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| Government |
| '€˜Eyewash': How the CIA deceives its own workforce about operations |
| 2016-02-01 |
| [WAPO] Senior CIA officials have for years intentionally deceived parts of the agency workforce by transmitting internal memos that contain false information about operations and sources overseas, according to current and former U.S. officials who said the practice is known by the term "eyewash." Agency veterans described the tactic as an infrequent but important security measure, a means of protecting vital secrets by inserting fake communications into routine cable traffic while using separate channels to convey accurate information to cleared recipients. But others cited a significant potential for abuse. Beyond the internal distrust implied by the practice, officials said there is no clear mechanism for labeling eyewash cables or distinguishing them from legitimate records being examined by the CIA's inspector general, turned over to Congress or declassified for historians. A Klingon disinformation campaign using internal sources and leaks to target the Congress, the media, and historians? How novel....well, not really. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #11 CIA can't do that, IBM patented it. I believe you can patent a ham sandwich. |
| Posted by: KBK 2016-02-01 22:26 |
| #10 What better way to keep the leaks down than to circulate false info on a high value operation. Given as how political the CIA has become, misinforming the masses could be a good way to keep the real stuff off the front page of the NYT. Maybe this is supposed to be a red herring for the NYT. |
| Posted by: Bill Clinton 2016-02-01 21:22 |
| #9 the practice is known by the term "eyewash." One time called 'tease feeders' |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2016-02-01 15:03 |
| #8 Careful Sven Sectumsempra cuts both ways. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2016-02-01 11:47 |
| #7 Careful Sven, you may yet have an appointment with the box. :-) |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2016-02-01 11:16 |
| #6 I may or may not have once been given a numbered document whose 3rd paragraph was mighty strange. I may or may not have asked a colleague about it who looked at his numbered document and we may or may not have noticed that a few words were different. The old tricks are the best tricks. Using it to fool Congress would be an interesting twist. Kind of like the seven Potters. |
| Posted by: Sven the pelter 2016-02-01 10:20 |
| #5 Nope, not Clancy's idea but he wrote about it about 30 years ago, just trying to point out how old the idea is. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2016-02-01 09:34 |
| #4 Tom didn't make that up and that is not where I learned of it.... |
| Posted by: Sven the pelter 2016-02-01 07:39 |
| #3 Sven, Tom Clancy described that technique in detail in one of his early books. Seems like it would work. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2016-02-01 07:27 |
| #2 Carnary. Place a provocative paragraph that would appeal to the NYT in a document. Each numbered and tracked document uses slightly different words so that when it appears in print (or an intercepted communication) it can be traced back to a specific numbered copy and its signature list. Ho hum. |
| Posted by: Sven the pelter 2016-02-01 06:45 |
| #1 Another Hillary email defense strategy. |
| Posted by: Airandee 2016-02-01 06:30 |