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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)

#181

Post by [deleted] »

vl wrote: post #105
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…

Whatever they used source code for, it just a shortcut - they could do the same thing by just disassembling and binary patching (like all hackers and agencies do all the time). Basically they would never do it and risk exposure if they didn’t want to get result extremely fast.

[deleted]

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

#182

Post by def8cefe »

netsharc wrote: post #162
vaguesortof wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you mean 'id as a DOD box'? Do you mean hostname/splash screen/ip .... I'm missing something

Kids these days ;) . Before ssh there was telnet, and a telnet server can write a greeting text before asking for your username (it can even be configured to skip the login and just show you a shell), e.g.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tno79Q2X-Sg&t=31 In that video it says "User Access Verification", he probably changed his to "Dept. of Defense"...

You can write a greeting before login with SSH as well. Good place for some ascii art.

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

#183

Post by remcob »

marcosdumay wrote: post #143
remcob wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know it's a joke but: Mugs have a tendency to be put in microwaves, making them a dangerous place for electronics. If you find yourself receiving a questionable mug, time for a glass of warm milk.

Microwave ovens are not that horrible against bipolar transistors. They are completely lethal for MOS-FETs, but one can make electronics that survive it.

Do you have more information on how to do that?

Making things resilient against a kilowatt of non-ionizing microwave radiation seems challenging, in my experience it will burn the traces right off the PCB. A different game from the more common radiation-hardening where the concern is low power ionizing radiation.

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

#184

Post by unsignedchar »

vl wrote: post #112
thisisnico wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Being NSA they could have easily have gotten source code in the covert way - one of the employees had copy at home, they emailed it around! But for encryption software there is no value in source code in the first place - algorithms are standard, and software can be disassembled anyway. All access to the source code does is allows them to save time on disassembly. Author knew all this and this is why he gave them sou…

Having the source code probably just saves time on the analysis of vulnerabilities and triggering timed glitches.

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

#185

Post by pantheon »

jaywalk wrote: post #116
lb1lf wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am in Norway, so the First Amendment carries little weight around here; our equivalent is 'Article 100' (of the Constitution) stating pretty much the same thing as the First Amendment. (This is hardly relevant; I just grasped the opportunity to stress that the HN crowd resides in the most peculiar places...)

Ah, I just assumed you were in the US because we actually have a Department of Defense.

Every country has a Department of Defense.

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

#186

Post by marcus_holmes »

burrows wrote: post #22
marcus_holmes wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not? I mean, if the cops turned up at your door with a search warrant, you'd let them in, right?

The NSA agent didn't have a "search warrant".

No they didn't, but they proved who they were to the OP's satisfaction, and left it to him to decide whether he should help them or not.

To me, this is a bit of a no-brainer. A government agency wants my help to do something. Do I trust them? Do I help them? Well... yes. They're the government. Incompetent sometimes, irrelevant a lot of the time, inefficient, sure. But ultimately there to provide a service for me as a citizen. If they need my help, then I should probably help them.

I understand that Americans don't trust their government like this. I'm not sure why not.

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

#187

Post by marcus_holmes »

Frost1x wrote: post #28
voz_ wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait, why would you not want to use software relied on for national security interests?

Does this jump into the "something/nothing to hide" argument? The idea that there's an intentional backdoor through security for some institution that may or may not be acting in your best interest is enough for me to not want to use it. Just about everyone has something to hide, but what they're hiding and the reasons they're hiding it may only be used as leverage against them and have nothing that's a threat to any…

>> People have rights to secure/hide those things when they're no real threat to national security

ftfy

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

#188

Post by tephra »

jacobush wrote: post #130
Jenz wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Now, I definitely am biased, being a norwegian myself. But I see people mentioning themselves being norwegians everywhere here on HN. I don’t recall seeing half as many people going around saying, «I’m a dane» or similar; this seems peculiar, Norway is small. I wonder if it actually is at it seems to me, or if I just miss these seemingly non–but—actually-not–non-existant remarks.

They just like to point it out. :-D I suppose they are afraid someone would take them for a Swede, that'd be embarrassing.

Not so long ago there were people who were born when Sweden and Norway were in a union together.

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

#189

Post by duncan_bayne »

marcus_holmes wrote: post #186
burrows wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The NSA agent didn't have a "search warrant".

No they didn't, but they proved who they were to the OP's satisfaction, and left it to him to decide whether he should help them or not. To me, this is a bit of a no-brainer. A government agency wants my help to do something. Do I trust them? Do I help them? Well... yes. They're the government. Incompetent sometimes, irrelevant a lot of the time, inefficient, sure. But ultimately there to provide a service for me as…

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_syphilis_experiment

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRISM_(surveillance_program)

Those two spring to mind immediately, and I'm not American, I'm Australian.

Personally, I don't understand why anyone trusts their Government more than the bare minimum required to support the rule of law.

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

#190

Post by duncan_bayne »

Hnrobert42 wrote: post #170
rcoveson wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I ran an neighborhood ISP, and the cops asked me to spy on a neighbor (for reasons they wouldn't even provide), then I'd shut down first. If they just wanted to search _my_ stuff, sure. But if the only reason that I'm even capable of assisting the government in spying on somebody is that they are my customer, neighbor, friend, or user then I will not offer that assistance. That would be evil. Don't be evil.

Supporting the government in lawful operations is not evil. There are many, many examples of the abuse of power by the government. But at least in the US, there is a system of checks and balances including freedom of the press and an independent judiciary. If we give up faith in those things then we will succumb to a lawless, might-makes-right society. What makes you think you know better than the duly elected and ap…

At what point in the author's encounter with Dave did Dave provide any evidence whatsoever that he was engaged in a lawful operation?
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