{"id":128901,"date":"2014-07-08T19:57:17","date_gmt":"2014-07-08T19:57:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/?p=128901"},"modified":"2014-07-08T20:56:26","modified_gmt":"2014-07-08T20:56:26","slug":"big-banks-want-power-declare-cyber-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/latest-news\/big-banks-want-power-declare-cyber-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Big Banks Want Power to Declare Cyber War"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"color: #000099;\"><strong>Merger of Big Banks and National Security Power \u2026 What Could Possibly Go Wrong?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Bloomberg\u00a0<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"reports\" href=\"http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/2014-07-08\/banks-dreading-computer-hacks-call-for-cyber-war-council.html\" target=\"_blank\">reports<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote style=\"font-style: italic;\"><p>Wall Street\u2019s biggest trade group has proposed a government-industry cyber war council to stave off terrorist attacks that could trigger financial panic by temporarily wiping out account balances, according to an internal document.<\/p>\n<p>The proposal by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, known as Sifma, calls for a committee of executives and deputy-level representatives from at least eight U.S. agencies including the Treasury Department, the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security, all led by a senior White House official.<\/p>\n<p>The trade association also reveals in the document that Sifma has retained former NSA director Keith Alexander to \u201cfacilitate\u201d the joint effort with the government. Alexander, in turn, has brought in Michael Chertoff, the former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, and his firm, Chertoff Group.<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<p>Caitlin Hayden, spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council, declined to comment.<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<p>[Just-retired NSA Boss General Keith] Alexander had been pitching Sifma and other bank trade associations to purchase his services through his new consulting firm, IronNet Cybersecurity Inc., for as much as $1 million per month, according to two people briefed on the talks.<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<p>Representative Alan Grayson, a Florida Democrat, said today he was concerned that industry members in such a joint group could improperly get involved in\u00a0<strong>pre-emptive strikes<\/strong>\u00a0against a person or state planning an assault on the U.S.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis could in effect make the banks part of what would begin to look like a war council,\u201d Grayson said in an e-mail. \u201cCongress needs to keep an eye on what something like this could mean.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Congressman Grayson\u00a0<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"tweets\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AlanGrayson\/status\/486546391133478912\" target=\"_blank\">tweets<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote style=\"font-style: italic;\"><p>Ex-NSA chief Keith Alexander wants to form a joint WH-bank war council. So now Wall Street gets to declare war?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>There is cause for concern, given the following context:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Fascism is the\u00a0<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"merger of state and corporate power\" href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonsblog.com\/2009\/10\/capitalism-socialism-or-fascism.html\">merger of state and corporate power<\/a> And\u00a0<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"see this\" href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonsblog.com\/2014\/04\/whats-difference-fascism-communism-crony-capitalism-nothing.html\">see this<\/a>. The big banks and government have\u00a0<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"already largely merged\" href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonsblog.com\/2011\/10\/who-is-to-blame-washington-or-wall-street.html\">already largely merged<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Big banks are literally\u00a0<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"criminal enterprises\" href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonsblog.com\/2014\/05\/6-years-financial-crisis-hit-big-banks-still-committing-massive-crimes.html\">criminal enterprises<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The big banks and government\u00a0<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"joined together to violently crush peaceful protests\" href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonsblog.com\/2012\/12\/government-and-big-banks-joined-forces-to-violently-crush-peaceful-protests.html\">joined together to violently crush peaceful protests<\/a>\u00a0against inequality and bailouts of the banks<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Bankers\u00a0<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"love war\" href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonsblog.com\/2014\/04\/another-reason-bankers-love-war.html\">love war<\/a>, because they\u00a0<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"make out like bandits\" href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonsblog.com\/2014\/04\/wars-bankers-wars.html\">make out like bandits<\/a>. But the\u00a0<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"economy and Americans lose\" href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonsblog.com\/2014\/07\/definitive-analysis-war-good-bad-economy.html\">economy and Americans lose<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Cyber war as fought by the U.S. government is\u00a0<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"offensive as well as defensive\" href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonsblog.com\/2013\/06\/high-level-american-intelligence-source-we-hack-everyone-everywhere-we-like-to-make-a-distinction-between-us-and-the-others-but-we-are-in-almost-every-country-in-the-world.html\">offensive as well as defensive<\/a>\u00a0(and\u00a0<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"see this\" href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonsblog.com\/2013\/08\/is-government-just-spying-like-a-passive-peeping-tom-or-is-it-mischievously-using-that-information.html\">see this<\/a>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Cyber war may lead to a shooting war. For example, Scientific American\u00a0<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"notes\" href=\"http:\/\/www.scientificamerican.com\/article\/how-would-us-respond-nightmare-cyber-attack\/\" target=\"_blank\">notes<\/a>:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote style=\"font-style: italic;\"><p>Department of Defense announcements that they\u00a0<strong>intend to view cyber attacks as \u201cacts of war\u201d suggest a military force nearly itching to flex its muscle<\/strong>\u00a0in response to a serious computer network\u2014based disruption, if only as a means of deterrence.<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<p>Concerns about overreaction and the use of military force in response to digital intrusions often lead to discussions about the difficulty surrounding definitive attribution of these types of attack. If you want to retaliate, how do you know whom to hit? In our exercise intelligence pointed to Russia, but the evidence wasn\u2019t clear-cut.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<ul>\n<li>Some people\u00a0<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"make a lot of money\" href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonsblog.com\/2013\/07\/mass-spying-being-used-to-make-some-people-rich.html\">make\u00a0<em>a lot of money<\/em><\/a>\u00a0off of mass spying. But the government\u00a0<em>isn\u2019t<\/em>\u00a0using the spying program to stop the\u00a0<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"worst types of lawlessness\" href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonsblog.com\/2013\/07\/why-doesnt-the-government-use-its-mass-surveillance-to-bust-bank-crimes.html\"><em>worst<\/em>\u00a0types of lawlessness<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The NSA spying program is unambiguously being used for\u00a0<em>industrial espionage<\/em>, by spying on\u00a0<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"large foreign corporations\" href=\"http:\/\/www.techdirt.com\/articles\/20130909\/04383424450\/latest-leak-shows-nsa-engaging-economic-espionage-not-fighting-terrorism.shtml\" target=\"_blank\">large foreign corporations<\/a>, and the biggest\u00a0<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"financial payments systems\" href=\"http:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/news\/2013-09-15\/swift-takeover-follow-money-nsa-knows-all-about-your-spending-habits\" target=\"_blank\">financial\u00a0<em>payments systems<\/em><\/a>\u00a0such as VISA and Swift. Indeed, in a slide leaked by Edward Snowden,\u00a0<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"\u201ceconomic\u201d was one of the main justifications\" href=\"http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/2013-09-08\/u-s-government-spied-on-brazil-s-petrobras-globo-tv-reports.html\" target=\"_blank\">\u201ceconomic\u201d was one of the main justifications<\/a>\u00a0for spying<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The top U.S. spy\u2019s justifications for such financial spying is\u00a0<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"not very reassuring\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2013\/sep\/09\/nsa-spying-brazil-oil-petrobras\" target=\"_blank\">not very reassuring<\/a>:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote style=\"font-style: italic;\"><p>\u201cWe collect this information for many important reasons: for one, it could provide the United States and our allies\u00a0<strong>early warning of international financial crises<\/strong>\u00a0which could negatively impact the global economy. It also could provide\u00a0<strong>insight into other countries\u2019 economic policy or behavior which could affect global markets<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<ul>\n<li>Top financial experts say that the NSA and other intelligence agencies are using the information to \u00a0<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"profit from this inside information\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/2013\/06\/how-much-are-the-nsa-and-cia-front-running-markets.html\" target=\"_blank\"><em>profit<\/em>\u00a0from this inside information<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The Wall Street Journal reported that the NSA spies on Americans\u2019\u00a0<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"credit card transactions\" href=\"http:\/\/online.wsj.com\/article\/SB10001424127887324299104578529112289298922\" target=\"_blank\">credit card transactions<\/a>. Many other agencies are\u00a0<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"doing the same\" href=\"http:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/news\/2013-06-30\/multiple-government-agencies-are-keeping-records-your-credit-card-transactions\" target=\"_blank\">doing the same<\/a>. In fact, virtually\u00a0<em><strong>all<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0U.S. intelligence agencies \u2014 including the CIA and NSA \u2014\u00a0<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"are going to spy on Americans\u2019 finances\" href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonsblog.com\/2013\/03\/all-u-s-intelligence-agencies-including-cia-and-nsa-to-spy-on-americans-finances.html\">are going to spy on Americans\u2019 finances<\/a>. The\u00a0<a id=\"_GPLITA_5\" style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"Click to Continue &gt; by Text-Enhance\" href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonsblog.com\/2013\/07\/mass-spying-being-used-to-make-some-people-rich.html#\">IRS<\/a>\u00a0will also be spying on Americans\u2019<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"shopping records, travel, social interactions, health records and files\" href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonsblog.com\/2013\/05\/irs-will-spy-on-our-shopping-records-travel-social-interactions-health-records-and-files-from-other-government-investigators.html\">shopping records, travel, social interactions, health records and files<\/a>\u00a0from other government investigators<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Indeed, the NSA may be\u00a0<a style=\"color: #743399;\" title=\"changing the amount in people\u2019s financial accounts and manipulating financial systems with its offensive cyber capabilities\" href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonsblog.com\/2013\/12\/u-s-government-changing-amount-peoples-financial-accounts-manipulating-financial-systems-offensive-cyber-capabilities.html\"><strong>changing the amount in people\u2019s financial accounts<\/strong>\u00a0and<strong>manipulating financial systems<\/strong>\u00a0with its offensive cyber capabilities<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>This piece was reprinted by <a href=\"http:\/\/rinf.com\">RINF Alternative News<\/a> with permission or license.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Merger of Big Banks and National Security Power \u2026 What Could Possibly Go Wrong? Bloomberg\u00a0reports: Wall Street\u2019s biggest trade group has proposed a government-industry cyber war council to stave off terrorist attacks that could trigger financial panic by temporarily wiping out account balances, according to an internal document. The proposal by the Securities Industry and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[487,52,18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-128901","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-breaking-news","7":"category-money","8":"category-latest-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128901"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128901\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}