Russian Hackers Stole NSA Data on U.S. Cyber Defense • Hacker News Board

Re: Russian Hackers Stole NSA Data on U.S. Cyber Defense

#61

Post by mozumder » Thu, Oct 05, 2017, 6:38 PM UTC

pdx wrote: post #40

mozumder wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because you trust journalists to do their job in verifying sources, which maintains their credibility. I want you to think your cunning plan through. What do you think would happen if journalists actually lied?

You have GOT to be fucking kidding. Have you actually been asleep for the last 6 years?

Were you under the impression that credible journalists are in the business of "fake news"?

I want you to think about what would happen if that were actually the case.

Re: Russian Hackers Stole NSA Data on U.S. Cyber Defense

#62

Post by mhneu » Thu, Oct 05, 2017, 6:38 PM UTC

dralley wrote: post #31

NN88 wrote: post #3

THEY EXPLOITED KASPERSKY TO DO IT. HOLY. SHIT. Full Text: http://archive.is/szjBQ

I believe the allegation isn't that Kasperky was used to exfiltrate the data, but that Kasperky is passing information about certain files on customer computers to Russian Intelligence. In this case, they believe the presence of NSA malware samples on the contractor's computer, detected by Kasperky, was used to target him.

Eugene Kaspersky was trained by the FSB (formerly KGB).

Here's a good article (by a Democratic senator) https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/04/opinion/kapersky-russia-c...

"That threat is posed by antivirus and security software products created by Kaspersky Lab, a Moscow-based company with extensive ties to Russian intelligence. To close this alarming national security vulnerability, I am advancing bipartisan legislation to prohibit the federal government from using Kaspersky Lab software."

Re: Russian Hackers Stole NSA Data on U.S. Cyber Defense

#63

Post by codedokode » Thu, Oct 05, 2017, 6:40 PM UTC

tlrobinson wrote: post #39

runesoerensen wrote: post #10

Kaspersky preempting (presumably) this story: "New conspiracy theory, anon sources media story coming. Note we make no apologies for being aggressive in the battle against cyberthreats" https://twitter.com/e_kaspersky/status/915946040561487875 Edit: Kaspersky press release https://usa.kaspersky.com/about/press-releases/2017_kaspersk...

Heh, an extreme interpretation of that statement could be that Kaspersky considers the NSA to be a "cyberthreat"...

Is not NSA a threat? They have tools to break into any computer and steal data therefore they are a threat.

Re: Russian Hackers Stole NSA Data on U.S. Cyber Defense

#64

Post by mhneu » Thu, Oct 05, 2017, 6:41 PM UTC

igivanov wrote: post #24

No confirmation from the NSA, only "leaks" from anonymous "multiple people with knowledge of the matter." How do we know it's not another piece of fake news riding the wave of "Russia did it"?

By fake news you mean the stuff that Russia created in the US, and Sputnik and RT and Breitbart and Fox, right? That's the true fake news.

For the reason why people are trying to redefine the term "fake news" into being stuff in real outlets with real journalists like WSJ (this article), read this great piece from Masha Gessen: http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2017/05/13/the-autocrats-langua...

Re: Russian Hackers Stole NSA Data on U.S. Cyber Defense

#65

Post by 52-6F-62 » Thu, Oct 05, 2017, 6:43 PM UTC

Is it just me, or is this possibly related to the Vault 7 materials on Wikileaks, and thus the WannaCry attacks that brought the NHS to its knees this past year?

Re: Russian Hackers Stole NSA Data on U.S. Cyber Defense

#66

Post by mhneu » Thu, Oct 05, 2017, 6:44 PM UTC

mtgx wrote: post #18

austincheney wrote: post #8

Another damn NSA contractor took confidential information home. Epic fail.

It's of their own doing: https://www.salon.com/2013/06/11/500000_contractors_can_acce... Also, I believe I read a recent article about them allowing even more private companies access to this stuff, but I can't find a link right now.

It's partially George Bush's doing - he put a rule into place saying the government had to hire more contractors. Fits with the GOP plans to weaken the govt to enable tax cuts for the wealthy, but the increasing use of contractors has been bad for security.

Full time federal employees take a different oath and generally feel more loyalty to the agency.

Re: Russian Hackers Stole NSA Data on U.S. Cyber Defense

#67

Post by 0xfeba » Thu, Oct 05, 2017, 6:44 PM UTC

indubitable wrote: post #54

I find these allegations are deserving of some scrutiny. The entire story is quite bizarre when you begin to consider it. The NSA is apparently leaking like a broken pipe with this information. And it's peculiar because this is information that makes our intelligence agencies look completely inept. That is a very good thing if this story is fake, but a very bad thing if its true. It is stupefying that NSA contractors…

I'm so skeptical now of skeptical Russia posts. A 25 day old account who's first comment [0] was about media and divisiveness.

0 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15336362

Re: Russian Hackers Stole NSA Data on U.S. Cyber Defense

#68

Post by codedokode » Thu, Oct 05, 2017, 6:45 PM UTC

tlrobinson wrote: post #22

strictnein wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uhmm... that's a public key. So it doesn't matter. He could put it on a billboard in Times Square.

I believe keda's point is it's served over HTTP not HTTPS so there's no way to verify you're not being MITM'd when looking at it. (A possible workaround is to check via multiple connections, check Google's cache, etc)

HTTPS won't help against attacker that has a jurisdiction over CA and can force them to issue a certificate.

Re: Russian Hackers Stole NSA Data on U.S. Cyber Defense

#69

Post by treme » Thu, Oct 05, 2017, 6:45 PM UTC

kej wrote: post #51

comicjk wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been thinking about writing a spy thriller based on that premise, ever since the Snowden leaks. At this point I'd assign 30% probability that it's already happened.

That's part of the plot for Dan Brown's Digital Fortress , although like other Dan Brown books it certainly leaves room for someone else to tell the same story better.

what's wrong with ending

every chapter

in a

cliff

?

Re: Russian Hackers Stole NSA Data on U.S. Cyber Defense

#70

Post by killjoywashere » Thu, Oct 05, 2017, 6:46 PM UTC

I'm going to go out on a limb and propose a hypothesis:

The DoD's hyper-innefficient contracting system rewards DC insiders and effectively limits the department's ability to invest where investment is needed while draining the public coffers of unfathomable amounts of money.

The DoD's hyper-ineffective personnel system inhibits personal development while at the same time making it nearly impossible to move laterally within the organzation, thus preventing thousands of experts in many fields (that is, many thousands of experts) from self-organizing into effective functional units.

These two issues have made the DoD ripe for attack in the digital domain, an area that has nothing to do with their other core missions areas which are all organized around delivering kinetic energy to adversaries.