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Secret contract tied NSA and security industry pioneer

reuters.com

281–290 of 346 posts

Re: Secret contract tied NSA and security industry pioneer

#281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Don't be a fool. Classy. >You would let your children go hungry and live a worse life No. Read what I wrote. The words are right there. If the choice is "have children and commit evil to feed them" and "don't have children and don't commit evil", I choose the former. As should, I think, any right-thinking person. The question is probabilistic. What are the chances that the former happens? What are the chances that t…

That's a good point actually. Maybe we need more ethical loners without emotional attachments in a positions of power.

Like a celibate priesthood?

Re: Secret contract tied NSA and security industry pioneer

#282
post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>People like Snowden are rare. In all honesty, Snowden is a 30 year old single dude, and as far as I know, he doesn't have kids. Do you think he would have done what he did if he had a family to look after? In my opinion a person's first responsibility is to their family. So yeah, if you're married (like these executives probably are) and you're facing the choice between option A and option B, you should absolutely…

Maybe, we, as a community, could lessen that dilemma by helping the families of martyrs.

Also, to reward the hiring of whistle-blowers. A company that hires people with a history of raising the alarm should be more trustworthy.

Re: Secret contract tied NSA and security industry pioneer

#283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your reaction to this story was wondering if it can be used to demonstrate another member of HN being wrong in the past? Petty

When 'tptacek is wrong, he's obnoxiously wrong, especially in his inability to believe in government misbehavior, and his willingness to denigrate "message board nerds" on that sort of matter. (See also his attacks on Greenwald when the Snowden story started.) So personally I was looking forward to seeing somebody comment about him.

> When 'tptacek is wrong, he's obnoxiously wrong, especially in his inability to believe in government misbehavior

For the record, this is incorrect. In past interactions he has stated his concerns over certain of NSA's "misbehavior".

Re: Secret contract tied NSA and security industry pioneer

#284
post #99

NSA invents weak (Back Door present) crypto algo. Pushes RSA to make it a Default in a key function (RNG) by giving them $10 Million. NSA points to RSA as an early adopter and gets NIST to certify it. Millions of systems are now protected by an RSA product that the NSA deliberately weakened. Any sufficiently skilled rogue actor can attack virtually any business that uses these RSA products - NSA (Cyber security Comma…

Minor quibble (and yes I'm as outraged by this as you are) - but "rouge" means "a red powder or cream used as a cosmetic for coloring the cheeks or lips", whereas "rogue" means "a person or thing that behaves in an aberrant, faulty, or unpredictable way", which is what you mean in this comment.

Another quibble: A "rouge" is also a one-point scoring play unique to Canadian Football.

Re: Secret contract tied NSA and security industry pioneer

#285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a good point actually. Maybe we need more ethical loners without emotional attachments in a positions of power.

Like a celibate priesthood?

I here note that one can be sexually active without reproducing. No children doesn't imply celibacy.

Re: Secret contract tied NSA and security industry pioneer

#286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

right and it also explains why the Telegram guys went ahead with his suggestion, because they're presumably keen to keep their main financial backer happy. I don't think there's any attempt to sell snakeoil here, this is a case of a road to hell being paved with good intentions. To people not well versed in cryptography the things Pavel is saying and the approach Telegram is taking all seem completely reasonable, and…

With all due respect, nothing can be "obvious" unless it is proven. You cannot take something for granted just because a respected cryptographer says that. Not after we learned that NSA pushes backdoors using respected firms and people in the crypto-community.

By this reasoning you should presumably agree that the onus is on Telegram to prove the security of their system, not on the rest of the cryptography community to prove that it is insecure. Telegram have completely failed to do this. Even if Telegram had a formal proof of their system (and implementation), would you be in a position to read and understand that proof? I suspect not. Like me, you'd have to trust a group of respected cryptographers to do that job for you, so I don't really know what you're trying to say here. Just because one or two respected cryptographers appear to have become NSA tools, does not mean everyone has.

Also note that it's not a case of one random crypto guy saying that Telegram's approach is flawed, but a case of virtually the entire crypto community saying that the approach is flawed. Does this not ring alarm bells for you? How can you judge that the Telegram guys know their stuff and aren't leading you down the garden path or are themselves deluded?

With your backing, there is a real chance for Telegram to bring secure communications to the masses. This is indisputably a noble goal, but the areas that Telegram should be innovating in are in UI and features - not cryptography. There is no such thing as mostly correct, 'good enough' cryptography, either the system is secure, or it's insecure - there is basically no middle ground. If you fail, it's a bit more serious than your typical software bug - innocent people can literally die - the very people that need this the most are the most at risk. These are the reasons Telegram have been met with such a frosty reception here. Because they come across as arrogant in an area where arrogance is the absolute least desirable trait.

Re: Secret contract tied NSA and security industry pioneer

#287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6944628 > Jesus, what a tool you are. How very civil and gracious.

Sometimes it's tough to contain righteous internet rage. I think he knows that crossed the line and that is why he deleted the comment.

.. or he's doing Image Management.

Re: Secret contract tied NSA and security industry pioneer

#288
post #237
post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is disasterous. That logic is why Chaimberlain allowed Hitler to get more and more and more power. ("Surely they'll agree to peace if we just let them have Poland.") It is also why my generation (I'm 27) will eventually have to fight a nuclear war that pits Iran against Israel and possibly the US. That war will potentially kill millions. And whose fault will it be? Obama's and Bush's. They will (if history is ju…

USA made a war claiming that Iraq had Nuclear weapons. Apparently it didn't. The only one who gained anything from Iraq war, were 7 USA-based oil companies. Iran has lost the war vs Iraq a some years ago. As a European, I don't see Iran as a threat. But you probably do...

That's wrong. We do know that they had been trying to develop nuclear weapons for years. The first reactor was bought from France in the 70s and the Israelis bombed Iraq a few times to stop them from developing nuclear weapons. The same will happen with Iran if they do not stop enriching uranium above energy-related levels. Back to Iraq, there was evidence that was presented to Congress, and if you ask most of the people who voted to authorize the war based on the evidence, such as Hillary or John Kerry, they say they have no regrets in voting that way (i.e. http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/04/21/iraq.hillary/). Now, in hindsight, whether all that evidence was correct is an entirely different debate.

Re: Secret contract tied NSA and security industry pioneer

#290
post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i wonder if Snowden has any detailed info on the NSA indroduced/forced backdoors (he obviously was aware about their existence in general like pretty much everybody in the world who isn't a tptacek's religious follower) and this or something like this is what keeps him alive - ie. NSA is afraid of dead man switch while other side(s) hopes that Snowden will reveal more and specifically useful for actual hacking info w…

so that's the thing that scares me a nsa official just did an obvious trial-balloon of pardoning snowden in exchange for return of all the docs [1] but now that snowden is in russia, you have to assume that many nation-states have seen all these docs. so really, the nsa is worried that you and I will see them fucking amazing [1] http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/15/nsa-edward-snow...

The conditions for the pardon have never made sense, because as I understand it Snowden has already shared most if not all of his information with at least Greenwald and Poitras. He no longer has control over what will be shared with the public.
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