Creating a 'Facebook for spies'

One might expect James Bond's MySpace page to list shaken martinis, Walther PPKs, and Aston Martins among his interests.

While that scenario is a bit far-fetched, agents for the CIA, FBI, and National Security Agency are testing a social-networking site designed for use by analysts within the 16 U.S. intelligence agencies, according to a report on CNN's Web site. Instead of posting thoughts on music and movies, the agents use the site--called A-Space--to share information on terrorist activities and troop movements around the world.

The social networking site has been undergoing testing for months and is expected to officially launch to the nation's entire intelligence community on September 22, CNN reported.

"It's every bit Facebook and YouTube for spies, but it's much, much more," Michael Wertheimer, assistant deputy director of National Intelligence for Analysis, told CNN. "It's a place where not only spies can meet but share data they've never been able to share before. This is going to give them for the first time a chance to think out loud, think in public amongst their peers, under the protection of an A-Space umbrella."

The information posted to the new social network is highly classified and won't be accessible by the general public, CNN reported. Access will be limited to intelligence personnel with the proper security clearance and a reason to be examining particular information. A-Space's creators don't want the network to become a gold mine of sensitive information for future double agents.

"We're building (a) mechanism to alert that behavior. We call that, for lack of a better term, the MasterCard, where someone is using their credit card in a way they've never used it before, and it alerts so that maybe that credit card has been stolen," Wertheimer told CNN. "Same thing here. We're going to actually do patterns on the way people use A-Space."

[n3td3v]

Not long till this gets broken into by hackers and sensitive intelligence gets put onto wikileaks.org

[renies]

This is one scary concept. How can they really believe that this info will stay safe? I agree with n3td3v, It's only a matter of time until this site starts to spring leaks.

[myislanduniverse]

There are already Wikis and corporate employee blogs available on many of the agencies' networks, as well as inter-agency chat clients, etc. Regardless of the medium, whether text or audio, written correspondence, phone conversations, or websites, the ultimate responsibility for the safe-guarding of national secrets rests rests with those entrusted to them.

[JunkSiu]

I only have one thought : Are they nuts???????????????????????

[myislanduniverse]

Valid question.

[mrglsmrc]

sounds like a judas goat to lure hackers.
i wonder what kinds of insecure apps will be on these 'secret facebook' pages. maybe favorite satellite pixs of the suez canal? putin's triglyceride and cholesterol test? reverse social security number look-up? I have to admit these guys try to make their lives interesting. They had an idea a few years ago that crashed and burned, some sort of game theoretical betting pool for middle-east assassinations and the nyt blew that out of the water. At least this one doesn't sound embarassing. Next stop: twitter for narcs.

[hassan_bin_sober]

Having had personal experience with the so called "intelligence" acecies in the past. They will screw tis up just like everything else they participate in. BLOW BACK is the word of the day!

[RobertinOhio]

This might be the most expensive honeypot ever created, right on the back of the US taxpayer. Typical.

[advs89]

Look at all of these negative comments. Think for a second. You don't think they already have an extranet with confidential information that could be "hacked??" The government has many well-paid security experts who can make it just as secure as the current methods they use to keep information private. Too much FUD here for me...

[Harrison912]

Since safety and security are my business, my first thought after reading this article was that it would be a prime target for hackers and why are they even announcing the launch of this site to the public?

Are they really setting it up for the purpose for which they announced or are they trying to lure hackers into a trap? I guess we'll have to let them do their work. Nothing is perfect but they're the best at what they do. I for one applaud their efforts.

[Ben_Bowers]

Regardless of the security question surrounding this system, you can bet that whatever tracking technology they develop in terms of behavior monitoring and trending across the network will eventually makes its way into the hands of public facing social networks. Good news for corporate marketers, bad news for users. Get ready to face the day when being spontaneous online could get you red flagged as a character to watch.

[GB2008]

Maybe things are different in the US (I hope they are - if this is really going to happen) - but there have been far too many cases of confidential information being stolen in laptops, left in computers that are scrapped and generally spread around in the UK. If you're a spy - might I suggest now would be a good time to seek another job & identity??