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

Submitted by Carly Nyst on Wed, 01/21/2015

https://www.privacyinternational.org/?q=node/15

 

British Spy Agency Considers Journalists a Threat, Vacuums Up Their Emails

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/...iders-journalists-threat-vacuums-their-emails

 

‘Snooper’s charter’: four Lords in bid to pass changed version before election

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jan/22/snoopers-charter-changed-version-pass-before-election

"The amendments will be welcomed by the heads of the UK intelligence services, who have been calling for more powers to retain data in the wake of the killings in Paris by Islamist extremists."

 

Tell Britain's Lords: Don't Let the Snooper's Charter Sneak Past You! | EFF Action Center

From: Britons: You Have 72 Hours to Stop The Snooper's Charter | Electronic Frontier Foundation

 

I find it incredibly ironic that the tragic death of several cartoonists that fought and ultimately died in the name of free speech is being used to introduce laws that will ultimately stifle free speech and privacy.

 

NIST pledges transparency in NSA dealings over crypto standards

http://www.networkworld.com/article...cy-in-nsa-dealings-over-crypto-standards.html

 

Ironic yes, but also disreputable and sinister. These guys in the Lords (completely unelected) include Lord Blair, formally in charge of the Met police at the time of the Menezes shooting, who lobbied MPs to extend detention without trial to 90 days and many other "interesting" allegations; and forced to resign - but with a peerage and lavish pension.

Also, Lord Carlisle, the person supposed to be the independent reviewer of the British anti-terrorism laws up to 2011. He verified what was happening at GCHQ with a "chat". And as shown by the Snowden documents, GCHQ wanted to use him in case of "damaging public debate" - as a sympathetic senior politician to be involved in "press handling".

This link gives the details.

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

The parade of lavishly rewarded security apparatchiks is deeply dangerous and undemocratic. I do not feel more secure as a result of their cosy self-serving world.

 

Bruce Schneier and Edward Snowden @ Harvard Data Privacy Symposium 1/23/15

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ui3tLbzIgQ

 

Here's two things:
EFF’s Game Plan for Ending Global Mass Surveillance
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/01/effs-game-plan-ending-global-mass-surveillance

Secret ‘BADASS’ Intelligence Program Spied on Smartphones

https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/01/26/secret-badass-spy-program/

So more of the same really.

 

It is? I'll believe it when I see it.

 

Of course they are bound by US law but that really applies if you have judicial oversight.

I think the only thing that would shock me now is that they abandon the program because it is a colossal waste of money.

 

On another note I also don't get why the EFF is still referencing https://www.eff.org/who-has-your-back-2014 especially even still listing Dropbox. Google even being on that list is a joke: https://www.wilderssecurity.com/thr...ikileaks-journalists-to-us-government.372780/

I love the EFF but sometimes their optimism can be dangerous.

That, combined with the internet companies which have made their empires off the privacy of its own users cements my belief that they will never ever stop. There's too much public ignorance, even now to make a difference. Like always, there's going to be a smaller minority with half a brain and the time to learn how to get around the injustice, while the public at large takes the brunt of it. With Liberty and Justice to a very select few in the know, or those with enough money and clout to run the machine.

It's all a perfect example of "Don't look at what they're saying, look at their actions". It's a long standing guard against swindlers of all types.

Personally, not wanting to border on doomsday scenarios, I think the vanilla web is a sinking ship. Any seriousness should be instead invested into alternates to site and content hosting https://prism-break.org/en/subcategories/gnu-linux-anonymizing-networks/ but in doing so we'll be set back 20 years in content- because 90% of the web wants that ad revenue.

But as a fact- we'll all die of old age before any meaningful change happens from the very companies and governments that let this happen to begin with, along with the public that ALLOWED it.

 

Spies Know What You're Downloading on Filesharing Sites, New Snowden Docs Show

http://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/r...ng-on-filesharing-sites-new-snowden-docs-show


Canada Casts Global Surveillance Dragnet Over File Downloads

https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/01/28/canada-cse-levitation-mass-surveillance/

 

Well, they know what someone/something is downloading.

The goal is for them to not know that it's you

 

By Glenn Greenwald

Western Spy Agencies Secretly Rely on Hackers for Intel and Expertise - The Intercept

 

They also recruit them. That's how Edward Snowden, who was very bright, but had some issues around conventional education, got hired and trained. And they still recruit at all the "hacker" conventions. More generally, the US government is aggressively recruiting young geeks to modernize infrastructure, websites, etc, etc.

 

By Glenn Greenwald

NSA Claims Iran Learned from Western Cyberattacks - The Intercept

 

NSA wins key ruling in years-old phone and Internet spying lawsuit.

-- Tom

 

Not sure I'd exactly call this a "win" - this ruling is based on lack of standing - which effectively means it requires another leak to give someone standing to bring a case.

And the real worry for anyone who believes in the rule of law, is that this is a disaster from that point of view. Secret laws, secret interpretations and illegal conduct without penalty.

 

How Canadian Spies Infiltrated the Internet's Core to Watch What You Do Online.

-- Tom

 

https://www.privacyinternational.org/?q=node/499

 

How “omnipotent” hackers tied to NSA hid for 14 years—and were found at last.

-- Tom

 

Yes, inquiring minds want to know.

Also good to know would be which operating systems are vulnerable

All, I suppose

This is an excellent reminder that effective compartmentalization depends on hardware and network isolation. That is, you want to use dedicated machines, with dedicated network connectivity, for working anonymously (using Tor, anyway) and pseudonymously (using VPNs). Even if all of your machines are compromised, the fundamental compartments (true-identity vs anonymous/pseudonymous stuff) remain isolated.

 

I'm getting the impression that much of what we 'advanced' users might consider security is actually security theater. Where's my tinfoil hat?

 

It's hard to say.

I'm neither a criminal nor a terrorist, just a hobbyist. And so I don't attract enough attention to test my skills in any meaningful way. Not that I'm complaining