11–20 of 47 posts
Hrm, guess I wont buy American any more.
1. Other countries collude with America in this practise; 2. Other countries are also practising this.
Open source is a potential solution to this problem. It doesn't guarantee security (heartbleed anyone?), but it does allow anyone, anywhere, any time (assuming capability) to verify. My router runs Open-WRT, so I feel safer.
Hrm, guess I wont buy American any more.
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140124/10564825981/nsa-in...
Hrm, guess I wont buy American any more.
I've started doing the same. Of course, I wouldn't be shocked if either or both of the following were true: 1. Other countries collude with America in this practise; 2. Other countries are also practising this. Open source is a potential solution to this problem. It doesn't guarantee security (heartbleed anyone?), but it does allow anyone, anywhere, any time (assuming capability) to verify. My router runs Open-WRT, s…
I'm glad I don't live there.
Translation of the NSA statement: We don't deny altering hardware. In fact, if we (likely) install backdoors into hardware used by foreign intelligence targets; but don't worry, we're not interested in the casual user. As the US Government relies on commercial hardware, we make sure that only the US Government can access the backdoors. We're angry that this was made public, and we can't prove that it jeopardizes huma…
It also sheds some new light on the "China-hardware is bad for you" media campaign that was run right before Snowden happened. It seems that not buying American means keeping the American intelligence community out of ones network. But I guess you _actually_ can't trust the Chinese either. That doesn't leave many hardware vendors for heavy-duty network equipment to choose from.
Will barricading your front door keep thieves from coming in the side window?
Translation of the NSA statement: We don't deny altering hardware. In fact, if we (likely) install backdoors into hardware used by foreign intelligence targets; but don't worry, we're not interested in the casual user. As the US Government relies on commercial hardware, we make sure that only the US Government can access the backdoors. We're angry that this was made public, and we can't prove that it jeopardizes huma…
It also sheds some new light on the "China-hardware is bad for you" media campaign that was run right before Snowden happened. It seems that not buying American means keeping the American intelligence community out of ones network. But I guess you _actually_ can't trust the Chinese either. That doesn't leave many hardware vendors for heavy-duty network equipment to choose from.
So is it safe to assume every Intel or AMD CPU also likely has hidden capabilities waiting to be exploited by the NSA?
What are the hidden router capabilities being exploited here? What piece of COTS hardware couldn't be exploited by an attacker with unlimited physical access to it prior to delivery?
Actually, if anything, the story is proof that the routers are not backdoored from the start, otherwise why would they have to intercept shipments?
The other question I have is what happens when there is an RMA, or the equipment is sent back for repair? Might someone notice that it's been tampered with? We need more specifics to really understand what was going on here. So many questions, no real answers.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It also sheds some new light on the "China-hardware is bad for you" media campaign that was run right before Snowden happened. It seems that not buying American means keeping the American intelligence community out of ones network. But I guess you _actually_ can't trust the Chinese either. That doesn't leave many hardware vendors for heavy-duty network equipment to choose from.
Sure you can. The Chinese are 10,000 miles away and don't really care about Western domestic politics. It might be different if you are an arms or pharma company, but for the average citizen concerned about civil liberties, you really can trust the Chinese in this case.