Wired.com is reporting on a little-known spy agency called the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency that studies satellite imagery for use in dealing with national security issues, government intelligence and natural disasters. Some privacy advocates are worried about the amount and level of information being collected on everyday citizens by the NGA, but the positives appear to far outweigh the negatives with this newest addition to the US intelligence community.

WASHINGTON — A little-known spy agency that analyzes imagery taken from the skies has been spending significantly more time watching U.S. soil.

In an era when other intelligence agencies try to hide those operations, the director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, retired Air Force Lt. Gen. James Clapper, is proud of that domestic mission.

He said the work the agency did after hurricanes Rita and Katrina was the best he’d seen an intelligence agency do in his 42 years in the spy business.

“This was kind of a direct payback to the taxpayers for the investment made in this agency over the years, even though in its original design it was intended for foreign intelligence purposes,” Clapper said in a Thursday interview with The Associated Press.

Geospatial intelligence is the science of combining imagery, such as satellite pictures, to physically depict features or activities happening anywhere on the planet. A part of the Defense Department, the NGA usually operates unnoticed to provide information on nuclear sites, terror camps, troop movements or natural disasters.

You can read the entire Wired article @ Sky Spies Watch Us from Space.

Slate.com has a short and interesting article regarding the use of data mining and social network analysis by the National Security Agency in its efforts to hunt down terrorists and terrorist cells. Social network analysis is used by the NSA as an effective way to establish links between known and potential terrorists.

From the article —

Last Thursday, USA Today reported that the NSA has been collecting the phone records of millions of Americans. The agency is apparently using “data mining” techniques to scour these records for connections between terrorists. According to an intelligence official interviewed by USA Today, the NSA is analyzing this data using “social network analysis.” What’s social network analysis?

A technique to map and study the relationships between people or groups. The basic concept of the social network is familiar to anyone who has used Friendster or played Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. Social network analysis formalizes this parlor game, using details about the network to interpret the role of each person or group.

In a basic analysis, people are seen as “nodes” and the relationships between them are “links.” By studying the links—in the case of the NSA program, telephone calls—it’s possible to determine the importance (or “centrality”) of each node.

You can read the entire article @ How the NSA Does “Social Network Analysis”.

Managing Information News is reporting that Experian is acquiring background check provider Backgroundchecking.com.

From the article –

Experian, the global information solutions company, has acquired Backgroundchecking.com, an organisation specialising in candidate background checking for job applicants and contractors.

The acquisition will enhance Experian’s existing verification and fraud prevention offerings. It will enable clients to comply with regulations and significantly reduce the risk and impact of taking on an unsuitable candidate or failing to check existing employees and contractors. Given the potential costs of poor hiring decisions, more and more companies are placing a greater emphasis on robust recruitment practices.

You can read the entire article @ Experian Acquires backgroundchecking.com.

The Smoking Gun is reporting on the clever use of Ebay auction monitoring by federal agents to raid an Ecstasy lab in New York City. Federal investigators this week raided a New York City home after spending months monitoring purchases on Ebay of laboratory equipment and chemicals used to manufacture the drug Ecstasy.

You can read the entire article @ Got It On “E”-bay.

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