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Author Topic: My girlfriend says I am just being paranoid  (Read 9534 times)

thunder7

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My girlfriend says I am just being paranoid
« on: July 12, 2006, 04:35 PM »
And my girlfriend call's me Paranoid ha ha ha ha
http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/node/1671

CALEA (Computer Assistance Law Enforcement) is quietly in the background of current news again, because the FBI is pushing congress to mandate that all future routing equipment manufactured will include back doors for law enforcement. Like in CALEA mandates for telephone switching equipment, such back doors require no warrant to activate, and hence can be secretly enabled at will. Some vendors have already eagerly embraced CALEA inspired backdoors to internet routing equipment in anticipation of future intercept mandates, thereby already compromising the integrity and security their current and future customers. This approach of using backdoors on Internet connected systems, even more so than the original CALEA mandates for wiretapping backdoors in telephone switching centers, is a danger to both our infrastructure and our society.

CALEA has required that all telephone switching equipment manufactured since 1994 must include backdoors to enable wiretapping. While the need for lawful legal intercept is estimated to be in the range of 1000 or so wiretaps per year, and past practices have required not only warrants but also physical access to switching centers, these requirements were neither unduly burdensome, nor unduly expensive for the limited number of lawful investigations normally engaged in per year, whether back then or today. What these historic pre-CALEA limitations did assure is that the cost of mass privacy invasion would be far too expensive to ever effectively undertake.

By contrast, CALEA mandated backdoors allows one to activate wiretaps remotely on any scale desired, and to do so entirely in secret. Indeed, the NSA wiretapping scandal is an example of how CALEA can be misused. That the huge volume of information being collected, and the fact that most of the older telephone switching equipment does not normally support true network remote access, had forced the NSA to co-locate facilities in a number of switching centers to collect their data. Applying CALEA backdoors to distributed and even end-user deployed routing equipment that is already Internet connected of course eliminates the need to co-locate facilities, and hence would make it much harder to detect or determine the scope of any future illegal government activities, in regard to misusing Internet wiretapping.

While these mandates may be only originally intended for spying and use within North America, clearly, with proprietary telephone switching systems, such equipment was often also sold overseas. As the Greek prime minister discovered in 2004, when he and 100 other governmental officials were tapped for over a year by someone making use a CALEA mandated backdoor, “source secret by obscurity” backdoors often do not remain secret. Of course this is not the only incident where CALEA backdoors have been used for espionage purposes by others. Such systems are hence inherently insecure by design.

When one deliberately builds in government mandated backdoors that can be opened in secret and without notice, one is opening such systems to undetected access by anyone who can discover and operate them, including those who may be deemed even more undesirable than national governments spying on their own citizens. Even, as noted in the case of the Greek Government, the security of government facilities themselves may be compromised by outside parties. Such information may be used to blackmail individuals, to acquire identity information for theft, or to acquire passwords and information that could be used to compromise the underlying security of key infrastructures and safety systems, like for example power generation systems.

Personally I do not feel any “safer” in a state that requires the infrastructure for enabling or engages in mass surveillance of it's own citizens, or that practices guilt until proven innocent while claiming to do so in the name of my “protection” and safety. Indeed, I find that such a state is in fact a far greater danger to the safety of myself, my children, and the people as a whole, than the potential threats I am supposedly being protected against, whether real or imagined.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sounds intresting huh :-|

zridling

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Re: My girlfriend says I am just being paranoid
« Reply #1 on: July 12, 2006, 09:00 PM »
You're not paranoid, just concerned. When we allow a police state to replace the republic, then it will only use its power to acquire more power and more control over every aspect of our lives (and our communications). Throw in the "interest" of the corporation and liberty is only an idea of another time altogether. Truly depressing, man.

JavaJones

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Re: My girlfriend says I am just being paranoid
« Reply #2 on: July 12, 2006, 10:35 PM »
*sigh*  :(

- Oshyan

thunder7

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Re: My girlfriend says I am just being paranoid
« Reply #3 on: July 13, 2006, 03:13 AM »
Ok i can understand searching for terrorists. However those of us that are not terrorists, will have our stuff gone through same as those that are guilty.

Do we not loose as well?!!.
I do not want everyone including my US government going through my stuff.
I am not a terrorist, I am an America 100% I believe "Personal Computer" should mean "PERSONAL" what is the point of having to password protect your PC or encrypt your data ,...( too me If we allow the government to do this we all might as well send them a key too our houses, tell them all our passwords to our safes, and everything else we password protect, so the government will have access to everything we hold true and dear).

True I have nothing to hide but that which I do hide is my right as an American to keep personal. Personal-Private-Secret however you want to look at it.

app103

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Re: My girlfriend says I am just being paranoid
« Reply #4 on: July 13, 2006, 03:32 AM »
I thought going through your stuff without a warrant was considered against the Constitution ...you know, illegal search & seizure?

And that they aren't supposed to get a warrant unless they can prove probable cause to a judge.

There is a reason why we have these rights. It goes back to the days of the American Revolution when the British were searching homes at random looking for 'traitors'...much like our current government is doing looking for 'terrorists'.

Before you know it, the government will want to have video cameras installed in our bedrooms & bathrooms. Enough is enough!

You are NOT paranoid...not by far...and even if you were, a little paranoia can be good for you, sometimes.


Carol Haynes

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Re: My girlfriend says I am just being paranoid
« Reply #5 on: July 13, 2006, 04:55 AM »
Was it ever thus ...

Trouble is that modern government (on either side of the pond) seems to think that the only way to tackle a problem is to hit everyone .... some other examples from the UK ...

Problem: Schools are struggling in deprived inner cities
Solution: Impose a restrictive curriculum and targets on all schools
Results: Good schools get frustrated with restrictions, struggling schools .... struggle

Problem: There is no way to easily identify terrorists
Soultion: Impose a national identity card collecting the largest amount of personal data on citizens possible and insist that visitors to the country provide the evidence before they are allowed in.
Result: There is no way to easily identify terrorists (they won't bother with the cards) and we destroy tourism (nobody will want to provide the level of personal info required for a 2 week holiday).

Problem: It is difficult to collect evidence on terrorism
Solution: Allow the police to imprison 'terrorist suspects' for 3 months without charge, trial or reference to a lawyer (thankfully this idea was chucked out)
Result: Labour party activist chucked out of party conference and arrested under new terror legislation (just for shouting one word in the conference - "Rubbish").


This is what we choose to call democracy ... the main difference is that in western democracy I can say these things reasonably confident that I won't be dragged away in the night ... just don't say 'rubbish' in public ... it is obviously a code word.

tomos

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Re: My girlfriend says I am just being paranoid
« Reply #6 on: July 13, 2006, 07:36 AM »
........ do you think we'd get away with the American version: "garbage", or how about "trash" ??

wOOPs! 
I'd better be careful, I know Bush & his missis are over here in Germany as I write  :)
Tom

thunder7

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Re: My girlfriend says I am just being paranoid
« Reply #7 on: July 13, 2006, 11:04 AM »
I know this I do not like my gov looking thru nothing of mine we have locks and passwords for a reason

ljbirns

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Re: My girlfriend says I am just being paranoid
« Reply #8 on: July 14, 2006, 07:37 PM »
From The New York Times, July 14, 2006
 
>WASHINGTON, July 13 — After months of resistance, the White House agreed Thursday to allow a secret intelligence court to review the legality of the National Security Agency’s program to conduct wiretaps without warrants on Americans suspected of having ties to terrorists.

Senator Arlen Specter worked with President Bush and White House officials to agree on a plan to review the wiretapping program.

If approved by Congress, the deal would put the court, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, in the unusual position of deciding whether the wiretapping program is a legitimate use of the president’s power to fight terrorism. The aim of the plan, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales told reporters, would be to “test the constitutionality” of the program.

The plan, brokered over the last three weeks in negotiations between Senator Arlen Specter and senior White House officials, including President Bush himself, would apparently leave the secretive intelligence court free to consider the case in closed proceedings, without the kind of briefs and oral arguments that are usually part of federal court consideration of constitutional issues. The court’s ruling in the matter could also remain secret.

So A SECRET court reviews what were secret wiretaps in SECRET proceedings
and will keep their decision a SECRET.


" Who will watch the watchers ? "

Lew
Lew

thunder7

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Re: My girlfriend says I am just being paranoid
« Reply #9 on: July 14, 2006, 07:50 PM »
yeah I hear he is one to watch: Senator Arlen Specter

mouser

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Re: My girlfriend says I am just being paranoid
« Reply #10 on: July 15, 2006, 03:37 AM »
just a friendly reminder that we try not to bring politics to this forum.
the real world is all messed up - in here we try to keep it friendly  :P

thunder7

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Re: My girlfriend says I am just being paranoid
« Reply #11 on: July 15, 2006, 06:57 AM »
However if we do not WATCHOUT some of these mentioned will take our rights away. And what freedoms we enjoy on the net away as well.
A word to "the wise' watch out."

Rover

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Re: My girlfriend says I am just being paranoid
« Reply #12 on: July 15, 2006, 10:32 AM »
Ok i can understand searching for terrorists. However those of us that are not terrorists, will have our stuff gone through same as those that are guilty.

But if we don't treat everyone the same, then people (not everyone) start screaming about Profiling.

Bottom line is that it's a tough nut to crack, and the terrorists are the ones to blame.

Personally I don't care who looks at my stuff, as long as they don't steal anything. :)  I respect the opinions of those who feel differently.  I also understand that allowing that kind of thing opens a can of worms... 

Finally, just because you are paranoind, doesn't mean they aren't out to get you.   :D
Insert Brilliant Sig line here

thunder7

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Re: My girlfriend says I am just being paranoid
« Reply #13 on: July 16, 2006, 07:49 AM »
ell not I my friend. I do have stuff I really do not want anyone looking at.
I think mouser can understand that? it is not that it is XXX It is Mine!.

Only I an my creator Or those I care to share it with.
Now if my GOV said we just Looking for terrorism and nothing else. That would be one thing, but as you said "Profiling."

The insurance companies are looking for data on us  and you know that would be big bucks to someone scanning our hdd's looking for terrorism (Oh Look here Thunder7 has carpal tunnel. That is worth $10,000.00 to any insurance company [I do not know how much that info is worth,..."If my info was worth that much I'd sell it too the insurance companys lol."]

However one mans trash is another's treasure we all know too well.
I do not care if a GOV PC is scanning my emails looking for bunch of certain words (terrorism etc).

I am concerned when it someone looking at my personal data and I do not know what they are looking at.
Yeah I suppose there is no good way is there?

Carol Haynes

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Re: My girlfriend says I am just being paranoid
« Reply #14 on: July 16, 2006, 10:00 AM »
Simple way is to send all sensitive data encrypted and let you friends know how to decrypt the files you send to them - though how you do that if your telephone is bugged or they are opening paper post ?

thunder7

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Re: My girlfriend says I am just being paranoid
« Reply #15 on: July 17, 2006, 11:56 PM »
Yeah it is getting pretty bad when you have to do that. :(