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PRISM

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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,260 ✭✭✭Rucking_Fetard


    It was December 11, 2012, and in a small art space behind a furniture store in Honolulu, NSA contractor Edward Snowden was working to subvert the machinery of global surveillance.

    Snowden was not yet famous. His blockbuster leaks were still six months away, but the man destined to confront world leaders on a global stage was addressing a much smaller audience that Sunday evening. He was leading a local “Crypto Party,” teaching less than two dozen Hawaii residents how to encrypt their hard drives and use the internet anonymously.

    “He introduced himself as Ed,”

    wired.com/2014/05/snowden-cryptoparty/


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,260 ✭✭✭Rucking_Fetard


    Edward Snowden, Glenn Greenwald, and Laura Poitras reunite in Moscow. (PICS)

    buzzfeed.com/lisatozzi/edward-snowden-takes-a-selfie-with-glenn-greenwald



    Über-Secure ProtonMail Beta Maxes Out Servers in Just 60 Hours
    Lavabit heir built by CERN boffins sees huge demand for its NSA-proof email capabilities.

    infosecurity-magazine.com/view/38535/bersecure-protonmail-beta-maxes-out-servers-in-just-60-hours/


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,260 ✭✭✭Rucking_Fetard


    Edward Snowden, in an exclusive interview with "Nightly News" anchor Brian Williams, is fighting back against critics who dismissed him as a low-level hacker — saying he was “trained as a spy” and offered technical expertise to high levels of government.

    nbcnews.com/feature/edward-snowden-interview/exclusive-edward-snowden-tells-brian-williams-i-was-trained-spy-n115746


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 357 ✭✭Ctrl Alt Del


    Seen the interview on NBC.
    I had an impression of Ed been a normal IT guy,small personality and thinking about techies stuff more than anything else.

    But,i can say i was shocked to discovered a very intelligent person,very serious,amiable,intelligent,smart and confident.
    He looked very nice respected dressed as well...

    The lager areas reached during the interview covered not only technicality stuff but others that a normal techie guy wasn't able to formulate a sentence and / or strategy.
    He nicely avoided answer to few questions and definitively wasn't a selfish.

    I dotn think he had time to pre-populate the answers and / or anticipate the questions.

    I'll say that NSA better start negotiating with him as in the long run,he seems as a smart capable person or as he said "trained spy".
    I guess that after interview,soem people had their ideas about Ed completed or changed in good... :)


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,260 ✭✭✭Rucking_Fetard


    http://googleonlinesecurity.blogspot.ie/2014/06/making-end-to-end-encryption-easier-to.html

    New Google Extension (Alpha for now) adding OpenPGP to G-mail. All code available to view and part of Bug Award System.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 37,485 ✭✭✭✭Khannie


    Nice. I'm using a plugin called mailvelope to achieve that at the moment and it's really good. Glad to see google adding it. We may see a slow but steady move towards PGP encryption being a standard.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,004 ✭✭✭Recondite49


    Khannie wrote: »
    Nice. I'm using a plugin called mailvelope to achieve that at the moment and it's really good. Glad to see google adding it. We may see a slow but steady move towards PGP encryption being a standard.

    Thanks for the tip Khannie, looks handy - it would be nice to see this integrated seamlessly into the browser, however I wonder if like the whole Cryptocat fiasco, if people will trust keys generated within the browser - do you think security gurus would worry about them being compromised?

    I write gpg encrypted e-mails offline using the Enigmail plugin for IceDove (Mozilla Thunderbird in all but name) but then I'm an old fashioned gent.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,004 ✭✭✭Recondite49


    [QUOTE=Rucking_Fetard;90676267

    New Google Extension (Alpha for now) adding OpenPGP to G-mail. All code available to view and part of Bug Award System.[/QUOTE]

    Very exciting - not sure I agree with their assessment though that using PGP requires huge amounts of technical know how. I suppose it's all relative. If it gets lay people using crypto I suppose we should all be behind it.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 37,485 ✭✭✭✭Khannie


    Thanks for the tip Khannie, looks handy - it would be nice to see this integrated seamlessly into the browser, however I wonder if like the whole Cryptocat fiasco, if people will trust keys generated within the browser - do you think security gurus would worry about them being compromised?

    Well I had to place my trust in openpgp.js. That may turn out to be naive, but I'm not sending anything that actually needs to be encrypted. It's more that I'm using it as an envelope.
    I write gpg encrypted e-mails offline using the Enigmail plugin for IceDove (Mozilla Thunderbird in all but name) but then I'm an old fashioned gent.

    I found enigmail to be a pain (and constantly breaking with updates to thunderbird). Mailvelope "just works". I even did a test with a bunch of non-techies and they all managed to send me an encrypted email. Seamless integration into chrome and firefox would just kick that up about 10 notches.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,004 ✭✭✭Recondite49


    Khannie wrote: »
    Well I had to place my trust in openpgp.js. That may turn out to be naive, but I'm not sending anything that actually needs to be encrypted. It's more that I'm using it as an envelope.



    I found enigmail to be a pain (and constantly breaking with updates to thunderbird). Mailvelope "just works". I even did a test with a bunch of non-techies and they all managed to send me an encrypted email. Seamless integration into chrome and firefox would just kick that up about 10 notches.

    Thanks Khannie, pleased to hear you've had some joy with it. Perhaps I'm being overly paranoid, I just used gpg originally when on the Silk Road as it was and was told then to disable java inside my browser due to security exploits - still if it gets people thinking along these lines then it's an excellent idea.

    I know what you mean about updates to Thunderbird, one of the many reasons I use Debian! Have you ever used GPG4USB? It's a great way to encrypt and decrypt messages offline plus it runs on both Windows and Linux.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,260 ✭✭✭Rucking_Fetard




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 43 bd0101


    A very interesting website that I have found is the Enemies of the Internet (can be found under: 12mars.rsf.org/2014-en/ )

    Get the main page pdf and have a read ! Seems like a great initiative. Your thoughts?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,260 ✭✭✭Rucking_Fetard




  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,260 ✭✭✭Rucking_Fetard


    NSA Monitors Entire World... Court gave NSA broad leeway in surveillance, documents show...
    Virtually no foreign government is off-limits for the National Security Agency, which has been authorized to intercept information “concerning” all but four countries, according to top-secret documents.

    The United States has long had broad no-spying arrangements with those four countries — Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand — in a group known collectively with the United States as the Five Eyes. But a classified 2010 legal certification and other documents indicate the NSA has been given a far more elastic authority than previously known, one that allows it to intercept through U.S. companies not just the communications of its overseas targets but any communications about its targets as well.

    The certification — approved by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and included among a set of documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden — lists 193 countries that would be of valid interest for U.S. intelligence. The certification also permitted the agency to gather intelligence about entities including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the European Union and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

    The NSA is not necessarily targeting all the countries or organizations identified in the certification, the affidavits and an accompanying exhibit; it has only been given authority to do so. Still, the privacy implications are far-reaching, civil liberties advocates say, because of the wide spectrum of people who might be engaged in communication about foreign governments and entities and whose communications might be of interest to the United States.

    “These documents show both the potential scope of the government’s surveillance activities and the exceedingly modest role the court plays in overseeing them,” said Jameel Jaffer, deputy legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union, who had the documents described to him.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,112 ✭✭✭Blowfish


    I like this idea. Screw with the NSA by spamming them with garbage info.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,004 ✭✭✭Recondite49


    Blowfish wrote: »
    I like this idea. Screw with the NSA by spamming them with garbage info.

    This looks ideal Blowfish, thanks for sharing.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,260 ✭✭✭Rucking_Fetard


    US ‘kidnaps’ Russian MP’s son to ‘exchange him for Snowden’
    A Russian MP claims the US kidnapped his son from the Maldives on bogus cyber-fraud charges and may be preparing to offer him as bait in a swap deal for Edward Snowden.

    Roman Seleznyov, 30, was arrested at Male international airport as he was about to board a flight to Moscow. He was forced by US secret service agents to board a private plane to Guam and was later arrested. The Russian ministry slammed his detention as “a de-facto kidnapping.”

    Moscow considers the kidnapping "a new hostile move by Washington,” and accused the US of ignoring proper procedure in dealing with foreign nationals suspected of crimes.

    Asylum Review is up soon.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,925 ✭✭✭RainyDay




  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,260 ✭✭✭Rucking_Fetard


    [HOPE X] Schedule
    A Conversation with Edward Snowden

    Sat, 19 Jul 2014 14:00 (Manning, Serpico, and Olson)
    We had to keep this bombshell quiet til the last minute since some of the most powerful people in the world would prefer that it never take place. (Even at this stage, we wouldn’t be surprised at mysterious service outages, but we believe the hacker spirit will trump the unprecedented might of the world’s surveillance powers. Fingers crossed.)

    The ultimate goal of the NSA is total population control

    At least 80% of all audio calls, not just metadata, are recorded and stored in the US, says whistleblower William Binney – that's a 'totalitarian mentality'
    GCHQ has tools to manipulate online information, leaked documents show
    The UK intelligence agency GCHQ has developed sophisticated tools to manipulate online polls, spam targets with SMS messages, track people by impersonating spammers and monitor social media postings, according to newly-published documents leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.


    The documents – which were published on First Look Media with accompanying analysis from Glenn Greenwald – disclose a range of GCHQ "effects" programs aimed at tracking targets, spreading information, and manipulating online debates and statistics.


    The disclosure comes the day before the UK parliament is due to begin up to three days' debate on emergency legislation governing British surveillance capabilities. With cross-party support the bill is expected to be voted through this week.


    Among the programs revealed in the document are:


    • GATEWAY: the "ability to artificially increase traffic to a website".


    • CLEAN SWEEP which "masquerade Facebook wall posts for individuals or entire countries".


    • SCRAPHEAP CHALLENGE for "perfect spoofing of emails from BlackBerry targets".


    • UNDERPASS to "change outcome of online polls".


    • SPRING BISHOP to find "private photos of targets on Facebook".


    The document also details a range of programs designed to collect and store public postings from Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+, and to make automated postings on several of the social networks.
    Capabilities to boost views of YouTube videos, or to boost the circulation of particular messages are also detailed.
    GCHQ has also, the document suggests, developed capabilities to scan and geolocate the IPs of entire cities at a time.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,260 ✭✭✭Rucking_Fetard




  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,260 ✭✭✭Rucking_Fetard


    Why All the Snowden Docs Should Be Public: An Interview with Cryptome
    Ever since the phrase “Information wants to be free” was first uttered in the early 80s, activists have campaigned for technology to act as a vehicle for knowledge. We've since seen the advent of the internet, the proliferation of personal computers, and the rise of whistleblowing sites.

    Before Snowden and Wikileaks grabbed the headlines, there was Cryptome. Launched in 1996, the website, or “digital library,” as its owners John Young and Deborah Natsios describe it, is a tome of classified documents. Including everything from lists of MI6 agents to details on nuclear technology, the archive currently stands at over 71,600 files, spanning nearly two decades of disclosures.
    Cryptome has even made vague hints that the Snowden documents may be released in full this month.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,534 ✭✭✭jmcc


    It would be interesting if all of the documents were released but that would neultralise Snowden's (and Greenwald's) value. By effectively drip feeding the documents, a certain level of continuing interest can be maintained. The sad thing is that a lot of the really important stuff gets missed amongst the wibbling of clueless fanboys and fangirls. Most people just don't understand what they are seeing when they are looking at the various documents. Consequently some really important points are missed, While there has been some analysis by people who do understand the issues, there are some very disturbing aspects that have slipped right by the non-tech media coverage.

    The data that has been released has been interesting (from a technical rather than sociological point of view). Most of it consists of briefing and overview documents for management rather than those directly involved. There's a lot of simplified discussion of the what and a few block diagrams of the how. There's the rub, to quote Shakespeare. The methodology and the Mathematics are not disclosed. I can say that all com/net/org/biz/info/mobi/asia websites are hosted on approximately 7 million distinct IP addresses. I have posted graphs of where all these IP addresses and websites are hosted. However that's not the same as explaining the programs, methodology and concepts behind the process that generates those numbers and graphs. The Snowden documents suffer from the same paradox - the methodology is missing and has not been disclosed. The techie/cryppie response to some of the disclosures differs from that of the non-tech to some degree. Some of the disclosures have been quiet impressive and it has hard not to think of the systems and processes as being extremely cool. However some documents have been rather disturbing when their implications are considered from a techie/cryppie point of view. The methodology and Mathematics have not been disclosed.

    The impact of the Snowden disclosures has lessened and they are fading out of the news cycle. It is similar to what happened to Julian Assange and Wikileaks - a great deal of initial coverage, outrage and impact which gradually faded. The public can be extremely fickle with their outrage and right now, there are other things dominating the news cycle. There are some similarities between Snowden and Assange in that their media value lies in "other people's data". Both have attracted well meaning people who support them and have created a lot of media coverage. Ultimately, without a continual flow of other people's data which they can disclose to the media, their value to the media fades. Snowden and Greenwald have to keep disclosing to maintain their positions in the news cycle and a full disclosure of the Snowden documents would lessen their position. It would be interesting to see a full disclosure but I am not sure if it will happen.

    Regards...jmcc

    Regards…jmcc



  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,260 ✭✭✭Rucking_Fetard




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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,260 ✭✭✭Rucking_Fetard


    Snowden's temporary asylum status expires in Russia
    Fugitive US whistleblower Edward Snowden's year-long leave to stay in Russia has expired without confirmation that it will be extended.

    His lawyer said he could stay in the country while his application for an extension was being processed.

    Speaking at the end of May, US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Mr Snowden to "man up" and return home to face justice.
    :rolleyes:

    Loves to be heard but nothing of value to say. "At least we tried."

    Should take up gardening, plants might listen.


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