Europeans question NSA "Echelon" network [news]


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Eavesdropping on Europe by Niall McKay

4:00 a.m. 30.Sep.98.PDT If the European Parliament has its way,
the lid is about to come off what is reputedly one of the most
powerful, secretive, and extensive spy networks in history --
if, in fact, it really exists. In October, Europe's governing
body will commission a full report into the workings of Echelon,
a global network of highly sensitive listening posts operated in
part by America's most clandestine intelligence organization,
the National Security Agency.

"Frankly, the only people who have any doubt about the existence
of Echelon are in the United States," said Glyn Ford, a British
member of the European Parliament and a director of Scientific
and Technical Options Assessment, or STOA, a technology advisory
committee to the parliament.

Echelon is reportedly able to intercept, record, and translate
any electronic communication -- telephone, data, cellular, fax,
email, telex -- sent anywhere in the world. The parliamentary
report will focus on concerns that the system has expanded and
is now zeroed in on the secrets of European companies and
elected officials.

The parliament is alarmed at reports of Echelon's impressive
capabilities, and during a debate on 19 September, the European
Union called for accountability. The parliament stressed that
the NSA and the Government Communications Headquarters, which
jointly operate Echelon, must adopt measures to guard against
the system's abuse.

International cooperation on law enforcement is important, Ford
said, but there are limits. "We want to establish a code of
conduct for the systems to protect EU citizens and governments."

Across the Atlantic, Patrick Poole, deputy director for the Free
Congress Foundation, a conservative Washington think tank, is
preparing a report on Echelon to present to Republican members
of Congress. "I believe it's time we start to bring this matter
to our elected officials," he said.

Poole and Ford have their work cut out for them: Neither Britain
nor the United States will admit that Echelon even exists. The
NSA declined any comment on a series of faxed questions for this
story.

Keyword: Bomb

Over the years, enough information has leaked to suggest that
the spy network is more than science fiction. Echelon came to
the attention of the EU Parliament following a report
commissioned by STOA last year.

"Unlike many of the electronic spy systems developed during the
Cold War, Echelon is designed for primarily non-military
targets: governments, organizations, and businesses in virtually
every country," the report said.

According to the STOA report and stories in The New York Times,
The Daily Telegraph, and The Guardian, Echelon consists of a
network of listening posts, antenna fields, and radar stations.
The system is backed by computers that use language translation,
speech recognition, and keyword searching to automatically sift
through telephone, email, fax, and telex traffic.

The system is principally operated by the NSA and the GCHQ, but
reportedly also relies on cooperation with "signals
intelligence" operations in other countries, including the
Communications Security Establishment of Canada, Australia's
Defense Signals Directorate, and New Zealand's Government
Communications Security Bureau.

John Pike, a security analyst for the Federation of American
Scientists,said each of the five government agencies takes
responsibility for its own geographical region.

Each agency reportedly maintains a glossary of keywords. If
Echelon intercepts a transmission containing a word or phrase
contained in the glossary -- bomb, for example -- the full
conversation, email, or fax is recorded and shared among the
agencies.

"Echelon intercepts Internet traffic at the transport layer,
such as the TCP/IP layer, so the system doesn't care too much
what it is or where it came from," said Pike. "For analog
traffic, such as telephone conversations, it uses automatic
voice-recognition technology to scan the conversations."

Abuses of Power?

While the EU is aware that Echelon may be a useful tool for
tracking down global terrorists, drug barons, and international
criminals, Ford said the parliament is concerned that the system
may also be used for espionage, spying on peaceful nations, or
gaining unfair economic advantage over non-member nations.

Indeed, there are many reported instances of the British and US
intelligence agencies working together to gather information in
a questionable manner.

A 1993 BBC documentary about NSA's Menwith Hill facility in
England revealed that peace protestors had broken into the
installation and stolen part of this glossary, known as "the
Dictionary." The documentary alleged that Menwith Hill -- a
sprawling installation covering 560 acres and employing more
than 1,200 people -- was Echelon's nerve center.

Further evidence emerged last year, when British Telecom told a
court that it provides high-bandwidth telecommunications into
the Menwith Hill facility and from the facility to the United
States, using a transatlantic fiber-optic network.

"I believe that these five intelligence agencies are working
from a single plan," said Pike.

British investigative journalist Duncan Campbell was the first
to report about Echelon in a 1988 article in The New Statesman.
He believes that there is a very thin line between intelligence
gathering and commercial espionage.

Pike, of the Federation of American Scientists, believes the
intelligence agencies operate in a gray area of international
law. For example, there is no law prohibiting the NSA from
intercepting telecommunications and data traffic in the United
Kingdom and no law prohibiting GCHQ from doing the same thing in
the United States.

"The view by the NSA seems to be anything that can be
intercepted is fair game," said Pike. "And it's very hard to
find out what, if any, restraints can be employed."

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RELEVANCE OF THIS MESSAGE: Gov't secrets