Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has been recruiting former military and government intelligence officers for a branch of its global security office aimed at identifying threats to the world's largest retailer, including from "suspect individuals and groups".
Wal-Mart's interest in intelligence operatives comes at a time when the retailer is defending itself against allegations by a fired security employee that it ran surveillance operations against targets including critics, dissident shareholders, employees and suppliers. Wal-Mart has denied any wrongdoing.
Wal-Mart posted ads in March on its own web site and sites for security professionals, including the bulletin of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers, for "global threat analysts" with a background in government or military intelligence work.
The jobs were listed with the Analytical Research Center, part of Wal-Mart's Global Security division, which is headed by former senior CIA and FBI senior officer Kenneth Senser. The analytical unit was created over the past year and half, according to published comments by its head, Army Special Operations veteran David Harrison.
The job description includes collecting information from "professional contacts" and public data to anticipate and assess threats stemming from "world events, regional/national security climates, and suspect individuals and groups."
"Familiarity with a broad spectrum of information resources and data-mining techniques" is listed among the skills sought, along with a foreign language, preferably Chinese or Spanish.
A Wal-Mart spokesman declined to comment on the Analytical Research Center for this story or to make any security executives available for interviews.
Many corporations hire law enforcement officers for their security departments.
But Steven Aftergood, who runs the government secrecy project for the Washington-based Federation of American Scientists, said Wal-Mart's efforts appear to go beyond what most companies are doing, raising questions about corporate intelligence work outside of the oversight process in place for government spying.
"It's a troubling new departure in corporate security. We're not just talking about security, we're talking about intelligence operations," Aftergood said.
Harrison told a meeting of security professionals last year that Wal-Mart was learning to defend itself by using the vast information it routinely collects about its employees, shoppers and suppliers.
The only public comment to date on the work of the Analystical Research Center, the speech was reported on by the trade magazine Government Security News. Wal-Mart did not dispute the report when contacted by The Associated Press this week.
Harrison told the meeting that Wal-Mart tracks customers including those who use its pharmacies, buy propane tanks and anyone making "bulk purchases" of prepaid cell phones, which some law enforcement officials have tied in the past to terrorist or criminal activities.
Harrison did not elaborate on how that information could be better used, except to say the data could be shared with law enforcement.
Wal-Mart's union-backed critics said culling customer data for intelligence was disturbing.
"The idea that Wal-Mart is creating its own personal CIA should make every American -- Wal-Mart customer or not -- nervous about whether Wal-Mart is invading their privacy or could do so in the future," said Chris Kofinis, spokesman for >http://WakeUpWalMart.com.
#1: IndieTX To: Zipporah (#0)
IndieTX posted on 2007-04-24 20:17:17 Reply Private Reply
#2: Zipporah To: IndieTX (#1)
Zipporah posted on 2007-04-24 20:18:35 Reply Private Reply
#3: YertleTurtle To: Zipporah (#0)
The real security were all the retired detectives you never saw, who when a truck was robbed would go there and offer people in the neighborhood $500 to turn the perps in -- and they usually did.
YertleTurtle posted on 2007-04-24 20:23:41 Reply Private Reply
#4: Zipporah To: YertleTurtle (#3)
Zipporah posted on 2007-04-24 20:24:53 Reply Private Reply
#5: Dakmar To: Zipporah (#0)
Anyone ever look into how much business WalMart does with the military?
Dakmar posted on 2007-04-24 20:25:28 Reply Private Reply
#6: Zipporah To: Dakmar (#5)
Hmm no not that I know of.. you know what struck me during the congressional 'investigation' after Katrina .. was one R congressman.. he said that FEMA needed to contract WALMART to distribute water and food..
Zipporah posted on 2007-04-24 20:27:32 Reply Private Reply
#7: TheSilverFox To: IndieTX (#1)
Not to divert the topic, but this is no different than using Windows PCs at home/work.
Back to the topic:
TheSilverFox posted on 2007-04-24 20:34:33 Reply Private Reply
#8: Dakmar To: Zipporah (#6)
How hubris of me. Gravitas, y'all!
Dakmar posted on 2007-04-24 20:39:03 Reply Private Reply
#9: robin To: Zipporah (#0)
Blackwater and now WalMart!
robin posted on 2007-04-24 20:45:06 Reply Private Reply
#10: IndieTX To: TheSilverFox (#7)
Soon to be Linux. Old "junk" computer [one of my unpublicized talents is the ability to tear apart a computer and rebuild it and build one from scratch] is about to be changed over and this one taken off line.
IndieTX posted on 2007-04-24 20:45:50 Reply Private Reply
#11: Dakmar To: robin, Zipporah (#9)
The Wal's Have Eyes (and Ears)
In 2006, Wal-Mart "had a long-haired employee infiltrate an anti-Wal-Mart group to determine if it planned protests at the company's annual meeting. ... The company also deployed cutting-edge monitoring systems made by a supplier to the Defense Department that allowed it to capture and record the actions of anyone connected to its global computer network." The system "could detect the degree of flesh-tone on a viewed Internet image, and alerted monitors that a vendor sharing Wal-Mart networks was viewing pornography." The giant retailer "also directed its surveillance operations at critical shareholders." These revelations come from internal memos and Bruce Gabbard, a former member of Wal-Mart's "Threat Research and Analysis Group." Gabbard was fired in March 2007, "for unauthorized recording of calls to and from a New York Times reporter and for intercepting pager messages"; his claims have been confirmed. After the revelations surfaced, Wal-Mart "apologized to several shareholder groups that the company had earlier evaluated as potential threats." The retailer has apparently not apologized to Wal-Mart Watch, ACORN, or Up Against the Wal, groups also targeted by Wal-Mart's "threat research" operations.
Dakmar posted on 2007-04-24 20:49:07 Reply Private Reply
#12: TheSilverFox To: IndieTX, ! Linux Users ! (#10)
Check out Fedora Core 6. It's got a Windows feel to it, but very stable. Bigger projects like Fedora is safe(r) for (assuming you are) Linux virgins. The only challenges are the extras. Installing plugins and such is not so easy and often a pain. What's awesome is the fact that you can install Linux on a jump drive, take it to just about any computer and reboot from the usb (after pluging in the jump drive) and have full rights to the computer. Most people don't know that. They're not supposed to know, you know? ;-)
TheSilverFox posted on 2007-04-24 20:58:31 Reply Private Reply
#13: robin To: Dakmar (#11)
insanity, except, they wouldn't spend a penny unless they got a return
robin posted on 2007-04-24 20:59:09 Reply Private Reply
#14: robin To: TheSilverFox (#12)
This is reported to be a very user friendly version of linux that is growing in popularity.
robin posted on 2007-04-24 21:02:49 Reply Private Reply
#15: TheSilverFox To: robin, IndieTX, All, *Linux Users* (#14)
TheSilverFox posted on 2007-04-24 21:05:37 Reply Private Reply
#16: Dakmar To: robin (#13)
Dakmar posted on 2007-04-24 21:08:03 Reply Private Reply
#17: Horse To: Zipporah, Dakmar, IndieTX (#6)
Horse posted on 2007-04-24 22:58:13 Reply Private Reply
#18: bluedogtxn To: Zipporah (#0)
They also routinely turn stills from their parking lot surveillance cameras over to the police. So if you think you can set up a meth lab using Wal-Mart supplies, and cover yourself by paying only in cash, think again. The cops will have your photo in about ten hours.
Oh. And if you don't want to be put on the cops "suspected meth lab" list, don't buy propane, matches or cold medicine there. In fact, even if you don't like the cops knowing your every move, you'd probably be better off shopping somewhere else.
bluedogtxn posted on 2007-04-25 09:38:10 Reply Private Reply
#19: omoto1 To: Zipporah, all, NeoconsNailed (#0)
Enemy of the State
It's not about the security that every customers needs, it's about the security the government needs for a con they over the tax payer.
I'm finding it coincidental (Laughing) that when the government gets your information, it's about "National security" yet when a blackhat hacks a house to aid to offer the rape victim a way out it become illegal
omoto1 posted on 2023-08-15 12:39:08 Reply Private Reply
#20: NeoconsNailed To: omoto1 (#19)
NeoconsNailed posted on 2023-08-15 18:14:22 Reply Private Reply