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NSA's 'Perfect Citizen' Cyber Program 'Is Big Brother,' Says Contractor

by Terrence O'Brien on July 8, 2010 at 02:20 PM

Perfect Citizen is Big Brother "Perfect Citizen." With a name straight out of a bad spy thriller, the National Security Agency's new surveillance program, recently uncovered by the Wall Street Journal, is designed to detect cyber-attacks on the nation's private companies, government agencies and U.S. infrastructure. It operates primarily through sensors that are deployed across these networks, detect unusual activity, and trigger alarms for further investigation.

The sensors target aging systems, like subways and air-traffic control, that were designed before the widespread use of the Internet, and whose engineers therefore didn't account for modern electronic security issues. According to an unnamed government official quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Perfect Citizen would address these "big, glaring holes." It would also serve as a tool for building a database that the NSA could reference when asked by private companies to help investigate cyber-attacks.

In the interest of making cyber-security a high priority, President Obama has greatly expanded the program, which was started under the Bush administration. While public sector computer networks and infrastructure will be automatically included in Perfect Citizen, private entities' inclusion is entirely optional. Perhaps the most unsettling detail, though, comes from an internal e-mail written by an employee of Raytheon Corp (the company that won the initial $100 million contract to build the system), who said, "Perfect Citizen is Big Brother." Grab the tin foil, and begin folding your hats now. [From: Wall Street Journal, via: Engadget]

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Tags: BigBrother, CyberSecurity, government, NSA, PerfectCitizen, privacy, security, top

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