Earlier quoted context omitted.
Guess it was one of those days where Hitchens had a drink too many and got his quotes mixed up.
More likely he assumed the reader knew what he was talking about.
I would assume the same, yes.
XKeyscore: NSA program collects 'nearly everything a user does on the internet'
401–410 of 641 posts
Re: XKeyscore: NSA program collects 'nearly everything a user does on the internet'
#402Just like suspected. If you use encryption like PGP, you become person of interest.
Not surprised, but where is this statement in the article / screenshots? I am not seeing it.
It's in the full presentation linked at the top of the article. Under the heading "Finding Targets", "someone who is using encryption" is one of the listed means of identifying someone for targeting (along with "someone whose language is out of place for the region they are in"…).
Re: XKeyscore: NSA program collects 'nearly everything a user does on the internet'
#403Earlier quoted context omitted.
Just want to clarify something: > I can see how they get HTTP information, since they would intercept at transit hubs - but how are they getting all Facebook private messages and Gmail? I don't know how they're getting GMail(and this is probably a slide from when GMail was accessible via HTTP and not HTTPS), but Facebook chat specifically is done over a non-secure XMPP server. The only 'secure' part of that transacti…
With Gmail, all it takes is one request to almost any Google service to leak through a non http connection and they have your Auth cookie. Once they have that, they are you. And yes it is that easy, anyone can pull it off at Starbucks, hotels, even some ISPs.
Sorry for being so naive... does that cookie expire eventually? I have been using HTTPS everywhere on my machine, but if I log in to my Google account for YouTube, for example, from someone else's computer, how much data can they realistically download and how long would they have that ability?
Re: XKeyscore: NSA program collects 'nearly everything a user does on the internet'
#404Ok, so ignoring all moral/ethical issues with this. Wouldn't it just be awesome to work on a project like this? Unheard of funds, tons of data, interesting CS problems all around. I am sure they did everything possible to make it miserable on the developers but nonetheless... sounds fun from a completely detached CS perspective.
Yes, I was thinking the same. Sort of the software engineer equivalent of flying the best fighter jets and recognizing that you're going to be using them to bomb people in mud huts instead of dogfighting equally-classed opponents.
Re: XKeyscore: NSA program collects 'nearly everything a user does on the internet'
#405I'm getting seriously irritated at the "I have nothing to hide" crowd. For starters, here are a few ways this can go horribly wrong: * Industrial espionage -- it's big business, and I'm sure it pays better than being an NSA analyst. * Foreign espionage -- since this gives unlimited querying power to every agent, a single "turned" agent could inflict massive damage on U.S. government and industry interests on behalf o…
"Industrial espionage--"
According to a New Zealand whistleblower back in the 90s, this was one of the main purposes of the Echelon network. Imagine what happens when your larger competitor gets in bed with the NSA. According to whistleblower Russ Tice, the Bush NSA was able to request intercepts on Senator Obama, so there certainly could be enough corruption for back room deals to occur for your startup's private information.
This is yet another reason to encrypt your git traffic.
Re: XKeyscore: NSA program collects 'nearly everything a user does on the internet'
#406This is overwhelming. Even when you always hear the claims about we knew this was going on, somehow it is still shocking when you see it all laid out infront of you with screenshots and the capabilities described. I can see how they get HTTP information, since they would intercept at transit hubs - but how are they getting all Facebook private messages and Gmail? I was also looking for another unique ID that users ar…
Keep in mind also timeframes. Facebook HTTPS use -- and more so use by default -- is more recent. Remember the whole "sheep" debacle?
Even Gmail HTTPS use is somewhat recent and not original to the product.
Further, one might combine this with reporting about initiatives to gain company SSL/TLS private keys, account passwords, and the like, in some interesting speculation -- if speculation it remains.
Amongst all the rest, I would point readers towards browser fingerprinting. It's difficult for me to imagine they are not using it.
If the public is going to have some degree of counter-measures, this will include browser and other client software becoming more pro-active about anonymizing its own profile / usage profile. For one thing, stop sending highly unique fingerprint data such as font listings to every Tom, Dick, and Harry. Just one thing amongst many...
Re: XKeyscore: NSA program collects 'nearly everything a user does on the internet'
#407Earlier quoted context omitted.
He's not opposed to smartphones, he's opposed to cellular phones as these can serve as a tracking beacon, following your movements. Given that the cellular providers are capturing and archiving location data, this is fact, his conclusion is we should avoid using these sorts of phones completely. Why? The reasoning here is a awfully thin, but has something to do with "being tracked = bad" and then goes into crazy terr…
> Why? The reasoning here is a awfully thin, but has something to do with "being tracked = bad" and then goes into crazy territory from there. You don't understand why tracking may be bad? Or are you just trying very hard to mock his very valid conclusion? Here's other people's thoughts about cellphone tracking: http://www.zeit.de/datenschutz/malte-spitz-data-retention/ (totally crazy, right!) > If he's concerned abo…
Tracking can be bad for some people, it can ruin their careers, destroy their marriage, completely upend their life if that sort of information got out. However, for most of us, it's not especially valuable information and any one day will look like any other.
When I engage with social networks, use a cellular phone, I'm aware of the liability. I'm making a conscious trade-off. I really would like it to be less of a big deal, that the privacy implications were minimal, but this is the world we live in. I support political parties and representatives that would restrict how this sort of information can be used, making it less likely to be collected in the first place.
> No, it mustn't. Every bit helps.
Either you're trying to avoid being detected, or you're not. There's no half measures here.
Re: XKeyscore: NSA program collects 'nearly everything a user does on the internet'
#408Can someone explain this to me like a 5 year old and how it interfaces with PRISM?
This is considerably more invasive than PRISM. This system logs HTTP metadata and data (think the address on the envelope and the contents of the envelope), the metadata for 30 days the contents for 3 days. This http data is essentially everything that goes over the wire all of which is then shovelled into a database with a fairly sophisticated (if not pretty) front-end that allows really invasive searches. You can s…
I guess I am mostly confused about whether they have any email content capabilities...and if so, how?
Re: XKeyscore: NSA program collects 'nearly everything a user does on the internet'
#409Judgement day is inevitable.
G�#��$�5�%�����V��5�F�'98u�x�)�w���[_Fa��6�1f�!��['��"���VGu~w� ����|�U���Z�hep���G��^7{��K�wq��h|ڛ�m=�$L ��t� _��pM<�q��;����Y��C �M]!C�6ҝnV[�c�ϾWa�?C�M�"X*��b]0�Aļ��Li3`�P�#�j�f�u���!wb�]t_�q�&EԞw�����r�.<?K��{
Re: XKeyscore: NSA program collects 'nearly everything a user does on the internet'
#410I'm getting seriously irritated at the "I have nothing to hide" crowd. For starters, here are a few ways this can go horribly wrong: * Industrial espionage -- it's big business, and I'm sure it pays better than being an NSA analyst. * Foreign espionage -- since this gives unlimited querying power to every agent, a single "turned" agent could inflict massive damage on U.S. government and industry interests on behalf o…
Also, how about: just because I have nothing to hide doesn't mean that I don't mind being watched.