Earlier quoted context omitted.
I mean, Paul LeRoux is associated with it and he's been mythologized already himself
Have people settled on whether he's also Satoshi or not?
It’s quite obvious that he is not.
How the CIA used Crypto AG encryption devices to spy on countries for decades
201–210 of 353 posts
Re: How the CIA used Crypto AG encryption devices to spy on countries for decades
#202Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I think most of us would be fine with the NSA doing what they do if it was targeted You think wrong. That fact that there are opposing world states engaging in this nefarious, oppressive, terrible acts and they're not all aligned doesn't legitimize any of these states' activities. The NSA should essentially be shut down, or cut down to a small agency operating in public with a much more limited mandate. And no secr…
Just watch the "Mission Impossible" franchising. They are obviously dramatized stories but I would not be surprised that the world has been very closed to cease to exist as we know it and the only thing that prevented was that they did their job. Only few people know what they have done, no glory, no prizes, no recognition. What kind of people do that? Heros. Feel free to down vote me. I can only guess but I would no…
There's plenty of memoirs by actual intelligence agents.
The world is a lot more boring than films and far more complicated and difficult to pull off serious operations. The serious operations often merely being inside information about other nation states. Not saving the world from bad guys.
It's mostly just a long series of super paranoid people chasing each other in circles. And in between plenty of useful information being given to leaders, ie before big events to give them an edge or whatnot.
The cold war was the heyday of the outside-the-office spycraft stuff. Today I'm sure it's mostly just countering massive digital campaigns hitting gov agencies, critical infrastructure, and megacorps. Plus the old school agents working within each of those agencies feeding information back to their motherlands.
Re: How the CIA used Crypto AG encryption devices to spy on countries for decades
#203Re: How the CIA used Crypto AG encryption devices to spy on countries for decades
#204Related question: do modern diplomats/negotiators automatically assume their comms are compromised? Are their "secure" lines ever truly secure? Surely they know the NSA/CIA would be listening.
Not all communication is compromised; for example for an embassy it could be practical to use a true one time pad which is uncrackable and attempts to intercept the key would lead to a diplomatic incident. Much of their communication probably isn’t that sensitive though.
Until the people slip up and use the same pad twice
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/07/19/russia_one_time_pad...
Re: How the CIA used Crypto AG encryption devices to spy on countries for decades
#205It follows that private VPN firms would be a similar target for deep pocketed state intelligence agencies. What do you think the chances are that the VPN service or software you use hasn't been co-opted, compromised or is outright owned by state actors in China, Europe or the US?
You can never trust VPN but it is important to have a legal case. Let’s say VPN is in a country where mass surveillance is illegal, then at least in future you can sue the VPN company if they are found out to be breaking their contract.
Re: How the CIA used Crypto AG encryption devices to spy on countries for decades
#206Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree with the sentiment. The common argument against rolling out your own encryption just baffles me. Because there are plenty of ways to roll out your own encryption safely and in such a way that drastically eliminates the possibility of getting broken. Following is just a few ideas easily implemented even by a mediocre engineer. For the easiest, you can just apply multiple encryption algorithms in succession (of…
For downvoters - constructive counterarguments are welcome.
I don’t mean to be rude, but it’s quite obvious by what you wrote that you are barely literate in cryptography, yet you are fairly certain of yourself. Your confidence is misplaced. This isn’t the type of thing that encourages actual experts to bother replying.
Examples: “side channel such as a backdoor that secretly stores keys used somewhere”, “blowfish”, nonsensical mixing of block ciphers and stream ciphers without regard for the complete construction or the implementation (by far the largest weak point), etc.
Re: How the CIA used Crypto AG encryption devices to spy on countries for decades
#207Earlier quoted context omitted.
You do realize there is a world that exists beyond your idealism and naivete?
Hmm, nah I don't think people understand that they created NSA. It is them and their neighbor living in quiet area paying taxes where government want to keep them quiet and keep paying. This way of things is giving birth to idealism and naivete. Just like people living in cities are idealistic and naive about life of cattle and poultry. You don't want innocent chicken to be killed, but it is tasty. You don't want inn…
> You don't want innocent person to be kept in hidden prison, but you feel safer.
Umm, no. That this happens makes me feel less safe. If it can happen to anyone, after all, it can happen to me or the people I hold dear.
Re: How the CIA used Crypto AG encryption devices to spy on countries for decades
#208Earlier quoted context omitted.
> For one, the government can't compel you to do work. That's slavery. Slavery's perfectly legal. The 13th Amendment: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted , shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penal_labor_in_the_United_Stat...
Are you suggesting the TrueCrypt authors had been duly convicted of a crime?
I am not. I am pointing out that the Constitutional provisions preventing slavery have a loophole big enough to drive an aircraft carrier through.
Re: How the CIA used Crypto AG encryption devices to spy on countries for decades
#209Earlier quoted context omitted.
The key difference is that decrypting something would likely need to be targeted and on a case-by-case basis, as it would take specialized work, as opposed to these sorts of attacks (much like tapping all of the pipes which transit data underseas or elsewhere, which still goes on in every country or working directly with the ISPs and mobile operators which happens in most countries) which allows mass dragnet surveill…
> I think most of us would be fine with the NSA doing what they do if it was targeted You think wrong. That fact that there are opposing world states engaging in this nefarious, oppressive, terrible acts and they're not all aligned doesn't legitimize any of these states' activities. The NSA should essentially be shut down, or cut down to a small agency operating in public with a much more limited mandate. And no secr…
I love privacy 'n' stuff, for sure.
But relative to the risk of global nuclear war, and the certainty of global climate disruption, I couldn't care less about the NSA and its adversaries.
And hey, maybe all that spying reduces the risk of overt war.
Re: How the CIA used Crypto AG encryption devices to spy on countries for decades
#210Earlier quoted context omitted.
Just watch the "Mission Impossible" franchising. They are obviously dramatized stories but I would not be surprised that the world has been very closed to cease to exist as we know it and the only thing that prevented was that they did their job. Only few people know what they have done, no glory, no prizes, no recognition. What kind of people do that? Heros. Feel free to down vote me. I can only guess but I would no…
There's plenty of memoirs by actual intelligence agents. The world is a lot more boring than films and far more complicated and difficult to pull off serious operations. The serious operations often merely being inside information about other nation states. Not saving the world from bad guys. It's mostly just a long series of super paranoid people chasing each other in circles. And in between plenty of useful informa…
And for 2 years of boring paranoia there may be 2 days that save the day.
I would expect that people that speak up are mostly dissatisfied and frustrated people.
And for opacity, one part of the org will likely not know about what is going on on the other side.
A big selection bias.
But who knows...