-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2008 4:35 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [ PRIVACY Forum ] "Neighborhood Network Watch" -- not a joke, but a thesis project?
Greetings. I've been continuing to research the "Neighborhood Network Watch." It remained difficult to see how it could actually be exactly what it claimed to be, and more oddities and inconsistencies appeared the more I dug down, but it all seemed far too elaborate for a joke -- and its technical discussions are not utterly nonsensical. But use of terms like "ECHELON keyword list" and "emissary to DHS" were red flags. Some readers suggested that the project was the work of some wacko security wannabee (this seemed a definite possibility all along). Some deep Google searches have now exposed the reality. Not a joke, and not "real" per se, but apparently rather a complicated programming/thesis project presented as a "hoax" organization to critique networking and national security issues. And while the "project" had notable "screwball" aspects (a la my "Keystone Cops" title), it certainly found its way onto various Web sites and into a number of alarmed e-mails I received "alerting" me to its existence. Here are links to the relevant NYU blog entries that lay out the "actual" project design: http://itp.nyu.edu/blogs/ecm292_thesis/2008/02/ http://itp.nyu.edu/blogs/ecm292/2008/02/26/nnwkaa-30/ Of course, the real point of all this (beyond the programming elements) is that the described operations, despite dubious legal status, are not only largely possible, but in this day and age not something to be dismissed as beyond the pale of actual implementation. The advisability of publicly presenting a fictional organization in such a manner in this context without any obvious form of disclaimer is an issue for another day. --Lauren-- Lauren Weinstein [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 http://www.pfir.org/lauren Co-Founder, PFIR - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org Co-Founder, NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad - http://www.nnsquad.org Founder, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com _______________________________________________ privacy mailing list http://lists.vortex.com/mailman/listinfo/privacy _______________________________________________ Fun and Misc security discussion for OT posts. https://linuxbox.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/funsec Note: funsec is a public and open mailing list.
