence organisation, highly-placed government sources have told The Indian Express.

The plans, backed by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, envisage that the ARC’s aircraft and electronics assets will be divided between the National Technical Research Organisation and the Indian Air Force.

The organisational restructuring is primarily meant to enhance intelligence-gathering on China’s military capacities in the Tibet plateau, by integrating satellite-based data gathered by the NTRO with aircraft-based imaging conducted by the ARC.

NTRO’s imaging capacities, sources said, would be significantly enhanced by the acquisition of ARC electronic suites which are equipped with cloud-penetrating radar, something the satellites it now operates do not possess.

Flying from bases at Charbatia in Orissa, Sarsawa in Uttar Pradesh, Tinsukia in Assam and Palam in Delhi, the ARC operates a fleet equipped with Russian IL-76s, AN-32s, General Dynamics Gulfstream IIIs and Global 5000 jets. It is also equipped with Russian-manufactured Mi-17 and Indian-made Alouette II and III helicopters. The organisation is largely staffed by officers on deputation from the armed forces.

There is little public domain data on the ARC’s technical capacities, but the organisation is believed to have access to state-of-the-art equipment provided by the United States, the result of an intelligence cooperation agreement that dates back to the 1962 war with China.

Beginning with the loan of a Helio Twin Courier turboprop* from the United States that year, the organisation played a key role in a secret partnership to monitor China’s nuclear tests at Lop Nor.

Intelligence professionals are divided on the development, with some arguing that shutting down ARC could undermine the Research and Analysis Wing’s coverage of Chinese military infrastructure and capacities.

The ARC’s chief currently reports to the RAW chief who wields ex-officio responsibility over it as Director, Security, in the Cabinet Secretariat.

“The way things stand,” said former ARC chief Amitabh Mathur, “RAW is able to seamlessly have its needs met by the ARC. I’m not sure the NTRO, which is not directly accountable to the consumers of its intelligence, will be quite as responsive.”

{Reorganization by way of breaking up and merging the components into other organizations shows the current setup is ineffective. Especially a ~55 year old organization. Something for the former ARC chief to reflect on. The ultimate consumers of the intelligence are the armed forces and the GOI. Not just RAW.}

ARC insiders also claim handing over its air assets will also leave the élite Special Frontier Force — a special force also reporting to the RAW chief, in his capacity as Director, Security — without air assets under its direct control.

{SFF will get merged into IA and get organic transport.}[.I]

Following the Kargil war, the Army had argued for control of the ARC’s air assets, arguing that it failed to provide adequate warning on the build-up of Pakistani troops across the Line of Control. However, the ARC, as well as RAW, argued that they had indeed provided warnings, the significance of which was misread by military commanders.

The K Subrahmanyam committee report into the Kargil war asserted that “no intelligence failures had been attributed on account of functioning of RAW and ARC. However, certain equipment inadequacies were highlighted such as satellite imagery and UAVs”.

{In other words KRC recommended integration of satellites and UAV and ARC. Since those are with NTRO and IAF the reverse has happened.}

Post-Kargil reforms later led to the formation of the NTRO, along the lines of the United States’ National Security Agency, to serve as a hub for technological innovation and ensure expensive electronic assets could be shared by various intelligence organisations.

In 2012, though, the Naresh Chandra committee on national security reforms had recommended that the ARC be formally merged with RAW — a recommendation that emerged from complaints that the NTRO was not meeting its needs.

Early this year, the government had appointed RAW veteran Alok Joshi to head the NTRO, addressing complaints from the intelligence services that its technologist-dominated leadership was unresponsive to their needs.

The shutdown of the ARC is intended, government sources said, to be part of a broader package of reforms intended to make the NTRO more accountable to the end-users of its intelligence.

We don't know the full report and recommendations on intel reforms.

*Shiv do you still have the Observer's book of Aircraft by William Green from the schooldays? I lost my copies in multiple moves.
Helio Courier (U-10) was dream aircraft which I always thought was good for India to have instead of those silly Austers and for civil district hqs linkages to the state capitals.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helio_Courier

However Twin Courier special built for Covert ops is this one:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helio_Twin_Courier

It did not have turbo-prop. The writer is mistaken.

Aditya G · Post by **Aditya G** » 18 Sep 2015 22:52

^ This is a welcome move. Aside from intelligence, ARC is also used for 'special missions' like transporting terrorists renditioned from other countries, and to fly the RAW chief around. I think it provides airborne capability to SFF and NSG as well. IIRC in Op Cactus there was one ARC IL-76 with NSG contingent in the air as well.

IAF or even IN should raise and equip dedicated recce and ELINT squadrons, which in turn should be tasked by RAW, NTRO, IB or the intelligence consumer as required. At the moment, we have uniformed personnel deputed to these organisations, which doesnt make sense to me.

Possibly a unit like 77 Sqn can report into cabinet secretariat for SFF requirements.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 18 Sep 2015 23:06

>> At the moment, we have uniformed personnel deputed to these organisations, which doesnt make sense to me.

why ? if you go by recruitment notices they employ retd. people mostly.

RoyG · Post by **RoyG** » 19 Sep 2015 03:16

Intelligence and Police Reform can't wait any longer. Creation of NIA has complicated responsibility on the domestic front.

Sonugn · Post by **Sonugn** » 20 Sep 2015 20:17

How the CIA made Google - Inside the secret network behind mass surveillance, endless war, and Skynet - Part 1

How the CIA made Google - Inside the secret network behind mass surveillance, endless war, and Skynet - Part 2

Very long read.

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 20 Sep 2015 20:35

There are areas inside Google where even the CEO of google is not allowed. It is operated by the N@A and other agencies.

This is an elaborate system spread globally. What Snowden revealed was just a tiny part.

KrishnaK · Post by **KrishnaK** » 21 Sep 2015 00:10

svinayak wrote:There are areas inside Google where even the CEO of google is not allowed. It is operated by the N@A and other agencies.

Did the NSA tell you that ?

member_29089 · Post by **member_29089** » 12 Oct 2015 12:24

Smart Paki Talk

Extremely Intelligent Pakistanis came to Mumbai, hailed an autorickshaw and were discussing terrorism in Malay language. The dumb autorickshaw driver happened to understand Malay, Punjabi, and Urdu and informed the police.

sum · Post by **sum** » 14 Oct 2015 05:01

^^ Not directly related to Indian intel but am sure all these have been used against us too. Soviet engineering at its best:

How Soviets used IBM Selectric keyloggers to spy on US diplomats

A National Security Agency memo that recently resurfaced a few years after it was first published contains a detailed analysis of what very possibly was the world's first keylogger—a 1970s bug that Soviet spies implanted in US diplomats' IBM Selectric typewriters to monitor classified letters and memos.

The electromechanical implants were nothing short of an engineering marvel. The highly miniaturized series of circuits were stuffed into a metal bar that ran the length of the typewriter, making them invisible to the naked eye. The implant, which could only be seen using X-ray equipment, recorded the precise location of the little ball Selectric typewriters used to imprint a character on paper. With the exception of spaces, tabs, hyphens, and backspaces, the tiny devices had the ability to record every key press and transmit it back to Soviet spies in real time.

A “lucrative source of information”

The Soviet implants were discovered through the painstaking analysis of more than 10 tons' worth of equipment seized from US embassies and consulates and shipped back to the US. The implants were ultimately found inside 16 typewriters used from 1976 to 1984 at the US embassy in Moscow and the US consulate in Leningrad. The bugs went undetected for the entire eight-year span and only came to light following a tip from a US ally whose own embassy was the target of a similar eavesdropping operation.

The Soviets continually upgraded and improved their implants. There were five varieties or generations of bugs. Three types of units operated using DC power and contained either eight, nine, or ten batteries. The other two types operated from AC power and had beacons to indicate whether the typewriter was turned on or off. Some of the units also had a modified on and off switch with a transformer, while others had a special coaxial screw with a spring and lug. The modified switch sent power to the implant. Since the battery-powered machines had their own internal source of power, the modified switch was not necessary. The special coaxial screw with a spring and lug connected the implant to the typewriter linkage, and this linkage was used as an antenna to transmit the information as it was being typed. Later battery-powered implants had a test point underneath an end screw. By removing the screw and inserting a probe, an individual could easily read battery voltage to see if the batteries were still active.

The ingenuity of the Soviets was remarkable because they did not merely move from batteries as a source of power to alternating current. There were early versions and later versions of bugs that used both sources of power. NSA found that the first three implants were battery powered. The first of these was shipped to Moscow in October 1976, and the other two were shipped in April of 1977. The first bug that used alternating current as its source of power was shipped to Moscow in November 1977. The remaining nine machines that were found in Moscow used alternating current as their source of power and were more advanced than the first AC-powered bug. Five of the advanced model AC bugged typewriters were delivered to Moscow in February 1982. The remainder were delivered in January of 1984. The later battery-powered bugged typewriters found in the consulate in Leningrad were shipped in April of 1977 and March of 1982.

All of the implants were quite sophisticated. Each implant had a magnetometer that converted the mechanical energy of key strokes into local magnetic disturbances. The electronics package in the implant responded to these disturbances, categorized the underlying data, and transmitted the results to a nearby listening post. Data were transmitted via radio frequency. The implant was enabled by remote control. Another advantage of these bugs was easy installation. Engineers estimated that a skilled technician could install an implant in a typewriter in a half hour. The integrated circuits were very sophisticated for that time period. The circuits contained one bit core memory, an advancement that NSA engineers had never seen.

The devices could be turned off to avoid detection when the Soviets knew inspection teams were in close proximity. Newer devices operated by the US may have had the ability to detect the implants, but even then an element of luck would have been required, since the infected typewriter would have to be turned on, the bug would have to be turned on, and the analyzer would have to be tuned to the right frequency. To lower this risk, Soviet spies deliberately designed the devices to use the same frequency band as local television stations.

srin · Post by **srin** » 14 Oct 2015 17:24

Well, worked the other way too - the CIA placed a camera in the photo copier used in the Soviet embassy.
http://www.editinternational.com/read.p ... df19823b89

jayasimha · Post by **jayasimha** » 15 Oct 2015 14:15

just posing this question??
Is there any anti social elements involved in such high cases of dengue this time around capital..
are there anyone purposely fomenting and spreading?????
JMT

rkhanna · Post by **rkhanna** » 15 Oct 2015 14:27

just posing this question??
Is there any anti social elements involved in such high cases of dengue this time around capital..
are there anyone purposely fomenting and spreading????

Horrible Sanitation, poverty, and Population density is not enough to spread diseases?

jayasimha · Post by **jayasimha** » 15 Oct 2015 14:34

rkhanna wrote:
just posing this question??
Is there any anti social elements involved in such high cases of dengue this time around capital..
are there anyone purposely fomenting and spreading????

Horrible Sanitation, poverty, and Population density is not enough to spread diseases?

these were there before also..why ( and may be how ) this year??

Viv S · Post by **Viv S** » 15 Oct 2015 15:07

jayasimha wrote:these were there before also..why ( and may be how ) this year??

A more likely explanation is the strong monsoon spread out over unusually long period - September is normally much drier than it was this year.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 15 Oct 2015 19:04

Leaked: 'New Snowden' releases Obama's drone program papers

Drone Papers https://theintercept.com/drone-papers

rkhanna · Post by **rkhanna** » 16 Oct 2015 10:16

these were there before also..why ( and may be how ) this year??

Are you serious? They may have been there before. But with Each added year it gets worse and the heat gets worse and compound the two with crumbling Healthcare infrastructure.

Or we can go with your theory. The Pakis did it.

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 16 Oct 2015 23:05

New book: India: The Crucial Years, T.V. Rajeswar

T.V. Rajeswar is a former Director of Intelligence Bureau and a former governor of Sikkim, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh. His daughter Sujatha Singh was India's foreign secretary from August 2013 to January 2015. He lives in New Delhi.

sum · Post by **sum** » 26 Oct 2015 04:42

Serious stuff seems to have gone down here:

Missing intelligence official's body found in Meghalaya

The mutilated body of a young Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer Vikash Singh, who went missing more than a month ago, was on Saturday found buried along with the body of a trader in a jungle in the remote Garo hills bordering Bangladesh.

A Meghalaya Police statement on Sunday said Singh and trader Kamal Saha were kidnapped on September 24.

Human rights groups in Meghalaya demanded a probe into the incident alleging that Singh was abducted and killed on the “instruction” of some corrupt IB officials who were hand in gloves with mafia.

According to Meghalaya police sources, the bodies were recovered from Bolchugre village, about 18 km from Baghmara near Panda in South Garo Hills district.

Singh is a resident of Bihar and was posted at Rongara in Garo hills and cloth merchant Kamal Saha were abducted at gunpoint by suspected militants between Ampangre and Panda reserve forest.

Police sources said the militants segregated the passengers of the vehicle before kidnapping the officer and the merchant.

Since September 25, a massive search operation was afoot in South Garo Hills district and its adjoining districts to trace them. The bodies were recovered after a month-long rigorous search, police sources added.

“The two bodies were buried in sitting position in a hole about 2 km north of Bolchugre village. After exhumation, they were brought to Baghmara for autopsy,” the police statement added.

According to IB sources, Singh was a young officer who was tasked to maintain ground intelligence on different militant groups who are using the Garo hills corridor to sneak into Bangladesh and he was very successful in getting information.

member_29172 · Post by **member_29172** » 26 Oct 2015 05:36

looks like the hooman right group is trying to use this tragic death for their own nefarious purposes. Blaming it on IB officials is just moronic.

member_22539 · Post by **member_22539** » 26 Oct 2015 07:41

^Its not like they can blame it on their money-earning victims, the terrorists. How would they protest for terrorist human (?) rights if they are not the perpetual victims?