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Always lawful and subject to strict oversight. Those are the NSA's defenses any time someone leaks something about its surveillance programs or obtains documents indicating abuse of snooping powers. It gets a little old when it's document after document showing the astonishing breadth of the NSA's surveillance programs or the continual abuse and misuse of these powers.

The Hill has dug through some recently-released documents and memos from the NSA which show long-term abuse of surveillance programs. The NSA recently ditched part of its Section 702 collection because it just couldn't stop hoovering up Americans' communications. This was "incidental," according to the NSA, and supposedly impossible to stop. But the incidents detailed in these documents suggest a lot of over-collection happened because no one noticed and, if anyone did, no one cared.

They detail specific violations that the NSA or FBI disclosed to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court or the Justice Department's national security division during President Obamas tenure between 2009 and 2016. The intelligence community isn't due to report on compliance issues for 2017, the first year under the Trump administration, until next spring.

The NSA says that the missteps amount to a small number less than 1 percent when compared to the hundreds of thousands of specific phone numbers and email addresses the agencies intercepted through the so-called Section 702 warrantless spying program created by Congress in late 2008.

This is about the only place where any American can become part of the "one percent:" as the unwitting subject of NSA surveillance. NSA spokesman Michael Halbig says evidence of misuse is a sign the oversight is working. But oversight is also supposed to aid in prevention, not just detection of past misuse. And the NSA's internal oversight isn't nearly as "robust" as Halbig attempts to portray it.

The Hill reviewed the new ACLU documents as well as compliance memos released by the NSA inspector general and identified more than 90 incidents where violations specifically cited an impact on Americans. Many incidents involved multiple persons, multiple violations or extended periods of time.

For instance, the government admitted improperly searching the NSAs foreign intercept data on multiple occasions, including one instance in which an analyst ran the same search query about an American every work day for a period between 2013 and 2014.

The NSA also passed on intel to the FBI and CIA without properly minimizing it and made other dissemination errors. The documents show the NSA was also slow to inform other agencies of its minimization failures. Notification is supposed to made within five days of discovery, but in some cases it took the NSA more than three months to inform intel recipients of the error.

This information has been released at a critical time for the NSA. Section 702 powers are sunsetting this year and could be subject to additional modifications prior to their renewal. The FBI --perhaps even more than the NSA -- is looking for a clean reauthorization of Section 702 programs. This administration favors a clean re-auth, which means complaints about a 1% violation rate aren't likely to change anyone's mind. But 1% of several hundred million yearly searches is still a very large number of violations. If Google or Microsoft suffered a breach affecting the privacy of 1% of its users, it would be a huge problem even if the number of affected accounts amounted to a rounding error.

Former House Intelligence Committee Chair Pete Hoekstra -- a former surveillance state cheerleader -- now worries the NSA's collection powers have increased far past the point of reason. As he points, 1% simply isn't an acceptable failure rate.

One percent or less sounds great, but the truth is 1 percent of my credit card charges dont come back wrong every month. And in my mind one percent is pretty sloppy when it can impact Americans privacy.

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Released Documents Show More Section 702 Violations By The NSA - Techdirt

BEIJING: National security advisor Ajit Doval's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping did not yield any breakthrough that could end the current standoff in Doklam. Analysts, however, said the cool off in the recent weeks may give leaders enough time to find a solution.

Doval met Chinese President Xi Jinping and other senior officials on Friday at the summit of Brics national security advisers (NSAs) in the Chinese capital.

There has only been a slight improvement of the situation that prevailed after Chinese leaders insisted for weeks that there could be no meaningful dialogue until Indian troops withdraw from their positions at the disputed site in Doklam.

There is little possibility of Xi going back on the demand that Indian troops must withdraw ahead of the celebrations of the 90th anniversary of the People's Liberation Army on August 1, a Chinese analyst said.

"At best, the high level of belligerence can be allowed to taper off, giving leaders enough time to find a solution. But even this is not easy because there are hawkish voices on both sides," a Chinese analyst said, requesting anonymity.

The Chinese leadership got away by imposing an air flight control zone over islands disputed with Japan and creating artificial islands in the disputed South China Sea despite US resistance. This is why it is very is difficult for the government to explain India's refusal to budge an inch in Doklam, he explained.

Doklam row becoming internal crisis for China The Doklam issue is fast becoming a domestic political problem for China's leaders who need to deal with a section of hawkish Communist Party members demanding action to "push back" Indian troops, sources said. This is happening ahead of a crucial party congress that will elect leaders to top positions later this year.

China also faces a risky situation on its border with North Korea and has hugely increased its military presence fearing some dangerous moves from Pyongyang.

In appearances before the media, both Doval and the Chinese leaders stuck to the agenda of the security dialogue of Brics countries that brought together top security officials from the member countries.

Doval also joined other security officials in calling on Xi, who said that Brics should play a bigger role in international affairs.

It was clear that both India and China want to keep the discussion on the Doklam stand-off restricted to the bilateral area instead of making it an issue requiring the attention of Brics. In his speech, Doval said the Brics countries should show "leadership in countering terrorism".

The grouping should also play a key role on "strategic issues of regional and global importance" while focusing on "areas where we have consensus", he said.

The Chinese president said the five countries in Brics were faced with a "complex international political and economic security situation". They should communicate more on financial cooperation, cultural exchanges and security issues.

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NSA Ajit Doval and Xi Jinping meet but fail to break Doklam logjam - Economic Times

Reality Winners supporters said they delivered petitions with more than 16,000 signatures to the U.S. Justice Departments headquarters in Washington Thursday, asking the agency to drop its charges against the accused National Security Agency leaker.

Among those delivering the petitions on Whistleblower Appreciation Day were representatives from several groups, including CodePink, Defending Rights & Dissent, RootsAction.org, Whistleblower and Source Protection Program and Stand with Reality, a nonprofit campaign that is supporting Winners case through advocacy and fundraising.

"We should not be charging whistleblowers acting in the public interest, disclosing information responsibly to journalists, as if they were traitors to our country. Anyone who cares about a free press should be concerned about her case, Rainey Reitman, co-founder of Stand with Reality, said in a prepared statement.

The Justice Department declined to comment.

Federal prosecutors have accused Winner of leaking to The Intercept online news outlet a top-secret NSA report about Russias meddling in the 2016 presidential election. The Intercept published the report, which says Russian military intelligence officials tried to hack into the U.S. voting system just before last Novembers election.

A federal grand jury has indicted Winner, 25, on a single count of "willful retention and transmission of national defense information. She faces up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines. Winner, who is being held in the Lincoln County Jail, has pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Meanwhile, federal prosecutors are defending their proposed rules for safeguarding top-secret information during her trial, now set for Oct. 23 in Augusta. Winners defense attorneys have argued those rules could block her from getting a fair hearing. Specifically, they have said the governments proposed protective order could prevent Winner from reviewing evidence in the case, including classified information. That, they said, would amount to a violation of the former Air Force linguists Sixth Amendment right to confer with her attorneys.

RELATED:Accused NSA leakers attorneys push back against proposed secrecy rules for trial

But in a court papers filed this week, the prosecutors said she will be given access to the records she is entitled to see under the Classified Information Procedures Act and as required by due process. But her attorneys must ask the court for her to see such documents, the prosecutors said.

The scope of classified discovery in this case has not yet been determined. It may include, for example, classified information to which the defendant has not previously had access, the government said in its court filing. Given the charge against the defendant, disclosing that information to her could further jeopardize national security. If defense counsel believe that they must disclose specific information provided in discovery to the defendant, that should be the subject of a subsequent motion.

Winners attorneys are also seeking permission to quote from records already in the public domain, including newspaper articles. Prosecutors have pointed to case law that says disseminating classified information that has already been made public could harm government intelligence sources and operations. Further, Winners defense team is objecting to proposed requirements that they identify expert witnesses they ask to review classified evidence, saying that would amount to an unfair advantage for prosecutors.

The government has a legitimate interest in knowing who is accessing classified information, the prosecutors said. The defense has not identified any prejudice that would result from disclosing experts identities to the government. Accordingly, the government should receive advance notice of all personnel for whom the defense seeks access to classified discovery and an opportunity to submit objections to the court if necessary.

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Accused NSA leaker's supporters call on feds to drop charges against her - MyAJC

"We designed the TACLANE-FLEX to be scalable and customizable to meet the fluid demands of today's missions," said Mike Tweed-Kent, vice president and general manager of the Cyber and Electronic Warfare Systems line of business for General Dynamics Mission Systems. "TACLANE is the most widely deployed HAIPE encryptor in the world, and General Dynamics will continue to invest in and enhance this product family to ensure it addresses customers' requirements today and supports the unforeseen needs of tomorrow."

Built upon the market-leading TACLANE technology, the TACLANE-FLEX is the same form and fit of the TACLANE-Micro (KG-175D), allowing simple swap-out for customers in need of increased data rates and security features in a small form factor. The combination of its low size, weight and power (SWaP) and ruggedized design, provides users with the option to use the TACLANE-FLEX in tactical or strategic environments.

As bandwidth needs grow, and applications and environments change, TACLANE-FLEX offers a cost-effective approach that allows customers to tailor their security solution based on current needs and budget. The innovative design makes TACLANE-FLEX a delivery platform for future software-based capability upgrades, allowing it to scale to meet the dynamics needs customers will face in the years to come.

Customers are able to add functionality to TACLANE-FLEX through two optional software features, TACLANE Trusted Sensor Software and Agile Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN). TACLANE Trusted Sensor Software provides intrusion detection and prevention system capabilities that monitor network traffic, helping customers increase their knowledge of who and what is on their network. Agile VLAN allows users to simultaneously send and receive Layer 2 (Ethernet) and HAIPE traffic, helping to facilitate the flexible deployment of secure networks.

With an expected availability date mid-2017, GEM One, an enterprise-level remote encryptor management solution, enables users to configure and maintain a dispersed network of TACLANE encryptors, easing deployment and increasing network situational awareness. INEs are used extensively in the commercial and government sectors to protect critical networks and infrastructures.

"The diverse mission requirements of our customers warrant flexible products and solutions that address critical needs and are easy to use and deploy," said Paul Pittelli, NSA Chief, Information Assurance Capabilities. "The TACLANE-FLEX encryption platform enables customers to field a single device that allows for various levels of customization including its ability to support layer 2 communications while maintaining interoperability with currently deployed HAIPE devices."

General Dynamics' Customer Investment Protection Program encourages organizations protecting critical networks and infrastructure to maximize their investment and maintain their security posture by using General Dynamics' trade-in programs. A trade-in program will be offered for the TACLANE-FLEX, allowing users of the current HAIPE INEs to take advantage of the new customizable encryption platform's scalable speed and cybersecurity features. Call 888-897-3148 or email our team for additional information.

General Dynamics Mission Systems is a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD). For more information about General Dynamics Mission Systems, please visit gdmissionsystems.com and follow us on Twitter @GDMS.

View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/general-dynamics-adds-new-nsa-certified-taclane-flex-type-1-network-encryption-platform-to-secure-product-portfolio-300495314.html

SOURCE General Dynamics Mission Systems

http://gdmissionsystems.com

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General Dynamics Adds New NSA-certified TACLANE-FLEX Type 1 Network Encryption Platform to Secure Product ... - PR Newswire (press release)

Featuring throwback Rockford Peaches uniforms, the Arizona Batbusters are introduced at opening ceremonies for the 2017 NSA Southwest World Series at Pioneer Park on Wednesday, July 26, 2017, in Prescott. (Les Stukenberg/Courier)

Over 300 players dawning uniforms from 27 different clubs calling Arizona and its surrounding states home gathered for opening ceremonies of the 2017 NSA Southwest World Series on Wednesday night.

Home to many youth softball tournaments throughout the summer and national championship contests in years past, Pioneer Park in Prescott featured standing room only with parents and family members applauding their hometown teams in preparation for a four-day event beginning today.

Dale Pool, tournament director for the Southwest World Series, said for the Prescott area, this weekend not only brings great economic impact to the community, but a chance for the young players to make lifelong memories.

For the girls, this gives them the chance to see teams from other states, California, Nevada, or from around the state. They may meet again in other tournaments, or play in college, Pool said, adding its fun to see some of the same players return to Prescott every year.

Its wonderful to see these girls grow, not only as players, but as individuals and the great sportsmanship that they display, Pool said.

One team stood out in particular Wednesday night, wearing throwback Rockford Peaches uniforms from the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, featured in the movie, A League of their Own.

Peyton Bradshaw, 15, of the Arizona Batbusters said wearing the Rockford Peaches uniforms is a tribute to the women who came before them.

As for their own chances of winning this weekends tournament, Bradshaw said her teammates are looking forward to kicking butt.

We need to go in, play hard, and focus on winning, Bradshaw said.

The Arizona Batbusters open the Southwest World Series with a pair of games in the early Thursday morning as they face AZ As Demarini Elite at 8 a.m. and Storm Fastpitch at 9:30 a.m.

Quad City Clovers third baseman Brena Lankford, 13, was the 2017 recipient of the National Softball Associations $1,000 college scholarship Wednesday night.

I was shocked. I couldnt believe it. I was really happy, Lankford said after hearing her name called over the loud speaker.

The Clovers open the tournament with a 9:30 a.m. contest Thursday against the Firecrackers.

Lankford added this years Southwest World Series gives her team a chance to take a break from the regular grind of club softball travel and just play ball.

Its fun with all the girls, and were pretty good, Lankford said. Its local, so fun.

Brian M. Bergner Jr. is associate sports editor and a columnist for The Daily Courier. Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Periscope and SoundCloud at @SportsWriter52, or on Facebook at @SportsAboveTheFold. Reach him at bbergner@prescottaz.com or 928-445-3333, ext. 1106.

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NSA Southwest World Series gets underway Thursday in Prescott - CVR News