The Shadow Factory: The Ultra-Secret NSA from 9/11 to the Eavesdropping on America

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It's a hit!

This is a book worth reading - even if you read only part of it.

I'd say that the book covers four areas, each interesting alone (easy to the read... (show more)

This is a book worth reading - even if you read only part of it.

I'd say that the book covers four areas, each interesting alone (easy to the read the part that most interests you and skip the rest) although I am glad to have read the book cover-to-cover:

1. An account of how the 9/11 hijackers penetrated the U.S. protections, how they planned an executed their plot, and what their day-to-day lives were like in the time leading up to their attacks.

2. A review of what the NSA has done historically and how it changed following the 9/11 attacks -- from the days of collecting non-domestic intelligence over the air -- to today, when the agency collects a far broader array of data on more targetrs, largely collected from wired sources (internet and telephony).

3. For those techies among us, how it is the NSA managed to insert themselves into the backbone of the domestic exchanges -- seeing essentially every bit of internet and phone data that travels over the network - fascinating.

4. The author's thoughts on where NSA's far reach takes us, what this means to society, and the long-term implications.

While the author gets a bit longwinded at times, his detailed work and research makes up for it. I enjoyed the book's content and the author's authoritative research & writing style. I recommend it heartily, whether you are interested in just one or two "chunks" or the entire work. (show less)

 

 

by Tige Savage

No, it's a flop!

The Shadow Factory expertly navigates the legal, social, and technical aspects of America's largest intelligence agency. The first section of the b... (show more)

The Shadow Factory expertly navigates the legal, social, and technical aspects of America's largest intelligence agency. The first section of the book reconstructs the movements of the 9.11 hijackers from their arrivals in the US through that fateful morning. In an amazingly bitter bit of irony the hijackers stayed in a motel near the National Security Agency's headquarters. Equally remarkable is the perfectly legal available channels for the NSA, CIA, and FBI to have foiled the plot. The readers familiarity with the consequences of their failure provides tension and so Bamford manages to introduce large amounts of material without ever bogging the reader down. All that changes midway through the book where the book suffers from the same problem the NSA has been critiqued for: not enough is made of too much data. Bamford overloads the reader with technical details and acronyms such that whole paragraphs are a sea of letters seperated by dots with some numbers thrown in between. His work made me appreciate the need for revision not just restoration of FISA court operations due to the nature of the internet and fiber optic cables but the knot of data proved too thorny for even an adamant geek like myself to untangle. Maybe I'm just the wrong kind of geek, buy the book for the mathematician or computer programmer in your life. Otherwise check it out at the library and read the first fourth of the book. (show less)

 

 

by Asae

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  If even half of this book is accurate... we're all doomed.

  The first part covers the complete screw-ups of not only the NSA, but also the CIA, FBI, INS, DIA, State Department and local police agencies in the lead-up to 9/11. Had only ONE of those agencies stepped up, the entire tragedy might have been avoided. As it stands, constant screw-ups from almost every agency led to disaster. It's chilling.

  The book then covers the HUGE increase in the surveillance of Americans by the Bush administr... (show more)

  If even half of this book is accurate... we're all doomed.

  The first part covers the complete screw-ups of not only the NSA, but also the CIA, FBI, INS, DIA, State Department and local police agencies in the lead-up to 9/11. Had only ONE of those agencies stepped up, the entire tragedy might have been avoided. As it stands, constant screw-ups from almost every agency led to disaster. It's chilling.

  The book then covers the HUGE increase in the surveillance of Americans by the Bush administration after 9/11. What really got me was that we've sold out our secrecy to a bunch of foreign companies that all have connections to Unit 8200, Israel's version of the NSA. Israel is also the country that spies most on the US. Coincidence? I don't think so. And now the Bushies have sold them the ability to track almost every piece of data that crosses almost any wire in America, be it phone, Internet, VoIP, faxes, you name it.

  Lastly, the author covers where he thinks the NSA will go in the future. Given the bleak picture he painted earlier in his book, I surprised at how lackadaisical he appears about the situation. Yes, we are a nation of laws, but we came perilously close to losing that to Dick Cheney, and there's always the possibility of another Dick Cheney just around the corner. (show less)

   

  by Jim Cofer on Jun 27, 2009 at 09:29PM

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  Very well done. Perfect blend of politics and technical IT knowledge. Only a few times does the author take you on a side tangent, but they are still very interesting, even if you are wondering why/how you got there.

   

   

  by Andrea on Nov 02, 2008 at 04:43PM

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