Digital Life Form - part 3

 

Graham Marks looked up at the sound of the Jeep coughing and spluttering outside the Exxon survey base HQ.  Relaxing the hand that had hovered over the short-wave radio reserved for emergency calls he stood and walked over to the window of his office.  Outside, under the floodlights he watched as the crew unloaded the Jeep, carrying tools and equipment to the correct storage, chains clanking as mesh gates were secured, locks snapping shut despite the HQ being located miles from any civilisation.  Routine was routine, and that was what had pissed Graham off.

Chuck flinched as he walked into the front office of the HQ, a long, squat trailer containing basic office furniture leading to the connecting tunnel to the crews’ living quarters at the rear and to the boss’s office to the right.  Graham stormed out of that office, straight past Ben sat manning the comms radio and laid straight into Chuck.

‘Where the fuck have you been?’ he shouted, pushing his face into Chuck’s.

‘Sorry chief, shaft seized, then the Jeep started running rough, had to nurse it back real slow.  Sam thinks it’s electrical – alternator or some shit like that, I thought maybe fuel pump.’  Chuck backed off from Graham, intimidated by the man mountain twenty years his senior.  ‘Radio failed too, probably battery I guess, couldn’t fix a frequency or hear any broadcast.  Spare battery didn’t do any better, either.’  He stood arms spread wide, palms forward.  Graham paused, evaluated the information.

‘What about the CB?’ he asked, turning his head towards the commercial set sat next to Ben.  Chuck shook his head.

‘Same as the main radio, probably linked to the Jeep’s electrical problem, I guess.  Shit Graham, you know Sam knows fuck all about electrics.’  Graham stood aside, decided that he’d call head office in the morning to get the vehicles serviced on-site earlier than planned.  The two mechanics struggled into the HQ carrying the day’s core samples, the depth and location labels fluttering below.  For them, once the samples were in the lab they were done, they could grab a beer from the icebox and relax.  Chuck would grab a beer too but would spend the next hour cataloguing the samples ready for the duty geologist to process tomorrow.  Before he began his task, he reached into his bag and pulled out the meteorite and with a smooth swing he lobbed the rock to Ben.

‘Meteorite, saw it land, damn near took my head off,’ he said as Ben caught the rock.  The young radio operator turned the rock in his hands, wonder in his eyes. 

‘Wow, like straight from space?’ he asked.

‘Just landed,’ replied Chuck, heading for the icebox.

*

Winston spoke clearly and carefully into the phone, explaining that, yes, he would personally deal with the situation and yes, he had made a note of the caller’s name and number but no, he probably wouldn’t call him back to apprise him of his progress.

‘I’m a fucking federal agent not a wet fucking nurse,’ he said to nobody in particular as he placed the handset back down.  ‘Has anyone got that number yet?’ he called over his shoulder while hovering over the handset ready to take the next highly predictable call.  Natalie, the registry clerk, placed a slip of paper in front of him.

‘He’s expecting you,’ she said.  Picking up the slip, Winston dialled.

‘Maurice Sands,’ answered a voice.

‘Mr Sands, my name is Grace, an agent with the FBI.  I’m calling about some weird transmissions that seem to be hitting pretty much all the popular frequencies, we’ve been getting a number of calls this evening and I wondered if you guys at the FCC had any advice for us,’ Winston said.  Sands didn’t pause to answer.

‘You’ve had a number of calls, what do you think I’ve been getting as the unacceptable federal face of the local communications commission?  Christ, everybody hates us ninety-nine point friggin’ nine percent of the time because we’re seen to be officious kill-joys stopping everyone from using the airwaves for whatever they think is their “God given right”, but the moment someone does what we spend our lives trying to prevent and you can’t hear Dolly Parton’s Country Hour on your favourite local station then my phone goes into meltdown. 

‘Yes, I’ve got some advice – someone’s breaking the law, a federal law, and I know approximately where they’re doing it from.’  Winston paused, partly to digest the unexpected rant.

‘Can you do anything about it?  Close down the station or whatever is interfering with all the FM, AM and short-wave stations on and off?’

‘Sure.  Now that the interference source has been helpfully triangulated by several pissed off amateur radio freaks all I need to do is call up the FCC gunship, fly out into the desert and make them stop.’

‘You can do that?’

‘Sure.  Except the bit about the gunship.  And I’m sorry if it sounded like I could do something real quick.  Perhaps if someone could rustle a judge up who isn’t too picky about issuing a court order to an address in the middle of the desert with no name on then I could slap a stamp on it and hope the postal service finds the offender before they piss every radio listener in California off.’  Winston understood the frustration Sands was feeling.

‘Sorry Mr Sands, I guess I was a bit slow there.  How about a bit of federal organisational co-operation.  If you really do know where the perp is broadcasting from then I can take you there – if an offence is in progress at the time of my arrival I can use my tin badge to make it stop and bring this guy in, what do you say?’

‘You got one of those FBI gunships to take us?’ asked Sands.

‘Only if they’re made by General Motors,’ replied Winston.

*************************************************************************************

Digital Life Form will be back with part 4 soon.  Can't wait?  Like all of my books Digital Life Form is available as an eBook and paperback on Amazon and can be read for free if you're an Amazon Prime or Kindle Unlimited customer.

Did the FBI need Apple support at all?

The fight against terrorists is one of the most difficult any country can undertake. Having spent a significant portion of my working life checking the underside of my car before setting off to work I'm aware of how terrorists can affect your perception.

I've been watching the debate between Apple and the FBI regarding unlocking the San Bernadino bombers' phone with mixed emotions.

On one level it seems perfectly sensible to access all of the data ASAP to effect the arrest of any accomplices - and experience tells us that terrorists rarely act alone.  Then there comes the news that a specialist company has unlocked the iPhone without Apple's help, avoiding the need for messy legal action.

I've been of the opinion for some time that actually the FBI will have hacked that phone long ago.  If we were dealing with a British intelligence outfit, MI5 or 6 (correctly referred to as SIS) then probably we'd never know they had the phone in the first place.  If they did mention they were having difficulty in hacking it, it would mean they'd hacked it ages earlier and were hoping to lull someone into a false sense of security or make them run for their lives - to see who they ran to.

Now I read that the FBI could have accessed the contacts without the four digit code - friends who use Apple devices claim this too - but there was a need to access the data in a way that could stand up in court in a way that could refute any allegations that the data had been modified on the way.  I understand the chain of custody rules, appreciate that they are important, but dammit the perpetrators are long gone and most of the information could have been obtained through a subpoena to the terrorist's phone company anyway.

So I'm afraid we've all been treated to a smoke and mirrors charade.  The FBI almost certainly didn't need to access that phone per se, and I'm afraid I consider that Apple colluded in a stage managed way to assist the FBI, not impede it.  We'll probably never know, of course, because that's how the game is played. The FBI look like they're amateurs while they home in on the other terrorists and Apple look like they have the moral high ground. By the time we know more most of us will have forgotten this episode.

If you enjoy the concept of doublespeak and conspiracy theories you may want to consider The Journeymen (currently free) or the more tongue in cheek novel DLF, available through all good ebook retailers including Smashwords (which the links take you to).  Please note that due to Amazon rules beyond my control The Journeymen isn't free there, but rest assured an Amazon friendly copy can be downloaded from Smashwords.

Google Glass in Piracy Allegation

In my local cinema there are repeating images promoting the cinema chain, its products and services while you wait for the commercials, previews, trailers and film to start.  Of course, most people don't get to see the repeating images because they're too busy paying for over-sized and over-priced snacks while these are on, but a few of us do get to see these nuggets of information.  One that makes me smile is the one that warns against piracy, the act of filming the film in the cinema during its performance.  In an attempt to strike fear into the heart of anyone inclined to set up a tripod in a busy cinema - and I know some people have filmed in these places, producing poor quality films including the tops of other patrons' heads, candy wrapper rustles and the odd sneeze into the bargain - a warning is flashed up on the screen. 'We use night vision technology in this cinema'. So that'll be a torch then, same as they've used since the Nineteen Forties, when they used to sell snacks in normal sizes at reasonable prices.  Or maybe the tee-shirted minimum wage slaves are force-fed carrots.  I've yet to see anyone entering the auditorium with night vision goggles yet, so I'm kind of discounting that thought.

But piracy is an issue for the industry, although I'm not sure cinema recorded items are a major cost issue.  Review DVDs and Blue-Ray's sent to individuals and organisations pre-release so that the word can be spread about the new big film probably account for a lot of illegitimate recordings, and of course once a film is released anywhere in the world on such media for general consumption there will be illegal copies being sold. Personally I wouldn't tolerate someone filming in a cinema I've paid to see a film, having to avoid tripping over tripods, putting up with the noise of the motors, being told to shush when I'm opening my foil wrapped sandwiches...

It has been reported today that a man in Ohio was intercepted by FBI agents when he left a cinema there because he'd been watching the film wearing prescription Google Glass. That probably sounds way more dramatic than it actually was, they probably just approached him and asked him to join them somewhere private for a chat, but the film theme just makes intercept seem more appropriate. It turns out that he was able to prove he hadn't recorded the screening - I don't know if they looked in his cloud, but we expect a lot from the FBI so I guess they did - and he'd been wearing the Glass for the simple reason that they are prescription and he needs them to see.  Additionally he claimed he'd been to see two other films previously while wearing Google Glass and there hadn't been any problem.  I'm not sure that is actually a defence, if he'd claimed during a robbery that he'd carried out two and the FBI hadn't visited him, that wouldn't make it right.  Perhaps it was just a confession?

I think that Google Glass and other wearable tech is going to face a lot of this resistance in the coming months. It's not the act, it's the potential.  I'm not too concerned about cinema piracy as long as they don't get in my way, make a noise and arrive early enough - what is it with these people arriving after the trailers have started, can't they get up in the morning?  It's the covert nature of the Glass that people will fear, the filming on the street and at school yards, the act of being observed, potentially, even more than we are now.  Glass would appear to be a stalker's dream, a perverts eyewear of choice and that will permeate into the consciousness of those who want to use them for legitimate purposes to the point that people may stop wearing them for fear of being accused of using them for nefarious reasons.

It's also possible that legislation might start cropping up.  Perhaps wearable recording tech will be required to have an externally visible recording light to indicate to observers that the wearer is in the act of recording.  It isn't unreasonable, while you can covertly record with your phone and other similar devices, to do so in a way that allows you to guarantee that you have captured what you want tends to be quite obvious, whereas with devices like Google Glass there is no doubt for the wearer - he or she is capturing exactly what they want to record.

And cinemas will probably just put a blanket ban on Google Glass, so don't throw away your old prescription glasses when you buy your Google Glass - I don't really expect anyone would be so rash as to assume the tech glasses could be as robust as normal prescription glasses anyway.  Of course there's nothing to stop someone hell bent on recording a film through them from putting them on once in the cinema, once the trailers start.  That's where the night vision technology comes in - just don't forget to pack spare batteries and a bulb.
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Spooked by Technology

There's been a lot of controversy in the intelligence world lately.  There's no doubt about the challenges facing intelligence agencies the world over - terrorism is global, the impact of terrorist attacks dreadful.  Those of us who live in democracies have to accept that there is a balancing act that needs to be squared - do we stamp all over everybody's liberties or do we risk letting the bad guys go by acknowledging the freedoms that democracy stands for?

It's a difficult enough situation when looked at from a pure intelligence perspective; add the egos of politicians and the arrogance of journalists into the mix and the man in the street is hard pushed to know what is reasonable and what isn't.

I personally didn't bat an eyelid at the 'revelation' a few months ago that revealed that UK emails were being routinely scanned for keywords that might indicate a terrorist attack.  There were two reasons for this.  First, it seems to be a sensible thing to do - there are millions of emails floating across the UK, let alone internationally, every day and some of these will refer to illegal activities.  Most won't.  Most will be thanking friends and family for attending the surprise party for Aunt Mable, many will be general chit chat, some will be business related.  The same can be said for the many Facebook entries, the Tweets, the text messages and the myriad other ways we communicate with each other. MI6, MI5 and GCHQ have finite resources so although technically every message can be scanned and read electronically, in reality only a small fraction can be physically read by a real person.  These guys are busy, so unless you're a terrorist or some other criminal you shouldn't be too concerned.

The other reason I didn't go eyelid batting is that I thought we all knew this anyway.  Then I remembered that I had dealt with people on the periphery of this technology in the early part of the Century - perhaps I'd learned something that was on the secret list and forgotten that it was a secret.  It doesn't matter now - the cat's well and truly out of the bag and I never mentioned it because - well - I thought everybody knew.

But now, following the revelations by Edward Snowden, the American who passed loads of classified documents to the press, the intelligence community says it is in turmoil.  Even worse than that, the heads of the three agencies mentioned above have been summoned to a Select Committee of MPs to be grilled on their actions.  Apart from the obvious point that we have to just accept that the three guys who turned up today - and unlike our energy providers they didn't shun parliament - are the people that they say they are.  They're the intelligence community, for goodness sake!  Deception is their stock in trade.

So British TV has been treated to a spectacle of a group of people professionally trained to lie while constructing a world of smoke and mirrors interviewing the heads of the intelligence services.

Accountability is an important part of democracy, as is freedom.  These three guys and the people who work for them are working flat out to keep us as safe as can be managed without trampling on too many civil liberties.  Perhaps sitting in front of the MPs and answering searching questions is an opportunity to explain this but hopefully not at the expense of running their organisations. 

I don't know if Snowden's actions can be justified or whether they have caused real harm or not to the intelligence community (we'll never know, because this level of subterfuge is their day job), but I'm OK with them reading my emails.  I think most people shouldn't be too bothered about their Facebook or twitter feeds being intercepted.  Perhaps what is needed is a level of honesty - just state that a certain amount of electronic traffic is going to be scanned, make it a part of day-to-day internet usage.  After all, anyone who walks down a British high street is being recorded on CCTV from all angles for myriad reasons - security, safety, enforcement - and those images are often used by the law enforcement agencies, including the three mentioned above, to identify where specific people have been and when.  We don't throw our hands up and stamp our feet, apart from when the camera catches us speeding.

If it was accepted that effectively MI5, MI6 and GCHQ, plus the NSA, FBI and CIA (and if this post doesn't get intercepted after writing down that lot, then nothing on the internet tonight will) effectively follow us on Twitter and are clandestine Friends on Facebook then there wouldn't be any need for the likes of Snowden to sneak information out of the office and pass it to the press.  Sure, we wouldn't know the details of how many of our blog posts, FB threads, Twitter feeds etc had been read (unless the intelligence community gets behind liking them), but really, does it matter?

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