21–30 of 147 posts
Transmit as far as "EIGHT Miles". Does anyone know what type of power this would take? I imagine if they used a less noisy frequency combined with sensitive receiving equipment, it would not take much. I used to play with CB radios which has a cap at 4W, with a good antenna, one could transmit 7+ miles in good situations.
edit: I know the article mentions wireless, but it might not be true after all
Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is what happens when you screw up at the magnitude the NSA has, EVERYTHING will be released and scrutinized for the foreseeable future. Right or wrong they made the bed they now have to sleep in.
Plus, the assumption that they're only using their surveillance technologies against foreign powers is now known to (often) be a false assumption. So it's not immediately clear which systems are only being used against foreign powers, so one wouldn't even know what might be held back (if one were to take the position that things only affecting espionage against other nations should be kept quiet).
I think some people see the NSA as fundamentally good and trustworthy, but perhaps exercising a little bad judgment and/or overreach. Others see their breach of trust as reason for grave concern and a flagrant abuse of power that merits our consideration that it may be the tip of an iceberg inadvertently revealed by a rogue agency.
Where people fall on that continuum probably drives their responses to subsequent revelations more than anything.
Nobody with an unspoiled mind and following the news last year will believe this bullshit.
If there is anything, people all over the world (also in the US) should have learned: Statements from people of some federal US organisations can not be believed at all -- in many cases the complete opposite is true.
I do understand that it is now the status quo to disavow everything the NSA is, but foreign intelligence gathering is their mission and releasing these details simply doesn't help the cause of fixing the NSA's less savoury incursions. While arguably any foreign intelligence agency of note isn't going to be caught off guard by these leaks, leaking these details does offer political ammunition to the very people who st…
Who's to say that American intelligence gathering is on the right 'side'? Why should members of 'foreign' countries be held to a different standard?
> The technology, which has been used by the agency since at least 2008, relies on a covert channel of radio waves that can be transmitted from tiny circuit boards and USB cards Obviously if someone has physical access to a machine it can be compromised. Replace "USB Cards" with "USB WiFi stick" and you've achieved the same thing. This is just FUD. Machines that are air-gapped from the Internet with tight physical se…
I do understand that it is now the status quo to disavow everything the NSA is, but foreign intelligence gathering is their mission and releasing these details simply doesn't help the cause of fixing the NSA's less savoury incursions. While arguably any foreign intelligence agency of note isn't going to be caught off guard by these leaks, leaking these details does offer political ammunition to the very people who st…
What if the foreignerns don't want to spied up on? Or do they count for less?
No wonder, when you don't belong to "gods own people", isn't it?
This sounds like a non-issue to me. Any person on this site could create little USB devices for stealing data. It's nothing special or new. I thought I was going to hear that they're light years beyond Tempest[1] or something. Feels good to finally hear an NSA story that doesn't depress me. 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempest_(codename)
It can be inserted by a manufacturer, as mentioned in the article. A little chip (inside the motherboard/CPU/hard disk/graphic card) with a radio module that can receive radio signals and write the received data directly into hard disk and/or RAM or read bytes from the hard disk and/or RAM and/or graphic card and transmit it back.
This is why I have always been cautious about those who advocate personal cryptography as a privacy solution. We need clear laws, first and foremost, to reign them in. Otherwise, we are effectively saying that if they can get it (i.e. decrypt it), it is fair game. Cat-and-mouse is not a game we want to play with the NSA.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Who's to say that American intelligence gathering is on the right 'side'? Why should members of 'foreign' countries be held to a different standard?
Can we get a Politics tab on the HN bar so we can filter the endless political debates? This should make everyone happy?
Just wondering.
I do understand that it is now the status quo to disavow everything the NSA is, but foreign intelligence gathering is their mission and releasing these details simply doesn't help the cause of fixing the NSA's less savoury incursions. While arguably any foreign intelligence agency of note isn't going to be caught off guard by these leaks, leaking these details does offer political ammunition to the very people who st…
What if the foreignerns don't want to spied up on? Or do they count for less?