NSA using radio waves to access 100,000 offline computers

The Diabolical Monocle

Tinfoil helmets - Maybe not such a bad idea after all.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/nsa-using-radio-waves-access-100-000-offline-105601762.html#aMfpl5n

The national security Agency (NSA) has implanted software in nearly 100,000 computers around the world, allowing the US to conduct surveillance on them.
In a report by the New York Times, it revealed that a NSA progam, code-named Quantum, used a secret technology that allows it to enter and alter data in computers, even if they were not connected to the internet.
The technology, which has been used by the NSA since 2008, relies on secret radio waves that can be transmitted from tiny circuit boards and USB cards inserted into the computers.
This is then transmitted to a briefcase-size NSA field station or hidden relay station up to eight miles away. It communicates back to the NSA’s Remote Operations Center and the connection can be used to transmit malware onto these computers.
In the majority of cases, the hardware has to be physically inserted by a spy, a manufacturer or a unwitting user.
The NSA says that this technology was not used inside the US. Instead, it’s been successful in inserting software into Russian military networks and systems used by the Mexican police and drug cartels, the Chinese Army, trade institutions inside the European Union, and sometimes partners against terrorism like Saudi Arabia, India and Pakistan.
In a statement, the agency said that it does not use this technology to steal the trade secrets of foreign companies to US companies. (oh right ted)
President Obama is expected to announce on Friday a number of recommendations he is accepting from an advisory panel on changing NSA practices.
Some of the recommendations made include banning the practice of exploiting flaws in common software to aid in American surveillance and cyberattacks, as well as ending efforts to weaken publicly available encryption systems.



Awesome yes, mad stuff altogether yes, but wtf - used on trade institutions inside the European Union. Some fvcking nerve, no ?

Can you imagine the tidal shtstorm from the American public if it was the EU doing this.

Would it be going a little far to start avoiding electronics/communications goods built in the US ?? Or is this tinfoil town stuff ??

Huawei, Sony, Samsung are starting to increasingly look like safe options for my (admittedly boring and inconsequential) private life.

Overreaction ?

lau1247

40 minutes and not one reaction.. alright I'll take the bait.. :eek:

renegademaster

no doubting conspiracies anymore yet the majority are still asheep!!

The Diabolical Monocle

lau1247 wrote: »

40 minutes and not one reaction.. alright I'll take the bait.. :eek:

Maybe the nsa have been deleting thousands of enraged responses.

Terry1985

The Diabolical Monocle wrote: »

In a report by the New York Times, it revealed that a NSA progam, code-named Quantum, used a secret technology that allows it to enter and alter data in computers, even if they were not connected to the internet.

Feck! They've been spying on my dishwasher!

Phill Ewinn

Perverts.

My name is URL

Only a complete and utter retard would see this stuff as being a matter of 'national security' at this stage. And I don't use the term retard lightly. You'd literally need to have a cognitive impairment to see no harm in it.

J_E

Utterly insane that this still goes on, especially when you hear people like Edward Snowden being called a traitor. Traitor of what?

Akrasia

renegademaster wrote: »

no doubting conspiracies anymore yet the majority are still asheep!!

It's not really a conspiracy to say that an agency who's main purpose is to spy, has been spying on people.

The scale is bigger and their neck is brassier than many people expected, but it's still the kind of thing that most people expected was happening and anyway this has always been happening.

There have been spies since roman times and before.

I'd be a lot more concerned about the non spying activities. The U.S. have been meddling in the foreign affairs of other nations and there have been a lot of unintended consequences. They supported the Taliban against Russia in the 80s and now that form of fundamentalist islam is one of the biggest global problems

jaykay74

OSI wrote: »

Not really offline if the NSA has inserted a radio for them to be accessible.

Maybe the users expectation of being offline is more accurate.

darkpagandeath

jaykay74 wrote: »

Maybe the users expectation of being offline is more accurate.

Easy fix for the tinfoil hat lads ... Unplug the power cable to your pc when you goto bed ......

bodhrandude

Its probably that Knowhow.com Cloud crowd urging you to back up your drive.

Dyr

Akrasia wrote: »

It's not really a conspiracy to say that an agency who's main purpose is to spy, has been spying on people.

The scale is bigger and their neck is brassier than many people expected, but it's still the kind of thing that most people expected was happening and anyway this has always been happening.

There have been spies since roman times and before.

I'd be a lot more concerned about the non spying activities. The U.S. have been meddling in the foreign affairs of other nations and there have been a lot of unintended consequences. They supported the Taliban against Russia in the 80s and now that form of fundamentalist islam is one of the biggest global problems

You're missing from the good old roman days ananlogy is scale. There has a been a massive shift in how much personal data and communications is now available to be eavesdropped on. It seems what the NSA has been up to since 2001 would make the stasi blush. That's a profoundly dangerous thing.

force eleven

While people still believe the steak they are eating is real, nothing will happen.

red sean

Cydoniac wrote: »

Utterly insane that this still goes on, especially when you hear people like Edward Snowden being called a traitor. Traitor of what?

At least he wasn't fed to the dogs!

Terry1985

force eleven wrote: »

While people still believe the steak they are eating is real, nothing will happen.

Matrix reference or some vegetarian conspiracy theory?

ScumLord

The Diabolical Monocle wrote: »

In a report by the New York Times, it revealed that a NSA progam, code-named Quantum, used a secret technology that allows it to enter and alter data in computers, even if they were not connected to the internet.
The technology, which has been used by the NSA since 2008, relies on secret radio waves that can be transmitted from tiny circuit boards and USB cards inserted into the computers.
This is then transmitted to a briefcase-size NSA field station or hidden relay station up to eight miles away.

That's a pretty impressive feat. Especially considering the top end equipment I tried using to get wifi from the ground floor of an apartment block to the first floor without much success.

Half the time I wonder if the American government is really doing half the stuff it claims to, or is being "accused" of. I always see american cop shows like CSI as more of a propaganda campaign to make Americans believe their government have superpowers, when in reality they're no more advanced than any other police force and maybe worse off than many.

Terry1985

Cydoniac wrote: »

Utterly insane that this still goes on, especially when you hear people like Edward Snowden being called a traitor. Traitor of what?

Traitor of revealing their countries intelligence capabilities, so their enemies can counter it.

I think he's a genuine whistle blower, but Manning can rot in jail. That was the act of a bitter disgruntled employee.

lau1247

The Diabolical Monocle wrote: »

Maybe the nsa have been deleting thousands of enraged responses.

obviously my :eek: emoticon is not shocking enough or that they don't read emoticon too well

*I'll get my coat

J_E

Terry1985 wrote: »

Traitor of revealing their countries intelligence capabilities, so their enemies can counter it.

I think he's a genuine whistle blower, but Manning can rot in jail. That was the act of a bitter disgruntled employee.

The thing is, their main target is their own people...

Karl Stein

But they're protecting us from terrorism lads.

Terry1985

Cydoniac wrote: »

The thing is, their main target is their own people...

Their target is internal threats.
The 9/11 pilots trained internally in American flight training schools.

I see both sides of the story.

I do understand why the American public wouldn't want all their web and metadata monitored, as it could be used retrospectively against them, or profile them negatively though.

Criminals/terrorists are always going to use the letter of the law to hide behind.

donutheadhomer

The Diabolical Monocle wrote: »

Tinfoil helmets - Maybe not such a bad idea after all.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/nsa-using-radio-waves-access-100-000-offline-105601762.html#aMfpl5n

The national security Agency (NSA) has implanted software in nearly 100,000 computers around the world, allowing the US to conduct surveillance on them.
In a report by the New York Times, it revealed that a NSA progam, code-named Quantum, used a secret technology that allows it to enter and alter data in computers, even if they were not connected to the internet.
The technology, which has been used by the NSA since 2008, relies on secret radio waves that can be transmitted from tiny circuit boards and USB cards inserted into the computers.
This is then transmitted to a briefcase-size NSA field station or hidden relay station up to eight miles away. It communicates back to the NSA’s Remote Operations Center and the connection can be used to transmit malware onto these computers.
In the majority of cases, the hardware has to be physically inserted by a spy, a manufacturer or a unwitting user.
The NSA says that this technology was not used inside the US. Instead, it’s been successful in inserting software into Russian military networks and systems used by the Mexican police and drug cartels, the Chinese Army, trade institutions inside the European Union, and sometimes partners against terrorism like Saudi Arabia, India and Pakistan.
In a statement, the agency said that it does not use this technology to steal the trade secrets of foreign companies to US companies. (oh right ted)
President Obama is expected to announce on Friday a number of recommendations he is accepting from an advisory panel on changing NSA practices.
Some of the recommendations made include banning the practice of exploiting flaws in common software to aid in American surveillance and cyberattacks, as well as ending efforts to weaken publicly available encryption systems.



Awesome yes, mad stuff altogether yes, but wtf - used on trade institutions inside the European Union. Some fvcking nerve, no ?

Can you imagine the tidal shtstorm from the American public if it was the EU doing this.

Would it be going a little far to start avoiding electronics/communications goods built in the US ?? Or is this tinfoil town stuff ??

Huawei, Sony, Samsung are starting to increasingly look like safe options for my (admittedly boring and inconsequential) private life.

Overreaction ?

it doesn't say how we sign up for it though - they can use my computer anytime

Stavros Murphy

ScumLord wrote: »

That's a pretty impressive feat. Especially considering the top end equipment I tried using to get wifi from the ground floor of an apartment block to the first floor without much success.

Half the time I wonder if the American government is really doing half the stuff it claims to, or is being "accused" of. I always see american cop shows like CSI as more of a propaganda campaign to make Americans believe their government have superpowers, when in reality they're no more advanced than any other police force and maybe worse off than many.

Military grade equipment is so far ahead of the civilian muck we get that it is unreal. If Military standards were applied to everyday stuff we use your dishwasher would last possibly as long as four years. Maybe even six.




A dishwasher was a bad analogy, but I'm too invested in this theory to go back now.

ScumLord

Stavros Murphy wrote: »

Military grade equipment is so far ahead of the civilian muck we get that it is unreal. If Military standards were applied to everyday stuff we use your dishwasher would last possibly as long as four years. Maybe even six.




A dishwasher was a bad analogy, but I'm too invested in this theory to go back now.

I know what you're saying, military stuff is over engineered to ensure it works rather than consumer stuff that's designed to fail so you have to buy a new one in a few years.

The American military has a ridiculous amount of money to spend though. It wouldn't be viable for any other state body or even private enterprise to spend the kind of money they do. The military can justify spending beyond their means or all reason because of national security.

kowloon

Terry1985 wrote: »

Feck! They've been spying on my dishwasher!

It's the powerball, I've been saying it for years.

renegademaster

Akrasia wrote: »

It's not really a conspiracy to say that an agency who's main purpose is to spy, has been spying on people.

The scale is bigger and their neck is brassier than many people expected, but it's still the kind of thing that most people expected was happening and anyway this has always been happening.

There have been spies since roman times and before.

I'd be a lot more concerned about the non spying activities. The U.S. have been meddling in the foreign affairs of other nations and there have been a lot of unintended consequences. They supported the Taliban against Russia in the 80s and now that form of fundamentalist islam is one of the biggest global problems

so you're happy enough for the war machine to be going around beating up defenseless countries, pointing fingers at everyone while they're the worst that's out there?

enfant terrible

Was it them ringing me up saying my pc had a virus on it?

Shane-KornSpace

Sure if they spy on me, they'll only see a fat bloke in the nip.

Enjoy yous dirty feckers!!

J_E

Terry1985 wrote: »

I do understand why the American public wouldn't want all their web and metadata monitored, as it could be used retrospectively against them, or profile them negatively though.

Could be? Already has been, and they've lied about not using the data in a commercial environment as well;

Recent revelations showing that the United States National Security Agency (N.S.A.) spied on Brazilian oil company Petrobras by hacking into the firm's computer network and listening to CEO phone calls are sure to upset already frosty relations between Brasilia and Washington, and indeed such sensational developments have already led President Dilma Rousseff to cancel her upcoming meeting with Obama in Washington, D.C.

Hobbes

I find the whole thing laughable. It's like watching kids growing up and only realizing stuff that has been going on for long before this revelation.

Around 2000 the EU created a report showing the extent of spying. For example the US had robotic subs that attached themselves to underwater cables so as to tap international lines.

But even before that it was well known that BT are able to intercept and process every phone/SMS message before the Internet.

Before that there was scandal when the enigma machines the UK gave to commonwealth for encrypting their communications, they failed to mention they already crack it and could read their private data.

In another 20 years time we will have another revelation, people will huff and puff, then life will go on as normal.