Snowden files: Manipulating polls, netting from LinkedIn, YouTube in GCHQ bag of tricks
The UK's spy agency has developed a number of crafty tools to monitor and comb the web, planting false information when necessary, Glenn Greenwald said while disclosing a fresh batch of Snowden's files. ● The tools were created by the Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group (JTRIG) within the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), according to the leaked documents. Previous files have already detailed JTRIG’s use of “fake victim blog posts” and “false flag operations,” as well as “honey traps” and various forms of psychological manipulation of online activists. But the newly released GCHQ document, titled 'JTRIG Tools and Techniques,' gives a more comprehensive view of the scale of the operations, including how invasive they can be and how much online havoc can be caused. Some of the tools use the same methods that the US and UK have prosecuted online activists for, including “distributed denial of service” attacks and “call bombing.” The tools give the Cheltenham spies the ability to actively monitor Skype calls and messaging in real time, raising the same old questions about the reliability of Skype’s encryption or whether Microsoft is in fact cooperating with spy agencies.
NSA Whistleblower Binney: NSA Recording 80% of U.S. Phone Calls