Israeli Chief of CIA's Investment Group Mysteriously Resigns

by **mxmendo** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 7:26 pm

the CIA has a venture capital group?? This guys behavior does seem weird...first in charge of cyber security and then bails to join the CIA group... <a href="http://wakeupfromyourslumber.blogspot.com/2006/04/israeli-chief-of-cias-investment-group.html">wakeupfromyourslumber.blo...group.html</a> The new chief of the CIA's venture capital organization, In-Q-Tel, has resigned after just four months on the job. [!!!] I didn't know the CIA had a venture capital group. Amit Yoran, who was the government's cybersecurity chief until he left that job in 2004, said Monday he stepped down for personal reasons. The role of In-Q-Tel's chief executive requires significant travel, and Yoran and his wife - a U.S. government lawyer - have three young daughters. Yeah, right. And no one told him before he started that this was part of the job description? Maybe he and his wife just recently adopted their daughters wholesale. Or maybe, just maybe, something more sinister is going on. The man making sure US computer networks are safe and secure has resigned after only a year in his post. Amit Yoran was director of the National Cyber Security Division within the US Department of Homeland Security created following the 9/11 attacks. The division was tasked with improving US defences against malicious hackers, viruses and other net-based threats. Reports suggest he left because his division was not given enough clout within the larger organisation. [His] division was charged with thinking up and carrying out action to make US networks more impervious to attack and disruption by the viruses, worms and hack attacks that have become commonplace. In the last 12 months Mr Yoran oversaw the creation of a cyber alert system that sends out warnings about big hitting viruses and net attacks as they occur. The warnings also contained information about how firms and organisations could protect themselves against these attacks. The Cyber Security Division also audited US government networks to discover exactly what was sitting on which network. The next step was to be the creation of a scanning system to identify vulnerabilities that made federal networks and machines susceptible to attack by malicious hackers and virus writers. Mr Yoran's division was also doing work to identify the networks and machines that had been broken into by cyber criminals. Despite this success Mr Yoran left his post abruptly at the end of last week, reportedly only giving one day's notice to bosses at the Department of Homeland Security. ONE DAY'S NOTICE?!! And he subsequently gets appointed CHIEF of the CIA's capital venture group?!! That's insane! Even now, after twice bailing on the government, Yoran remains on the payroll. Yoran said he agreed with In-Q-Tel's board to continue working as a consultant and adviser. In-Q-Tel - named for "Q," the fictional inventor of spy tools and toys for James Bond - makes about a dozen such investments annually with roughly $60 million it receives from the CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the FBI and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. Something's VERY fishy about this. Perhaps, this has something to do with the recent effort to hand an intelligence security contract to an Israeli company. Or maybe, the Mrs. 'senses' that something's about to happen in the Justice Department.

by **Ike Broflovski** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 9:01 pm

That blog post wasn't terribly illuminating, but searching for Amit Yoran turns up several news stories about his resignation. Hard to say what's going on. I thought this, from the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/23/AR2006042300701.html">WaPo</a>, was interesting: <blockquote>Quote:<hr>Last month, Yoran hired his old friend, Mark Frantz , a well-known local venture capitalist who spent the past five years with the Carlyle Venture Partners , as In-Q-Tel's managing general partner. Frantz in an interview last week said the organization would be hiring more people for its investing team. "We're not exactly taking out help-wanted ads, but we want to add to our venture team," Frantz said. "We've got some very talented folks here, but we're here to turn it up a notch." <hr></blockquote> From the Google cache of Frantz's Carlyle bio: "Mr. Frantz joined Carlyle from Redleaf Ventures where he was the Senior Director for the Northern Virginia office. Prior to Redleaf, he was the Associate to the Senior Chairman of Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown, working extensively with the Technology and Internet Groups. Mr. Frantz has also served as the Associate Director of The White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs under President George H. W. Bush and as the technology policy advisor to Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge." Quite a resume! Looks like Frantz is sticking around. In-Q-Tel's website and list of investments is interesting too. They invest in a company called CallMiner, I shit you not.

by **robertdreed** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 9:47 pm

In-Q-Tel was Rick Yannuzzi's pet project, before he wound up in April of 2006 in his home garage in Oakton, VA in his automobile, full of carbon monoxide. Original story no longer in the Washington Post archive- <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45714-2001Apr5.html">www.washingtonpost.com/wp...1Apr5.html</a> re-linked via RumormillNews- <a href="http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/archive.cgi?noframes;read=8246">www.rumormillnews.com/cgi...;read=8246</a> (The original WaPo story wasn't specific about the "asphyxiation", but there was another news story follow-up that gave more detail, which is how I recall the details. Easily one of the most-under-reported and under-archived stories on the Internet, as far as my personal searches indicate.) <a href="http://www.afio.com/sections/wins/2001/2001-14.html">www.afio.com/sections/win...01-14.html</a> (about halfway down the page) Complete Google for "Rick Yannuzzi" <a href="http://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial_s&hl=en&q=%22rick+yannuzzi%22+&btnG=Google+Search">www.google.com/search?cli...gle+Search</a> (yes, 2 "N"s, 2 "Z"s is the correct spelling ) Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=robertdreed>robertdreed</A> at: 4/24/06 8:00 pm

by **FranklinCase Admin** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 1:03 am

It looks as though Amit Yoran's posts within the U.S. Government have not been limited to CIA positions. According to <a href="http://www.networkcomputing.com/1226/1226f104.html">this article at Network Computing (dated December 17, 2001)</a> Amit has helped out at the Pentagon before: <blockquote>Quote:<hr>Riptech's plan is to spot problems first. Sounds good, but that means investing heavily in R&D, and building more relationships within the security community, says Riptech CEO Amit Yoran, a former U.S. Air Force officer who helped craft the security architecture for the Pentagon's network backbone.<hr></blockquote> Additionally, Mr. Yoran's start-up company Riptek had hundreds of corporate clients in "various" countries. The following is an excerpt from the Wall Street Journal (which can only be accessed through paid service, so cut and paste is all I can offer) <blockquote>Quote:<hr>(1-28-2002) Riptech, an Alexandria, Va., company that monitors computer systems on behalf of corporate customers, uses logs generated by firewall software and intrusion-detection systems each time a computer tries to tap into one of its client's systems. The current study is based on analyzing 5.5 billion of those log files generated by systems at 300 Riptech customers in 25 countries.<hr></blockquote> <img src="http://img.cmpnet.com/nc/1226/graphics/1226_riptech.gif" style="border:0;"/> Obviously you don't have to be a genius to understand that Yoran has been a security pawn for years. Unfortunately he's probably smart enough to not leave a paper trail.

by **Hugh Manatee Wins** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 1:50 am

The most interesting victim of the Beltway Sniper in October 2002 was Linda Franklin, an FBI cyber-security expert at the National Infrastructure Protection Center. <blockquote>Quote:<hr> The Center’s website describes its mission as follows: The National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC) serves as a national critical infrastructure threat assessment, warning, vulnerability, and law enforcement investigation and response entity. The NIPC provides timely warnings of international threats, comprehensive analysis and law enforcement investigation and response. The mission of the NIPC is to: # detect, deter, assess, warn, respond, and investigate unlawful acts involving computer and information technologies and unlawful acts, both physical and cyber, that threaten or target our critical infrastructures; # manage computer intrusion investigations; # support law enforcement, counterterrorism, and foreign counterintelligence missions related to cyber crimes and intrusion; # support national security authorities when unlawful acts go beyond crime and are foreign-sponsored attacks on United States interests; and # coordinate training for cyber investigators and infrastructure protectors in government and the private sector.<hr></blockquote> I'd love to know more about what she was working on at the time. Her death might have just been a message rather than stopping an investigation but still... <a href="http://www.gcn.com/print/21_31/20299-1.html">www.gcn.com/print/21_31/20299-1.html</a> <blockquote>Quote:<hr> FBI employees last week reacted with shock and grief to the murder of their colleague, Linda Franklin, 47, by a sniper attack. FBI headquarters confirmed that Franklin was an analyst there, and an FBI source added that she worked in the Cyber Crime Division.<hr></blockquote> “Everyone is stunned,” said one FBI systems specialist, speaking on condition of anonymity. “How could they not be? I heard one lady say how mad she was.” The source said Franklin, a cancer survivor who was about to become a grandmother, had been with the bureau since 1998. The sniper attacked Franklin in a parking lot outside a Home Depot store in Virginia. She was the ninth person killed in the sniping spree. The bureau’s Cyber Crime division investigates various types of computer crime, including hacking, fraud and destruction of information.

by **havanagilla** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 2:01 am

google israel relates that Yoran's mother has a sister in Israel, who set up a charity for the decendants of the old Jewish community of Hebron (the one from before Zionism). She relates that her american sister has two successful children Amit and Elad Naftali, both graduates of west point. -- When Amit was younger he was elected to sit with Yitzhak Rabin in an official dinner with the US president. Later the two brothers started their successful hi tech corp, and ended up selling it to Symantec. Amit's wife, according to same aunt, is catherine, a CIA lawyer, who converted to Judaism before they married (or for the marriage ?). -- Another bit of information relates to the sister's report on the coming wedding bn Amit and catherine, where she thought the president might be invited too, and where she was hoping to do some fundraising for the bew charity she set uo for the decendants of the old Hebron Jews. -- Other reports are all about hi tech news, one of them saying proudly that a former israeli was appointed as manager of he DHS's cyber security, along with another former Israeli Abraham Kendel, working on cyber security for some other national security department (?). The article mentioned that many Israelis are prominent in the cyber security business. -- Lastly, Yoran is mentioned as the man who caught the israeli hacker "analyzer" who broke into the computers of NASA and Pentagon a while back (he was a teen ager). The "analyzer" spent some time in prison here, and now works for a cyber security corp. -

by **Gouda** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 6:31 am

Tangentially related, but might be worth keeping an eye on, these obscure new offices springing up within agencies within the privatized corporate "Intelligence Community" (IC) with oversight of and responsibility for assessing "national security risks" requiring linkage to private vendors... Remember "CARC" (Intelligence Community Acquisition Risk Centre), which favorably vetted the pending Dubai Ports World deal after assessing possible risks? <a href="http://go.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=1097504&section=news&src=rss/uk/worldNews">Reuters:</a> <blockquote>Quote:<hr>Obscure US intelligence agency assessed ports deal Thu Feb 23, 2006 02:23 AM GMT By David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A deal that allows an Arab-owned company in Dubai to manage six major U.S. ports was scrutinized for security risks by an obscure intelligence agency that has existed for only four months, American officials said on Wednesday. The Intelligence Community Acquisition Risk Centre, or CARC, overseen by the office of intelligence chief John Negroponte, was asked by the government committee that vets foreign investments in the United States to look into the ports deal soon after it came to its attention in early November. U.S. officials approved the sale of British-based P&O to Dubai Ports World of the United Arab Emirates on January 16, giving the Arab-owned firm a green light to take over port operations in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New Orleans and Miami. But the deal has since unleashed a political firestorm from both Republicans and Democrats, who see it as a potential risk to national security. The White House sought to stem criticism on Wednesday by saying the port takeover had been reviewed by intelligence agencies, including counterterrorism experts. "The intelligence community did assessments to make sure that there was no national security threat," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters. But intelligence officials said CARC, which has little to do with counterterrorism activities, was formed just last October as the agency mandated to assess security risks posed by companies that do business with the intelligence community. Only a small part of the center's resources are devoted to vetting commercial deals, officials said. CARC's first director, William Dawson, was appointed in January, more than a month after the centre had been asked to begin work on the Dubai Ports World acquisition. Dawson had been a senior information technology official for the intelligence community prior to his appointment. A spokesman for Negroponte acknowledged the intelligence community provided an assessment but declined to discuss specifics. Intelligence officials, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about CARC, said many of the center's functions were transferred to Negroponte's office from the CIA in 2005 as a result of congressionally mandated intelligence reforms.<hr></blockquote> Similar info here: <a href="http://www.therant.us/staff/grassi/03022006.htm">www.therant.us/staff/grassi/03022006.htm</a> More on <a href="http://www.washingtontechnology.com/news/20_10/federal/26258-1.html">Dawson, in Washington Technology :</a> <blockquote>Quote:<hr>Behind the curve, By ROSEANNE GERIN Intelligence agencies must adopt cutting-edge technologies to promote information sharing ...William Dawson, deputy chief information officer for the intelligence community, said the enterprise architecture for information sharing is in place, but analysts need tools to help them extract and break down data instead of having to search for reports. "That's where the vendors come in to help us," he said. Dawson was part of a five-person panel at the Information Technology Association of America's May 12 symposium on information sharing and the intelligence community. Other participants were Liz Sampson, deputy director for community interoperability and information sharing, Office of Director of Central Intelligence; Robert Myhill, professional staff member, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence; Gordon Lederman, counsel on the special bipartisan staff of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee; and Sam Visner, a national security and intelligence expert, who was consultant to the President's Commission on Intelligence Capabilities of the United States. The symposium addressed the critical role of technology in improving the country's intelligence capabilities. The commission's report on the intelligence shortcomings that led to the Iraq war showed that better information sharing between intel agencies and other organizations was needed. The Intelligence Community Systems for Information Sharing is "the glue that ties various community mission architectures together so we can share across the board and send information back and forth," Dawson said. But this system needs to be able to share with those at other levels, to make information accessible to all, including state and local government and first responders, Dawson said.<hr></blockquote><img src="http://www.washingtontechnology.com/newspics/ITAA_Panel.jpg" style="border:0;"/> Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=gouda@rigorousintuition>Gouda</A> at: 4/25/06 4:33 am

Israeli Chief of CIA's Investment Group Mysteriously Resigns

Israeli Chief of CIA's Investment Group Mysteriously Resigns

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