Report: Programmer Conned CIA, Pentagon Into Buying Bogus Anti-Terror Code | Threat Lev... - 0 views
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fishead ...*∞º˙ on 31 Dec 09"A programmer who claims he produced software that detected hidden terrorist messages in Al Jazeera broadcasts was apparently responsible for a false alert in 2003 that grounded international flights. The 2003 incident raised the government's security level, according to a remarkable story published by Playboy. The developer also allegedly faked software demonstrations and conned the Pentagon into investing in a program that fellow workers suspect never existed or couldn't do what the developer claimed. In December 2003, DHS secretary Tom Ridge announced a terror alert based on intelligence from "credible sources" about imminent attacks that "could either rival or exceed what we experienced on September 11." Dozens of French, British and Mexican commercial "flights of interest" were canceled, and news agencies were reporting that the threats extended to "power plants, dams and even oil facilities in Alaska." Playboy says the source of the intelligence was never revealed publicly. But the evidence points to Dennis Montgomery, who had convinced the government that Al Jazeera - the Qatari-owned TV network - was unwittingly transmitting attack orders to Al Qaeda sleeper cells concealed in video it broadcast."
