Nuix tool will help TSA connect the dots among scattered pieces of digital evidence

This appears to be something different from using public databases to profile passengers, which was in the news a couple days ago. Big Brother seems to be alive, well and prospering in the Amerikan Stasi:

NextGov: Tool will help TSA connect the dots among scattered pieces of digital evidence

The Transportation Security Administration has awarded a contract for technology to mine digital evidence scattered across emails, the cloud, hard drives and digital files stored in the agency’s internal network, according to the system developer. The tool digests huge volumes of disorganized information, known as big data, according to officials from software firm Nuix. The company was not authorized to speak to the types of investigations that the technology will help TSA pursue.​

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TSA’s Focused Operations Branch expects to use the technology for after-the-fact investigations, not screening would-be hijackers -- although agency officials recently said that is a big data effort TSA might pursue. This type of forensics investigation involves sorting hard facts already collected, and strewn across incongruent data sources, to build solid cases.​

“Hypothetically, if they have an individual they have profiled in the past digitally or digital information on previously profiled individuals, Nuix could provide visibility into additional connections to other people,” said Peter Morse, U.S. public sector director for Nuix. TSA officials could not comment in time for publication.​

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Generally, investigators use evidence synthesized by such software to convict criminals, or to piece together proof of ongoing criminal activity, Morse said. Investigators for the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation division, Health and Human Services Department inspector general, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, for example, cull evidence of fraud with the software.​

 

Daaannnggg!! This sounds like the perfect tool to find out which TSO is texting/emailing the baggage handler on his guberment-issued Ipad to allert him to checked luggage containing valuables... This should be great for thwarting those kinds of theft rings... oh.... wait... <*sigh*> ...never mind!!

 

And our right to privacy is no longer a right? Right?

 

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The TSA has put out another request for information to partner with private industry. As indicated in this recent post at TSA News, they want corporations to comb through their customer databases to help the TSA identify “trusted” travelers.​

This should be troubling to everyone, especially those who’ve ever had their identity stolen or who’ve discovered an inaccurate negative event on their credit report. Or who are aware of the Catch-22 people have found themselves in when they learn they’ve shown up on the no-fly list. Welcome to their nightmare.​

The horror of these situations was brought home again to me just last week. I serve on a non-profit board with a prominent owner of a successful architectural firm. He’s in his 50s and has a sterling community reputation and educational pedigree. We both live within 45 minutes of the Canadian border. As such, my colleague conducts a fair amount of business across the border. In fact, he had a job in Canada last year that he visited every other week. Therefore, he didn’t blink an eye when he set up an appointment for himself and a designer and headed for the border last week for another opportunity.
But this time, he was stopped. And turned away, because Canadian authorities said that the U.S. told them he was an “undesirable.” Furthermore, that he was a convicted felon. He was able to get them to describe the crime he allegedly committed 30-some years ago. At that time he was a sophomore in the Honors College of one of the top universities in the country.
My hapless colleague apologized to his traveling companion, canceled the appointment, and will lose $2,000 for every thwarted trip. So now he’s paying an attorney to get his name cleared. This database screw-up is costing this man tens of thousands of dollars.
Think long and hard before you tell me that “anything for safety” is a good idea. Or that we should trust the TSA or corporate America with our private, personal information.
Oh, and if you haven’t yet figured this out, 30-some years ago my friend was not out committing felonies. He was getting an education.
(Photo: bavatuesdays/Flickr Creative Commons)

 

Latest on Nuix ... We really need to give people the tools to identify these creeps and block them from their web sites.

GCN: TSA looking to expand analytics war chest

The Transportation Security Agency is looking to search and analyze large streams of data from multiple sources as part of its investigations. TSA has awarded a contract to Nuix Inc., a company with a data processing engine it claims is capable of sifting through “a virtually unlimited quantity of unstructured data” at speeds comparable to common Internet search.

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The system would be used for rapid analysis of large amounts of data during investigations and electronic discovery operations. TSA wanted a system that could process more than 1.5T per day on a single server and 500G per day on a mobile workstation.

It also needed to search and analyze Microsoft SharePoint data, network file shares and all common forensic image formats.

 

Wait a minute; just how is the TSA and Nuix going to get access to MS SharePoint data? They need a password, right?

I think the government just got shamed by a buzzword-spewing technology company promising more than they can deliver.

 

I think the "Sharepoint" data might be their own internal stuff...