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Ames/clipper compromised?
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Okay here's the scoop on the Ames/clipper bit, from the guy who
wrote it. Permission to distribute is granted as long as it is
reproduced in it's entirety.
Termcomp.zip, the electronic version of TERMINAL COMPROMISE is
available for ftp at ftp.netsys.com under /pub/novel for those who
asked.
- From [email protected] Fri Mar 25 08:04:37 1994
Date: Fri, 25 Mar 94 11:01:56 -0500
To: [email protected]
From: "Winn Schwartau" <[email protected]>
Organization: Inter.Pact
Subject: Ames/Clipper Connection
More About Clipper and Ames
by Winn Schwartau
March 25, 1994.
The Ames/Clipper item I wrote in the Feb. 1994 issue of Security
Insider Report has apparently caused quite a hub-bub. The Senate
Foreign Relations Committee is looking for more, the general media
has picked it up, and the net is buzzing. As a result, I have been
asked to put a few words out regarding this story.
First of all, it is a story, one that was told to me by a person
whom I know well, respect, and was at the actual meeting where
the subject of Ames/Clipper was discussed.
In RISKS 15.67, Dorothy Denning said that she didn't think that the
Clipper Ames story/rumor made sense. While I am sure that the
people to whom she spoke told her what she wrote, I was given the
story by my source who WAS AT THE MEETING. Does that make it all
true? No, it doesn't. And the item in Security Insider Report
contained strong caveats at both the beginning and the end of the
article. It was NOT printed as 100% accurate: it was printed as I
was told it, and it was read and approved prior to publication by
the source.
I, too, have sought for confirmation, and been unable to find it.
So, when Dorothy said she couldn't, that's no surprise. I have
enclosed the piece that originally appeared in SIR. I fail to
understand Dorothy's inability to accept possibilities and
capabilities. That's one of the basic tenets of intelligence and a
strong defensive posture.
I find it very easy to accept that the intelligence community is
considering everything that Ames might have spilled, including
Clipper. What is so strange about that? That's their job! In the
same issue of SIR, I examined how the FBI used technology to
monitor Ames'computer.
In the next issue of SIR, I will be looking at Ames' hacking
abilities and skills which possibly lend credence to the possi
bility that Clipper was compromised. The tale is still unfold
ing.
"Ames and the Clipper Connection"
(From The February, 1994 Issue of Security Insider Report)
Let me preface this item with a caveat. I received a call from
a very well placed and highly reliable person in Washington who
passed on the information. I asked if there was any way I could
confirm what he told me, and I was told no. It's too sensitive.
Nonetheless, it is so intriguing that SIR readers expect and
would want to know what people are thinking about, even if it
turns out not to be true. We in our industry deal with possibil
ities and capabilities and since this discussion did take place,
I'm passing it on as it happened. If this item has any shred of
truth to it, well . . . decide for yourself.
My contact, we'll call him something original, like 'Joe', was
asked to attend a meeting where representatives from the FBI (he
wasn't clear if it was the Counter Intelligence 3 [CI-3 from Half
Street who keep track of Soviets and Russians] or from FBI HQ),
the CIA and the National Security Agency. All told more than a
dozen and less than twenty people assembled in an off-site
"neutral" location to figure out what to do.
It seems, according to a number of people at this meeting, that
alleged CIA traitor Aldrich Ames, had access to the Clipper keys.
Whoah! I nearly fell off my keyboard when I heard that.
"You mean he knew the crypto-secrets behind the whole thing?" I
asked. "Why would a Humint [Human Intelligence] guy know the
secrets of Clipper?"
"He had access to them; it would have been a normal part of his
job to be in that loop."
So what this group of initialed reps are allegedly attempting to
do is:
1. Determine how much access Ames had to Clipper.
2. Determine if he did have access, did he in fact take
advantage of it.
3. If he did get some Clipper secrets, is there a record of
that access?
4. Then, what did he do with them?
The fear, understandably, is that Ames might have compromised the
entire Clipper/Capstone/Tessera program.
The words I also heard were, "If there's only even a 1% chance
that Clipper has been compromised, the whole thing's over. We
have to start from scratch."
So, according to my sources, the spooks-that-be are looking for a
fast alternative to Clipper and Skipjack, under the theory that
Ames may have blown the whole wad.
Civil libertarians might shout with glee if this turns out to be
true, but I think it's a hell of way to win a ball game. Bitter
sweet irony. Sure, I'm not in favor it, and I am indeed nervous
about 'the other shoe' but this is not the way I wanted Clipper
to go away.
I repeat: as of today, this is only a story, there is no confir
mation. If SIR readers have anything to add, please let us know
in any way you can.
(C) 1994, Winn Schwartau and Inter.Pact
NOTE: As of March 24, 1994, my sources reconfirmed that the story
as I told it is 100% accurate.
(Security Insider Report is published monthly by Inter.Pact
Press, 11511 Pine St., Seminole, FL 34642. Voice: 813-393-6600,
Fax 813-393-6361, email [email protected]. Hardcopy sub
scriptions are $99/Yr. and electronic site licenses are available
for selected organizations.)
Brian Williams
Extropian
Cypherpatriot
"Cryptocosmology: Sufficently advanced comunication is
indistinguishable from noise." --Steve Witham
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