Security Enforcement And Intelligence Agencies Essay

Paper 1: What are the capabilities and limitations of intelligence in supporting homeland security efforts?

During the past decade, an issue has arisen from the minds of people, on which is more important? Privacy or national security? The problem with the privacy is that people do not feel they have enough of it and national security is increasing causing the government to be less worried about the people. National security is growing out of control which has led to the decrease in people’s privacy and has created fear in the eyes of U.S. citizens. “Twelve years after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and amid a summer of revelations about the extent of the surveillance state built up to prevent others, leaders, experts and average Americans alike are searching for the right balance between security and privacy” (Noble). Americans should be able to live their daily lives without fear of an overpowered government or a “big brother” figure taking over. “According to a CBS News poll released Tuesday evening, nearly 6 in 10 Americans said they disapproved of the federal government’s collecting phone records of ordinary Americans in order to reduce terrorism” (Gonchar). While it is good to keep our country safe with security, American’s privacy should be more important because there is a substantial amount of national security, the people 's rights should matter first.

With the seemingly exponential propagation of inexpensive digital communications technologies over recent years, the general public is becoming more aware of the issues surrounding information privacy and government surveillance in the digital age. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry with a smart-phone has to be wary of how they use their private information for fear of that information being collected and used in a way contrary to their wishes. "Leaky" smartphone apps that transmit private information across the internet can be unethically used by government agencies. The issue of privacy is a balancing act; the public usually wants increased privacy and the government usually wants increased access.

One of the most prevalent battles that the American Government and the American people have continued to fight over the years is the battle of privacy vs government surveillance. Questions such as, how much is the U.S. government willing to intervene in the citizens’ lives? Or how much do they really want to know, have caused many debates and is often times left unanswered. Once again these questions have taken center stage in the wake of the recent San Bernardino shooting. With 14 people dead, the search for answers is at its peak. Many questions about the incident have been left unanswered and it is believed that the answers to these questions are locked inside a phone. However, the phone company, Apple, has resisted decrypt the phone for the F.B.I agents. Many people stand in support of the F.B.I, while others are in support of Apple, including the signees if a letter who are associated with Pen America. In “End efforts to Compel Apple to crack iPhone”, the signees used premises to justify their arguments and

Digital privacy concerns, which have been a major issue in our country since 2001, increasingly violate our basic human rights as global citizens. The growing amount of government surveillance has manifested in the enactment of acts such as SOPA and CISPA. Although their intent on stopping digital piracy and attacks were clear, both were immediately met with harsh criticism; they allowed big corporations to violate our privacy rights by sharing our personal information with both other companies and the government. Our President, although publicly expressing his acknowledgement of the issue, failed to discuss an array of other pressing dilemmas regulated by the recently exposed National Security Agency (NSA), especially those involving

Is the NSA justified in their internal security monitoring on the American people? The National Security Agency is an intelligence organization that works for the federal government of the United States of America. They are responsible for collecting, monitoring and processing data and information around the globe in an effort to eliminate terrorism. The issue with this process is they are collecting data and information from cell phones, emails, computer programs and any other electronic device the American people use. The scandal broke in early June 2013 when the Guardian newspaper reported that the US National Security Agency (NSA) was collecting the telephone records of tens of millions of Americans, leaked by Edward Snowden (“BCC”). The

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (F.B.I) is one of the six agencies represented by the Justice Department and enforces federal laws. F.B.I agents are usually involved with the investigation of federal crimes including bombings, forgery, kidnappings, serial killers, and identity theft. They may work with local and Federal agencies to move investigations forward and have constant contact with those involved in the case such as suspects and witnesses. An FBI agent needs to have strong reasoning skills to collect information from a set of data given or provided to them. They examine the evidence at the crime scene and examine the actions that have taken place, possible motive, and leads on where to start the investigation. A field agent will

Since the terrorist attack of 9/11, America has been in a high level conflict with terrorist around the world, particularly the group known as Al Qaeda. There has been many discussions within the U.S. Congress about the measures of how to effectively combat this organization and their members, here and abroad. Consequently, the issue of individual privacy vs. national security has generated discussions within the civilian and government sectors. To date, the discussions continues with many private citizens who feels they are constantly losing their privacy , when

American citizens are entitled to own freedom, which says that the citizens can act, behave, and do whatever we want without worrying about someone watching our every move. Ayn Rand once said, “Civilization is the progress toward a society of privacy. The savage’s whole existence is public, ruled by laws of his tribe. Civilization is the progress of setting a man free from men.” The National Security Association (NSA) was set up to protect the American citizen’s freedom, although they may push their boundaries which interferes with the right to privacy; this organization is very effective. The National Security Association is a necessary organization that is effective in

What is the relation between freedom vs. security? Should the public sacrifice liberty in the name of security? What is the role of the government in providing that security? In recent years, the notion of freedom and security has been reignited as a forefront of American debate in perhaps the most emphatic fashion. On June 5, 2013, Edward Snowden began perhaps the most significant classified documentation leaks in American history. His disclosures revealed how the U.S. government was collecting metadata from millions of Americans through mass surveillance programs such as PRISM. His reveal sparked a prominent discussion on the proper balance of freedom and security in the American government. In particular, three prominent concepts are illustrated

The Crypto Wars is the name for the U.S. government’s attempts to limit the public’s and foreign nations’ access to cryptography strong enough to resist decryption by national intelligence agencies.1 U. S. Government law enforcement officials want tech companies to give them a "backdoor" into encrypted cellphones and other devices. Tech companies object to it. There have been bills drafted in Congress on this issue. Apparently, I will object to a bill to require tech companies to provide a backdoor because it infringes the privacy rights of smartphone users. This is the ethical challenge about privacy behind the Crypto Wars. However, this is a Right vs. Right issue since under specific circumstances, such as kidnapping and terrorism, it is necessary to have the access of a “backdoor” into encrypted mobile devices. This issue

When Edward Snowden leaked a large cache of classified NSA documents to the press in 2012 he fanned the flames of an already suspicious public by revealing an astonishing amount of information about the United States government’s mass surveillance operations in our country, and around the globe. These revelations weren’t quite as surprising to many experts in the field of cryptography and internet security, especially in the post 9/11 era, as the unprecedented amount of power granted to the federal government in the wake of those attacks, in the form of the Patriot Act, has given rise to warrantless wiretapping and blanket surveillance tactics that are used in the fight against domestic terrorism. However, government surveillance dates back

Intelligence collection and apprehension of criminals have occurred for many years; however, with the exception of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, these actions were performed by different organizations. Nonetheless, roles and responsibilities have changed since the attacks on September 11, 2001. Intelligence-led policing and the National Criminal Intelligence Sharing program were incorporated, and fusion centers were established to help gather intelligence from different levels of the government. Although law enforcement at the local, state, and tribal levels aid in intelligence collection, it is important to ensure that intelligence gathered to protect national security and law enforcement

The tension between national security and individual privacy has long existed even before the development of digitized information. Recently, two main forces have advanced the debate over this balance to the forefront of the public eye: 1) the proliferation of data by private sector companies and 2) the heightened need for homeland security and public defense. With the rapid evolution of technology, companies have aggregated pools of consumer data to improve upon internal decision making. In some cases, however, this data can be leveraged to ensure national security and public safety. This juxtaposition of enterprise and security results in a blurring of the line dividing public and private sector responsibilities. The question becomes an issue of moral obligation versus legal responsibility. What are we as consumers and citizens willing to sacrifice in exchange for safety? And does the private sector inevitably succumb to obligations originating from the public sector?

The purpose for an IT security policy is to provide “strategy, policy, and standards regarding the security of and operations in cyberspace, and encompasses the full range of threat reduction, vulnerability reduction, deterrence, international engagement, incident response, resiliency, and recovery policies and activities, including computer network operations, information assurance, law enforcement, diplomacy, military, and intelligence missions as they relate to the security and stability of the global information and communications infrastructure” ("Cyberspace policy RevIew", 2016).