# NSA launches 'Perfect Citizen' network monitoring program
**URL:** https://forums.speedlife.net/t/nsa-launches-perfect-citizen-network-monitoring-program/157548
**Category:** NYSpeed Off Topic
**Created:** [July 8, 2010, 5:24am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/nsa-launches-perfect-citizen-network-monitoring-program/157548 "2010-07-08T05:24:26Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@JayS](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/JayS)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2010, 5:24am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/nsa-launches-perfect-citizen-network-monitoring-program/157548/1 "2010-07-08T05:24:26Z")
[http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/07/07/program-plans-detect-cyber-attacks-utilities-companies/](http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/07/07/program-plans-detect-cyber-attacks-utilities-companies/)
> The U.S. government is launching an expansive program dubbed “Perfect Citizen” to detect cyber assaults on private companies and government agencies running critical infrastructure such as the electricity grid and nuclear-power plants, The Wall Street Journal reported late Wednesday.
:tinfoilhat:
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### Author:  [@Onyx\_Z32](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Onyx_Z32)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2010, 5:38am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/nsa-launches-perfect-citizen-network-monitoring-program/157548/2 "2010-07-08T05:38:04Z")
In before LZ, but I was just reading this on Engadget. Their graphic is better, lol;
> **[Perfect Citizen: secret NSA surveillance program revealed by WSJ](https://www.engadget.com/2010/07/08/perfect-citizen-confidential-nsa-surveillance-program-revealed/)**
>
> Do you trust your government? Do you just support it like an obedient Britney Spears, steadfast to your faith that it will do the right thing? Your answer to t...
_“Like most citizens, we have mixed emotions about this. On one hand, we cherish our civil liberties and prefer to keep the government out of our personal affairs. On the other, we can barely function when Twitter goes down, let alone the national power grid. Now excuse us while we fashion a fedora from this roll of foil.”_
But not really a surprise due to the growing “public utility” argument over the internet, a-la this thread; [http://www.nyspeed.com/showthread.php?161605-Obama-has-interwebz-kill-switch](http://www.nyspeed.com/showthread.php?161605-Obama-has-interwebz-kill-switch)
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### Author:  [@JayS](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/JayS)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2010, 5:56am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/nsa-launches-perfect-citizen-network-monitoring-program/157548/3 "2010-07-08T05:56:50Z")
No matter how much you don’t like the idea it’s hard to get past the fact that we were dumb enough to put critical infrastructure systems that were designed with no security because they were offline systems online and now have to protect them.
But yeah, your graphic is better than mine.
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### Author:  [@ProgRocker](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/ProgRocker)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2010, 5:57am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/nsa-launches-perfect-citizen-network-monitoring-program/157548/4 "2010-07-08T05:57:38Z")
Um don’t companies pay for this type of security/training/software/hardware?
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### Author:  [@LZ1](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/LZ1)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2010, 8:25am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/nsa-launches-perfect-citizen-network-monitoring-program/157548/5 "2010-07-08T08:25:29Z")
Interesting…I still don’t get why they don’t unplug critical systems from the internet…
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### Author:  [@JayS](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/JayS)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2010, 8:28am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/nsa-launches-perfect-citizen-network-monitoring-program/157548/6 "2010-07-08T08:28:30Z")
> [@LZ](#):
>
> Interesting…I still don’t get why they don’t unplug critical systems from the internet…
+1 I really don’t like knowing that the system running nuclear reactors is accessible via the internet. I really don’t care how many firewalls it’s behind… just unplug it and go back to sneakernet.
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### Author:  [@LZ1](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/LZ1)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2010, 8:30am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/nsa-launches-perfect-citizen-network-monitoring-program/157548/7 "2010-07-08T08:30:28Z")
All they’re going to do is deploy a IDS tool like snort [http://www.snort.org/](http://www.snort.org/) to monitor for attacks and report back on them…
All of these places that need monitoring should be taking care of it internally and not waiting for the NSA or someone to step in and protect them.
I have read articles with quotes from people in charge of the national power grid saying security isn’t their worry and crap like that.