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The CIA Campaign to Steal Apple's Secrets (2015)

theintercept.com

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Re: The CIA Campaign to Steal Apple's Secrets (2015)

#5
Nothing in this article is surprising. I mean, honestly, if you don't think the CIA is actively trying to gain access to your devices, WTF do you think they do all day?

I'd be more concerned if the intelligence agencies of the world WEREN'T doing this. It's their purpose. It's what we pay them for with our taxes.

Of course we should also always root for tech companies to stay one step ahead. But infosec is an arms race, and I sure hope my own country's intelligence agencies (CSIS and the CSE in Canada) are doing their best to stay ahead of, say, North Korea or Russia.

(Please note: I'm not saying violating our privacy is OK, any more than I'm saying it's cool to launch nuclear weapons. But if anyone's going to have the ability to hack my phone or launch a nuke, I want it to be the people on my own team. This seems like basic self-interest and survival strategy.)

Re: The CIA Campaign to Steal Apple's Secrets (2015)

#7

Nothing in this article is surprising. I mean, honestly, if you don't think the CIA is actively trying to gain access to your devices, WTF do you think they do all day? I'd be more concerned if the intelligence agencies of the world WEREN'T doing this. It's their purpose. It's what we pay them for with our taxes. Of course we should also always root for tech companies to stay one step ahead. But infosec is an arms ra…

>WTF do you think they do all day?

One would hope that they were trying to gain access to someone else's devices, as opposed to turning the guns towards their own citizens and economy. If a soldier showed up at my door and pointed their gun at me, my reaction wouldn't be "of course you're doing that, your job is to point guns."

Re: The CIA Campaign to Steal Apple's Secrets (2015)

#8

Nothing in this article is surprising. I mean, honestly, if you don't think the CIA is actively trying to gain access to your devices, WTF do you think they do all day? I'd be more concerned if the intelligence agencies of the world WEREN'T doing this. It's their purpose. It's what we pay them for with our taxes. Of course we should also always root for tech companies to stay one step ahead. But infosec is an arms ra…

> WTF do you think they do all day?

Look for WMD's in middle eastern countries to justify policy?

Re: The CIA Campaign to Steal Apple's Secrets (2015)

#9

Nothing in this article is surprising. I mean, honestly, if you don't think the CIA is actively trying to gain access to your devices, WTF do you think they do all day? I'd be more concerned if the intelligence agencies of the world WEREN'T doing this. It's their purpose. It's what we pay them for with our taxes. Of course we should also always root for tech companies to stay one step ahead. But infosec is an arms ra…

The CIA is spying on your phone so that the Russians and Chinese don't have to?? Really, you think CIA OpSec is that good... as in so hard to crack that it's worth spending $100 billions (in Rubles and Yuan) to do it some other way? Maybe some political doofus thinks that, but technically savvy folks should know better.

Nope, if you create a weapon you better be prepared for your enemy to use it against you.

Re: The CIA Campaign to Steal Apple's Secrets (2015)

#10

Nothing in this article is surprising. I mean, honestly, if you don't think the CIA is actively trying to gain access to your devices, WTF do you think they do all day? I'd be more concerned if the intelligence agencies of the world WEREN'T doing this. It's their purpose. It's what we pay them for with our taxes. Of course we should also always root for tech companies to stay one step ahead. But infosec is an arms ra…

> WTF do you think they do all day? One would hope that they were trying to gain access to someone else's devices, as opposed to turning the guns towards their own citizens and economy. If a soldier showed up at my door and pointed their gun at me, my reaction wouldn't be "of course you're doing that, your job is to point guns."

Somethings like spying on American phone calls (or just their "metadata") I agree with.

But somethings like breaking encryption, exploiting iPhones, etc. while they may be used against Americans can also be used against others.

Essentially there's an arms race, and we use our tax money to sponsor our government in this race, with the hopes that they'll side with us. There really isn't another option unless you want to give a private entity this power, or not participate in the race (which I don't advise).

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