41–48 of 48 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
They could, and then they'd be fighting an endless losing war over security. They'd rather like to have their own information attack capabilities.
Security will always be cat and mouse, but in the case of information security a good offense does not at all make for a good defense. Those holes in our information security system will still be there, to be exploited by whomever finds them. The only reasonable course of action is to devote resources to penetration testing ourselves and implementing strong security standards, along with developing good disaster reco…
For the rest, we have the basic problem that defense is much harder than offense. Also, the US seems to be far more vulnerable than most.
Those aside, offensive capabilities are needed. It's just a question of balancing them against defensive capabilities. I know firsthand that significant effort is going into defense, it just doesn't get the press that offensive capabilities do.
How about we talk about the CIA's next projects after we finish the prosecution of those in the chain of command that are responsible for torture . Or are attention spans so short and/or the agency so completely removed from the rule of law that we're going to let them get away with their crimes? If we're not even going to bother with the trial - acknowledging that we won't even bother trying to maintain the rule of…
meanwhile Obama gives pretty speeches about fighting extremism and tries to drum up more support for killing people an ocean away. American Democracy is a farce.
To drum up more support for pumping billions or trillions of dollars borrowed from America's descendants into the pockets of the US elite via the military industrial complex.
Don't like it? You're welcome to protest but make sure you do it in the designated "free speech zone" over there, well away from those you're holding the protest against.
Oh and while you're doing it we'll increase the attention we give your NSA profile, everything you look at online, your emails, everyone you've ever interacted with in a trackable way and more. Can't have you radicals trying to upset the system the elite rely on, after all.
How about we talk about the CIA's next projects after we finish the prosecution of those in the chain of command that are responsible for torture . Or are attention spans so short and/or the agency so completely removed from the rule of law that we're going to let them get away with their crimes? If we're not even going to bother with the trial - acknowledging that we won't even bother trying to maintain the rule of…
No, there will never be accountability for any of the gross abuses of the constitution, people's rights (including all those in the USA) and foreign "captives" physical and mental wellbeing highlighted in the NSA and CIA revelations.
Let's not kid ourselves. Representative democracy has shown itself to be a charade, particularly in the USA where you've two very similar entities who have billions pumped into them at election time to ensure no other entities have a shot at power, and then once elected those two very similar entities spend their time serving and protecting those that pumped in those billions.
The worst thing about it that I can't see any way out of it for the American people. The system is now so thoroughly stacked against them that any attempt at radical change - whether it's passive through the political system or more active through protests or at worst a revolution - will be very rapidly quashed. As a European I absolutely loathe that this very same, corrupted, abusive entity - the US Government - is reaching its tentacles into our governing and is now vying for power here via the TTIP and similar.
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At least in the RIAA and MPAA cases, aren't the feds just enforcing piracy laws that are on the books? I mean we can argue that RIAA/MPAA were the ones who got them into the books in the first place, but it's not like corporations can approach the CIA to perform economic espionage, despite what some may think.
The way they handled the MEGA thing it sure seemed like they were acting as mere hired guns.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Security will always be cat and mouse, but in the case of information security a good offense does not at all make for a good defense. Those holes in our information security system will still be there, to be exploited by whomever finds them. The only reasonable course of action is to devote resources to penetration testing ourselves and implementing strong security standards, along with developing good disaster reco…
Whether or not offense makes for defense depends somewhat on the actor. For some, deterrence does work. For the rest, we have the basic problem that defense is much harder than offense. Also, the US seems to be far more vulnerable than most. Those aside, offensive capabilities are needed. It's just a question of balancing them against defensive capabilities. I know firsthand that significant effort is going into defe…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Whether or not offense makes for defense depends somewhat on the actor. For some, deterrence does work. For the rest, we have the basic problem that defense is much harder than offense. Also, the US seems to be far more vulnerable than most. Those aside, offensive capabilities are needed. It's just a question of balancing them against defensive capabilities. I know firsthand that significant effort is going into defe…
Their desire for a government accessible backdoor in everything consumers own says something different.
Those shouldn't be mistaken for the whole of ongoing defensive efforts, though. Many of the others are much more practical.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Doesn't matter if it's fact if it creates a nice narrative for increasing and securing funds and power.
Why is suddenly everything the government says automatically a lie/coverup/false flag/conspiracy, yet the opposition in this case just happily accepted as fact? The USG has no need to falsely accuse North Korea in order to step up it's cyber warfare game. Stuxnet did that a long time ago and was started under the Bush administration.
The reveal of Stuxnet was before the reveal of the reach our surveillance apparatus has. The narrative was one of plausible deniability and a nod to the fact that nations were engaging in offensive online attacks.
The NK hack was an attack on American culture and values. It was symbolic in a way that attacking Iranian civilian nuclear power plants isn't. It also doesn't involve exposing and admitting to running offensive campaigns on civilians of countries we aren't at war with.
NK hack says that we need cyber defense front, since the internet is the new land bridge across the Atlantic and Pacific for anti-American extremists to attack us directly.
It fits the narrative that the measures we are taking regarding near total electronic surveillance are justified and warranted. It also is a call for more funding and power to the agencies that are engaging in the activities.