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Today I Briefed Congress on the NSA

schneier.com

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Re: Today I Briefed Congress on the NSA

#11

Post by belluchan »

oceanstone wrote: post #9

Currently, the Intelligence Committees have special access to top secret information. Every member of Congress should have this.

With 535 of them not including staff, they really shouldn't. And clearance isn't enough, you also have to have a need to know. We just need a system of oversight that works well.

Re: Today I Briefed Congress on the NSA

#12

Post by rdl »

It makes sense that you need TS/SSBI and the correct SAP read-in to be inside a given SCIF belonging to a SAP; otherwise one might leave a recording device or otherwise damage the integrity of the SCIF. Plus, the SCIF would need to be cleared of all sensitive materials before you entered.

Clearing a SCIF, letting someone inside, then recertifying it would probably be the correct choice; It could be done, of course, but it's not cheap. (You can also potentially keep the person under observation the whole time, but given the purported Chuck Norris powers of Bruce Schneier, that seems insufficient.)

Re: Today I Briefed Congress on the NSA

#13

Post by [deleted] »

higherpurpose wrote: post #2

The Intelligence committees and the FISA Court need to be overhauled, to start with. Clearly there's not enough/proper oversight of the agency. I don't know how they do it now, but the Intelligence committees should also brief the rest of Congress at least twice a year, and I think they should be allowed by explicit laws to declassify anything they want in that briefing. No approval from the White House or anyone els…

[deleted]

Re: Today I Briefed Congress on the NSA

#15

Post by bargl »

On his blog Schneier comments that this meeting was kept small on purpose. I wanted to see who was present at this meeting so I looked up some of their information. Not hard to find, but here you go. I plan on emailing each of them and thanking them for consulting someone the tech industry considers a Security SME.

Rep. Logfren (Democratic) http://lofgren.house.gov/biography/ Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoe_Lofgren

Rep. Sensenbrenner (Republican) http://sensenbrenner.house.gov/biography/ Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Sensenbrenner

Rep. Scott (Democratic) http://www.bobbyscott.house.gov/biography/ Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Scott_%28U.S._politician%...

Rep. Goodlate (Republican) http://goodlatte.house.gov/pages/about-bob Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Goodlatte

Rep Thompson (Democratic) http://mikethompson.house.gov/biography/ Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Thompson_(California_polit...

Rep. Amash (Republican) http://amash.house.gov/about-me/full-biography Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Amash

Edit: Cleaned up one of the links and got rid of a repetitive sentence.

Re: Today I Briefed Congress on the NSA

#16

Post by chippy »

Helianthus wrote: post #7

It's good to know that we do have some legislators on (essentially) our side, even if their hands are, presently, tied.

This is incredibly important. It means that there is hope, that the government is not some evil conspiracy, that there are people in power, people like ourselves.

The film Enemy of the State, and conspiracy theories mean that normal people think it is the status quo that our lives are under 100% surveillance and that they are powerless. In a way its been argued that this is quite comforting. Imagine a world where no-one knows what they are doing versus imagining a world where there is a conspiracy, an evil plan. What this type of public culture makes and what the worst conspiracy theories do is make politics seem hopeless, encourages apathy and reduces trust in politicians. At the same time it makes it easier for the real abusers of power to get away with it.

The recent phone tapping cases in the US being a point in case. Everyone thought it was going on all the time anyhow, so when it was revealed no one was suprised, and so the consequences were slight.

To know that those in power do actually think, and do listen, and do believe in the political process is very very vital.

Re: Today I Briefed Congress on the NSA

#17

Post by rprospero »

higherpurpose wrote: post #2

The Intelligence committees and the FISA Court need to be overhauled, to start with. Clearly there's not enough/proper oversight of the agency. I don't know how they do it now, but the Intelligence committees should also brief the rest of Congress at least twice a year, and I think they should be allowed by explicit laws to declassify anything they want in that briefing. No approval from the White House or anyone els…

The thing is that they already have the framework to do this. A senator is immune from prosecution for anything state on the floor of the senate. If Wyden is on the senate floor, he could read off the nuclear launch codes and there's not a damn thing that the executive can do about it. Furthermore, the senate has closed sessions. They had one just a couple of years ago for the START treaty. A senator could take the floor, tell the rest of the senate about any classified material they like, and the information isn't released to the public unless the Senate votes to remove the injunction of secrecy, so the information remains secure. Even if the injunction is removed, the senator is still protected by some fairly strict constitutional privilege.

This seems to be a solved problem.

Re: Today I Briefed Congress on the NSA

#18

Post by davidw »

SEJeff wrote: post #8
jaryd wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sensitive Comparmented Information Facility: In United States security and intelligence parlance, a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF; pronounced "skiff") is an enclosed area within a building that is used to process Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) types of classified information. https://duckduckgo.com/Sensitive_Compartmented_Information_F...

Depending on the level, they often have TEMPEST shielding aka faraday cages to prevent leakage of electromagnetic signals from computers and whatnot. (google Van Eck Phreaking for some ideas on why heh)

Or you could read Cryptonimicon, which is a lot slower, but more fun:

http://www.amazon.com/Cryptonomicon-Neal-Stephenson/dp/00605...

Startups and science fiction... that book is a favorite of mine.

Re: Today I Briefed Congress on the NSA

#20

Post by danielrhodes »

oceanstone wrote: post #9

Currently, the Intelligence Committees have special access to top secret information. Every member of Congress should have this.

They do have access. Staff must have security clearance, of course. Elected representatives are entitled, by virtue of their office, to classified information. Although there are obvious concerns with keeping information secret here, the alternative would subvert the democratic process.

Having said that, I'm not sure what bureaucratic obstacles the executive branch has put in place to obtaining classified information.

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