Neighborhood Network Watch: Spies in Government Clothing?

[Bob Juch]

An organization that implies that it's affiliated with the Department of Homeland Security is encouraging people to use a network sniffer to capture their neighbor's WiFi traffic and send it in for terrorist activity analysis.

Full article (scroll down):
http://www.wxpnews.com/archives/wxpnews ... 080429.htm

I have to wonder if this really is associated with the DHS.

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

I personally blame Dick Cheney whenever I see anyone working on the cable or telephone lines.

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

An organization that implies that it's affiliated with the Department of Homeland Security is encouraging people to use a network sniffer to capture their neighbor's WiFi traffic and send it in for terrorist activity analysis.

Full article (scroll down):
http://www.wxpnews.com/archives/wxpnews ... 080429.htm

I have to wonder if this really is associated with the DHS.

I think that this is reprehensible.

[Bob Juch]

An organization that implies that it's affiliated with the Department of Homeland Security is encouraging people to use a network sniffer to capture their neighbor's WiFi traffic and send it in for terrorist activity analysis.

Full article (scroll down):
http://www.wxpnews.com/archives/wxpnews ... 080429.htm

I have to wonder if this really is associated with the DHS.

I think that this is reprehensible.

I see three possibilities:

This is someone trying to rip off passwords, credit card numbers, etc.

This is a sociology experiment.

This really is the DHS.

[earendel]

An organization that implies that it's affiliated with the Department of Homeland Security is encouraging people to use a network sniffer to capture their neighbor's WiFi traffic and send it in for terrorist activity analysis.

Full article (scroll down):
http://www.wxpnews.com/archives/wxpnews ... 080429.htm

I have to wonder if this really is associated with the DHS.

Evidently not. Reading through the link I found this:

But some research unearthed the fact that this site apparently is not exactly what it claims to be. In fact, although you won't find the info on the site itself, the blog of Emery Martin, the person who runs the site, reveals that it is actually a thesis project.
http://www.wxpnews.com/080429-Thesis

The blog states, however, that "The Neighborhood Network Watch will operate as if it were an actual government backed entity along with actually carrying out collections of real data and doing actual analysis on this data to create statistical results." So what we have here is a college student masquerading as a government approved organization, telling people to illegally access other peoples' networks and communications and fooling them into sending that information to him. Yet even though he's obtaining personal information through a fraudulent web site, most phishing filters do not flag the site.

[Bob Juch]

An organization that implies that it's affiliated with the Department of Homeland Security is encouraging people to use a network sniffer to capture their neighbor's WiFi traffic and send it in for terrorist activity analysis.

Full article (scroll down):
http://www.wxpnews.com/archives/wxpnews ... 080429.htm

I have to wonder if this really is associated with the DHS.

Evidently not. Reading through the link I found this:

But some research unearthed the fact that this site apparently is not exactly what it claims to be. In fact, although you won't find the info on the site itself, the blog of Emery Martin, the person who runs the site, reveals that it is actually a thesis project.
http://www.wxpnews.com/080429-Thesis

The blog states, however, that "The Neighborhood Network Watch will operate as if it were an actual government backed entity along with actually carrying out collections of real data and doing actual analysis on this data to create statistical results." So what we have here is a college student masquerading as a government approved organization, telling people to illegally access other peoples' networks and communications and fooling them into sending that information to him. Yet even though he's obtaining personal information through a fraudulent web site, most phishing filters do not flag the site.

Well he says it's a thesis project. Where's the proof?

[earendel]

An organization that implies that it's affiliated with the Department of Homeland Security is encouraging people to use a network sniffer to capture their neighbor's WiFi traffic and send it in for terrorist activity analysis.

Full article (scroll down):
http://www.wxpnews.com/archives/wxpnews ... 080429.htm

I have to wonder if this really is associated with the DHS.

Evidently not. Reading through the link I found this:

But some research unearthed the fact that this site apparently is not exactly what it claims to be. In fact, although you won't find the info on the site itself, the blog of Emery Martin, the person who runs the site, reveals that it is actually a thesis project.
http://www.wxpnews.com/080429-Thesis

The blog states, however, that "The Neighborhood Network Watch will operate as if it were an actual government backed entity along with actually carrying out collections of real data and doing actual analysis on this data to create statistical results." So what we have here is a college student masquerading as a government approved organization, telling people to illegally access other peoples' networks and communications and fooling them into sending that information to him. Yet even though he's obtaining personal information through a fraudulent web site, most phishing filters do not flag the site.

Well he says it's a thesis project. Where's the proof?

The author of the article quotes from a blog run by someone named Emery Martin; the blog says as much (see above). That's not "proof" in the strictest sense, but it seems likely that of the three options offered, it is a "sociology experiment" of some sort - to put a good face on it.