[ index | 1970 ]

P-415 / ECHELON

69. By the mid 1980s, communications intercepted at these major stations were heavily sifted, with a wide variety of specifications available for non-verbal traffic. Extensive further automation was planned in the mid 1980s as NSA Project P-415. Implementation of this project completed the automation of the previous Watch List activity. From 1987 onwards, staff from international Comint agencies travelled to the US to attended training courses for the new computer systems.

70. Project P-415/ECHELON made heavy use of NSA and GCHQ's global Internet-like communication network to enable remote intelligence customers to task computers at each collection site, and receive the results automatically. The key component of the system are local "Dictionary" computers, which store an extensive database on specified targets, including names, topics of interest, addresses, telephone numbers and other selection criteria. Incoming messages are compared to these criteria; if a match is found, the raw intelligence is forwarded automatically. Dictionary computers are tasked with many thousands of different collection requirements, described as "numbers" (four digit codes).

LOCATIONS:

- Menwith Hill, England
- Pine Gap, Australia
- Bad Aibling, Germany
- Buckley Field, Colorado
- Sugar Grove, West Virginia (COMSAT interception)
- Sabana Seca, Puerto Rico (COMSAT interception)
- Leitrim, Canada (COMSAT interception)
- Waihopai, New Zealand (Intelsat interception)

-- Duncan Campbell: INTERCETPION CAPABILITIES 2000.
src://www.cyber-rights.org/interception/stoa/ic2kreport.htm

[ index | 1969 ]