Author Topic: Knight to queen's bishop 3 - Snowden charged with espionage. (Read 389182 times)

IainB · « **Reply #625 on:** August 10, 2014, 06:22 AM »

"If we find anyone -- doesn't matter if it's hackers or governments -- involved in any of our customer environments anywhere in the world, we tell our customers, period," Chambers said[/b]. "And we do that in the U.S., in Europe and China and India. And we have done it."
-Stoic Joker (August 08, 2014, 02:31 PM)

Yeah, right. Sounds great. So what? Proof to substantiate that statement? None so far, it seems. But wait...where did I put that proof...?
(Sound of crickets chirping.)

wraith808 · « **Reply #626 on:** August 10, 2014, 12:06 PM »

"If we find anyone -- doesn't matter if it's hackers or governments -- involved in any of our customer environments anywhere in the world, we tell our customers, period," Chambers said[/b]. "And we do that in the U.S., in Europe and China and India. And we have done it."
-Stoic Joker (August 08, 2014, 02:31 PM)

Yeah, right. Sounds great. So what? Proof to substantiate that statement? None so far, it seems. But wait...where did I put that proof...?
(Sound of crickets chirping.)
-IainB (August 10, 2014, 06:22 AM)

It's in the same place as that proof of WMDs...

Renegade · « **Reply #627 on:** August 10, 2014, 12:30 PM »

It's in the same place as that proof of WMDs...
-wraith808 (August 10, 2014, 12:06 PM)

Don't forget the leprechauns!

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #628 on:** August 10, 2014, 12:33 PM »

"If we find anyone -- doesn't matter if it's hackers or governments -- involved in any of our customer environments anywhere in the world, we tell our customers, period," Chambers said[/b]. "And we do that in the U.S., in Europe and China and India. And we have done it."
-Stoic Joker (August 08, 2014, 02:31 PM)

Yeah, right. Sounds great. So what? Proof to substantiate that statement? None so far, it seems. But wait...where did I put that proof...?
(Sound of crickets chirping.)
-IainB (August 10, 2014, 06:22 AM)

It's in the same place as that proof of WMDs...
-wraith808 (August 10, 2014, 12:06 PM)

No. The proof that the NSA et al are only gathering information on real terrorist threats is in the same place as the proof of WMDs. Especially when the DoHS has free time to get involved in a local BS drug bust. Now how do you recon they found out about that action... Hm...

Cisco is just doing damage control after a badly placed photo took a chunk out of their bottom line. Corporate whores tend to react badly when cash flow is impeded ... So I think it's a front worth watching. But expecting Cisco to just rattle off a list of clients that have been breached in some way, kind, sort, form, or fashion is a bit silly...as that would be even more bad exposure for all parties involved.

IainB · « **Reply #629 on:** August 11, 2014, 12:46 AM »

But expecting Cisco to just rattle off a list of clients that have been breached in some way, kind, sort, form, or fashion is a bit silly...as that would be even more bad exposure for all parties involved.
-Stoic Joker (August 10, 2014, 12:33 PM)

Yes, of course. It goes without saying that we'll never know for sure whether they actually have any proof or not, because, of course they cannot state any of it, for security reasons.
There. You and I have said it anyway.

Doesn't seem to have any meaning to make a statement that "...And we have done it.", knowing that it cannot be substantiated in any event. A marketing puff.

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #630 on:** August 11, 2014, 06:48 AM »

Doesn't seem to have any meaning to make a statement that "...And we have done it.", knowing that it cannot be substantiated in any event. A marketing puff.
-IainB (August 11, 2014, 12:46 AM)

They can't put it on a billboard, true. But as the saying goes "People Talk". And historically word of mouth has been a reliable form of advertising. So I'd file it under pay attention to the mummer on the street and see which way the rumors go.

wraith808 · « **Reply #631 on:** August 13, 2014, 07:57 AM »

Snowden: I Left the NSA Clues, But They Couldn’t Find Them

In a WIRED interview published today, the 31-year-old megaleaker has revealed that he planted hints on NSA networks that were intended to show which of its documents he’d smuggled out among the much larger set he accessed or could have accessed. Those hints, he says, were intended to make clear his role as a whistleblower rather than a foreign spy, and to allow the agency time to minimize the national security risks created by the documents’ public release.

The fact that NSA officials have told the press that his haul may have been as large as 1.7 million documents, says Snowden, is a sign that the agency has either purposely inflated the size of his leak or lacks the forensic skills to see the clues he left for its auditors. “I figured they would have a hard time,” Snowden tells WIRED, describing the agency’s attempts to reverse-engineer his leak. “I didn’t figure they would be completely incapable.”

Ouch.

wraith808 · « **Reply #632 on:** August 13, 2014, 07:59 AM »

A link to the Wired interview.

Renegade · « **Reply #633 on:** August 13, 2014, 08:31 AM »

Snowden: I Left the NSA Clues, But They Couldn’t Find Them

...

Ouch.
-wraith808 (August 13, 2014, 07:57 AM)

When WIRED asked an NSA spokesperson to comment on Snowden’s new claims or its internal estimate of the size of his leak, spokesperson Vanee Vines responded with this statement: “If Mr. Snowden wants to discuss his activities, that conversation should be held with the U.S. Department of Justice. He needs to return to the United States to face the charges against him.”

BWAHAHAHAAHAHA~!

Umm, maybe he should come home to help prosecute the real criminals?

Bitch, STFU.

IainB · « **Reply #634 on:** September 06, 2014, 06:33 AM »

...Umm, maybe he should come home to help prosecute the real criminals?...
-Renegade (August 13, 2014, 08:31 AM)

I was just reading this: Meet Some of the Americans Accused of Helping ISIS - Katie Pavlich, where it says:

...Further, another report today in the Washington Times shows intelligence information leaked and published by former NSA worker Edward Snowden helped ISIS get ahead. ...

- and there's more hearsay to that effect in the article.

Some people (not me, you understand) might say that, presumably to establish/demonstrate a media-based pre-trial "consensus" and witchhunt apropos of Snowden's guilt (before he's ever even brought to trial), that there is a legitimate conflation of Snowden's revelations and a vicarious responsibility for ISIS' progress, and may even include in that conflation Climate Change and the NSA leaving the doors wide open for Al Queda to crash two airplanes into the Twin Towers on 911, but I couldn't possibly comment.

Renegade · « **Reply #635 on:** September 06, 2014, 06:59 AM »

Snowden? Helped ISIS/ISIL?

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA~!

Perhaps we'd best take a word from our sponsor, the US military and Lt. Gen. Tom McInerney:

"So we helped build ISIS."

In other news... 11 jets missing. 9 days before 9/11.

Renegade · « **Reply #636 on:** September 09, 2014, 07:50 PM »

Somebody made an interesting poster:

In other whistleblowing news...

http://benswann.com/...tleblower-documents/

Update: Congressman’s Office In Possession of 100,000 CDC Whistleblower Documents?

Congressman Bill Posey’s office has confirmed exclusively to Benswann.com that a “very large number” of documents have been turned over by CDC scientist, Dr. William Thompson, who has admitted that the CDC suppressed information about the links between the MMR vaccine and autism in some cases.

According to Congressman Posey’s spokesman, George Cecala, “I can confirm that we have received a very large number of documents and we are going through those documents now. There are a lot of them, so it will take some time.” Cecala could not say exactly how many documents are in possession of the Congressman’s staff though sources tell me that as many as 100,000 documents have been handed over.

That's going to drive a lot of people bonkers & frothing at the mouth. On both sides.

IainB · « **Reply #637 on:** September 27, 2014, 10:26 AM »

Hilarious.

The FBI says disgruntled employees are the new danger- The Inquirer
The insider threat is a big one
By Dave Neal
Thu Sep 25 2014, 13:37

The FBI has warned about the insider security threat

THE UNITED STATES Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has warned businesses to watch out for disgruntled employees with an axe to grind and a basic command of internet services.

In a note on the US Homeland Security website the FBI said that the insider threat is a very real one, presumably because it has cottoned on to the whole Edward Snowden and NSA thing, and employees represent a "significant risk" to networks and proprietary information. In its advice the FBI suggests that firms be on the lookout for people who look glum, have personal email addresses and use things like Dropbox.

"The exploitation of business networks and servers by disgruntled and/or former employees has resulted in several significant FBI investigations in which individuals used their access to destroy data, steal proprietary software, obtain customer information, purchase unauthorised goods and services using customer accounts, and gain a competitive edge at a new company," the FBI said, recommending that firms look out for poisoned exit strategies.

"The theft of proprietary information in many of these incidents was facilitated through the use of cloud storage web sites, like Dropbox, and personal email accounts. In many cases, terminated employees had continued access to the computer networks through the installation of unauthorised remote desktop protocol software. The installation of this software occurred prior to leaving the company."

Some rascals have left companies only to return and extort them for access to websites and other information, added the note, and the FBI admitted that it spends a fair amount of time looking into such capers and that companies can spend between $5,000 and $3m recovering from them.

The FBI had some recommendations for organisations. First it recommended that companies change network access passwords when someone leaves, and delete that person's credentials from the system. It also said that passwords should not be shared, either by people or systems, and that they should be changed from any defaults.

It didn't say this, but it is also a truism: You should not iron your trousers while you are wearing them.

TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #638 on:** September 27, 2014, 11:21 AM »

"...as many as 100,000 documents have been handed over."
That's actually a staggering number of documents - I can't grok what that instinctively means - what are they all about? And maybe a few are simple 1 page memos, but I bet a ton are multi-page, and maybe "a bunch" could be 300 pages each. That means the page count could be in the millions!

I'm sure 99% of them would be massively over my head, but maybe 1% are designed for news reporters and stuff. So it would be cool if they were made public domain or something.

Oh wait. Nah, that would "help terrorists". : (

Renegade · « **Reply #639 on:** January 01, 2015, 07:00 PM »

Der Spiegel releases documents that tell how to circumvent the NSA. (Disinfo from a limited hangout?)

http://www.spiegel.d...urity-a-1010361.html

It's a lengthy article.

Renegade · « **Reply #640 on:** February 20, 2015, 03:18 AM »

So the NSA and GCHQ have everyone's mobile phone SIM keys.

https://firstlook.or.../19/great-sim-heist/

THE GREAT SIM HEIST

HOW SPIES STOLE THE KEYS TO THE ENCRYPTION CASTLE

AMERICAN AND BRITISH spies hacked into the internal computer network of the largest manufacturer of SIM cards in the world, stealing encryption keys used to protect the privacy of cellphone communications across the globe, according to top-secret documents provided to The Intercept by National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden.

The hack was perpetrated by a joint unit consisting of operatives from the NSA and its British counterpart Government Communications Headquarters, or GCHQ. The breach, detailed in a secret 2010 GCHQ document, gave the surveillance agencies the potential to secretly monitor a large portion of the world’s cellular communications, including both voice and data.

More at the link.

And still no criminal charges... Gee. What a shocker. $:-\$

Renegade · « **Reply #641 on:** February 23, 2015, 07:42 PM »

An AMA with Ed, Laura and Glenn:

https://www.reddit.c..._and_glenn/?sort=top

A couple Q&As:

Q: https://www.reddit.c...as_and_glenn/coup7ld

[–]masondog13 3287 points 6 hours ago

What's the best way to make NSA spying an issue in the 2016 Presidential Election? It seems like while it was a big deal in 2013, ISIS and other events have put it on the back burner for now in the media and general public. What are your ideas for how to bring it back to the forefront?

[–]SuddenlySnowden EDWARD SNOWDEN 4375 points 5 hours ago*x15

This is a good question, and there are some good traditional answers here. Organizing is important. Activism is important.

At the same time, we should remember that governments don't often reform themselves. One of the arguments in a book I read recently (Bruce Schneier, "Data and Goliath"), is that perfect enforcement of the law sounds like a good thing, but that may not always be the case. The end of crime sounds pretty compelling, right, so how can that be?

Well, when we look back on history, the progress of Western civilization and human rights is actually founded on the violation of law. America was of course born out of a violent revolution that was an outrageous treason against the crown and established order of the day. History shows that the righting of historical wrongs is often born from acts of unrepentant criminality. Slavery. The protection of persecuted Jews.

But even on less extremist topics, we can find similar examples. How about the prohibition of alcohol? Gay marriage? Marijuana?

Where would we be today if the government, enjoying powers of perfect surveillance and enforcement, had -- entirely within the law -- rounded up, imprisoned, and shamed all of these lawbreakers?

Ultimately, if people lose their willingness to recognize that there are times in our history when legality becomes distinct from morality, we aren't just ceding control of our rights to government, but our agency in determing thour futures.

How does this relate to politics? Well, I suspect that governments today are more concerned with the loss of their ability to control and regulate the behavior of their citizens than they are with their citizens' discontent.

How do we make that work for us? We can devise means, through the application and sophistication of science, to remind governments that if they will not be responsible stewards of our rights, we the people will implement systems that provide for a means of not just enforcing our rights, but removing from governments the ability to interfere with those rights.

You can see the beginnings of this dynamic today in the statements of government officials complaining about the adoption of encryption by major technology providers. The idea here isn't to fling ourselves into anarchy and do away with government, but to remind the government that there must always be a balance of power between the governing and the governed, and that as the progress of science increasingly empowers communities and individuals, there will be more and more areas of our lives where -- if government insists on behaving poorly and with a callous disregard for the citizen -- we can find ways to reduce or remove their powers on a new -- and permanent -- basis.

Our rights are not granted by governments. They are inherent to our nature. But it's entirely the opposite for governments: their privileges are precisely equal to only those which we suffer them to enjoy.

We haven't had to think about that much in the last few decades because quality of life has been increasing across almost all measures in a significant way, and that has led to a comfortable complacency. But here and there throughout history, we'll occasionally come across these periods where governments think more about what they "can" do rather than what they "should" do, and what is lawful will become increasingly distinct from what is moral.

In such times, we'd do well to remember that at the end of the day, the law doesn't defend us; we defend the law. And when it becomes contrary to our morals, we have both the right and the responsibility to rebalance it toward just ends.

Down in that thread:

[–]the_ak [+1] 2014 points 5 hours ago*

Edward Snowden just called for civil disobedience against the US government whilst also arguing for the legalization of marijuana during an AMA. This is quite possibly the most reddit thing ever.

[–]SuddenlySnowden EDWARD SNOWDEN 3081 points 4 hours agox3

its-happening.gif

1 more:

Q: https://www.reddit.c...as_and_glenn/coup4cr

[–]TheJackal8 2690 points 6 hours ago

Mr. Snowden, if you had a chance to do things over again, would you do anything differently? If so, what?

[–]SuddenlySnowden EDWARD SNOWDEN 4108 points 5 hours ago*x4

I would have come forward sooner. I talked to Daniel Ellsberg about this at length, who has explained why more eloquently

than I can.

Had I come forward a little sooner, these programs would have been a little less entrenched, and those abusing them would have felt a little less familiar with and accustomed to the exercise of those powers. This is something we see in almost every sector of government, not just in the national security space, but it's very important:

Once you grant the government some new power or authority, it becomes exponentially more difficult to roll it back. Regardless of how little value a program or power has been shown to have (such as the Section 215 dragnet interception of call records in the United States, which the government's own investigation found never stopped a single imminent terrorist attack despite a decade of operation), once it's a sunk cost, once dollars and reputations have been invested in it, it's hard to peel that back.

Don't let it happen in your country.

Ah, heck. 1 more:

Q: https://www.reddit.c...as_and_glenn/coup9hn

[–]moizsyed 1214 points 6 hours ago

How did you guys feel about about Neil Patrick Harris' "for some treason" joke last night?

[–]_EdwardSnowden [+1]EDWARD SNOWDEN[ S ] 2376 points 5 hours ago

Wow the questions really blew up on this one. Let me start digging in...

To be honest, I laughed at NPH. I don't think it was meant as a political statement, but even if it was, that's not so bad. My perspective is if you're not willing to be called a few names to help out your country, you don't care enough.

"If this be treason, then let us make the most of it."

HE QUOTES PATRICK HENRY!!!

Y'know... this guy:

Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!
-Patrick Henry

There are many more there.

CITIZENFOUR

The new documentary is available at http://cryptome.org.

They're using mirrors and other sites as well. I'm guessing bandwidth has become a problem!

wraith808 · « **Reply #642 on:** February 23, 2015, 07:53 PM »

My favorite one...

https://www.reddit.c...as_and_glenn/coupfs7

To Glenn, whatever happened to the "list of U.S. citizens that the N.S.A spied on?" You announced plans to release it, then nothing - can you tell us where that list went and why it was never published?
Source: http://www.washingto...-citizens-nsa-spied/

Code: C# [Select]

function hasNSAWiretap(citizen) {
  return true;
}

And the less SFW NSA version:

Code: C# [Select]

function hasNSAWiretap(citizen) {
  logIPaddress(citizen);
  infiltrateMachine(citizen);
  monitorBrowsingHistory(citizen);
  fuck(citizen);
  return false;
}

Renegade · « **Reply #643 on:** February 23, 2015, 08:07 PM »

My favorite one...

https://www.reddit.c...as_and_glenn/coupfs7
-wraith808 (February 23, 2015, 07:53 PM)

Hehehe! That's an excellent thread! It gets better though down below.

I rather got a kick out of this:

Renegade · « **Reply #644 on:** February 24, 2015, 09:16 AM »

Aaaaaaaaannnnnndddd...

Let's start an entire new round of leaks!

http://www.aljazeera...tions/spycables.html

Introducing The Spy Cables

Secret documents, leaked from numerous intelligence agencies, offer rare insights into the interactions between spies.

LET THE BLOODBATH BEGIN!

In other news, the new exciting sandwich from McDonalds and then, the Katy Perry and Pink feud and the cricket results! $:-\$

Renegade · « **Reply #645 on:** March 28, 2015, 08:27 PM »

Have you ever looked at the ground while standing in line at the airport? Well, you're probably a terrorist then.

https://firstlook.or...ist-spot-terrorists/

Fidgeting, whistling, sweaty palms. Add one point each. Arrogance, a cold penetrating stare, and rigid posture, two points.

These are just a few of the suspicious signs that the Transportation Security Administration directs its officers to look out for — and score — in airport travelers, according to a confidential TSA document obtained exclusively by The Intercept.

The checklist is part of TSA’s controversial program to identify potential terrorists based on behaviors that it thinks indicate stress or deception — known as the Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques, or SPOT. The program employs specially trained officers, known as Behavior Detection Officers, to watch and interact with passengers going through screening.

The document listing the criteria, known as the “Spot Referral Report,” is not classified, but it has been closely held by TSA and has not been previously released. A copy was provided to The Intercept by a source concerned about the quality of the program.

The checklist ranges from the mind-numbingly obvious, like “appears to be in disguise,” which is worth three points, to the downright dubious, like a bobbing Adam’s apple. Many indicators, like “trembling” and “arriving late for flight,” appear to confirm allegations that the program picks out signs and emotions that are common to many people who fly.