Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

AT&T has a fiberoptic splitter copying our data to NSA

eff.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

181–190 of 233 posts

Re: AT&T has a fiberoptic splitter copying our data to NSA

#181

Post by mih »

fleitz wrote: post #156
fingerprinter wrote: post #21

One thing I see people saying on here is that people should care....and I do...but I don't know _what_ to do with it! Can someone show/tell me what I, an average person, can do? It feels a bit overwhelming and things like this point out how powerless we really are. I hope I'm wrong and there are things we can do...I just don't know what they are. EDIT - Asking two more specific questions: 1. What can we do technicall…

Now you have an excellent opportunity, AT&T wants to merge with T-Mobile. Start a campaign saying that the merger will expose T-Mobile customers to NSA wiretapping. Buy some facebook ads and start something.

What is to say T-Mobile isn't already doing something similar? AT&T was only exposed because of the whistleblower.

Re: AT&T has a fiberoptic splitter copying our data to NSA

#182

Post by lallysingh »

bcl wrote: post #152
fingerprinter wrote: post #21

One thing I see people saying on here is that people should care....and I do...but I don't know _what_ to do with it! Can someone show/tell me what I, an average person, can do? It feels a bit overwhelming and things like this point out how powerless we really are. I hope I'm wrong and there are things we can do...I just don't know what they are. EDIT - Asking two more specific questions: 1. What can we do technicall…

Use https as much as possible. I note that Hacker News still doesn't have https access...

Is there anything private on HN? The packet headers will still say that you went to HN, and when. The only thing it's blocking directly is knowing your username. That's pretty straightforward to figure out from correlating POSTs to the comment timestamps.

Re: AT&T has a fiberoptic splitter copying our data to NSA

#183

Post by leot »

fingerprinter wrote: post #21

One thing I see people saying on here is that people should care....and I do...but I don't know _what_ to do with it! Can someone show/tell me what I, an average person, can do? It feels a bit overwhelming and things like this point out how powerless we really are. I hope I'm wrong and there are things we can do...I just don't know what they are. EDIT - Asking two more specific questions: 1. What can we do technicall…

If any of the major webmail providers, with millions of active users, offered "brain dead" PGP (i.e., PGP signatures by default, and automatic PGP encryption and decryption whenever possible), many of the others would follow suit and a lot could be done to counter this kind of program ...

... and, furthermore, it would take a huge bite out of spammers and phishers while allowing you to, e.g., talk to your doctor and banker over email without needing to sign in to some other closed service.

Re: AT&T has a fiberoptic splitter copying our data to NSA

#184

Post by fleitz »

mih wrote: post #181
fleitz wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Now you have an excellent opportunity, AT&T wants to merge with T-Mobile. Start a campaign saying that the merger will expose T-Mobile customers to NSA wiretapping. Buy some facebook ads and start something.

What is to say T-Mobile isn't already doing something similar? AT&T was only exposed because of the whistleblower.

Do you think T-Mobile's spokesperson is going to make a factual correction to that claim, something along the lines of 'don't worry all our customers are already wiretapped?'. Since this will never happen the argument is valid.

Re: AT&T has a fiberoptic splitter copying our data to NSA

#185

Post by leot »

The argument that there is some steady march toward tyranny and erosion in our freedoms would make sense if it weren't for the fact that these programs have existed in one form or another since WWII (e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echelon_(signals_intelligence)).

Furthermore, when, exactly, were the good ol' days, those days from which we are presumably descending into tyranny, when we (all, not just white folk) were truly "free"?

Re: AT&T has a fiberoptic splitter copying our data to NSA

#186

Post by jodrellblank »

zmblum wrote: post #2

What about the following paragraph is not clear? "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and Warrants shall not be issued, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." Am I missing something? Of cour…

I see the bits about your house, person, papers and effects, but which part covers a datacenter?

Re: AT&T has a fiberoptic splitter copying our data to NSA

#187

Post by viraptor »

asciilifeform wrote: post #137
phlux wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So after applying to YC today (worried that I borked my app) I had the following idea - which is an evolutionary idea from the one I applied to YC with, I dont know if this is possible - but I want to throw it out to HN: I would like to see mobile end-to-end secure communications apps that allow for users to have completely encrypted message passing. I had the following idea - please tell me if this would work: You h…

You will have a "car accident." Well, actually you won't, but only because you will "listen to reason" when some well-dressed uninvited guests come over for an evening chat. Call me mad, but do you ever wonder why there is no consumer hardware PGP telephone?

> do you ever wonder why there is no consumer hardware PGP telephone?

Not on the analogue phone. But you can easily get a TLS-enabled or ZRTP-enabled hardware or software VoIP phone. Many vpbx providers will also provide you with a vpn tunnel endpoint if you ask about it often enough.

Also, since the analogue phone PSTN interface is pretty trivial to handle, there are multitude of analogue encryption boxes which work as an adapter to the line. Plug & play. You could even use a pc to compress the voice on one side, encrypt, send over an established modem connection and decrypt on the other side.

You don't need the analogue phone itself to do that at all.

Re: AT&T has a fiberoptic splitter copying our data to NSA

#188

Post by kronusaturn »

HelloBeautiful wrote: post #102
fugue88 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We could use GPG for normal e-mail correspondence. But I really don't know if this would do anything more than delay any problems. In a similar vein, I've deleted all the trusted root CA certs from my computer, and am now marking individual certs trusted as I hit them. Not fail-safe, but safer, I think.

Haha, this doesn't make any sense. How can you possibly know the real cert from the one generated by NSA?

Call them on the phone and ask them to read you their cert fingerprint. Or use this: http://www.networknotary.org/firefox.html

Re: AT&T has a fiberoptic splitter copying our data to NSA

#189

Post by asciilifeform »

viraptor wrote: post #187
asciilifeform wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You will have a "car accident." Well, actually you won't, but only because you will "listen to reason" when some well-dressed uninvited guests come over for an evening chat. Call me mad, but do you ever wonder why there is no consumer hardware PGP telephone?

> do you ever wonder why there is no consumer hardware PGP telephone? Not on the analogue phone. But you can easily get a TLS-enabled or ZRTP-enabled hardware or software VoIP phone. Many vpbx providers will also provide you with a vpn tunnel endpoint if you ask about it often enough. Also, since the analogue phone PSTN interface is pretty trivial to handle, there are multitude of analogue encryption boxes which work…

> Not on the analogue phone.

And not on a consumer cell phone, either.

> But you can easily get a TLS-enabled or ZRTP-enabled hardware or software VoIP phone.

In theory, arbitrarily strong/usable encryption products can be marketed within the USA.

In practice, from this list:

A) Usable by non-experts (requires no software fiddling, hardware mix-and-match, or other wastes of time)

B) Based on uncrackable/de-facto uncrackable cryptosystem (One-time pad, Public Key - respectively)

C) Affordable by / marketed to ordinary people

We are permitted to choose only TWO.

>...the analogue phone PSTN interface is pretty trivial to handle, there are multitude of analogue encryption boxes which work as an adapter to the line.

Analog "scramblers" are a joke. Any seriously-interested party can crack any and all of them without breaking a sweat.

>...use a pc to compress the voice on one side, encrypt, send over an established modem connection...

Sure, you can use a PC. But if you package this up as a pure-hardware solution usable by anyone who already knows how to use a telephone, certain people will take steps to ensure that your product does not stay on the market.

I do not know what the penalty is for violating the "gentleman's agreement" between the NSA and the electronics industry. But I would not care to find out.

Re: AT&T has a fiberoptic splitter copying our data to NSA

#190

Post by tocomment »

reedlaw wrote: post #135
fingerprinter wrote: post #21

One thing I see people saying on here is that people should care....and I do...but I don't know _what_ to do with it! Can someone show/tell me what I, an average person, can do? It feels a bit overwhelming and things like this point out how powerless we really are. I hope I'm wrong and there are things we can do...I just don't know what they are. EDIT - Asking two more specific questions: 1. What can we do technicall…

Whenever I mention libertarian principles on HN I get a mixed response, but this is one situation where we must demand individual rights. We need to elect politicians like Ron Paul who oppose big government intrusions into our privacy. This country is supposed to be a bastion of liberty and we go to war to "protect freedom" and "democracy" and yet we are less and less free every day. When we see articles about Chines…

This.
Post reply on HN