NSA has direct access to tech giants' systems for user data, secret files reveal

And that's fine, no problem or argument there. I was just making a few comments from another perspective. We all see things differently and we all do what we think is best. Nobody has given up either. But we all need to acknowledge reality. I prefer to start with the assumption that there is no privacy on the internet, and then act accordingly. Works for me. Others prefer to be privacy minded as you say, and they do what they think works for them. In the final analysis, I think I'm safer with my approach. Just be aware of the limitations of your approach... I'll leave it at that.

 

Interesting statement of Snowden about email encryption:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/201...-whistleblower#block-51bf3588e4b082a2ed2f5fc5

Question:
Is encrypting my email any good at defeating the NSA survelielance? Id my data protected by standard encryption?

Answer:
Encryption works. Properly implemented strong crypto systems are one of the few things that you can rely on. Unfortunately, endpoint security is so terrifically weak that NSA can frequently find ways around it.


What is the meaning of Endpoint security?

 

It means the security of your computer or device you are using to send that encrypted mail.

 

Ok, that is was I thought but I was not sure. Thank you.

This confirms that if OS encryption is deployed...you are safe.

 

Not quite... An encrypted OS is still vulnerable to a trojan, for instance. And I believe that if an agency/government wants to monitor your activities, they will try to deploy a trojan on your computer in order to steal your keys/passphrases (if they are unable to decrypt your data).
So encrypting the whole OS is a good idea, but it is not enough.

 

I agree, but they (Stalin, Hitler, Pot) are not the ones that the people have been duped into thinking these programs are for. No terrorist is going to destroy America (and the nuke thing is straight out of Condi Rice on 'Face the Nation' circa 2002. We mind as well worry about sharks with fricken laser-beams on their heads). So called "leaders" destroy countries...and the financial 'trickery' that the last three presidents allowed, almost brought down the world. And believe me, I saw enough bad guys in a warzone...I'm still more afraid of getting into my car

PD

 

This "Encryption makes you suspicious" thing seems silly to me, barring actual evidence. Every time you bank, you are encrypted. Every POP or IMAP session is encrypted. Anybody that uses Google, is encrypted (SSL is default now, correct?). Every business on the planet, that allows off-site workers, is VPN'ing.

Plus, all you people who don't want to look suspicious? It doesn't matter! You are being vacuumed up, as Snowden has shown. You better hope that you are "doing nothing wrong" (and guess what's "wrong"? We don't get to know, only they do...it's secret! LOL!) because you are in the clear.

PD

 

Hi

It is known since a long time that Windows has been designed to facilitate the OS forensic analysis, and some of its features have been developed in collaboration with the NSA.
Then no surprise at all, no comment too, just take it as it is...
For a few articles more:
Google advocate by Google http://googleblog.blogspot.fr/2013/06/what.html
PRISM class action http://fr.scribd.com/doc/146930457/PRISM-Class
Timeline of NSA Domestic Spying https://www.eff.org/nsa-spying/timeline
PRISM and other spy tools http://cryptome.org/2013/06/prism-spy-tools.htm

Rgds

 

You are right kareldjag, I guess everyone here remember COFEE as a good example

Thanks for links. Good reading.

 

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...us-and-20-plus-countries-nsa-document-argues/

 

It also means the security of the people that you're corresponding with.

If someone replies without encryption, quoting your message, you're hosed.

If they forward your message, you're hosed.

 

And only 4 (though they say 10) have they listed. Two of those are outright lies, the 3rd shows in actual court documents that an informant reported him. The 4th seems legit, but it was just a guy sending money overseas. And I have a hard time believing that all these financial hoops you have to jump through didn't catch him first. So now we're down to at most, 7. And none of these will be secret...if they tried to kill people in the US, it is in the paper somewhere. They were arrested and tried. And there just aren't any attacks (except the ones that succeeded, LOL) You'll probably see the guy that was supposedly going to fly a model plane into something, etc... It's all BS. They don't work, and violate A LOT. JMO.

PD

 

With Prism Cooperation, Tech Giants Look Weak.
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-06-17/with-prism-cooperation-tech-giants-look-weak

 

Full NSA access built into every Windows OS since 1997

http://therebel.org/stone/655776-full-nsa-access-built-into-every-windows-os-since-1997

 

That site is being blocked at my work for "hate and racism". I'll wait for the same story to be picked up by other sites before I'll believe it.

 

MarcP try this one:
http://www.heise.de/tp/artikel/5/5263/1.html

 

Here's also a good read related to that:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSAKEY

 

Mobile Call Logs Can Reveal a Lot to the NSA.

-- Tom

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/20/fisa-court-nsa-without-warrant

https://www.computerworld.com/s/art...data_on_U.S._residents_revealed?taxonomyId=17

 

The ComputerWorld article mentions two issues relevant to those who hide their identity and location, and use encryption:

 

5 Fun Facts From the Latest NSA Leak
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/06/five-fun-facts-on-the-nsa-leak/

 

Revealed: the top secret rules that allow NSA to use US data without a warrant.
Fisa court submissions show broad scope of procedures governing NSA's surveillance of Americans' communication.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/20/fisa-court-nsa-without-warrant

For those of you with Twitter accounts may follow | http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/glenn-greenwald
https://twitter.com/ggreenwald

 

At first they denied any surveillance, then they claimed, that the IT expert Snowden did not understand the data, needless to say more?! Now they "accidentally" revealed two top secret documents, that the surveillance was within the law and it was fairly limited (time, USA related, etc). In other words, they show a little dirt to hide a junkyard.

Russia promises legal action over NSA surveillance scandal.

http://rt.com/politics/internet-surveillance-western-prevent-928

 

New leaks: British intel’s direct-from-fiber taps “worse than the US”
UK is shown to be sharing data directly with NSA.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...els-direct-from-fiber-taps-worse-than-the-us/

 

@Tom: Russia throwing a fit over this is nothing short of hilarious when one considers they are guilty of the same and worse against their own citizens.

@Siljaline: The U.K has had a head start for a long time, they are very good at this, as are the Germans. None of this is really shocking. What we're seeing here in the U.S is just a lot of people throwing a fit because they went too many years thinking it couldn't happen to them, because we're "protected" by a supposedly untouchable Constitution and Bill of Rights. Sometimes having the blindfold removed sucks.

The NSA and the government in general are going to do all they can to downplay the mess, we're already seeing it with every very well planned out "official statement", every document that they willingly hand over or, as said, "accidentally" gets leaked and doesn't look so bad, and on and on. To be truthful, I'd be very cautious about any "leakers" showing up out of nowhere for the next few months. It's going to be extremely difficult to know what's legit and what is cooked up by anti-government persons with an agenda or the government itself, and the real deal. Misinformation is assured before all this finally "goes away".

I think the real damage is being done to NSA agents and others who actually, you know, give a damn about the security of the nation and its people. Believe it or not, they aren't all one big happy Orwellian club. Orders and messes like this come from people way up the totem pole.