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Private Israeli spyware used to hack cellphones of journalists, activists

washingtonpost.com

151–160 of 172 posts

Re: Private Israeli spyware used to hack cellphones of journalists, activists

#151
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't that obvious? An exploit is to encryption as a sword is to a shield. We don't regulate shields.

A shield can inflict damage just like a sword can. Encryption hiding the details of a murder plot can be just as crucial as an exploit that reveals a murder target's location.

> A shield can inflict damage just like a sword can

That's your mistake right there

Re: Private Israeli spyware used to hack cellphones of journalists, activists

#152
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes but no. Quite frankly I love iOS and my apps and the camera etc. The big disappointment is really that there is no power user mode for the rest of us. The computer/phone is really an extension of the mind at this point and we gave up control so easily. It is as if we let corporations lock down our pleasure center.

You're a good example though for why it works so well. You're not even ready to sacrifice a bit (that bit being still disputable) to gain more control over your phone by switching the vendor. Meanwhile most people wouldn't even get your first desire. We're and have lost already.

All these discussions sound so similar to those we used to have in the early 90s about proprietary software...

Re: Private Israeli spyware used to hack cellphones of journalists, activists

#153
post #101

That's why I keep it simple. I run things out of a closet with an air gaped computer, a single printer, and a gun...in case the printer starts acting suspicious.

> a single printer You've already lost, then. Printers' output can be uniquely identified. Nothing should ever be in dead-tree format. If you need to carry something that does not need electricity to display text, use eInk. Or build your own printer.

Also, it's notoriously hard to obtain a copy of a printer's driver source code.

Re: Private Israeli spyware used to hack cellphones of journalists, activists

#154
post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Several state governments in Australia recently had to enact special legislation to stop law enforcement from using covid tracking data to find witnesses and suspects. All state governments had initially ensured the public that the data was not available to LE, but none of them had actually passed legislation to make it unlawful until journalists discovered that the Police were using the data. https://www.afr.com/pol…

In Germany every piece of data you collect has to specifiy as narrow as possible what it is being collected for before you collect it. Using pandemic related data for policing is a data privacy violation. Of course that didn't stop police from still going into some places and demanding the data. But doing so was a clear breach of law. Every piece of personal data you collect creates a pull factor for various actors t…

At the same time the state-level regulatiins require recording name and contact data, thus making CWA not enough of a (legally accepted) solution, leaving paper lists or trainwrecks like Luca.

Re: Private Israeli spyware used to hack cellphones of journalists, activists

#155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

None of these seem to be criminal enterprises… also you think adware is unique to Israel and Russia?

This isn't adware. These are targeted hacks involving zero days, that install spyware on victim's phones. This isn't BonziBuddy.

I was talking about the links the GP was posting about “download valley”.

Re: Private Israeli spyware used to hack cellphones of journalists, activists

#156
post #139
post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In this case it's not directed by the Israeli state; the Israeli state just doesn't really care, and doesn't want to interfere with the post-army job prospects of intelligence personnel.

> The Israeli minister of defence closely regulates NSO, granting individual export licences before its surveillance technology can be sold to a new country.

And he's always going to say yes unless it's going to some truly extravagant abuser (e.g. North Korea), or to a customer that would cause diplomatic problems with the US (e.g. China... maybe).

The state absolutely has the power to turn this into an instrument of foreign policy; it has chosen not to do so, in order to use it as an instrument of military-industrial policy.

(To be clear - the Israeli state is absolutely the actor to put pressure on if you want this kind of thing to stop, and indeed bears moral responsibility. But the actions of these companies are not so closely tied to Israeli state interests as to make them immune to lawsuits abroad, or even in Israel if they violate Israeli law.)

Re: Private Israeli spyware used to hack cellphones of journalists, activists

#159

Does Israel have an entire start-up sector dedicated to spyware or something? I feel like I'm reading about these all the time?

Look back at them - these stories are always about NSO group, the same company.

Nobody mildly self-conscious with a shred of ethics works there.

It's not fair to an entire industry to be painted in this light because of one bad actor.

Re: Private Israeli spyware used to hack cellphones of journalists, activists

#160
post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Germany every piece of data you collect has to specifiy as narrow as possible what it is being collected for before you collect it. Using pandemic related data for policing is a data privacy violation. Of course that didn't stop police from still going into some places and demanding the data. But doing so was a clear breach of law. Every piece of personal data you collect creates a pull factor for various actors t…

At the same time the state-level regulatiins require recording name and contact data, thus making CWA not enough of a (legally accepted) solution, leaving paper lists or trainwrecks like Luca.

That is really weird afaik, but I saw stores which used CWA despite that : )
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