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NYT journalist hacked with Pegasus after reporting on previous hacking attempts

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Re: NYT journalist hacked with Pegasus after reporting on previous hacking attempts

#91

Post by Teichopsia »

OminousWeapons wrote: post #34
FridayoLeary wrote: post #9

So how do we protect our privacy from the advance of technology? It doesn't seem possible. Just going after NSO is useless.

It depends on what your threat model is. If its individuals, local law enforcement, or even national law enforcement (context dependent) you are trying to hide from, you can obtain phones with cash and make it very difficult to link them to you (use a sim card bought with cash and never give out that number, use a VOIP service for your primary number, use an OS that doesn't send back much telemetry, turn off location…

I'm going to go on a tangent if you don't mind.

I was recently asked how to make an anonymous post to a local news organization where all they wanted to do was hide their IP. I said if their only worry is the news organization then a VPN would be enough... Now that I'm reading your comment I'm having second thoughts whether it was right.

Re: NYT journalist hacked with Pegasus after reporting on previous hacking attempts

#92

Post by jprd »

fortran77 wrote: post #76
atdt wrote: post #22

Forget Y Combinator -- come build the next great surveillance start-up at the IDF's Unit 8200, the world's greatest hacker school and incubator for mass surveillance start-ups. With generous subsidies from US taxpayers, Unit 8200 lets you level up your surveillance game by practicing on 4.5 million Palestinian beta-testers. (Go nuts, it's not like they can sue you!) Plus, say goodbye to those moral qualms -- at 8200,…

Unit 8200 gets no money from U.S. Taxpayers.

I will presume that this comment was made with forthrightness and lack of information rather than attempting to obfuscate a fairly obvious funding funnel from the US -> IDF -> 8200.

The US gov't provides billions, yearly, in monetary aid and guaranteed loans to Israel specifically for military funding. Sure, most of that has earmarks, but that's the way the game is played.

This doesn't account for anything in the black budget, which as you can imagine, probably includes quite a bit for this realm. With Israel currently considered an indispensable intelligence partner (and thusly an outsourced R&D partner), I find it hard to suspend disbelief enough to accept that U.S. taxpayers aren't funding Unit 8200 just because there isn't a line item in public budgets.

Re: NYT journalist hacked with Pegasus after reporting on previous hacking attempts

#93

Post by seniorivn »

catlikesshrimp wrote: post #89

Why aren't political exposed persons leaving iphones? It has been known for a while that it is not secure for them. An android tablet connecting to wifi hotspots only, or even lan only, with minimal software, and a dumb phone are more secure than iphone.

no they are not, targeted attack of someone who is capable of using Pegasus is going to be successful regardless a consumer device u choose to use.

Re: NYT journalist hacked with Pegasus after reporting on previous hacking attempts

#94

Post by wolverine876 »

1cvmask wrote: post #12

It would seem to be the rational thing for NSO to hack a journalist who is writing on them, so that they better prepare for what’s coming. As for all the countries that buy and use NSO, to target and kill journalists, they are all close all allies of the US and Israel. And the US and England were also spying on the journalist Julian Assange, and have kept him in prison and tortured him for over a decade. Ben Hubbard…

> the US and England were also spying on the journalist Julian Assange, and have kept him in prison and tortured him for over a decade. Ben Hubbard luckily just got hacked.

As you probably know, these assertions are a big stretch for many people. Not everyone considers Assange a journalist. He was living in an embassy for most of those years, so while he was confined, it's not a prison and not torture. Hubbard isn't lucky; neither the US or UK have ever imprisoned and tortured a journalist from a major publication (unless I'm overlooking someone). There may be legitimate debate about Assange, but it's not credible to pretend that these are facts.

Re: NYT journalist hacked with Pegasus after reporting on previous hacking attempts

#95

Post by zizee »

lifeisstillgood wrote: post #81
FridayoLeary wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What will happen when hiding even small illegal activities becomes impossible?

This depends on your threat model (what is illegal, who chooses to prosecute, etc) I was driving home today and the satnav warned us about driving over speed limit (74 mph on UK motorway). Ok. But the solution to that is technology - and organisation. There are speed cameras on this road. But most of the time they don't take images or don't trigger an action. If every road camera triggered a warning / fine on every v…

> which we give up and decriminialise

Or governments will continue to have those laws on the books and prosecute them with discretion (which is what happens today). It is very convenient for those in power when every person is already guilty of something.

Re: NYT journalist hacked with Pegasus after reporting on previous hacking attempts

#96

Post by amerine »

catlikesshrimp wrote: post #89

Why aren't political exposed persons leaving iphones? It has been known for a while that it is not secure for them. An android tablet connecting to wifi hotspots only, or even lan only, with minimal software, and a dumb phone are more secure than iphone.

What!? You’re statement is really wrong. Android tablets on hotspots only??? What?

Re: NYT journalist hacked with Pegasus after reporting on previous hacking attempts

#97

Post by input_sh »

zionic wrote: post #62
cronix wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> (I assume it is illegal in America, but how about Israel?) This part doesn't matter much in practicality. Like it is illegal for the US gov't to spy on their citizens. It is illegal for the UK to spy on their citizens. So the NSA made a deal with the UK. They spy on us, we spy on them, and exchange the info. There, the US didn't break the law and neither did the UK. They worked around it. We live in a shadowy world…

> Like it is illegal for the US gov't to spy on their citizens. It is illegal for the UK to spy on their citizens. So the NSA made a deal with the UK. They spy on us, we spy on them, and exchange the info. There, the US didn't break the law and neither did the UK. Let’s not mince words, this is officials of the United States of America conspiring with foreign hostile [0] powers to undermine the rights and security of…

> and an incoming president with the stones required could arrest much of the former administration’s “intelligence community” leadership in midnight raids via the insurrection act.

Sure they could, but they won't. No president will, if for no other reason then out of fear that the next one from the opposite party will do the same to their administration. Unless they outright shoot someone in front of witnesses, I don't expect this ever to happen, regardless of the level of corruption.

Re: NYT journalist hacked with Pegasus after reporting on previous hacking attempts

#98

Post by nuclearnice1 »

nix23 wrote: post #90
chinathrow wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rational? Maybe. Ethical? No. Legitimate? Hell no.

Fun fact, the CIA had/has a rule not to impersonate priests etc, journalist or personnel of NGO's in undercover missions (because they have a hard life in some country's already). But then there is that excellent movie Spy Game....

The CIA reportedly used the “Save the Children” charity as a front for a fake hepatitis B vaccination program in Pakistan to help confirm Bin Laden’s location.

A ban on the polio vaccination program in some Taliban territory and attacks on vaccine workers followed.

Re: NYT journalist hacked with Pegasus after reporting on previous hacking attempts

#99

Post by kvathupo »

greatjack613 wrote: post #33
atdt wrote: post #22

Forget Y Combinator -- come build the next great surveillance start-up at the IDF's Unit 8200, the world's greatest hacker school and incubator for mass surveillance start-ups. With generous subsidies from US taxpayers, Unit 8200 lets you level up your surveillance game by practicing on 4.5 million Palestinian beta-testers. (Go nuts, it's not like they can sue you!) Plus, say goodbye to those moral qualms -- at 8200,…

@dang This comment is negative, and doesn't contribute anything productive to the conversation. Please remove

Eh, the comment made me google to learn more about Unit 8200.

That said, surely you can agree the removal of comments we don't like is undemocratic. Further, no one user is the boss of this site's moderators. Here's a relevant article [1]: moderators are human too :)

[1] - https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-silicon-valley/th...

Re: NYT journalist hacked with Pegasus after reporting on previous hacking attempts

#100

Post by AmericanChopper »

lazide wrote: post #24
AmericanChopper wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The government’s ability to prevent software distribution is limited significantly by the first amendment. Selling “a tool for hacking” is fine, selling “a tool for committing crime” would be illegal, but that distinction just comes down to picking the right marketing copy. The government can however restrict the import and export of software quite broadly. This is not legal advice, obviously.

Well, and the first amendment only matters if someone gets it to court, the court accepts it (not easy to get against the federal gov’t), the evidence or the plaintiff doesn’t ‘disappear’ in the mean time, etc.

Depends on what kind of court you’re talking about. If you’re talking about civil court, then any software (or anything at all really) can be used for committing a tort.

If the government tried to ban certain types of software from being made/distributed, they would either make a law that’s never enforced (like the obviously unconstitutional DMCA anti-circumvention law), or a law that’s immediately struck down by the courts.

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