The Big Brother on Menwith Hill

PSI 2007Kaido Kikkas

This document uses the GNU Free Documentation License (v1.2 or newer).

I know what you did last summer

Censorship as a tool for power has existed for centuries

Today, we just have technical measures beyond everything that has existed before

(once more) Technology has gotten better. Humans are as imperfect as always

It began with Enigma

German cipher machine

Invented around 1920, since 1925 used in military purposes

Initially considered 'unbreakable if used properly'

Bletchley Park

An old manor near London – the WWII centre of British cryptography

Large team of British cryptanalysts, mathematicians, crossword and chess enthusiasts (the 12-minute test)

about 10 000 people in 1945

On the first day of Christmas...

Brilliant brains (Alan Turing and others)

Good machinery (Colossus and others)

Stolen code books from U-559

Three Polish Enigma breakers

Outcome: the war shortened for 2 years

Bletchley Park was closed – until made a museum in 1993

UKUSA 1947

The Quadripartite Agreement 1947:

United States

United Kingdom

Canada

Australia (along with the New Zealand)

Intelligence exchange between major English-speaking countries

Secrecy

Even Prime Ministers were uninformed

Surveillance areas

Ban on domestic spying – mixed results

NSA as the main player

From humans to machines

70s – human operators

Later fully automatic with huge databases – the birth of Echelon

Menwith Hill as a central station

After the Cold War

1993 – Clinton: level the playing field – massive increase in commercial intelligence

2001 – Bush: War on terror – Echelon turns inside

The Intelligence cycle

1. Planning, requirements & direction

2. Collection (access & interception)

3. Analysis & processing

4. Production

5. Dissemination

6. go back to 1.

Tapping the comm

Operation Shamrock

Hi-Freq radio

Interception from space

Submarine interception

Internet

Business cases

Panavia

Thomson CSF

Airbus

Trade negotiations

Spying on the hosts

Conclusion

The situation looks pretty grim

Does not depend on the number of superpowers

International treaties are for sissies

Solution?