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New exclusive investigation - Meet Mitre Corporation, the nonprofit that gets up to $2 billion every year from US agencies to do all manner of national security, surveillance and healthcare work, much of it done in secret. Get ready for some scoops... https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2020/07/13/inside-americas-secretive-2-billion-research-hub-collecting-fingerprints-from-facebook-hacking-smartwatches-and-fighting-covid-19/">https://www.forbes.com/sites/tho...
Scoop no. 1 - In 2017, the DHS paid Mitre $500,000 to create a tool to hack IoT devices, specifically mentioning smartwatches. The aim was to detect them as they entered a "boundary" and exploit them automatically. Cops and border agents potential users. https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2020/07/13/inside-americas-secretive-2-billion-research-hub-collecting-fingerprints-from-facebook-hacking-smartwatches-and-fighting-covid-19/">https://www.forbes.com/sites/tho...
One source says CBP was the only user of that Mitre IoT hacking tool. Another says Mitre routinely helps CBP out with border searches. And a FOIA-obtained document shows Mitre helping CBP with the rollout and testing of controversial Rapid DNA technology. #4d3113b22052">https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2020/07/13/inside-americas-secretive-2-billion-research-hub-collecting-fingerprints-from-facebook-hacking-smartwatches-and-fighting-covid-19/ #4d3113b22052">https://www.forbes.com/sites/tho...
Scoop no. 2 - FOIA-obtained document shows Mitre was paid $500,000 by the FBI for a "social media image fingerprinting" tool. According to former FBI sci & tech chief, it was quite literally to take fingerprints from photos on FB/Instagram/Twitter/etc. https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2020/07/13/inside-americas-secretive-2-billion-research-hub-collecting-fingerprints-from-facebook-hacking-smartwatches-and-fighting-covid-19/">https://www.forbes.com/sites/tho...
Mitre started working on that social media fingerprinting tool back in 2015, so it& #39;s likely been of use to various US gov agencies, not just the FBI, for five years. It was supported by a previously-unreported high-tech research funding body called TRIAD. #4d3113b22052">https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2020/07/13/inside-americas-secretive-2-billion-research-hub-collecting-fingerprints-from-facebook-hacking-smartwatches-and-fighting-covid-19/ #4d3113b22052">https://www.forbes.com/sites/tho...
Scoop no. 3 - A few days after President Trump called a national emergency over Covid-19, Mitre got a call from the DHS Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction office (?!) to draw up plans for exiting a pandemic using its big data expertise. https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2020/07/13/inside-americas-secretive-2-billion-research-hub-collecting-fingerprints-from-facebook-hacking-smartwatches-and-fighting-covid-19/">https://www.forbes.com/sites/tho...
Mitre has been a major player in helping the US fight Covid-19, including a $16.3 million CDC contract to help build “an enduring national capability to contain Covid-19.” It& #39;s also built a widely-used tracing tool, amongst other projects. https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2020/07/13/inside-americas-secretive-2-billion-research-hub-collecting-fingerprints-from-facebook-hacking-smartwatches-and-fighting-covid-19/">https://www.forbes.com/sites/tho...
Fun mini scoop - In 2009, Mitre was asked to determine whether you smell different when you lie. It turns out, yes, you do! So the US government can sniff out your fibs! https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2020/07/13/inside-americas-secretive-2-billion-research-hub-collecting-fingerprints-from-facebook-hacking-smartwatches-and-fighting-covid-19/">https://www.forbes.com/sites/tho...
Many of the infosec Twitter crowd will know Mitre as the org that manages the CVE database of known vulnerabilities, or the provider of the ATT&CK framework. At the same time as protecting internet devices and infrastructure, it& #39;s hacking them in private. https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2020/07/13/inside-americas-secretive-2-billion-research-hub-collecting-fingerprints-from-facebook-hacking-smartwatches-and-fighting-covid-19/">https://www.forbes.com/sites/tho...
Behind the scenes Mitre has been involved in some of the biggest dark web investigations, including the takedown of the Silk Road and the major anti-child exploitation investigation known as Op Torpedo. I spoke with Matt Edman who worked on both: https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2020/07/13/inside-americas-secretive-2-billion-research-hub-collecting-fingerprints-from-facebook-hacking-smartwatches-and-fighting-covid-19/">https://www.forbes.com/sites/tho...
So, here& #39;s the FOIA doc that includes Mitre& #39;s work on Rapid DNA tech and the IoT hacking tool: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6807246-Mitre-DNA-and-IOT-Exploitation-Contract.html
Full">https://www.documentcloud.org/documents... Forbes report on Mitre& #39;s mad, mad world here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2020/07/13/inside-americas-secretive-2-billion-research-hub-collecting-fingerprints-from-facebook-hacking-smartwatches-and-fighting-covid-19/">https://www.forbes.com/sites/tho...
Full">https://www.documentcloud.org/documents... Forbes report on Mitre& #39;s mad, mad world here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2020/07/13/inside-americas-secretive-2-billion-research-hub-collecting-fingerprints-from-facebook-hacking-smartwatches-and-fighting-covid-19/">https://www.forbes.com/sites/tho...
And here& #39;s the doc and emails that mention the FBI& #39;s "social media image fingerprinting" project with Mitre: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6807241-Mitre-Social-Fingerprinting-Software-for-FBI.html
Much">https://www.documentcloud.org/documents... of it is redacted so you& #39;ll want to read the full report here for more info: https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2020/07/13/inside-americas-secretive-2-billion-research-hub-collecting-fingerprints-from-facebook-hacking-smartwatches-and-fighting-covid-19/">https://www.forbes.com/sites/tho...
Much">https://www.documentcloud.org/documents... of it is redacted so you& #39;ll want to read the full report here for more info: https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2020/07/13/inside-americas-secretive-2-billion-research-hub-collecting-fingerprints-from-facebook-hacking-smartwatches-and-fighting-covid-19/">https://www.forbes.com/sites/tho...
Nearly forgot to add: Mitre& #39;s been a huge help in building the US government& #39;s facial recognition and biometric databases. One contract details work on “creating local watchlists by flagging subjects of interest.” https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2020/07/13/inside-americas-secretive-2-billion-research-hub-collecting-fingerprints-from-facebook-hacking-smartwatches-and-fighting-covid-19/">https://www.forbes.com/sites/tho...
Mitre has also been helping build the Next Generation Identification database, what the FBI calls “the world& #39;s largest and most efficient electronic repository of biometric and criminal history information.” It& #39;s cost the FBI over $500 million to date. https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2020/07/13/inside-americas-secretive-2-billion-research-hub-collecting-fingerprints-from-facebook-hacking-smartwatches-and-fighting-covid-19/">https://www.forbes.com/sites/tho...
