Spy Technology for Business

Great series on using satellite imagery for business purposes from CNBC. The picture here is from the article and is a Target parking lot.

This is how smart business leaders leverage commercially available and proven technology to maximize benefits for all parties.

- AB

Part 1: New Big Brother: Market-Moving Satellite Images
by Eamon Javers

As part of a growing trend among hedge funds and Wall Street firms, Cold War-style satellite surveillance is being used to gather market-moving information.

The surveillance pictures are often provided by private- sector companies like DigitalGlobe in Colorado and GeoEye in Virginia, which build and launch satellites and take pictures for US government intelligence agency clients and private-sector satellite analysis firms.

That means there are two links in the chain before the satellite data gets to Wall Street—a satellite firm takes the pictures and sells them to an analysis firm, which scrutinizes the images and sells the aggregated data to hedge funds and Wall Street analysts...


Part 2: From Russia with Profits: Spy Pictures of Crops
by Eamon Javers

During the Cold War, space-based satellite surveillance systems were the crown jewels of the US government’s spying capability, peering over the Iron Curtain to reveal the secrets of the Soviet Union.

Today, those crown jewels are in the hands of Wall Street analysts who are using them to get an edge in uncovering market-moving information...

WikiLeaks and the Law - my two cents

This oped is in The Hill today. I feel very strongly that the American bar has a responsibility to promote the enforcement of laws related to classification and national security.

- Andrew

Capping wikileaks legally and quickly is vital
By Andrew M. Borene - 07/30/10 11:05 AM ET

The explosive growth of the internet and social media ensure that something as sensational as the disclosure of tens of thousands of pages of classified diplomatic and military plans and reports will be exploited by America’s enemies.

If this is the new framework for play regarding classified government information and its unauthorized disclosure; then we, as a nation, absolutely require enhanced criminalization for espionage-related activity and a more robust counterintelligence capacity

The actions of wikileaks, and solicitations for more leaks by its founder Julian Assange, constitute a danger to the security of the United States as a nation and to our individual troops, civilians and foreign partners serving on our battlefronts.

So-called old plans or reports of past events can disclose the names of units, locations of bases, techniques and tactics, means of collecting targeting data, and times or locations of past attacks, along with battle damage or post-activity reporting. In an active conflict, this all has significant intelligence value to enemies who violently attack our personnel overseas every day.

The activities of wikileaks and Mr. Assange do not constitute journalism-- instead they stand as stark evidence of the worst things that can happen when someone without a commitment to American ideals or objectives gets a hold of classified information in today’s information age. For the record, wikileaks is not an objective news outlet but a loose organization that opposes American policy in Afghanistan and elsewhere.

Mr. Assange has his defenders, some of whom consider themselves patriotic Americans with a civil disobedience perspective. They suggest that, although illegal, wikileaks serves an important societal function as a means of allowing security-cleared government personnel a mechanism for publishing allegedly criminal wrongdoing by Americans.

We should be prepared for such a defense. The subject matter of illegally leaked, but improperly classified information should be independent of the criminal case for its unauthorized disclosure.

There is always a political question outside the bounds of the law. As any self-described wikileaks “whistleblower” sits in jail, that person and their supporters could always write the President for a pardon.

But the people passing classified information to wikileaks, Assange, or others like them aren't whistleblowers. They are willful actors who become information agents for our enemies. They can compromise vitally important operational techniques related to the military, diplomatic, and intelligence activities of our government. They can get good people killed.

In times like this, in a nation of laws, we need to resort to our courts through criminal and civil litigation. There may not yet be a clear-cut statute that applies to a situation like this, but this issue is ripe and national security is at stake.

Any future enemy strikes on locations named in documents released by wikileaks could also serve as the basis for civil lawsuits by the American government, the injured, and the survivors of any killed.

Challenges to any litigation of course exist. There may not be an easy government criminal case against Mr. Assange or people like him. There may not be simple, direct causal connections for personal injury lawyers to illustrate to civil juries, showing just how casualties were sustained due to the activities of Assange and those like him. But challenges should not deter us from action.

The probability of success of litigation should not stand in the way of its inception. Too much is at stake if aggressive action is not taken to stop the bleeding of our country’s classified information.

In the interim, and most effectively, our government can use the tools it has on-hand to investigate, prosecute, and punish those who cooperate with Mr. Assange and his colleagues. If a person chooses to intentionally send classified government information along to wikileaks or any other organization without authorization, then that person should face severe and swift legal prosecution with stakes of imprisonment or financial ruin.

Andrew M. Borene is an attorney and a former U.S. Marine intelligence officer. He is the editor of the American Bar Association’s U.S. Intelligence Community Law Sourcebook: A Compendium of National Security Related Laws and Policy Documents.

When Does Research End and Industrial Espionage Begin?

I Spy With My Liiiiittle Eye: When Does Research End and Industrial Espionage Begin?
Amy Miller
Corporate Counsel
June 11, 2010

There's a fine line between spying on the competition and researching the competition. Going to a trade show or posing as a customer is one thing. Stealing product information like Julia Roberts or Clive Owen in the movie Duplicity is something else entirely.

And it's critical that in-house lawyers help make sure their company's employees know the difference. Otherwise, they could find themselves in murky legal waters, said lawyers at a panel discussion about corporate espionage at the 22nd Annual General Counsel Conference in New York on Wednesday.
...

The U.S. Intelligence Community Law Sourcebook

I finally finished compiling the tome I've been working on. Here's where to find it in the American Bar Association bookstore, and what others had to say about it.
- AB

About The U.S. Intelligence Community Law Sourcebook: A Compendium of National Security Related Laws and Policy Documents

For the first time under one cover, The U.S Intelligence Community Law Sourcebook is your complete guide to U.S intelligence community source material, including relevant federal statutes, intelligence authorization acts, executive orders, attorney general and the director of national intelligence guidelines, and proposed significant legislation in the U.S. intelligence community.

This exhaustive collection of the laws, rules and regulations that govern the United States Intelligence Community will prove invaluable to lawyers, academics, journalists and corporate officers alike.


What Others Are Saying...


"As a former member of the National Security Council, I commend Andrew Borene and the ABA for publishing this invaluable collection of essential documents. As the legal aspects of intelligence activity become increasingly important, this handy reference fills a critical need for those in the intelligence community as well as scholars, journalists and others interested in this subject."
--Edwin Meese III, 75th Attorney General of the United States, Ronald Reagan Chair in Public Policy at The Heritage Foundation

"The U.S. Intelligence Community Law Sourcebook is the most important privately published compilation of public intelligence community law in our lifetime. It is an essential resource for people who care about national security law."
U.S. Senator Max Cleland, former member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and former member of the 9/11 Commission

"As someone who has spent half of my life working in the complex and sometimes controversial world of national security law, I consider this Sourcebook both invaluable and overdue. Mr. Borene's work is comprehensive, authoritative and organized so as to be accessible to all audiences. An impressive achievement."
--John Rizzo, former Acting General Counsel at Central Intelligence Agency

"A valuable resource for the serious student of national security law. It fills a void that all national security lawyers find during their practice."
--Marion "Spike" Bowman, former Deputy National Counterintelligence Executive at Office of the Director of National Intelligence and former Deputy General Counsel at the Federal Bureau of Investigation

"In an age when the Intelligence Community has come under unprecedented scrutiny, the legality of myriad activities conducted under the guise of national security have continued to stir public debate. Andrew Borene's U.S. Intelligence Community Law Sourcebook fills a critical gap in helping analyze and understand the legal foundations that help shape -- and implement -- our domestic and foreign intelligence agendas."
John R. Sano, former Deputy Director of National Clandestine Service at Central Intelligence Agency

"This compendium will be an important resource for journalists who cover the legally complex world of intelligence, where seemingly tiny shifts in law can result in profound changes. Many will surely find a place for it on their desks for ready reference next to the 9/11 Commission Report."
Pamela Hess, former Intelligence Reporter at Associated Press, and former Pentagon Correspondent at United Press International

"Andrew Borene and the ABA have produced an extremely useful and much needed volume. There has long been a need for an easily accessible, comprehensive and up-to-date intelligence law compendium. Teachers, students and practitioners in intelligence and law will all benefit from this well-organized book."
Mark M. Lowenthal, President, the Intelligence & Security Academy ; author of Intelligence: From Secrets to Policy; former Assistant Director of Central Intelligence for Analysis & Production; former Staff Director of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

"Andrew Borene has performed a signal service for the national security law community, including not just government practitioners but the array of academic, non-governmental, and private practice attorneys who also grapple with these issues. It is immensely useful to have this portfolio of primary sources pulled together into a single volume, and still more so to have the accompanying introductory notes."
Robert Chesney, Professor of Law at the University of Texas School of Law; Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution; Senior Editor, Journal of National Security Law & Policy

Veterans have the skills businesses need, so why don't more have jobs?

From the MPR Commentary page:

Veterans have the skills businesses need, so why don't more have jobs?
by Andrew Borene May 17, 2010

Despite increasing payrolls and a purported economic recovery, the unemployment rate among new veterans is skyrocketing.

Individual Americans and businesses can turn this situation around. We can each help build deeper understanding of the value that our war veterans bring to the workplace.

Now more than ever, our nation's businesses need people who can be innovative and competitive, who can work with diverse groups. In a time of war and extended national emergency, you would think that managers would be looking for exactly the kind of proven accountability, leadership and commitment to service that veterans have already demonstrated
...

FCPA as a national security issue

According to attorney John C. Kocoras in an article in today's Corporate Counsel:

"American companies are being bombarded with warnings about the federal Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), and the warnings have become increasingly ominous.

In November 2009, the head of the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Criminal Division specifically advised pharmaceutical companies that prosecutors are focusing on their industry. Commentators previously suggested that the DOJ treats FCPA concerns as second only to national security concerns, but in February 2010, a prosecutor who supervised FCPA matters at the DOJ stated at a conference that corruption is a national security issue.

The U.S. is not alone in its heightened focus on international bribery. In April 2010 the United Kingdom enacted the Bribery Act 2010, which makes investigating international bribery a law enforcement priority in the U.K. Just as U.S. authorities have made clear that U.K. companies with U.S. operations must heed the FCPA, U.S. businesses with U.K. operations are well advised to closely review internal measures to comply with the Bribery Act.

This article underscores the hazards companies face in securing business overseas, focusing on the risks of shell companies used to facilitate bribes. It also outlines simple and concrete steps that can be taken to minimize the risks of violating the FCPA or the U.K. Bribery Act through payments to shell companies."