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The NSA called me after midnight and requested my source code (2018)

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Re: The NSA called me after midnight and requested my source code (2018)

#61

Post by thisisnico »

kapitalx wrote: post #25
code4tee wrote: post #13

Interesting story, but wouldn’t be surprised if the real play here was to get his source code so they could get some bad guys to use a modified version that the NSA could crack. Put a back door in and then intercept traffic trying to download the encryption app to download the back-doored version. The fact that the NSA has to call him in the middle of the night to learn that the free version didn’t use strong encrypt…

From the story, I didn't get the sense that Dave didn't know that the shareware version used 40-bit encryption. But that it was a revelation for the author. Sounded like Dave didn't give up any information, other than the relevant version.

I see so many tactics of an expert negotiator here. Being incredibly nice and respectful. They were able to get what they wanted. They were able to convince you of an issue, with urgency, without any evidence of the use of your code other than the words of the officer. The story could have absolutely been fabricated to obtain access to the source code per an initiative to have access to cryptographic software, or it could have been true.

Re: The NSA called me after midnight and requested my source code (2018)

#62

Post by bsamuels »

ebg13 wrote: post #52

I can't help but feel like the author sounds excessively credulous. I had to stop reading after he wrote "I could tell something big was up and there simply wasn’t time to debate the merits of handing over my source code to the NSA", because at that point my eyes rolled so hard they fell right out the back of my head. After I put them back in, I skipped down to the comments. I have a hard time not agreeing vehemently…

I'm sorry but if you think the NSA is the shadiest government agency on the planet, then you live in an information bubble.

Do you think the NSA is shadier than the KGB? What about the Iranian Revolutionary Guard? Or even the CIA?

I know people are upset about the Snowden revelations but there are much graver sins that have been committed by other agencies.

Re: The NSA called me after midnight and requested my source code (2018)

#63

Post by number6 »

bsamuels wrote: post #62
ebg13 wrote: post #52

I can't help but feel like the author sounds excessively credulous. I had to stop reading after he wrote "I could tell something big was up and there simply wasn’t time to debate the merits of handing over my source code to the NSA", because at that point my eyes rolled so hard they fell right out the back of my head. After I put them back in, I skipped down to the comments. I have a hard time not agreeing vehemently…

I'm sorry but if you think the NSA is the shadiest government agency on the planet, then you live in an information bubble. Do you think the NSA is shadier than the KGB? What about the Iranian Revolutionary Guard? Or even the CIA? I know people are upset about the Snowden revelations but there are much graver sins that have been committed by other agencies.

Whataboutism

Re: The NSA called me after midnight and requested my source code (2018)

#64

Post by at-fates-hands »

jessaustin wrote: post #24
voz_ wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you trolling?

I didn't post TFA. What NSA are described as doing in TFA (investigating some "dumb criminal") is clearly outside the mission granted them by statute. Furthermore, they so regularly act in contravention of law that there is a commonly-known phrase that describes this activity: "parallel construction". Furthermore, they are lauded rather than criticized in TFA for this unlawful behavior. Furthermore, they regularly pa…

You do realize regardless of resources they had at their disposal, the reason 9/11 happened was because of inter-agency competition and the lack of knowledge sharing between said agencies?

This is the primary reason the Department of Homeland Security was created in the first place.

Re: The NSA called me after midnight and requested my source code (2018)

#65

Post by smolder »

starpilot wrote: post #58
ebg13 wrote: post #52

I can't help but feel like the author sounds excessively credulous. I had to stop reading after he wrote "I could tell something big was up and there simply wasn’t time to debate the merits of handing over my source code to the NSA", because at that point my eyes rolled so hard they fell right out the back of my head. After I put them back in, I skipped down to the comments. I have a hard time not agreeing vehemently…

HN is so paranoid. All government is bad, anyone from a spy agency is some double/triple/quadruple agent who's actually a terrorist child soldier working for Facebook on the side.

Is that surprising? They do stuff that is rather paranoia-inducing, like: illegitimate dragnet spying on our populous, breaking into networks to eavesdrop and gather secret keys/intel, backdooring random number generators, etc.

Re: The NSA called me after midnight and requested my source code (2018)

#66

Post by bsamuels »

number6 wrote: post #63
bsamuels wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sorry but if you think the NSA is the shadiest government agency on the planet, then you live in an information bubble. Do you think the NSA is shadier than the KGB? What about the Iranian Revolutionary Guard? Or even the CIA? I know people are upset about the Snowden revelations but there are much graver sins that have been committed by other agencies.

Whataboutism

No, it's not whataboutism. His statement is that "the NSA is the shadiest agency". I am arguing that it is not the most shady.

If I tried to justify the NSA's behavior _because_ of what the GRU/IRA/CIA does, that is whataboutism. Hope this was a bit helpful.

Re: The NSA called me after midnight and requested my source code (2018)

#67

Post by jedimastert »

op03 wrote: post #32

July 2000 is I guess a pre-Google world...so how would "Call 411 and ask for the number of main naval base in Bethesda, MD" work? Just curious how the operator did these lookups?

It's something that couldn't easily be faked at the time.

Re: The NSA called me after midnight and requested my source code (2018)

#68

Post by klodolph »

svenfaw wrote: post #55
op03 wrote: post #32

July 2000 is I guess a pre-Google world...so how would "Call 411 and ask for the number of main naval base in Bethesda, MD" work? Just curious how the operator did these lookups?

Almost everybody was already using Google by late 1999.

That date is off, it was somewhere in the 2002-2004 range. Back in 1999 I think Yahoo! was the most popular, or maybe AOL’s search engine.

Re: The NSA called me after midnight and requested my source code (2018)

#69

Post by smolder »

number6 wrote: post #63
bsamuels wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sorry but if you think the NSA is the shadiest government agency on the planet, then you live in an information bubble. Do you think the NSA is shadier than the KGB? What about the Iranian Revolutionary Guard? Or even the CIA? I know people are upset about the Snowden revelations but there are much graver sins that have been committed by other agencies.

Whataboutism

Not really, a comparison was implied. They didn't say "shady agency", they said "shadiest", which makes a claim and invites dispute about the others' relative shadiness.

Re: The NSA called me after midnight and requested my source code (2018)

#70

Post by whytaka »

number6 wrote: post #63
bsamuels wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sorry but if you think the NSA is the shadiest government agency on the planet, then you live in an information bubble. Do you think the NSA is shadier than the KGB? What about the Iranian Revolutionary Guard? Or even the CIA? I know people are upset about the Snowden revelations but there are much graver sins that have been committed by other agencies.

Whataboutism

This is definitely not a case of Whataboutism as it is literally about comparing one with others.
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