The Digital Collection System Network (DCSNet) is the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

(FBI)'s

point-and-click Point and click are the actions of a computer user moving a pointer to a certain location on a screen (''pointing'') and then pressing a button on a mouse, usually the left button (''click''), or other pointing device. An example of point and cli ...

surveillance system that can perform instant wiretaps on almost any telecommunications device in the US. It allows access to cellphone,

landline A landline (land line, land-line, main line, home phone, fixed-line, and wireline) is a telephone connection that uses metal wires or optical fiber telephone line for transmission, as distinguished from a mobile cellular network, which uses ...

SMS Short Message/Messaging Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile devices exchange short text ...

communications anywhere in the US from a point-and-click interface. It runs on a fiber-optic backbone that is separate from the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

. It is intended to increase agent productivity through workflow modeling, allowing for the routing of intercepts for translation or analysis with only a few clicks. The DCSNet real-time

intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can b ...

data intercept has the capability to record, review and playback intercepted material in real-time. The DCSNet systems operate on a

virtual private network A virtual private network (VPN) extends a private network across a public network and enables users to send and receive data across shared or public networks as if their computing devices were directly connected to the private network. The be ...

parallel to the public Internet, with services provided at least for some time by the

Sprint Sprint may refer to: Aerospace *Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design *Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile Automotive and motorcycle *Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989 *Chevrolet Sprint, ...

peerless IP network. Much of the information available on this system has come from the results of

Freedom of Information Act Freedom of Information Act may refer to the following legislations in different jurisdictions which mandate the national government to disclose certain data to the general public upon request: * Freedom of Information Act 1982, the Australian act * ...

(FOIA) requests made by the

Electronic Frontier Foundation The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is an international non-profit digital rights group based in San Francisco, California. The foundation was formed on 10 July 1990 by John Gilmore, John Perry Barlow and Mitch Kapor to promote Internet ci ...

(EFF).

Components

It is composed of at least three classified software components that run on the

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also in ...

—DCS3000, DCS5000, DCS6000.

DCS-1000

DCS-3000

DCS-3000 and "Red Hook" were first mentioned publicly in a March 2006 report from the

United States Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for the Department of Justice (DOJ) is responsible for conducting nearly all of the investigations of DOJ employees and programs. The office has several hundred employees, reporting to the Inspector Gener ...

on the implementation of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA). The report described Red Hook as "a system to collect voice and data calls and then process and display the intercepted information in the absence of a CALEA solution." and it described DCS-3000 "as an interim solution to intercept personal communications services delivered via emerging digital technologies used by wireless carriers in advance of any CALEA solutions being deployed." Citing the OIG report, the

(EFF) filed an FOIA request later that year in order to obtain more information about the two programs. When the FBI did not respond with more information, the EFF sued, and in May 2007 obtained a court order to release documents concerning the programs. On August 29, 2007, '' Wired'' magazine published an article on these systems, citing the EFF documents. The DCS-3000 collects information associated with dialed and incoming numbers like traditional trap-and-trace and pen registers. The article named "Red Hook" as the client for DCS-3000. ''Wired'' reported that the DCS-3000 cost $320 per number targeted, and that the software is maintained by Booz Allen Hamilton.

DCS-5000

The DCS-5000 is a system used by the FBI unit responsible for counter-intelligence to target suspected spies, alleged terrorists, and others with wiretaps.

DCS-6000

The DCS-6000 (a.k.a. "Digital Storm") captures the content of phone calls and

text messages Text messaging, or texting, is the act of composing and sending electronic messages, typically consisting of alphabetic and numeric characters, between two or more users of mobile devices, desktops/laptops, or another type of compatible compute ...

for analysis. Once the data has been captured, it is indexed and prioritized using the Electronic Surveillance Data Management System (ELSUR).

References