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Snowden: NSA just lost control of its Top Secret arsenal of digital weapons

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Re: Snowden: NSA just lost control of its Top Secret arsenal of digital weapons

#291

Post by Mahn »

samirillian wrote: post #219
sillysaurus3 wrote: post #26

It's pretty fascinating to read the Shadow Broker's posts. They have to write something, since they can't just say "I work for Russia and we're reminding America that they're not invulnerable." So they have to come up with all sorts of contrived reasons about why they're doing this, complete with broken english to fool stylometry detection that walks the fine line between being believable and preposterous. Someone sp…

Trying to figure out who they are by analyzing the content of these posts is like trying to figure out if a child is lying by asking them repeatedly. Other sources of evidence are necessary. Anyway, while their nationality isn't obvious, their childishness is. I think that's the only detail that can really be gleaned from the text itself.

Unless the childishness is also intentional to mislead. The whole post is bizarre, I would take it all with a grain of salt.

Re: Snowden: NSA just lost control of its Top Secret arsenal of digital weapons

#292

Post by znfi »

I have a bit of a hard time understanding why so many people think this is written by Russians. Obviously the grammar is not correct, but it would seem very strange to think this has any significance, and it seems more plausible that it was done in an attempt to hide the authors identity. (My spontaneous feeling was that it was written by Jar Jar Binks, and not Russians, for whatever that's worth.)

I'm not from the US and have not followed the news from there recently, but from what little I have seen much of the actual contents of the message does seem to reflect the feelings of Trumps "base"? Or would people more familiar with US politics say this is incorrect?

Re: Snowden: NSA just lost control of its Top Secret arsenal of digital weapons

#293

Post by daveheq »

int_19h wrote: post #213
tyingq wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They went even harder at it in an earlier medium post: "TheShadowBrokers is having special trick or treat for Amerikanskis tonight." https://medium.com/@shadowbrokerss/message-5-trick-or-treat-... I suppose though, that "Amerikanski" might be used outside Russia. Serbia, Bulgaria? Misdirection seems more likely though.

This is actually a tell-tale sign that whoever wrote this doesn't speak Russian. Let me explain why. In English, the noun describing the nationality is also an adjective describing belonging to, or affiliation with, that nationality. E.g. "An American is driving an American car". In Russian, this is not the case - they are different words, sharing the same root. Some examples (noun - adjective): US: Amerikanets - Ame…

This has happened before, right down to Snowden being involved:

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/17/us/shadow-brokers-leak-ra...

"This is probably some Russian mind game, down to the bogus accent"

Re: Snowden: NSA just lost control of its Top Secret arsenal of digital weapons

#294

Post by TeMPOraL »

pstuart wrote: post #244
redahs wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could this problem be fixed by splitting the NSA into two competing agencies, one handling offensive signals intelligence, and one handling cryptography research and disclosures? Intuitively it seems when the same agency performs both roles it creates a conflict of interest and bias against disclosure.

How about a third agency that focuses on securing our digital infrastructure?

How about NSA just does this, per its name, and the offensive signals intelligence gets handled by the CIA?

Re: Snowden: NSA just lost control of its Top Secret arsenal of digital weapons

#295

Post by snowwrestler »

throwaway71958 wrote: post #188
snowwrestler wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Actually it's probably a false flag to make Russia look bad." - throwaway71958, created 8 days ago 2017 in a nutshell right there.

For a pro-Russian shill I seem to be doing a bad job, seeing how I'm actually Russian and made no attempt to conceal this fact.

No, you're doing a great job; claiming that you are Russian is essential to the particular doubt you are here to sow.

Re: Snowden: NSA just lost control of its Top Secret arsenal of digital weapons

#296

Post by EGreg »

labster wrote: post #266
pstuart wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How about a third agency that focuses on securing our digital infrastructure?

Then we'd need a fourth agency to coordinate between them, and don't forget the fifth agency in charge of oversight.

Sounds good to me

Re: Snowden: NSA just lost control of its Top Secret arsenal of digital weapons

#297

Post by ShrubberyKnight »

viraptor wrote: post #182
throwaway71958 wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've observed the whole Brexit thing with great interest, but I don't feel well versed in the vernacular. And for someone well versed, it'd be difficult to know what the person who's not well versed wouldn't know. Which is what we're observing here.

You won't be well versed in the vernacular of any political event unless you follow the news. But that's just as true for native speakers. You seem to imply that people who learn tens of thousands of words to communicate in a foreign language would be unlikely to learn the additional vocabulary of the current events. Especially the big events. Could anyone with a British friend in Twitter never hear of the NHS bus, f…

Unfortunately, as with any form of communication, the only way to know where something really came from is to find the source, whether an individual or a collaboration. Facts are still being discovered about decisions, choices and actions relating to Benghazi, years ago. Obfuscation of the source is intended to delay. It works. Masking the source behind fingers pointing to cultures is a "cheat", and cheaters do not like to be discovered. Personally, we have been presented with evidence of tools and techniques of Alinsky in the 2016 U. S. election.

Re: Snowden: NSA just lost control of its Top Secret arsenal of digital weapons

#298

Post by kefka »

wyldfire wrote: post #255
strictnein wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good thing then that it's from an SNL skit and not something Palin actually said. This seems lost on many, many people.

Yes she said, "you can actually see Russia, from land, here in Alaska." (And not "from my house"). Why this was ripe for satire was that it was the response to "What insight into Russian actions particularly in the last couple of weeks, does the proximity of this state give you?" IMO she repeated part of the question as her answer and it didn't go anywhere near the seriousness of the questions before about Ossetia.

Indeed. Most people forget that the response was to "Why do you know about Russia's foreign actions"... 'Because I can see Russia' is effectively what was said.

It really harkens back to much of the Republicans' desire for anti-scientific thoughts, and lack of critical thought. It also explains the overly simplistic thought of "Well, the weather is nice, this climate change must be bullshit".

Don't get me wrong, I think the Democrats have significant problems of their own. For example, they're not able to properly convey scientific thought to the masses, and instead rely on shaming and insulting. That's not exactly a way to engender people to your view.

Re: Snowden: NSA just lost control of its Top Secret arsenal of digital weapons

#299

Post by coldtea »

vidarh wrote: post #287
coldtea wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Count us both. The BS one hears today (against Russia, etc) are the "WMD"s of 2017. There's a single superpower the last 2+ decades (Russia is no USSR) and it has a long history of pushing for its "interests" all over the world, starting wars, grabbing resources, overthrowing governments, supporting all kinds of lunatics and dictators. And covering the whole damage they do with holier than though finger pointing, mad…

Russia is no USSR, but Putin is ex-KGB. On one hand I agree with you that it's overdramatised to some extent, and that it's likely that a lot of the claims about Russia are made up. On the other hand, Putin seems like exactly the type who would see intelligence and manipulation as a way for Russia to punch above its weight and is likely to be engaging in it. The problem with trying to unravel the truth about Russian…

>On the other hand, Putin seems like exactly the type who would see intelligence and manipulation as a way for Russia to punch above its weight and is likely to be engaging in it.

Sure, but at the level Russia can afford, and "puppeteering the US president" is a BS claim way above that, tailor-made for a nation spoon-fed with shows like 24 and Homeland and endless claims about how all the world "plots against it" while itself does exactly that globally (and nobody bats an eyelid).

And while Russia/Putin will use such tactics for their country's (and/or his own) immediate interests/survival (e.g. in Crimea, a place with a huge majority of ethnic Russians, or the middle east), they don't have neither the means or the history of meddling and plundering all over the world.

The claims are mostly a way to invent a present-day Bond villain, an easily identifiable target, like it has been played out tons of times in the past. Russia has too many natural resources and wants to control its periphery, something that goes against the general "interests" and plundering intentions of outside players, hence the pressure, combined with the constant post-Cold-War expansion of Nato to suffocate them.

If instead of Putin there was some friendly dolt selling Russia wholesale to foreign corporate interests (instead to national players that the country can somewhat control -- something which is labeled "cronyism"), like e.g. Yeltsin, it would be all love and hugs with EU and the US, even if they did ten times worse in freedom internally. You know, like those lovable Saudis.

Re: Snowden: NSA just lost control of its Top Secret arsenal of digital weapons

#300

Post by NDlurker »

jfoutz wrote: post #195
throwaway71958 wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For a pro-Russian shill I seem to be doing a bad job, seeing how I'm actually Russian and made no attempt to conceal this fact.

Eh, new account, and a throwaway, don't get offended at people not taking you seriously. You could just as easily be a 14 year old in North Dakota.

Hi. I live in North Dakota! I get hacker news RSS feeds to my phone and made this account to reply to your comment.
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