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NSA infiltrates links to Yahoo, Google data centers worldwide

washingtonpost.com

421–430 of 614 posts

Re: NSA infiltrates links to Yahoo, Google data centers worldwide

#421
post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you can't trust anyone That's become quite apparent. I just wonder if there's any solution, or if it's a mathematical certainty that communications are insecure.

Doesn't that hold true for anything not using quantum encryption? To fully secure in communications, you need to take advantage of weird quantum phenomenon like radioactive decay, and even then you are betting that we won't come up with a theoretical framework capable of predicting quantum phenomenon.

You might not have to be able to predict quantum phenomena. IIRC, one of the issues they had with the "quantum internet" thing they built in New Mexico[1] was having to downgrade what should have been a perfectly secure connection to an insecure classical one because it's impossible to route an quantum entangled signal.

Not that this is necessarily a weakness of quantum encryption, so much as a suggestion that any system can't be perfectly secure. Maybe the chips have a backdoor. Maybe a random number generator is biased. Maybe any number of things up to and including maybe you get hit with a five dollar wrench over the head until you give up your password. What I fear is that while the math may be secure, the system itself can't be secured. The web was never built on the premise that security would matter, was it? Or at the very least that the adversary wouldn't be ones' own government. What can you do other than fabricate your own chips, build your own compiler, compile your own os, write your own network protocol and host a darknet (with similar self-constructed machines) out in the woods somewhere using a one-time pad for encryption? Even that's not enough.

[1]http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2418657,00.asp

Re: NSA infiltrates links to Yahoo, Google data centers worldwide

#422
post #408

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am at a loss for words. Arrogant, self-righteous, disrespectful, ignorant, mendacious...nothing cuts it. It is illegal in the US but who cares about the rest of the world? I can not remember when something similar made me that angry as the current conduct of the US does. If I would not know better that this would negatively affect the whole world and innocent US citizens and that emotional reactions are usually not…

> It is illegal in the US but who cares about the rest of the world? I think it's entirely justifiable to give the NSA more latitude abroad than domestically. To turn reverse the scenario, as an American, I would far rather have the French or the Germans conducting surveillance on the United States than the US government. People keep comparisons to the Stasi, too often they forget what the Stasi's purpose was: to sup…

CIA.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Gladio

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Condor

Re: NSA infiltrates links to Yahoo, Google data centers worldwide

#423

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a US citizen. Born and bred. And, at this point, I can't in good faith say that I would blame you. I think it's pretty safe to say that getting rid of a President is no longer enough. My sense is that the people who make these policies really are "Beyond Elections". They are constants in our government. And appear unassailable. I doubt very much that we, the American People, could even IDENTIFY the people setting…

I believe strongly in "win win" solutions; in a broad internationalism that tries (at least in principle) to find solutions that benefit the whole of humanity (perhaps not uniformly, but uniformly enough to make everybody a net winner). That last phrase really spooks me. "Look to their own interests". Saddens me a bit, too.

[deleted]

Re: NSA infiltrates links to Yahoo, Google data centers worldwide

#424

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a US citizen. Born and bred. And, at this point, I can't in good faith say that I would blame you. I think it's pretty safe to say that getting rid of a President is no longer enough. My sense is that the people who make these policies really are "Beyond Elections". They are constants in our government. And appear unassailable. I doubt very much that we, the American People, could even IDENTIFY the people setting…

I believe strongly in "win win" solutions; in a broad internationalism that tries (at least in principle) to find solutions that benefit the whole of humanity (perhaps not uniformly, but uniformly enough to make everybody a net winner). That last phrase really spooks me. "Look to their own interests". Saddens me a bit, too.

[deleted]

Re: NSA infiltrates links to Yahoo, Google data centers worldwide

#425
post #5

Is that an official document with an actual smiley face? What ever happened to the admins / programmers standing up for what is right, or do they just gobble down a paycheck and turn the other way?

Privacy issues aside, getting paid to hack into big important systems sounds like it could be a job many people would enjoy.

Re: NSA infiltrates links to Yahoo, Google data centers worldwide

#426
SMTP (mail protocol) between providers is unencrypted anyway. So, if I send email from gmail to ycombinator, it goes to ycombinator SMTP server unencrypted and can be tapped by anyone with access to the wire. Still, clear traffic between Google's own data centers is inexcusable. They are exposing my data to more risk.

Re: NSA infiltrates links to Yahoo, Google data centers worldwide

#427
post #135
post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We're still talking about Snowden. This is the reason.

At this point I suspect Snowden has become a bit of an Emmanuel Goldstein. Any leakers who want to get their stuff out with some modicum of safety just need to get it to one of the usual suspects in the media, if the latter are willing to play the game (this does violate normal journalist ethics, then again this is not a normal situation). The leak can then be ascribed to "Snowden".

this is brilliant.

Re: NSA infiltrates links to Yahoo, Google data centers worldwide

#428

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is it so hard to understand that there are intelligent people that honestly believe they're doing something that will ultimately benefit their country? People have done far worse in the name of a country or ideal. For people outraged over the apparent happiness of the people that tapped Google, I imagine they've never broken a system. A breakthrough on a project is extremely enjoyable. Finding that Google removed…

They still deserve to be skinned alive though. As feminists are fond of saying "intent isn't magic".

That kind of approach is just going to lead us around in a big circle, and when we look back in fifty years we'll be just where we started

Re: NSA infiltrates links to Yahoo, Google data centers worldwide

#429

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would just cut all cables to the US, ... deny US citizens to enter any foreign country and then just do your shit over there and get happy with it. Whoah, there. Your grievances are well-placed. But keep in mind that it's a certain subset of agencies in the US government that are responsible for the problems you're upset about, not all US citizens. As for fixing things, the government has become literally unmanagea…

The US government throws its weight around by ordering sanctions against countries that have policies it does not agree with. I have no doubt that, where sanctions would be politically unpopular, there are back-room blackmailings of some type. That said, instituting similar sanctions against the US should absolutely be the number one thing the rest of the world responds with! It might not be every US citizen that is…

>using political and economic power rather than pure force

Inconceivable!

Re: NSA infiltrates links to Yahoo, Google data centers worldwide

#430
post #2

It's hard not to come to the conclusion that these activities were essentially criminal. I don't see how the administration can fail to disavow them, investigate them fully, and hold their instigators accountable. It feels like Special Prosecutor time. That aside, let me re-make a point I keep making: Google had no knowledge of NSA's physical compromise of their data centers. But still, they pushed harder than anyone…

I wonder if many of these 'Chinese infiltration' events that did lead to Gmail HTTPS/TLS were actually spy agencies of various nationalities, even looking like Chinese hackers when in actuality it is something else.
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