U.S. Investigating Sale of Snort as Security Risk 327
msmoriarty writes "The Associated Press is reporting today that the same U.S. committee that approved the Dubai ports deal is 'strongly objecting' to Israeli-based Check Point's acquisition of Snort's parent company, Sourcefire, because it doesn't want a foreign company to own Snort's underlying technology. According to the article, the broader 45-day review process rejected for the ports deal is already underway regarding this transaction, and 'secret' meetings between the FBI, DoD and Check Point have been held."
I could be wrong... (Score:3, Interesting)
Could this just be another bogus attempt by the Bush's krewe to "spin" things, and make it look like they actually care about the US surviving another 200 years, as opposed to preparing for "The Rapture" that Fundamentalist Christians have been saying is 'comming soon', for the past 1,000 years?
Good thing there are term limits!
ttyl
Farrell
Re:Israelis are just fine (Score:1, Interesting)
Sale of 'Family Silver' (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:What is good for the goose (Score:2, Interesting)
It is long since time we all forked from Marty, anyway. The Nessus debacle looms, again.
The committee has good reason (Score:1, Interesting)
The israelis have been busted twice backdooring equipment into US govt and military,
COMVERSE Infosystems, an Israeli company which supplied wiretap equipment (snort for phones..) we itself reverse wiretapped by the israelis to do surveillance on US law enforcement.
AMDOCs also was busted as billing records for US companies were illegally being used for intelligence.
Eh, big deal. (Score:5, Interesting)
Second, it's remarkable that the DoD would question Check Point's intentions. If they truly cared whether this particular deal was in the best interests of "national security" (whatever that happens to mean today, then they wouldn't use Check Point's firewall products either. But they do! The US Navy uses Check Point firewalls in great, prodigious quantities -- enough that they need Check Point's ISP-class management console software to run all of them! And they're not the only branch of the military using it, not to mention the multitude of other Federal agencies.
This sounds like a reach to me. Something based in rumor, started by a politician, that has to be ended by the press finding the real story inside the rumor...
Re:Israelis Aren't "just fine" In Tech Industries (Score:2, Interesting)
I do not see what the issue is since the Snort engine is open source, and Check Point already has an in depth knowledge of the Sourcefire product. Either way its ridiculous to try to veto this acquisition.
Re:Well... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Israeli Security (Score:4, Interesting)
You sound also equally unaware that the Israeli's are routinely in the top 5 countries that use gov't-sourced espionage to illegally assist native (Israeli) businesses? (France and China are two others. I can't remember the rest off the top of my head.)
What is boils down to is Israel is more like the U.S. that almost anywhere else in when push comes to shove, they will put their best interests first and fuck everyone else and everone else's opinion.
Strange politics (Score:2, Interesting)
But you have to remember that this is all politics. According to the people who work in the ports themselves, the only thing that will change after the Dubai deal is who signs their paychecks. All they do is unload shipping containers off ships, and they don't even know what's in those containers. Customs takes care of security after these things are loaded on trucks and are on their way out of the port. This is similar to the way an airline brings you to an airport, and then Customs checks you out before you waltz past them and out of the airport. If Dubai Airlines, if there is such a thing, wanted to buy a terminal at JFK, in order to provide direct flights to the U.S. for Middle Eastern businessmen, the politicians wouldn't say a word about it. They didn't say a word about Dubai buying a third of DaimlerChrysler. It's all a matter of politics.
Back to Snort, I think it's ridiculous to raise a stink about an Israeli company buying Sourcefire, especially since it's a security tool, and guess what, the Israelis know a thing or two about security. In fact, Israeli security experts and the Israeli military have been providing training to U.S. military and government personnel, especially after 9/11. Why should that be OK but not the purchase of Sourcefire? Not only that, but if you go to Israel, you'll see Microsoft campuses, Intel campuses, and lots of other technology company campuses, all over the country. If it's safe for them to be over there, it should be safe for Sourcefire to be there, too. So there's nothing to worry about...
the war on everything (Score:1, Interesting)
If there aren't enough "threats" or "problems", there's less of a need for "strong government leaders" and "important defense establishment" types. So, lacking real threats they artificially manufacture them (reichstagg fire, 9-11, 7-7) or delibarately pick at scabs, like the "muslim cartoon" scam going around. Nothing like riling up the natives to "prove" you need an increase in budget for your cavalry,and why you should "choose strong leader leadbottom because he's tough on..." whatever. Pick a boogeyman, it doesn't matter "drugs", "poverty", "terror", whatever. As SOON as you need a "war" on it, some big corps gonna make a REAL BIG chunk 0 change on the deal and some big megalomaniac will get elected president or imam or ayatollah or prime minister or grand exalted cyclops. Always been that way.
War is a racket, always 99% conjob. Follow the money and who winds up with it, follow the power and who winds up with it.
copwork101 = motive, means, opportunity
it ain't rocket surgery
public perception (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:US thinks it's non free and they should know. (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:Slashdot prone to xenophobia? (Score:1, Interesting)
That Pollard guy is serving life sentence. Look: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lekem [wikipedia.org]
There were also those five "jewish students" who have been filming the WTC from the top of their minivan for hours on the morning of 9/11 until the planes impacted. They started dancing and cheering then and they were detained by police. Soon the FBI took them away and they were expelled to Israel without any investigation. Based on this verifiable fact many people think Israel had fore-knowledge of the 19 saudis' attack, but remained mum, as the impacts served its own aims well (take out Iraq).
There was also the famous spy ring of young israeli "art students" in USA, who tried to infiltrate govt offices and military bases in the late-1990's by posing as door-to-door salespeople for cheap paintings. They were also caught trespassing and suspiciously circling US military facilities in rented cars. The issue hit the news when sheriffs who detained such "student" got angry over FBI's intimidating advice to forget about the events and contacted the press.
> Gen. George Keegan, Head of America's Air Force Intelligence
That guy is a famous paranoid anti-communist, who believed that soviets developed a huge death-ray weapon and spent all of his time trying to convince decision makers that the soviet death ray threat is imminent and a counterstrike is needed before it is too late. Luckily it was soon realized that he was a lunatic and got fired. It is nowadays customary to say that "Keegan was right, far righter than you think."
If you praise Keegan readers will think you are a lunatic as well. He is Erich von Daniken, nobody takes him seriously.
>shared ideals of freedom, democracy, and Western values make Israel a vital, natural, staunch ally
If your shared ideals of freedom means the expulsion of millions of arab people from their birthland, like USA got rid of the redskin indians, the you are right. zionism is just as racist as manifest destiny.
Western values? You must mean Wstern Money?! The amount US and other NATO members spent on Israel, free arms shuipments, etc. could have been used to make a marshall plan for the entire central and south America and then USA would not need to worry about Chavez or Castro or drug cartels, the results of poverty and instability. Israel costs circa 15 billion US dollars a year to US taxpayers and only earns hatred for USA, because of the plight of oppressed palestinian people. is the oil securing worth that? If you had smaller and more efficent cars, you would not need to rely on Israel's intimidating effect to secure huge oil shipments from arabs.
As far as one can see democracy in Israel means that all jewish people vote to "authorize" their gvernment to bully around the middle east and take land from other nations at will. This is not UN's view of democracy. BTW, there isn't a constitution in Israel. People are regularly assasinated by combat helicopters without trial, killing tens of bystanders. Thousands are held without charge and trial indefinitely. Gitmo prison was designed and GUIs trained by israelis. When arabs were gunned down by a xenophobic israeli army deserter, they were not paid compensation for terrorist attack, claiming israel law says a terrorist is someone "enemy of the jewish state", which means per definition a jew cannot be a terrorist... That's about equal justice for all, the cornerstone of democracy.