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help you?" Caller: "I'm doing some research and
magine the following telephone call taking place to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in the UK:- MoD: "MoD helpline, how may I
Internet ESPIONAGE I
BY GRAEME BATSMAN, DATA DEFENDER LTD
I was wondering if you could email me a list of all the employees in your army, navy and air force, and where they are currently serving?" The answer from the MoD to a
request for such sensitive security information would undoubtedly be a polite, "Clear off!" Although such information would be
very useful to a foreign state, particu- larly a hostile one, in reality no state would be naïve enough to make such a request. But there are other ways that important security information can be obtained. One way would be by 'hacking' into the MoD's servers, but that would not be easy, given the layers of security in place to prevent such an attack, and even if successful
risks involved with hacking or other high-risk intelligence tactics when most of the data they seek is freely and legally available to them? In the modern age the inter- net and its associated social media, such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, are gold- mines of information. During the Cold War rival
intelligence agencies resorted to specialized, complex and illegal methods of gathering intelli- gence, often through the use of undercover agents, bugging devices, phone taps, bribery and blackmail. Today, a great deal of intelligence can be gathered legally online. With the right skill-set,
time, patience and resources
there would always be the risk of the hacking being uncovered and traced back to its source. But why would any state take the
a lot of intelligence on military organi- sations, governments, private indi- viduals and businesses can be found through searching online media. It is surprising how much can be
found out from Facebook: information on location, past relationships, reli-
An Cosantóir June 2012 www.dfmagazine.ie
