[Infowarrior] - More on...The FBI Deputizes Business

[Richard Forno]

(I do agree, the original article was a bit sensational; I've worked with
Infragard as well over the years and it's not the complete big brother
entity the article made it out to be and I do agree it can be useful at
times despite what I know are some internal issues they face.......rf)


------ Forwarded Message
From:  -- removed --

Hi Rich,

I always enjoy your forwards, they are always of interest.  This one is
simply not true.  I have been a member of Infragard for quite awhile.
Never, repeat Never, has the subject of deadly force been brought up in any
meetings or National Conferences (not in casual conversations or breakout
groups either).  While I am certainly *not* an industry bigwig, the InfoSec
community is in many respects, fairly small conceptually, and I am grateful
to have met many contacts, and, as in any group, there are the NRA types,
but no more so than in any community.  In the Cyber Security sector, it is
interesting to note that one of our projects is tackling phishing, fraud, id
theft, new viruses, cyber scams, and of course child pornography (certainly
a far cry from what caliber of weapon to use in case of martial law).  One
of our biggest concerns is disaster preparedness (i.e. how to keep the
lights on, fresh water, first responders, how to set up portable mesh
networks for vital communications, what should each home stock up on, etc.).
The information we receive is classified as either OFOU or LES (the latter
through a "Cyber Cop" Portal.  We simply do not spy on citizens or fellow
employees; rather we are encouraged to report odd or possibly suspicious
situations where someone is taking pictures of chemical plants, refineries,
power plants and such.  The Progressive.org reminds me very much of
"Ramparts" magazine back in the day (not sure if you remember it). I am more
alarmed at supposedly "official" whistleblowers coming up with stuff like
this, and no apparent 'vetting' being done on the story.