CIA pulled officers from Beijing after breach of federal personnel records
1–10 of 35 posts
Re: CIA pulled officers from Beijing after breach of federal personnel records
#2As some previous articles have already mentioned, they probably already knew who they were anyways. Only their offices have special locks. They don't mingle with anyone else at the embassy but their own. They also don't have same 3-4 year requirement of staying at the embassy so they leave early; and when their replacements arrive, they take over the same offices.
Re: CIA pulled officers from Beijing after breach of federal personnel records
#3[deleted]
Re: CIA pulled officers from Beijing after breach of federal personnel records
#4[deleted]
Re: CIA pulled officers from Beijing after breach of federal personnel records
#5I like the idea that CIA officers are directly identifiable by their absence from the database. It reminds me of submarines and sonars. I understand that modern submarines are pretty good at diverting sonar waves so that they have a small footprint. However when a fishing boat passes over a submarine while scanning the ocean floor looking for fish, the submarine becomes immediately visible as a dark shape of sonar waves not returning from the ocean floor.
Re: CIA pulled officers from Beijing after breach of federal personnel records
#6As some previous articles have already mentioned, they probably already knew who they were anyways. Only their offices have special locks. They don't mingle with anyone else at the embassy but their own. They also don't have same 3-4 year requirement of staying at the embassy so they leave early; and when their replacements arrive, they take over the same offices.
I believe you're talking about https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10291691
Re: CIA pulled officers from Beijing after breach of federal personnel records
#7I like the idea that CIA officers are directly identifiable by their absence from the database. It reminds me of submarines and sonars. I understand that modern submarines are pretty good at diverting sonar waves so that they have a small footprint. However when a fishing boat passes over a submarine while scanning the ocean floor looking for fish, the submarine becomes immediately visible as a dark shape of sonar wa…
That smells fishy, as it would be something exploited immediately by any anti-submarine vessel.
Re: CIA pulled officers from Beijing after breach of federal personnel records
#8 "We, too, practice cyberespionage and . . . we’re not bad at it"
- James Clapper
It seems to me that yeah... you kind are bad at it.
At the very least, a little less self-certainty might be in order.
Re: CIA pulled officers from Beijing after breach of federal personnel records
#9I like the idea that CIA officers are directly identifiable by their absence from the database. It reminds me of submarines and sonars. I understand that modern submarines are pretty good at diverting sonar waves so that they have a small footprint. However when a fishing boat passes over a submarine while scanning the ocean floor looking for fish, the submarine becomes immediately visible as a dark shape of sonar wa…
That smells fishy, as it would be something exploited immediately by any anti-submarine vessel.
Anti-submarine vessels have to do one thing really well to have any chances; be quiet. Fishing vessels can happily plough the ocean wave pinging to their heart's content. An anti-submarine vessel that did that quickly becomes a target, or if the submarine is feeling generous, something to go around - thanks for telling us where you are.
There's a time and a place for active sonar in finding and killing submarines, but it's not from your anti-submarine ship, all day every day.
Re: CIA pulled officers from Beijing after breach of federal personnel records
#10"We, too, practice cyberespionage and . . . we’re not bad at it" - James Clapper Ironic, for the intelligence leader of a country that had their defensive systems completely penetrated (with the federal personnel records), and their offensive systems fully outed in the most humiliating way possible (by Snowden) It seems to me that yeah... you kind are bad at it. At the very least, a little less self-certainty might b…
For what it's worth, the CIA is the only federal agency that keeps their own employee records. Everyone else goes through OPM. They (rightfully) assumed that OPM couldn't keep secrets and that's where we find ourselves today. It's probable that these records are printed, locked in a vault.
James Clapper, the DNI, heads 16 intelligence agencies under him, one of which (CIA) didn't have their records stolen. Though the budget breakdowns are not disclosed, arguably, they are the largest of the bunch and only ones that have deployed field operatives.