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Snowden: Hack of an NSA server is not unprecedented, publication of the take is

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Re: Snowden: Hack of an NSA server is not unprecedented, publication of the take is

#41

Post by wepple »

eeeeeeeeeeeee wrote: post #26
imglorp wrote: post #10

His complete post (just in case) original 4:40 AM - 16 Aug 2016 from @Snowden: The hack of an NSA malware staging server is not unprecedented, but the publication of the take is. Here's what you need to know: (1/x) 1) NSA traces and targets malware C2 servers in a practice called Counter Computer Network Exploitation, or CCNE. So do our rivals. 2) NSA is often lurking undetected for years on the C2 and ORBs (proxy ho…

Thank you for summarizing that. As others have commented, I wish Snowden would simply blog about this sort of thing. Twitter is frustrating to digest for any insightful commentary that is on the longer side.

if we're lucky, twitter will do what they did with the hashtag and other things when they realised their users needs were 'inventing' new features.

The 1/n 2/n n/n tweets is a huge indicator of a feature need. Of course, that's going to dilute their original value proposition of short direct messages.

Re: Snowden: Hack of an NSA server is not unprecedented, publication of the take is

#42

Post by coldpie »

chatmasta wrote: post #39
jmnicolas wrote: post #19

IMHO Twitter is the worst media for this kind of discussion : I would have loved to read something more substantial but being limited to 140 char forces you to omit a lot of details. Why use something like 10 tweets where a blog post lets you have as many words as necessary. You can still be concise but 140 char is too short, it's just for people that have uninteresting things to say and Snowden is certainly not one…

I'm fond of tweeting a screenshot of longer text, e.g. from the notes app.

I just barfed.

Re: Snowden: Hack of an NSA server is not unprecedented, publication of the take is

#43

Post by wepple »

leephillips wrote: post #32
abstractbeliefs wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because twitter has a vast public reach, more so than an individuals blog. It's also really easy to use by journalists who get pre-made sound bites, which is a bonus for the sources too - they can more easily edit and shape how they are quoted. While a blog would be much better quality, quality journalism doesn't sell nearly as well as highly-polarised, bite-sized clips.

The obvious solution is to use Twitter to link to your longer article. Isn't it?

I think people fear the rather nasty experience of embedded webview when you click a link. It seems to be a bit of a barrier to entry.

Re: Snowden: Hack of an NSA server is not unprecedented, publication of the take is

#44

Post by chatmasta »

coldpie wrote: post #42
chatmasta wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm fond of tweeting a screenshot of longer text, e.g. from the notes app.

I just barfed.

And when you run out of resolution, write another note, take another screenshot, and post another tweet!

Re: Snowden: Hack of an NSA server is not unprecedented, publication of the take is

#45

Post by wepple »

diggan wrote: post #8
peterkelly wrote: post #2

It also highlights the risks of NSA exploiting zero-days and creating malware to conduct offensive operations, rather than reporting vulnerabilities to the vendor to make everyone safer. Now these tools have been stolen by one of their adversaries, and may make it out into the public for anyone to take advantage of. I just watched an excellent documentary called "Zero Days" ( https://weshare.me/823adb83b8e98628 ) thi…

Slightly off-topic but I also tried to watch "Zero Days" since the subject interest me. But, with the constant exaggeration and dumbing down of the subject, I could only watch about 20 minutes before I turned it off. If you want something technical that is not exaggerated, you better watch something else. If someone have an recommendation, please share.

have you read Countdown to zero day: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KEPLC08/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?... ?

It is ultimately penned for the masses, but even if you're technical you'll likely enjoy it. And there's plenty of scope for going off and doing your own research about bits and pieces.

Re: Snowden: Hack of an NSA server is not unprecedented, publication of the take is

#46

Post by swalsh »

jordigh wrote: post #28

Ed was a Booz Allen Hamilton employee only for a couple of months. He wasn't even out of his probation period as an employee. It's really amazing that in such a short time he was able to siphon all this information out of the NSA. I wonder what more information could he have collected if he had spent a longer time contracting for the NSA. I wonder how much more about the NSA we could know if people who have dedicated…

I think he spent years working for the CIA beforehand. He probably came in pretty well versed. Plus, you can pick up a lot if you're paying attention.

Re: Snowden: Hack of an NSA server is not unprecedented, publication of the take is

#47

Post by Blackthorn »

eeeeeeeeeeeee wrote: post #26
imglorp wrote: post #10

His complete post (just in case) original 4:40 AM - 16 Aug 2016 from @Snowden: The hack of an NSA malware staging server is not unprecedented, but the publication of the take is. Here's what you need to know: (1/x) 1) NSA traces and targets malware C2 servers in a practice called Counter Computer Network Exploitation, or CCNE. So do our rivals. 2) NSA is often lurking undetected for years on the C2 and ORBs (proxy ho…

Thank you for summarizing that. As others have commented, I wish Snowden would simply blog about this sort of thing. Twitter is frustrating to digest for any insightful commentary that is on the longer side.

In this case Twitter at least provides a single authoritative source, which is valuable.

Re: Snowden: Hack of an NSA server is not unprecedented, publication of the take is

#48

Post by 2close4comfort »

peterkelly wrote: post #16
JustSomeNobody wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Question: Does the NSA have an obligation to be ethical?

I would argue yes, in the sense that all of us do (both in our professional and personal lives). The US likes to promote itself as the "good guys", and if they want that reputation, they have to earn it. NSA's activities are in direct conflict with that ideal. Society only functions properly when people act ethically. We have laws in place for punishing those who harm others in various ways (financially, physically,…

I would only add that the NSA has politicized themselves in exchange for the expansion of their powers. Now as a political entity it seems they have a much lower standard of ethics and now it is about maintaining power.

Re: Snowden: Hack of an NSA server is not unprecedented, publication of the take is

#49

Post by wepple »

peterkelly wrote: post #2

It also highlights the risks of NSA exploiting zero-days and creating malware to conduct offensive operations, rather than reporting vulnerabilities to the vendor to make everyone safer. Now these tools have been stolen by one of their adversaries, and may make it out into the public for anyone to take advantage of. I just watched an excellent documentary called "Zero Days" ( https://weshare.me/823adb83b8e98628 ) thi…

Their adversaries likely won't make use of the tools for anything serious. They know the NSA already have detection capabilities for their own 0days, and using these tools is a dead giveaway to the NSA that they've been made. An adversary would do well to be very careful about their use of stolen knowledge.

As for it hitting the public like this; I'm not sure we'll see this happening incredibly regularly.

Re: Snowden: Hack of an NSA server is not unprecedented, publication of the take is

#50

Post by balabaster »

pjc50 wrote: post #33
imglorp wrote: post #10

His complete post (just in case) original 4:40 AM - 16 Aug 2016 from @Snowden: The hack of an NSA malware staging server is not unprecedented, but the publication of the take is. Here's what you need to know: (1/x) 1) NSA traces and targets malware C2 servers in a practice called Counter Computer Network Exploitation, or CCNE. So do our rivals. 2) NSA is often lurking undetected for years on the C2 and ORBs (proxy ho…

So this seems to be the "Dr Strangelove" scenario playing out, but with (fortunately) exploits rather than nuclear weapons. It sounds like many countries have other significant exploits into other countries, but this isn't "admitted"; it's not an unignorable public fact (+). The Russian destabilisation plan is to get Western countries to see NSA attacks on them and lose trust in the US - plus an attack on the concept…

It takes Russia pointing this out to make us lose trust in the U.S.? I think the U.S. has done this all on their own. Snowden was just the latest whistleblower showing the world they can't be trusted. There were others before him, but it got swept under the rug.

We all know the U.S. election system is flawed to a point of being broken and thus democracy as we like to believe it's supposed to work doesn't even exist. But everyone just accepts that's the way it is and carries on with life because "at least it's not North Korea." If you hadn't already lost faith in the U.S. election system years ago, then you've got your head in the sand.

It might be a hard pill to swallow, but I think if Russia's plan is to make the U.S. wake up and smell the coffee, they're actually doing the U.S. people a huge favour.

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