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Wikileaks: Something is up

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Re: Wikileaks: Something is up

#101

Post by setori88 »

dkimball wrote: post #50
k33n wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It means that the free and open exchange of information is the public's best weapon against corruption.

If that's so, why is Africa still a mess? We have no shortage of knowledge about the scale of corruption south of the Sahara (and north of it); the problem is that those who are prepared to fight in, let's say, Nigeria and those who want to stop corruption in Nigeria are seldom the same people. In the end, weapons are the most important weapons. If a group of people no longer care about anything but their own power,…

Africa is meant to be a mess, Western powers ensure it through foreign aid, propping up dictatorship all to ensure cheap access to raw materials.

Re: Wikileaks: Something is up

#102

Post by jurjenh »

dsplittgerber wrote: post #28

"Finally cracked the encryption to US military video in which journalists, among others, are shot. Thanks to all who donated $/CPUs." http://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/9412020034 This may have to do with it.

Of some interest in this statement is that wikileaks managed to crack the encryption. No matter if they release the crack, the way they did it, or the actual footage, the US DoD should take very careful note that it has been cracked.

This in itself is probably leak-worthy, in that quite realistically, other organisations with more at stake and more resources will likely have done the same without broadcasting the fact. And the chances are that these others will use this ability with more serious consequences [than posting the footage online].

Re: Wikileaks: Something is up

#103

Post by ismarc »

rjurney wrote: post #85
fnid2 wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The first time I was swerving to miss a dog in the middle of a dirt road and the car spun out of control and nearly ended up in the water. The next day all my tires were flat from the sand and gravel that got lodged between the rubber tire and the rim. My windows were down and the inside of the car was full of sand and dirt and plants. The second time, I fell asleep on the interstate. The sound of the tires on the di…

Each of those times you nearly died by accident. In combat you nearly die on purpose. Repeatedly. Can you will yourself into that fear as part of your job - regularly? Isn't it a bit different?

I think a lot of people don't understand, and never will understand, what's so trauamtic about combat. It's not that you could die at any moment over extended periods...I came to grips with my own mortality on the flight to my first combat deployment. It's not seeing people die, most times we weren't sure if the lack of shooting was because they were dead, out of bullets, or trying to draw us out. It's not the sickening, overwhelming, stomach churning smell of the pools of blood. It's not that you are taking another life. For me, the biggest impact was the realization that I had to do my job, perfectly, or someone else would needlessly die. And my own life relied upon another person doing their job perfectly. You don't pull the trigger to stay alive, you pull the trigger so that the people keeping you alive stay alive. You don't question if the fight needs to happen...it just is happening, and your options is you and your squad dies or the enemy and their squad dies. There's no higher purpose, no moral agenda, no feelings, no dreaming of home. Eventually, the adrenaline wears off, but you can't even tell because you're basically numb to its affects.

And when you get back, even years later, people ask you about it. And you think up a couple of cheeky stories, but don't even try to tell most people what it's like because words can't accurately communicate the experience. You just continue on enjoying things in life everyone else discards as annoyances or commonplace.

Note: It's been a few years since I got out and I'm perfectly fine, well adjusted, no related problems, no PTSD, no nightmares, minor paranoia occassionally. However, the mental experience of each person is different, and many do not come out ok.

Re: Wikileaks: Something is up

#104

Post by [deleted] »

bilch wrote: post #100
rosser wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're offering a bit of a straw-man here. There's a vast difference between truthful documentation of past misdeeds and disclosing information that could in the future be used to cause great harm -- the difference between, "Regime X has used chemical weapons on its own people," and, "Here's how you make mustard gas."

From what I understand, mustard gas isn't hard to make at all. ("There are several routes to this compound, none of which require sophisticated technology and/or special materials.", Federation of American Scientists: Chemical Weapons Production and Storage) The process is more or less described in Wikipedia.

[deleted]

Re: Wikileaks: Something is up

#105

Post by Frazzydee »

JeremyBanks wrote: post #78
danielharan wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With enough $/CPUs, it's all weak.

No, it's not. The amount of computing power that would be needed to break the kind of encryption we should expect them to be using would be immense. It would likely be impossible, or at least impractically expensive. This is a very interesting part of the story.

And, if it was distributed computing, presumably we'd have heard about it and wouldn't be having this conversation.

Re: Wikileaks: Something is up

#106

Post by richardw »

rdtsc wrote: post #68
yters wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Should all kinds of truth always be released? I think a bit more sophistication is necessary here. For instance, should the launch codes for our nuclear weapons be made public?

I was thinking more of 'we just bombed 50 civilians in Afghanistan and we are very sorry.' kind of information. Or 'we have captured someone in Albania today, flew him to Latvia to get tortured, but it turns out it was the wrong guy. We have let him go and we are very sorry. Our government will pay him some restitution for the harm caused.'. Then our citizens will start to ask questions. 'How come our government is d…

And if bringing those kinds of acts to light will reduce the chance they happen again, then it's the right thing to do.

Bombing civilians shouldn't just be a mistake you sweep under the carpet, because if it were your own civilians you'd move heaven and earth to have them honored.

Re: Wikileaks: Something is up

#107

Post by shin_lao »

dsplittgerber wrote: post #28

"Finally cracked the encryption to US military video in which journalists, among others, are shot. Thanks to all who donated $/CPUs." http://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/9412020034 This may have to do with it.

Sounds like PR at best, bullshit at worst.

Sorry, but I don't buy it. Military encryption is designed to resist attacks done by enemy governmental agency.

They say thank you for all the $/CPU but lately I've read they were in dire need of cash to continue running the website, yet, they spent that money on cracking some alleged secret material...

Oh, and I'm pretty sure that cracking governmental material is considered an act of war, that would be pretty stupid to admit that publicly.

Sorry, but all of this sounds like kids living in a paranoid delirium or people trying to get attention (to raise money?).

Re: Wikileaks: Something is up

#108

Post by jodrellblank »

crosvenir wrote: post #87
vcrash wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You may be downvoted because you seem to imply, at least to my eyes, that they shouldn't be permitted to break the encryption on any alleged videos.

Well, that IS what I believe. But regardless to what I believe, it is illegal to knowingly publish classified information. The ramifications of doing so with respect to hacking the encryption algorithm could possibly cause far greater damage that the release of the video itself (provided it showed something ACTUALLY classified, not this cover up stuff). The point I'm really trying to make is that they are actively tr…

> which is direct disregard for the law

The law which they didn't agree to abide by in the first place. Born into a country with a law you don't agree on enforced upon you, why should you stick to it if you both disagree with it and agree to take the consequences?

You seem to be arguing that it's bad simply because it's illegal, which is both circular (it's bad because it's bad), and annoyingly naive (respect authority for no other reason than it's authoritative).

> The ramifications of doing so with respect to hacking the encryption algorithm could possibly cause far greater damage that the release of the video itself

You have a better argument here, but one I disagree with - did you miss the last decade of XP security holes? Security by obscurity isn't a strong defense. If it's weak enough for ordinary people to break, the intelligence agencies of the world who care would make mincemeat of it.

> The point I'm really trying to make is that they are actively trying to acquire and release classified information, which is direct disregard for the law. If they were to "go away"

The hypocritical point you are trying to make is that you respect the law like a good citizen, and because they don't respect the law in the same way as you do that makes them scum who are unworthy of compassion, and as a result you'll happily become like them and disgregard your support for equality and human rights laws so they can suffer, while still feeling superior to them because you abide the law, while at the same time you are not doing so.

> What kind of society have we come to where it is revered to break the law in order to exact some change on our government?

What kind of society have we come to where people are unable to consider that 'law' and 'doing the right thing' might not the same thing?

Re: Wikileaks: Something is up

#109

Post by JulianMorrison »

eli wrote: post #72
ErrantX wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends on the exact encryption but from the sounds of the tweet ("$/CPU") it sounds like it could have been just brute forced.

Sure, but the obvious question: where did they find a secret military video protected by encryption that is weak enough to be bruteforced?

You're assuming that military = supersecret. This from the same military that didn't even bother encrypting transmissions from Predator drones.

Re: Wikileaks: Something is up

#110

Post by Confusion »

Tuna-Fish wrote: post #94
crosvenir wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, that IS what I believe. But regardless to what I believe, it is illegal to knowingly publish classified information. The ramifications of doing so with respect to hacking the encryption algorithm could possibly cause far greater damage that the release of the video itself (provided it showed something ACTUALLY classified, not this cover up stuff). The point I'm really trying to make is that they are actively tr…

> it is illegal to knowingly publish classified information It is illegal to who? If I came upon classified DoD information, I would publish it with my own name, and let them have fun trying to figure out how to stick their laws to someone who is not their citizen. Plenty of wikileaks ppl are not Americans -- you cannot expect them to follow your laws. > What kind of society have we come to where it is revered to bre…

At least be coherent

Minor nitpick: you mean consistent.

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