30+ CIA agents killed because disguised comms sites used Google-able HTML (2018) • Hacker News Board

Re: 30+ CIA agents killed because disguised comms sites used Google-able HTML (2018)

#21

Post by the_only_law » Sat, Feb 06, 2021, 6:35 PM UTC

throwawayQuwcy wrote: post #2

The CIA and other US agencies hosted innocent looking sites (yoga, books) with secret login areas for covert communication. Iran found one of these of sites and used this to uncover ALL of them, probably through a shared piece of HTML. Agents then could be easily discovered by state monitoring of visitors to these sites. Iran shared this with China & other powers and at least 30 agents killed. Internal CIA reports sa…

This might be dipping into kooky internet conspiracy territory, but there's a theory that some former moderator of a highly controversial subreddit was involved with such a site.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tF0dCNxfYHk

Re: 30+ CIA agents killed because disguised comms sites used Google-able HTML (2018)

#22

Post by dragonwriter » Sat, Feb 06, 2021, 6:37 PM UTC

bitshiftfaced wrote: post #15

slim wrote: post #8

This almost certainly included information sharing between these countries on U.S. covert communications techniques, said multiple former officials — the makings of a real-life “axis of evil.” so you spy on sovereign states within their own borders, and somehow they are the axis of evil when they catch your spies. this is narcissitic perversion at the state level

The difference is that the US either leverages foreign spies (e.g. trade for its own captured spies) or, like captured sources, they go to prison for breaking espionage laws or treason. They don't execute these people like some other countries do.

> They don't execute these people like some other countries do.

Well, the US government doesn't have an incentive to call attention to any extradjudicial killings of foreign spies that it does the way it does when its own agents are extrajudicially killed, and less-democratic states don't need to broadcast foreign counterintelligence killings to build support for desired policies, so the information situation isn't exactly symmetric.

Re: 30+ CIA agents killed because disguised comms sites used Google-able HTML (2018)

#23

Post by bitshiftfaced » Sat, Feb 06, 2021, 6:59 PM UTC

dragonwriter wrote: post #22

bitshiftfaced wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The difference is that the US either leverages foreign spies (e.g. trade for its own captured spies) or, like captured sources, they go to prison for breaking espionage laws or treason. They don't execute these people like some other countries do.

> They don't execute these people like some other countries do. Well, the US government doesn't have an incentive to call attention to any extradjudicial killings of foreign spies that it does the way it does when its own agents are extrajudicially killed, and less-democratic states don't need to broadcast foreign counterintelligence killings to build support for desired policies, so the information situation isn't e…

If the US executed 30 Chinese spies, you're saying China would voluntarily suppress that information and allow the world to believe the US didn't do anything improper?