Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Snowden: Hack of an NSA server is not unprecedented, publication of the take is

twitter.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

131–140 of 240 posts

Re: Snowden: Hack of an NSA server is not unprecedented, publication of the take is

#131

Post by matt4077 »

jdimov10 wrote: post #38
ajdlinux wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does anyone on earth not have an obligation to be ethical? (Yes, I know there is no universally accepted definition of "ethical".)

Yes, I don't. Because when you say "act ethical" you mean "do what pleases me". This is why you can't put forth a definition, because if you did, it would expose your hypocrisy. And I'm not one bit interested in doing what pleases you. I'm only interested in doing what pleases ME (as is every other person on Earth, although most will never admit it out of cowardice). So no, I don't have ANY obligation at all towards…

That's pseudo-intellectual hobbelgoggle.

"Pleasing" deals with emotions, so we can drop the facade of hyper-rationality right there. Cooperation is beneficial for an itdividuums' survival, as you rightfully state. It is indeed of such importance that the standards of cooperation have been internalized long ago – for non-sociopaths, altruism is an end in itself and creates positive feelings.

And if you insist on your way of looking at it you actually stopped half-way: what "pleases you" is /also/ just a useful heuristic to maximize you reproductive success. The warm feeling you get from winning the lottery is no more or less real than the warm feeling (other) people get when they see someone happily getting married.

For this whole system the borders between the individual and the group are fluid. While certainly, all else being equal, the individual's need usually trumps the group's, it is anything but clear-cut in most real scenarios. You may be willing to sacrifice someones life to save your own, but that can change if the other person is you daughter, when you get to old age or when it's not a 1:1 sacrifice but merely an assumption of a non-zero risk of death.

Re: Snowden: Hack of an NSA server is not unprecedented, publication of the take is

#132

Post by ohitsdom »

chatmasta wrote: post #40
jordigh wrote: post #28

Ed was a Booz Allen Hamilton employee only for a couple of months. He wasn't even out of his probation period as an employee. It's really amazing that in such a short time he was able to siphon all this information out of the NSA. I wonder what more information could he have collected if he had spent a longer time contracting for the NSA. I wonder how much more about the NSA we could know if people who have dedicated…

If you want to put on your tinfoil hat for a second, consider the fact that Snowden started his career in the military, then moved to CIA, then moved to Booz Allen. It's entirely possible that Snowden is an ongoing CIA op to discredit their rival NSA as part of a turf war.

Haven't Snowden's leaks hurt the CIA a little too much to be considered collateral damage?

Re: Snowden: Hack of an NSA server is not unprecedented, publication of the take is

#133

Post by jasonwatkinspdx »

jdimov10 wrote: post #38
ajdlinux wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does anyone on earth not have an obligation to be ethical? (Yes, I know there is no universally accepted definition of "ethical".)

Yes, I don't. Because when you say "act ethical" you mean "do what pleases me". This is why you can't put forth a definition, because if you did, it would expose your hypocrisy. And I'm not one bit interested in doing what pleases you. I'm only interested in doing what pleases ME (as is every other person on Earth, although most will never admit it out of cowardice). So no, I don't have ANY obligation at all towards…

> I'm only interested in doing what pleases ME (as is every other person on Earth, although most will never admit it out of cowardice).

This simply isn't true. Humans engage in many self sacrificing behaviors for a variety of reasons. We're a social species with complex instincts and tendencies in how we form groups and collaborate. People who understand humanity is not a cartoon of individual self interest are not cowards.

Re: Snowden: Hack of an NSA server is not unprecedented, publication of the take is

#134

Post by matt4077 »

saint_fiasco wrote: post #63
ikeboy wrote: post #4

>8) Circumstantial evidence and conventional wisdom indicates Russian responsibility. Here's why that is significant: Interesting that he's not afraid to point the finger at Russia while still relying on them for protection. My respect for him just went up.

If Snowden is right then Russia wants people to know extra-officially that it was them.

That's not new, actually. Remember the Polonium murder? They take some weird pride in their lack of humanity.

Re: Snowden: Hack of an NSA server is not unprecedented, publication of the take is

#135

Post by anf »

dpark wrote: post #110
geggam wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do people insist on calling the US a democracy ? It is a Constitutional Republic with the only democratic process being the representatives you elect .... represent you ... sometimes... if they feel like it.... unless they have been bribe^H^H^H^H lobbied to do otherwise.

Because it is a democracy. When you democratically elect representatives, it's a democracy. If you elect incompetent, or corrupt, or evil representatives, it's still a democracy.

Doesn't that depend what the representatives then do? Also, what about federal judges? None of those are democratically elected, and they get to interpret all the laws in ways that have great consequence. Hence, America's government is a little more complicated than "democracy", although some parts of it are surely "democratic" (e.g. the house of reps).

Re: Snowden: Hack of an NSA server is not unprecedented, publication of the take is

#136

Post by ffggvv »

imglorp wrote: post #10

His complete post (just in case) original 4:40 AM - 16 Aug 2016 from @Snowden: The hack of an NSA malware staging server is not unprecedented, but the publication of the take is. Here's what you need to know: (1/x) 1) NSA traces and targets malware C2 servers in a practice called Counter Computer Network Exploitation, or CCNE. So do our rivals. 2) NSA is often lurking undetected for years on the C2 and ORBs (proxy ho…

Linkable version https://typed.pw/a/1333

Re: Snowden: Hack of an NSA server is not unprecedented, publication of the take is

#137

Post by ex_amazon_sde »

coldcode wrote: post #23

This is no different than the constant "war" between military offense and defense. "Good guys" and "bad guys" constant try to get the upper hand leading to temporary winners and losers. You build a fatter castle wall, I build a stronger cannon. The NSA and its adversaries are no different.

Not at all. This are governments attacking citizens, both in the same and other countries. Secretly, and without a declaration of war. Targeting activists, political targets, financial institutions to exploit them, not to win a war.

And the victims cannot even surrender.

Re: Snowden: Hack of an NSA server is not unprecedented, publication of the take is

#138

Post by jdimov10 »

jasonwatkinspdx wrote: post #133
jdimov10 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I don't. Because when you say "act ethical" you mean "do what pleases me". This is why you can't put forth a definition, because if you did, it would expose your hypocrisy. And I'm not one bit interested in doing what pleases you. I'm only interested in doing what pleases ME (as is every other person on Earth, although most will never admit it out of cowardice). So no, I don't have ANY obligation at all towards…

> I'm only interested in doing what pleases ME (as is every other person on Earth, although most will never admit it out of cowardice). This simply isn't true. Humans engage in many self sacrificing behaviors for a variety of reasons. We're a social species with complex instincts and tendencies in how we form groups and collaborate. People who understand humanity is not a cartoon of individual self interest are not c…

Bullshit.

Re: Snowden: Hack of an NSA server is not unprecedented, publication of the take is

#139

Post by matt4077 »

eternalban wrote: post #98
chatmasta wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want to put on your tinfoil hat for a second, consider the fact that Snowden started his career in the military, then moved to CIA, then moved to Booz Allen. It's entirely possible that Snowden is an ongoing CIA op to discredit their rival NSA as part of a turf war.

What else could he be? Don't have the time to enumerate all the reasons but if you entertain this option then a very happy news and silver lining follows ... > tinfoil You mean thinking and arriving at conclusions not blared from approved media outlets?

> You mean thinking and arriving at conclusions not blared from approved media outlets?

Nah, cynical one-upmanship by a bunch of people who consider Tom Clancy to be a good author.

Re: Snowden: Hack of an NSA server is not unprecedented, publication of the take is

#140

Post by grandalf »

imglorp wrote: post #10

His complete post (just in case) original 4:40 AM - 16 Aug 2016 from @Snowden: The hack of an NSA malware staging server is not unprecedented, but the publication of the take is. Here's what you need to know: (1/x) 1) NSA traces and targets malware C2 servers in a practice called Counter Computer Network Exploitation, or CCNE. So do our rivals. 2) NSA is often lurking undetected for years on the C2 and ORBs (proxy ho…

There is an interesting story and for some reason HN's top comments have to do with people being annoyed he tweeted rather than blogged. Let's hope some additional voting improves the s/n ratio of this thread, and the useless comments (including this one) disappear.
Post reply on HN