By Declan McCullagh, News.com
Posted on ZDNet News: Nov 24, 2004 6:28:00 PM
The CIA is quietly funding federal research into surveillance of Internet chat rooms as part of an effort to identify possible terrorists, newly released documents reveal.
In April 2003, the CIA agreed to fund a series of research projects that the documents indicate were intended to create "new capabilities to combat terrorism through advanced technology." One of those projects is research at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., devoted to automated monitoring and profiling of the behavior of chat-room users.
Listening in
The CIA has been working behind the scenes for a number of months to help develop technology for monitoring chat on the Internet. A real-world test starts with the New Year.
• November 2002: Invitation-only workshop convened by CIA and NSF on antiterrorism research.
• April 2003: CIA and NSF sign "memorandum of understanding" to fund technology research.
• June 2004: Deadline for submitting research proposals to NSF.
• July 2004: CIA and NSF review nearly 250 research proposals.
• January 2005: Scheduled start date of chat room monitoring project at Rensselaer Polytechnic.
Even though the money ostensibly comes from the National Science Foundation, CIA officials were involved in selecting recipients for the research grants, according to a contract between the two agencies obtained by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and reviewed by CNET News.com.
NSF program director Leland Jameson said Wednesday the two-year agreement probably will not be renewed for the 2005 fiscal year. "Probably we won't be working with the CIA anymore at all," Jameson said. "I think that people have moved on to other things."
The NSF grant for chat-room surveillance was reported earlier this year, but without disclosure of the CIA's role in the project. The NSF-CIA memorandum of understanding says that while the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and the fight against terrorism presented U.S. spy agencies with surveillance challenges, existing spy "capabilities can be significantly enhanced with advanced technology."
EPIC director Marc Rotenberg, whose nonprofit group obtained the documents through the Freedom of Information Act, said the CIA's clandestine involvement was worrisome. "The intelligence community is changing the priorities of scientific research in the U.S.," Rotenberg said. "You have to be careful that the National Science Foundation doesn't become the National Spy Foundation."
"The proposed system could aid the intelligence community to discover hidden communities and communication patterns in chat rooms without human intervention."
--Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute research proposal
A CIA representative would not answer questions, saying the agency's policy is never to talk about funding. The two Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute researchers involved, Bulent Yener and Mukkai Krishnamoorthy, did not respond to interview requests.
Their proposal, also disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act, received $157,673 from the CIA and NSF. It says: "We propose a system to be deployed in the background of any chat room as a silent listener for eavesdropping...The proposed system could aid the intelligence community to discover hidden communities and communication patterns in chat rooms without human intervention."
Yener and Krishnamoorthy, both associate professors of computer science, wrote that their research would involve writing a program for "silently listening" to an Internet Relay Chat (IRC) channel and "logging all the messages." One of the oldest and most popular methods
for chatting online, IRC attracts hundreds of thousands of users every day. A
history written by IRC creator Jarkko Oikarinen said the concept grew out of chat technology for modem-based bulletin boards in the 1980s.
The Yener and Krishnamoorthy proposal says their research will begin Jan. 1, 2005 but does not say which IRC servers will be monitored.
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- Talkback
- Most Recent of 95 Talkback(s)
 As though real terrorists would use chat rooms Jeff Spicoli | 11/24/04 |
 I have to agree with Jeff's basic point. Laff | 11/24/04 |
 And hey... Jeff Spicoli | 11/24/04 |
| 4th Amendment John L. Ries | 11/24/04 |
| Ya know..I have NEVER given a blank about legal/Illegal Laff | 11/24/04 |
| Exactly Jeff Spicoli | 11/24/04 |
| I dunno, Jeff. Judas I. | 11/24/04 |
| Well at the very least I do enjoy the thought of being Laff | 11/26/04 |
| yea and nay linuxoverwindows | 11/25/04 |
| I agree, but... John L. Ries | 11/24/04 |
| Furthermore... John L. Ries | 11/24/04 |
| the okc bomber? linuxoverwindows | 11/25/04 |
| Look here Jeff Spicoli | 11/25/04 |
| Give ANY power to a person/goverment it will be ABUSED Laff | 11/26/04 |
 Are you then in favor of anarchy? John L. Ries | 11/26/04 |
| No NOT anarcy..but a VERY limited government where Laff | 11/29/04 |
| Remember the old adage... eulagree | 11/29/04 |
| theyre watching you right now linuxoverwindows | 11/25/04 |
| George Carlin said it best TechDiva_z | 11/26/04 |
| delorean linuxoverwindows | 11/25/04 |
| ASSUMED innocent until PROVEN guilty....that has some Laff | 11/29/04 |
| You Know What Live Spelled Backward Is? eulagree | 11/29/04 |
| You're right and you're wrong seosamh_z | 11/24/04 |
| What about foreign chatrooms? j.m.galvin | 11/24/04 |
| Precisely why real terrorists would NEVER use it Jeff Spicoli | 11/24/04 |
| They Use Any Means Necessary nikoli | 11/24/04 |
| You are assuming a level if intelligence that to my Laff | 11/26/04 |
| heres an idea... linuxoverwindows | 11/25/04 |
| Hey... Jeff Spicoli | 11/25/04 |
| Wrong! WhoIsDaMan | 11/24/04 |
| Agreed John L. Ries | 11/24/04 |
| What's an illegal combatant? voska | 11/25/04 |
| You mean it's SUPPOSED to apply... BitTwiddler | 11/26/04 |
| Supposed to Apply Inventor_z | 11/29/04 |
| Cell phones John L. Ries | 11/24/04 |
| chat, email, internet oh, my! linuxoverwindows | 11/25/04 |
| Haven't Cought on Yet?? Inventor_z | 11/29/04 |
| Ya know I use to work in a small dairy in Maine... Laff | 11/29/04 |
| But... TechDiva_z | 11/26/04 |
| And that is the POINT...Not to catch terrorists, but Laff | 11/26/04 |
| But Inventor_z | 11/29/04 |
| That's even if... eulagree | 11/29/04 |
| Half the point Roger Ramjet | 11/29/04 |
| Even the paranoid have enemies...heh heh heh Laff | 11/29/04 |
| Hmm, Hard one. Roger Ramjet | 11/29/04 |
| Never said that one could prove that there is NO God. Laff | 11/29/04 |
| Another adage... eulagree | 11/29/04 |
| We have our ways.... No_Ax_to_Grind | 11/24/04 |
| Good thing I keep those to a MINIMUM! Laff | 11/24/04 |
| memory linuxoverwindows | 11/25/04 |
| Love the use of "we" TechDiva_z | 11/26/04 |
| Why would terrorists go into a chat room? coffeenite | 11/24/04 |
| Tradecraft quietLee | 11/24/04 |
| And they call JEFF ... Judas I. | 11/24/04 |
| Sorry quietLee | 11/24/04 |
| LOL!!! That's hilarious!! itanalyst | 11/24/04 |
| Dang! Thanx, itananlyst, ... Judas I. | 11/24/04 |
| funny thing is... linuxoverwindows | 11/25/04 |
| The American Tyranny Won't Last Much Longer Anyway itanalyst | 11/24/04 |
| America is going to completely collapse within 10-20 years Jeff Spicoli | 11/24/04 |
| You are WELCOME.....:) Laff | 11/24/04 |
| Are you taking requests? Yen_z | 11/24/04 |
| No problem.....However I've felt for years that there Laff | 11/26/04 |
| I can help! Yen_z | 11/26/04 |
| I am a FALSE God, but in this I stand in some very Laff | 11/29/04 |
| Chat Rooms Are A Waste, They Are Looking In The Wrong Place itanalyst | 11/24/04 |
| I generally agree... John L. Ries | 11/24/04 |
| Not so sure TechDiva_z | 11/26/04 |
| theyre not actually... linuxoverwindows | 11/25/04 |
| Why limit the options? Martin Marvinski | 11/28/04 |
| The Thought Police dem_z | 11/24/04 |
| I try NOT to think..gets in the way of ACTION! Laff | 11/24/04 |
| speaking of action... linuxoverwindows | 11/25/04 |
| I'm pretty sure that this government is no longer Laff | 11/26/04 |
| War on Terror. rhammock | 11/24/04 |
| prohibition linuxoverwindows | 11/25/04 |
| prohibition would never happen in our time JasonL31 | 11/26/04 |
| would, or do? :P linuxoverwindows | 11/27/04 |
| what don't they spy M_c | 11/24/04 |
| Jurisdiction? mobrien_12@... | 11/24/04 |
| I don't like this. KOS-MOS | 11/24/04 |
| That's the whole point Jeff Spicoli | 11/24/04 |
| the government had information on the last attack JasonL31 | 11/25/04 |
| as the terrorist adapt JasonL31 | 11/25/04 |
| yeah, washington dc. linuxoverwindows | 11/27/04 |
| While they are michael-t | 11/27/04 |
| What a joke! Robertbrice | 11/28/04 |
| Some explanation... ? Martin Marvinski | 11/28/04 |
| Why should anyone bother showing you proof??? Jeff Spicoli | 11/28/04 |
| Ok here is the reasoning Robertbrice | 11/28/04 |
| After 9/11 I became less free..not because the Laff | 11/29/04 |
| Security officials to spy on chat rooms Inventor_z | 11/29/04 |
| Good advice, but never been my style. Laff | 11/29/04 |
| Am ALREADY unlucky, Inventor. Judas I. | 11/29/04 |
| Terrorists using Chat Rooms? eulagree | 11/29/04 |
What do you think?
