Petraeus Case Raises Fears About Privacy in Digital Era

Petraeus Case Raises Fears About Privacy in Digital Era.

Related articles:
Here’s the e-mail trick Petraeus and Broadwell used to communicate.

What Petraeus and Broadwell could have used instead of Gmail.

This last link mentions Hushmail, Tigertext, Vaultletmail, 10 minute mail as alternatives (with links to each).

Anyone know of other safe email options?

-- Tom

 

GPG.....

 

Both https://ssl1.washingtonpost.com/ links get this

Also when i used Google to search for the article, i discovered that ALL the NON Google links i tried have had the links etc removed ? And searching for heres-the-e-mail-trick-petraeus-and-broadwell-used-to-communicate gets the same no show results?

Wierd ! Makes me wonder if "someone" has ordered the take downs ? If so they have been Very busy, & quick

 

They were both clueless! It seems ("digital forensic evidence") that they just used their regular computers, and didn't use VPNs or Tor. They could easily have purchased netbooks with cash, dedicated to their communication, and connected only via VPNs and/or Tor.

At this point, Whonix is probably the best way to use Tor. Connect via VPN to obscure your Tor use. And use Tormail with GPG encryption. I wouldn't yet trust the Tormail hack for Thunderbird. But using GnuPG via command line isn't really that hard

I didn't have any problem accessing the articles in Russia

 

Hi, no problem in Australia accessing the link.

 

Okay, let's put some really shocking context to all of this. Sometimes with all the news coming fast and furious, it's easy to forget...

This man was Director of the CIA ferchrissakes!!!

Unbelievable you can be the "top spy" and be so incompetent.

Hey, Clone, I get the articles just fine in the USA. Try this link:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...d-broadwell-could-have-used-instead-of-gmail/

 

I doubt that he's very technical. Generals are fundamentally managers.

 

Yes, but this was a very connected general and I don't care, the irony is rich. You don't rise to that level without having been around the block.

The Director of Central Intelligence!

A man in that position also has trusted people around him almost 24/7. Any of them could (and would) have helped him with any needed technical expertise. Anybody could have been paid "off the books" to set the DCIA up with just about anything. Not to mention, the DIA, which he was close with. Help is always available, in the most confidential way, to the director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

 

@ Tarnak

OK

@ LockBox

Thanks, but still no go ?



I was able to view via StartPage How strange !

 

The ssl1 in the address is what looks like was the problem.

 

Do you think that they would have helped him cheat on his wife?

I thought that TLAs rather frowned on such activities, not for moral reasons, but because they're security risks.

 

You can show me how to use a lawnmower, or set it up for me, without knowing what lawn I want to mow.

 

OK. But even so, wouldn't it be suspicious for the CIA director to be asking about concealing his nonofficial email communication?

 

I don't see how the 'headline' is "news". Surely what's going on here is basic 'entry level security' for anyone wishing to use the net for some years now.

 

He probably avoided encryption & other security methods to avoid more scrutiny from his followers. Can you imagine what his followers would have thought if he had started using encryption? This guy is not the simple man with little secrets cheating his wife.

 

This story has been far away from
the long-lasting CIA vs. FBI Rivalry...

 

Hi CloneRanger,

There is no ss|1 in the links that I posted in message #1. What you can do is to open up a new (blank) tab in your browser, and copy the link and paste it into the new tab's URL address location bar. One would think that simply clicking on the link I posted would be sufficient, but perhaps your browser setup does something different (maybe your DNS setup) that is not very standard. I have my router setup with OpenDNS as opposed to my original setup from my ISP to their DNS servers.

-- Tom

 

Five Things the Petraeus Affair Teaches Us About Online Surveillance.

-- Tom

 

You haven't been around Washington or the military much, have you? Mr. Petraeus has taken on a lead role throughout almost his entire career. He was not trained as a covert operative and did not have any of that kind of experience. That alone hurts his technical knowledge and skill in areas such as hacking and surveillance, especially computer-related surveillance. There are CIA operatives that aren't well-skilled in those areas. Just like a Special Operations team, you have members who are responsible for and trained in specific areas. SEALS, Delta, Nightstalkers, they all have "computer guys", but not every team member is one. Most of these posts like "Director" are almost entirely political posts. There are exceptions of course, but the majority are what I ((probably silly)) call "Washington-ites". They're put in place through favors, the buddy system and so on. That's not me getting into the craziness of politics, it's just the truth. Just like there are plenty of Officers in the military who really have no business being one, there are just as many heads of organizations that, to give a relevant example, wouldn't know a phone tap from a water tap. ((No, he isn't that stupid, but you get my point.))

This mess was something almost assuredly planned out. The stench of politics is all over this particular case. I won't even bother to get into the stupidity of using GMail for anything "secret" or for official use. He's certainly not the only one making that grave mistake though.

 

Guys, I didn't fall of a turnip truck yesterday, I understand how these things work. I was writing about the irony, the total disconnect between director of the world's largest spy agency and his inability to keep an affair secret - and even using Gmail. I know it's an executive job, but the irony is too rich. By the way, anybody remember the name Allen Dulles? There was a CIA director that personally ran hundreds of covert operations during his tenure.

Sometimes nobody is 'right' or 'wrong' and there's no need to 'show up' another poster by insinuating lack of knowledge. Nobody here can deny the rich irony.

 

Yes you're right

No there isn't !

I agree. & even right clicking either link & copy/pasting into FF results in both http://www.washingtonpost.com etc etc links still getting auto changed to https://ssl1.washingtonpost.com/ etc etc ?

Even more wierd is the fact that ssl1 has a cert & is recognised by FF ?



It's no big deal of course, but Very strange, & i don't recall experiencing anything like this ever before !

*

Indeed i do, say no more

 

If my post was taken as a personal insult to you, I sincerely apologize as that was not my intent. Many people out there haven't experienced politics in its raw, ugly form and many haven't experienced the sometimes head-shaking, "You've got to be kidding me" life in the military. Both worlds can sometimes make you want to crawl under a cover on your couch and hide from the craziness Again though, I meant no insult towards you or anyone else.

 

He does not read Wilders

 

Maybe there's another message here.
"If the director of the CIA can't escape our all seeing eye, what chance do you have?"

 

We are not important as he is.