MonsterMind is an alleged program of the U.S.

National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collecti ...

(NSA) that, according to

Edward Snowden Edward Joseph Snowden (born June 21, 1983) is an American and naturalized Russian former computer intelligence consultant who leaked highly classified information from the National Security Agency (NSA) in 2013, when he was an employee and su ...

, can autonomously recognize and respond to a foreign

cyberattack A cyberattack is any offensive maneuver that targets computer information systems, computer networks, infrastructures, or personal computer devices. An attacker is a person or process that attempts to access data, functions, or other restricted ...

. The existence of this system has not been proven, but it has been actively discussed in society.

History

On August 13, 2014, the American magazine ''

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fra ...

'' alleged the existence of the MonsterMind program after journalist

James Bamford James Bamford (born September 15, 1946) is an American author, journalist and documentary producer noted for his writing about United States intelligence agency, intelligence agencies, especially the National Security Agency (NSA). ''The New Y ...

conducted an extensive interview with

. Snowden claimed that the program tracks unusual patterns in Internet traffic that indicate an attack, using algorithms to analyze metadata. Once identified, MonsterMind automatically blocked the traffic from entering the United States. On September 17, 2019, Snowden released his autobiographical book, '' Permanent Record'', detailing his childhood, his work at the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

and the NSA, and the motivations behind his 2013 leak of classified information exposing global surveillance programs.

Purpose

MonsterMind is described as an autonomous

cyberwarfare Cyberwarfare is the use of cyber attacks against an enemy state, causing comparable harm to actual warfare and/or disrupting vital computer systems. Some intended outcomes could be espionage, sabotage, propaganda, manipulation or economic war ...

program capable of responding to

s from other countries without human intervention. The program is said to use

anomaly detection In data analysis, anomaly detection (also referred to as outlier detection and sometimes as novelty detection) is generally understood to be the identification of rare items, events or observations which deviate significantly from the majority ...

software to identify potential foreign cyberattacks. After identifying such patterns, MonsterMind can automatically block and respond to these attacks.

Debate

The MonsterMind program, as described by Snowden, has generated considerable interest and concern. One of the main issues raised by Snowden is the potential for misdirected counterattacks due to the autonomous nature of MonsterMind. For example, an attacker could misrepresent the source of an attack, causing MonsterMind to inadvertently attack an innocent third party, such as a hospital in another country. Apart from domestic privacy issues, Snowden warns that the program could create problems in international relations. Since cyberattacks launched by MonsterMind could be routed through computers in third countries, there is a risk of escalating conflicts or misunderstandings with those nations. The

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

(ACLU) has expressed concern about the lack of transparency and debate about the legality and appropriateness of such surveillance programs and has been actively monitoring developments. If the U.S. government is indeed scanning all Internet traffic entering the country, it raises serious questions about civil liberties.

References

{{Reflist National Security Agency Edward Snowden Whistleblowing in the United States Internet-related controversies Political controversies in the United States

History

Purpose

Debate

See also

References