# SKYNET (surveillance program)

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**SKYNET** is a program by the U.S. [National Security Agency](/source/National_Security_Agency) that performs [machine learning](/source/Machine_learning) analysis on [communications data](/source/Communications_intelligence) to extract information about possible terror suspects. The tool is used to identify targets, such as [al-Qaeda](/source/Al-Qaeda) couriers, who move between [GSM](/source/GSM) [cellular networks](/source/Cellular_network). Specifically, mobile usage patterns such as swapping [SIM cards](/source/SIM_card) within phones that have the same [ESN](/source/Electronic_serial_number), [MEID](/source/MEID) or [IMEI](/source/IMEI) number are deemed indicative of covert activities.[1][2] Like many other security programs, SKYNET uses graphs that consist of a set of nodes and edges to visually represent social networks.[3] The tool also uses [classification](/source/Statistical_classification) techniques like [random forest](/source/Random_forest) analysis. Because the [data set](/source/Data_set) includes a very large proportion of [true negatives](/source/True_negative) and a small [training set](/source/Training_set), there is a risk of [overfitting](/source/Overfitting).[1] [Bruce Schneier](/source/Bruce_Schneier) argues that a [false positive rate](/source/False_positive_rate) of 0.008% would be low for commercial applications where "if Google makes a mistake, people see an ad for a car they don't want to buy" but "if the government makes a mistake, they kill innocents."[1]

It has partnerships with TMAC/FASTSCOPE, [MIT Lincoln labs](/source/MIT_Lincoln_Laboratory) and [Harvard](/source/Harvard_University).[4]

## Controversy

The SKYNET project was linked with drone systems, thus creating the potential for false-positives to lead to deaths.[1][5]

According to [NSA](/source/National_Security_Agency), the SKYNET project is able to accurately reconstruct crucial information about the suspects including their social relationships, habits, and patterns of movements through graph-based visualization of [GSM](/source/GSM) data.[3] However, scholars criticize that current security literature conflate statistical discrepancies with behavioral abnormalities and that the anomaly detection methodology SKYNET perpetuates the self/other binary.[6] For example, [Al-Jazeera](/source/Al_Jazeera_Media_Network)'s bureau chief in [Islamabad](/source/Islamabad), [Ahmad Zaidan](/source/Ahmad_Zaidan), was wrongly identified as the most probable member of [al-Qaeda](/source/Al-Qaeda) and the [Muslim Brotherhood](/source/Muslim_Brotherhood) on their records.[1][5][7]

## See also

- [Global surveillance](/source/Global_surveillance)

## References

1. Grothoff, Christian & Porup, J. M. (16 February 2016). ["The NSA's SKYNET program may be killing thousands of innocent people"](http://arstechnica.co.uk/security/2016/02/the-nsas-skynet-program-may-be-killing-thousands-of-innocent-people). *[Ars Technica UK](/source/Ars_Technica_UK)*

1. ["SKYNET: Applying Advanced Cloud-based Behavior Analytics"](https://web.archive.org/web/20200101054852/https://theintercept.com/document/2015/05/08/skynet-applying-advanced-cloud-based-behavior-analytics/). *[The Intercept](/source/The_Intercept)*. 8 May 2015. Archived from [the original](https://theintercept.com/document/2015/05/08/skynet-applying-advanced-cloud-based-behavior-analytics) on 1 January 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2016.

1. NSA. ["SKYNET: Courier Detection via Machine Learning"](https://web.archive.org/web/20191208021148/https://search.edwardsnowden.com/docs/SKYNETCourierDetectionviaMachineLearning2015-05-08nsadocs). *Snowden Doc Search*. Archived from [the original](https://search.edwardsnowden.com/docs/SKYNETCourierDetectionviaMachineLearning2015-05-08nsadocs) on 2019-12-08. Retrieved December 7, 2019.

1. Crockford, Kade (8 May 2015). ["MIT and Harvard Worked with NSA on SKYNET Project"](https://privacysos.org/blog/mit-and-harvard-worked-with-nsa-on-skynet-project). Privacy SOS.

1. Robbins, Martin (18 February 2016). ["Has a rampaging AI algorithm really killed thousands in Pakistan?"](https://www.theguardian.com/science/the-lay-scientist/2016/feb/18/has-a-rampaging-ai-algorithm-really-killed-thousands-in-pakistan). *[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)*

1. Aradau, Claudia & Blanke, Tobias (February 2018). ["Governing others: Anomaly and the algorithmic subject of security"](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/european-journal-of-international-security/article/governing-others-anomaly-and-the-algorithmic-subject-of-security/784AB53AF6E2D81A9E5928CC204B913E). *European Journal of International Security*. **3** (1): 1–21. [doi:10.1017/eis.2017.14](https://doi.org/10.1017/eis.2017.14). [ISSN 2057-5637](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/2057-5637). [S2CID 58923172](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:58923172)

1. ["The highest scoring selector that traveled to Peshawar and Lahore is PROB AHMED ZAIDAN"](http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2016/02/skynet-courier-detection-via-machine-learning-p17-normal.gif) (GIF). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20160304223801/http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2016/02/skynet-courier-detection-via-machine-learning-p17-normal.gif) 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [SKYNET (surveillance program)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SKYNET_(surveillance_program)) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SKYNET_(surveillance_program)?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.