An Information Security Place

What is the big deal about the NSA collecting information and determining dialing patterns?

I was reading this column at Security Focus, and it brings out some great legal points and gives some really good information (even if it did make my eyes cross at times). But Mr. Rasch did not attempt to conceal his ire at the government for collecting these records, so his attempt at giving legal recourse advice was tainted from the start. Here’s a quote:

“If any of these telephone numbers were located in the United States, the NSA would then attempt to learn what these numbers were, and who these people had called. Thus, if you operate a local Dominoes pizza, and received a call from someone who received a call from someone who the government suspected was associated with a terrorist, then Dominoes would make it to the list of suspects.”

That is ridiculous to the extreme. This whole reaction is just another knee jerk among the media and information security professionals. The former only cares about selling papers, and the latter just needs to calm down and look at this with some common sense (remember, I am one of you, so I have this tendency to freak about these things as well).

I don’t have a law degree, nor do I have the time to pour through case files to attempt a determination of the legality of the NSA “spying” program. Though I would have liked to see the Bush Administration get warrants for these requests, I can’t say that this whole thing bothers me much. Why do I care if the President knows that I called my mother last Sunday? Why do I care that some analyst at the NSA knows I called the video store to see if they had Chicken Little in stock (good movie, by the way).

One person I expect has looked at this closely is Bruce Schneier, and I am sure he has. Yet he still surprises me with his look at this. I understand why he might call this “unchecked military and police power”. But when he quoted Matthew Yglesias‘s ridiculously paranoid and simply shameful post, I actually lost a little respect for his analysis of this.

We have to look at today’s world from a different perspective. We are at WAR. So many people seem to forget that. And we are at war with cowards who have NO compunction against using technology to kill you, me, my children, your children, and anyone else who they deem as “infidels”. These are people who will use a computer just as quick as using a suicide bomber. How do we fight that with our slow system of checks and balances? I know our governmental system is the best in the world, but IT IS SLOW. That is not a knock against it, just a realistic observation. I might be going down a slippery slope here, but isn’t everything a slippery slope? I just don’t know how we can win this war (remember, this is not a war isolated to a single country or just one region of the world) and keep our people safe by slowing down or killing our intelligence gathering abilities.

Just keep in mind that this is not collecting of personally identifiable information. This is not the tapping of phones and listening to every citizens’ calls. This is not the NSA knowing anything about you that is not already known to someone else. These “reports” that suggest that this may be something more are typically just conjecture. If hard evidence arises that George Bush will be listening to the call I am about to make to my wife, then I will be upset. Until then, I don’t care that he knows I called her.

Update: I have since posted about this again, and I am riding the fence a little more than before.
Vet