Just another Reality-based bubble in the foam of the multiverse.

Monday, April 14, 2008

You Can Spy on Your Friends and Families for the Fatherland

Ladies, Gentlemen, and Cyborgs, the Department of Homeland Security gives you the Neighborhood Network Watch:

The Neighborhood Network Watch announced today the start of a new community program, the Home Network Awareness Program (HNAP). HNAP is aimed at providing an easy way for people to get involved and to contribute to the efforts of the Neighborhood Network Watch as well as providing the group with valuable information on the states of networks that reside in the homes of our nation.

Participants in HNAP would collect sample network traffic from their own home networks as well as samples from networks within the vicinity. The Neighborhood Network Watch will be making a set of freely available instructions on how to capture network traffic, using the open source packet sniffer TCPDUMP, and how to log onto nearby wireless networks that may be being operated by neighbors.

These samples of network traffic would then be sent to the Neighborhood Network Watch for analysis using the latest revision of the NNWKAA. The participants would then be sent back a rating for each network along with a rating for the area as a whole.

This allows the participants to not only find out how their own home network is being used but also valuable information about those around their home that may have large amounts of terrorist related traffic flowing over them. This also provides the Neighborhood Network Watch with the ability to see if there is potential terrorist cell activity in or around the participants homes.




How exciting! Obviously all your Democrat neighbors are a bunch of Obama Osama-loving terrorists. Perhaps they are even members of the Sierra Club. Or even Quakers.

[The original title of this post was "for the Feds", but let's get real. The Feds don't really have the proper security for the fourth branch of government. Only the free market private sector can be trusted to disregard the Constitution and do what needs to be done for the greater good of the free market private sector.]

You too can be a member of the Hitler Homeland Brigade, keep tabs on their online activity, and report it to the Authorities. Who knows, when we raid their home some morning about 5AM, we might even invite you along for coffee and doughnuts. And debriefing.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

From their FAQ -

Q: Isn’t this invading my privacy?

A: In many ways yes, but in a post 9-11 world the government and most communities across the United States, believe that these sorts of measures are necessary to prevent our nation from being attacked by ruthless terrorists. In fact privacy is a relative term with a definition that is constantly being redefined. Especially so in the highly technologically mediated world we live in today.

Anonymous said...

This is a social experiment, and probably a Master's degree thesis - not a real community program. See:
This NYU blog.

kelley b. said...

"Most" communities the way that Dana Peroxide insists "most" real Amerikans support Dear Leader as the annointed of the Lord.

Unfortunately, it really is, and of course, the DHS has hired private contractors to assist it/

Unknown said...

Dude, I've actually met the owner of that blog. I thought it was a social experiment as well, but I had a chance to talk to him and I dunno. He's a pretty scary fellow but I think the people he was with were even creepier. He seemed really geared up to try and really get recruits, specifically college students who've grown up with and are comfortable with technology. I left questioning whether my first assessment was right or not.

Oh yeah and you forget NYU has internship programs with the DHS and come periodically to visit, not sure if directly this program but, wouldn't be surprised if NYU is knee deep in this. Freaky ass scary shitte man.

kelley b. said...

Here's the problem.

A paranoid can, in the current environment, dream up a scheme, float a corporation, and get it bankrolled by the Feds if it fits the Homeland Security agenda, if the paranoid is politically correct, and if the Right people get their palms crossed with gold along the way.

It's the Security Industrial state.

Anonymous said...

Found the thesis thing on my own, here's some relevant text:

"Since the NNW operates as if it were a government agency it will bring to the forefront the methods and tactics used by these bodies to disseminate fear and exercise social control. In conjunction the grossly illegal and unconstitutional methods employed by the NNW that embody an ideal model of the intelligence gathering community and post September 11th United States’ policy, will allow the public to quickly critique and begin to question these agencies and U.S. policy. The NNW is meant to act as a hyperbolic vision of the DHS that is simultaneously feasible and hence walking a fine line that separates the real and unreal. It is meant to be an object of harsh critique and thus provide an entry point for discussing the various issues that are raised with it."

So whazzit mean? Dunno, but last night I made sure the 802.11 link in my router was disabled...

Maximus said...

This is a hoax. It's a thesis project.

http://itp.nyu.edu/blogs/ecm292_thesis/2008/02/

and

http://itp.nyu.edu/blogs/ecm292/2008/02/26/nnwkaa-30

PLEASE don't send anything to this guy. You probably don't know him and have no idea what he's doing with the information received. He's receiving citizens personal data (usernames, passwords, emails, etc...) and all under the false mis-representation he's working with DHS; which he's not.

He's been reported to DHS for this activity as he has falsly identified working with DHS for the purpose of gaining access to this information.

Maximus