IT, social networks and and freedom of information

The USA Department of Homeland Security has been forced to release the keywords that it currently uses to monitor social media (Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, etc.) and of course the Internet at large.

EPIC (epic.org) filed a request under the USA Freedom of Information Act and also received the operations guide as well as tiered information providers and other interesting information. The full Homeland Security Analyst Desktop Binder is downloadable here

There are quite a few interesting keywords on the list, although everyone and his dog are now using the very words that the USA used as triggers, effectively now rendering the list useless for intelligence purposes.

I have decided to publish the full list, mainly because imho, the Government should have obtained the services of an SEO expert to improve the list as the value of long tail and word combinations could serve to reduce the amount of false positives. The list is also, in my opinion, incomplete. Anyway, enough critique of the USA keyword monitoring list 🙂

Domestic Security
Assassination
Emergency management
Gangs
Attack
Emergency response
National security
Domestic security
First responder
State of emergency
Drill
Homeland security
Security
Exercise
Breach
Cops
MDA (Maritime domain awareness)
Threat
Law enforcement
National preparedness
Standoff
Authorities
initiative
SWAT
Disaster assistance
Militia
Screening
Disaster management
Shooting
Lockdown
DNDO (Domestic Nuclear Detection Office)
Shots fired
Bomb (squad or threat)
Evacuation
Crash
National preparedness
Deaths
Looting
Mitigation
Hostage
Riot
Prevention
Explosion (explosive)
Emergency Landing
Response
Police
Pipe bomb
Recovery
Disaster medical assistance
Incident
DMAT (Dirty bomb team )
Facility
Domestic nuclear detection
Organized crime

HAZMAT & Nuclear
Hazmat
Leak
Gas
Nuclear
Biological infection (or Spillover Chemical spill event)
Anthrax
Suspicious package/device
Chemical
Blister agent
Toxic
Chemical burn
Chemical agent
National laboratory
Biological
Exposure
Nuclear facility
Epidemic
Burn
Nuclear threat
Hazardous
Nerve agent
Cloud
Hazardous material incident
Ricin
Plume
Industrial spill
Sarin
Radiation
Infection
North Korea
Radioactive
Powder (white)

Health Concern + H1N1
Outbreak
Salmonella
Agriculture
Contamination
Small Pox
Listeria
Exposure
Plague
Symptoms
Virus
Human to human
Mutation
Evacuation
Human to Animal
Resistant
Bacteria
Influenza
Antiviral
Recall
Center for Disease Control
Wave
Ebola
(CDC)
Pandemic
Food Poisoning
Drug Administration (FDA)
Infection
Foot and Mouth (FMD)
Public Health
Water/air borne
H5N1
Toxic
Sick
Avian
Agro Terror
Swine
Flu
Tuberculosis (TB)
Pork
Strain
Tamiflu
World Health Organization
Quarantine
Norvo Virus
(WHO) (and components)
H1N1
Epidemic
Viral Hemorrhagic Fever
Vaccine
E. Coli

Infrastructure Security
Infrastructure security
Airplane (and derivatives)
Airport
Chemical fire
CIKR (Critical Infrastructure Subway Electric & Key Resources)
BART
Failure or outage
AMTRAK
MARTA
Black out
Collapse
Port Authority
Brown out
Computer infrastructure
NBIC (National Port Communications Biosurveillance Integration Dock infrastructure Center)
Bridge
Telecommunications
Transportation security
Cancelled
Critical infrastructure
Grid
Delays
National infrastructure
Power
Service disruption
Metro
Smart
Power lines
WMATA
Body scanner

Southwest Border Violence
Drug cartel
Fort Hancock
Gunfight
Violence
San Diego
Trafficking
Gang
Ciudad Juarez
Kidnap
Drug
Nogales
Calderon
Narcotics
Sonora
Reyosa
Cocaine
Colombia
Bust
Marijuana
Mara salvatrucha
Tamaulipas
Heroin
MS13 or MS-13
Meth Lab
Border
Drug war
Drug trade
Mexico
Mexican army
Illegal immigrants
Cartel
Methamphetamine
Smuggling (smugglers)
Southwest
Cartel de Golfo
Matamoros
Juarez
Gulf Cartel
Michoacana
Sinaloa
La Familia
Guzman
Tijuana
Reynosa
Arellano-Felix
Torreon
Nuevo Leon
Beltran-Leyva
Yuma
Narcos
Barrio Azteca
Tucson
Narco banners (Spanish
Artistic Assassins
Decapitated
equivalents)
Mexicles
U.S. Consulate
Los Zetas
New Federation
Consular
Shootout
El Paso
Execution

Terrorism
Terrorism
IED (Improvised Explosive Device)
Suspicious substance
Al Qaeda (all spellings)
AQAP (AL Qaeda Arabian Peninsula)
Terror
Abu Sayyaf
Attack
Hamas
AQIM (Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb)
Iraq
FARC (Armed Revolutionary Forces Colombia)
Afghanistan
TTP (Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan)
Iran
IRA (Irish Republican Army)
Pakistan
ETA (Euskadi ta Askatasuna)
Yemen
Agro
Basque Separatists
Pirates
Environmental terrorist
Hezbollah
Extremism
Eco terrorism
Tamil Tigers
Somalia
Conventional weapon
PLF (Palestine Liberation Front)
Nigeria
Target
Radicals
Weapons grade
PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization )
Al-Shabaab
Dirty bomb
Home grown
Enriched
Car bomb
Plot
Nuclear
Jihad
Nationalist
Chemical weapon
Taliban
Recruitment
Biological weapon
Weapons cache
Fundamentalism
Ammonium nitrate
Suicide bomber
Islamist
Improvised explosive device
Suicide attack

Weather/Disaster/Emergency
Emergency
Ice
Mud slide or Mudslide
Hurricane
Stranded/Stuck
Erosion
Tornado
Help
Power outage
Twister
Hail
Brown out
Tsunami
Wildfire
Warning
Earthquake
Tsunami Warning Center
Watch
Tremor
Magnitude
Lightening
Flood
Avalanche
Aid
Storm
Typhoon
Relief
Crest
Shelter-in-place
Closure
Temblor
Disaster
Interstate
Extreme weather
Snow
Burst
Forest fire
Blizzard
Emergency Broadcast System
Brush fire
Sleet

Cyber security
2600
Hacker
Botnet
Spammer
China
DDOS (dedicated denial of service)
Phishing
Conficker
Rootkit
Worm
Denial of service
Phreaking
Scammers
Malware
Cain and abel
Social media
Virus
Brute forcing
Trojan
Mysql injection
Keylogger
Cyber attack
Cyber Command
Cyber terror