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How the NSA Plans to Infect “Millions” of Computers with Malware

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Re: How the NSA Plans to Infect “Millions” of Computers with Malware

#61

Post by fit2rule »

sillysaurus3 wrote: post #34
bananas wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Firstly, your "founding fathers" - ha now there's a joke. Do you think anyone respects those amendments? Nope. If they thought that, you wouldn't be stocked up with weapons. And we all know how effective that technology is at ending all those pesky terrorists with their zip guns and IEDs...

And we all know how effective that technology is at ending all those pesky terrorists with their zip guns and IEDs... Those people have been indoctrinated since birth to see us as evil invaders. Some of their religions have baked in the idea that it's good to die in order to kill invaders. And we've sometimes acted like an evil invader. (See Blackwater atrocities, etc.) It's an invalid comparison because our populati…

There isn't a time since WW2 when America wasn't viewed as an evil invader. It really depends on whether you've got the business end of a weapon pointed at you or not.

Re: How the NSA Plans to Infect “Millions” of Computers with Malware

#62

Post by sentenza »

Crito wrote: post #51
logn wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I seriously doubt linux presents a challenge for them. Think about all the web servers that are linux, you think they don't have an army of experts that can pwn those OS's?

> Think about all the web servers that are linux None, unless you install them and activate them? What sort of desktop distro comes with pre-configured webservers?

I think you misunderstood the GP. He means that the internet runs on linux, so the OS is a high-value target. Thus, it is reasonable to assume that the intelligence agencies have collected some as-of-now-unknown-to-the-public vulnerabilities for libraries that are typically used with Linux.

Re: How the NSA Plans to Infect “Millions” of Computers with Malware

#63

Post by fit2rule »

tptacek wrote: post #28
higherpurpose wrote: post #4

Remember, Microsoft is part of this plot, even if they have "plausible deniability". Microsoft is giving NSA access to lists of vulnerabilities Windows has many months before Microsoft even begins to work on a fix. They are in effect helping NSA break into many computers, even if they are up to date. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-14/u-s-agencies-said-t... Every single one of these vulnerabilities could be see…

No. None of this is accurate. Microsoft gets information about vulnerabilities from the same sources as everyone else. They outspend every other software vendor by something like 4:1 on outside software security consultants. If they are in a privileged position regarding WinAPI software vulnerabilities at all, it is a marginally privileged position. No security person working at Microsoft would tell you they were con…

Nothing you've uttered refutes the point - that Microsoft hand over vulnerabilities to the NSA, and delay fixing them. Read the docs.

Re: How the NSA Plans to Infect “Millions” of Computers with Malware

#64

Post by pizza234 »

logn wrote: post #44

The NSA, breaking into US computers, is violating the Third Amendment, in my opinion. No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

At the time when this was written, there was a clear distinction between times of peace and war.

Nowadays, especially from the start of the "War on terror", this distinction has been artificially demolished; one of the consequences is that there is way more leverage to wark around laws (and to do many other nasty things).

Re: How the NSA Plans to Infect “Millions” of Computers with Malware

#65

Post by infinity0 »

gizmo686 wrote: post #40
infinity0 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, it is possible. Stop being defeatist, you're doing NSA/GCHQ propaganda for them for free.

>for free How do you know r0h1n is doing this for free?

I don't, but it's a general good ethical principle to Assume Good Faith in the absence of other information.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:AGF

Re: How the NSA Plans to Infect “Millions” of Computers with Malware

#66

Post by abjorn »

>"The sensors, codenamed TURMOIL, operate as a sort of high-tech surveillance dragnet, monitoring packets of data as they are sent across the Internet."

"TURMOIL", really? Honestly, is this just an elaborate setup for a new bond film or something, this is getting ridiculous.

Re: How the NSA Plans to Infect “Millions” of Computers with Malware

#67

Post by unethical_ban »

sillysaurus3 wrote: post #30
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually its been remarkably effective in other countries, have you been reading the news? Our own soldiers have not been terribly effective at pacifying unrest, and the locals have nothing but rifles etc.

It's kind of interesting to think about. Remember the hullabaloo just after the Boston bomber lit off the bomb but wasn't caught yet? Imagine all of that societal rage focused on a small group of people who have started an armed conflict and killed a few policemen, and you can imagine how quickly that group will be annihilated.

When I think about Dorner or the Boston bombers, I think about how much chaos they caused, and the fact that they evaded regional manhunts for days while accomplishing their goal. To contrast your observation: Imagine what a group of dedicated, intelligent agents could do to stir things up.

Re: How the NSA Plans to Infect “Millions” of Computers with Malware

#68

Post by aasarava »

At some point, laptops, displays, and handheld devices started carrying built-in microphones and cameras as a feature. Perhaps the new feature is devices that don't have these things? To use a mic or camera, you'd explicitly have to plug it in and could physically unplug it later.

Re: How the NSA Plans to Infect “Millions” of Computers with Malware

#69

Post by infinity0 »

mattlutze wrote: post #53
logn wrote: post #44

The NSA, breaking into US computers, is violating the Third Amendment, in my opinion. No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

I think this would be an extension of wiretapping, not soldiers taking residence forcefully in a home.

No. Malware is way more intrusive than wiretapping, it can affect your software. Implanting a chip into your brain to control your thoughts would be the extreme version of it.

Re: How the NSA Plans to Infect “Millions” of Computers with Malware

#70

Post by pjc50 »

r0h1n wrote: post #5

After a while all these news items about the NSA and GCHQ can seem a bit too much, but not if we take a step back and really understand the enormity of it all. The NSA and its cohorts set up fake Facebook websites, spoof security certificates, secretly record webcam streams, vacuum up everything they can lay their hands on etc. Meanwhile the CIA coolly wipes hundreds of documents from the machines of those who are in…

In the UK, we did manage to get the identity cards scheme killed and all the data collected destroyed. Admittedly it was still in the pilot stage.

The key to effective political action is getting all the other existing politically active groups to realise that they don't want to do politics under surveillance either. Everyone from the NRA to the NAACP should oppose this.

Talk about guns on the internet? It's trivial to keyword match make and model names, and the NSA can presumably correlate this back to home addresses. They already have the database of who the gun owners are if they were to want to confiscate them.

Remind nonwhite people about the FBI's attempts to blackmail MLK. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/07/fbi-office-brea...

Everyone should understand that this infrastructure can and will be used to interfere with domestic politics, not to mention being used to attack democracy abroad (see 20th century South American history). You cannot support a system that is unjust to your enemies and assume smugly that it will never be turned around on you (Diane Feinstein passim).

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