omnibus PRISM/NSA/free Edward Snowden/encryption tutorial thread

Judge Questions Legality of N.S.A. Phone Records
By CHARLIE SAVAGE
A decision finds that keeping records of Americans' phone calls probably violates the Constitution and orders the government to stop collecting data on two plaintiffs.
Document: Federal Judge's Ruling on N.S.A. Lawsuit

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/16/nsa-surveillance-60-minutes-cbs-facts

Didn't see the 60 Minutes piece but Ackerman did, and debunks some of it

May as well release this bombshell late Friday during the holiday season:

Exclusive: Secret contract tied NSA and security industry pioneer
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/20/us-usa-security-rsa-idUSBRE9BJ1C220131220

May as well release this bombshell late Friday during the holiday season:

Exclusive: Secret contract tied NSA and security industry pioneer
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/20/us-usa-security-rsa-idUSBRE9BJ1C220131220

Uh, shit. The moment you think it can’t get worse …

But several said that RSA also was misled by government officials, who portrayed the formula as a secure technological advance.

"They did not show their true hand," one person briefed on the deal said of the NSA, asserting that government officials did not let on that they knew how to break the encryption ...

Martin Hellman, a former Stanford researcher who led the team that first invented [public key cryptography], said NSA experts tried to talk him and others into believing that the keys did not have to be as large as they planned ...

New RSA Chief Executive Art Coviello and his team still wanted to be seen as part of the technological vanguard, former employees say, and the NSA had just the right pitch.

...so yr story is, you were a security firm with decades of experience in cryptography, and the national security agency came to you with a powerpoint about how your encryption methods were overkill and you should use their cool in-house formula, and you were like, this seems legit? how do you expect me to--

No alarms were raised, former employees said, because the deal was handled by business leaders rather than pure technologists.

o

I expect RSA will get sued out of existence.

rsa should sue nsa for misleading them about the purpose of the $10 million they left on the elmo

http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/1/2151000/ngbbs408c81d08f1b2.jpg

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/edward-snowden-after-months-of-nsa-revelations-says-his-missions-accomplished/2013/12/23/49fc36de-6c1c-11e3-a523-fe73f0ff6b8d_story.html?hpid=z1

http://www.washingtonpost.com/todays_paper/updates/

Washington Post newsprint headline for their top of page A1 interview: Edward Snowden: 'I already won'

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, December 24, 2013 4:33 PM (0

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/catalog-reveals-nsa-has-back-doors-for-numerous-devices-a-940994.html

Got a nice Android tablet for xmas, first thing i did was tape over the inside camera.

I don't think you have to be afraid of those NSA infidels unless you attract their attention by mentioning words like Waihopai, INFOSEC, Information Security, Information Warfare, IW, IS, Priavacy, Information Terrorism, Terrorism Defensive Information, Defense Information Warfare, Offensive Information, Offensive Information Warfare, National Information Infrastructure, InfoSec, Reno, Compsec, Computer Terrorism, Firewalls, Secure Internet Connections, ISS, Passwords, DefCon V, Hackers, Encryption, Espionage, USDOJ, NSA, CIA, S/Key, SSL, FBI, Secert Service, USSS, Defcon, Military, White House, Undercover, NCCS, Mayfly, PGP, PEM, RSA, Perl-RSA, MSNBC, bet, AOL, AOL TOS, CIS, CBOT, AIMSX, STARLAN, 3B2, BITNET, COSMOS, DATTA, E911, FCIC, HTCIA, IACIS, UT/RUS, JANET, JICC, ReMOB, LEETAC, UTU, VNET, BRLO, BZ, CANSLO, CBNRC, CIDA, JAVA, Active X, Compsec 97, LLC, DERA, Mavricks, Meta-hackers, ^?, Steve Case, Tools, Telex, Military Intelligence, Scully, Flame, Infowar, Bubba, Freeh, Archives, Sundevil, jack, Investigation, ISACA, NCSA, spook words, Verisign, Secure, ASIO, Lebed, ICE, NRO, Lexis-Nexis, NSCT, SCIF, FLiR, Lacrosse, Flashbangs, HRT, DIA, USCOI, CID, BOP, FINCEN, FLETC, NIJ, ACC, AFSPC, BMDO, NAVWAN, NRL, RL, NAVWCWPNS, NSWC, USAFA, AHPCRC, ARPA, LABLINK, USACIL, USCG, NRC, ~, CDC, DOE, FMS, HPCC, NTIS, SEL, USCODE, CISE, SIRC, CIM, ISN, DJC, SGC, UNCPCJ, CFC, DREO, CDA, DRA, SHAPE, SACLANT, BECCA, DCJFTF, HALO, HAHO, FKS, 868, GCHQ, DITSA, SORT, AMEMB, NSG, HIC, EDI, SAS, SBS, UDT, GOE, DOE, GEO, Masuda, Forte, AT, GIGN, Exon Shell, CQB, CONUS, CTU, RCMP, GRU, SASR, GSG-9, 22nd SAS, GEOS, EADA, BBE, STEP, Echelon, Dictionary, MD2, MD4, MDA, MYK, 747,777, 767, MI5, 737, MI6, 757, Kh-11, Shayet-13, SADMS, Spetznaz, Recce, 707, CIO, NOCS, Halcon, Duress, RAID, Psyops, grom, D-11, SERT, VIP, ARC, S.E.T. Team, MP5k, DREC, DEVGRP, DF, DSD, FDM, GRU, LRTS, SIGDEV, NACSI, PSAC, PTT, RFI, SIGDASYS, TDM. SUKLO, SUSLO, TELINT, TEXTA. ELF, LF, MF, VHF, UHF, SHF, SASP, WANK, Colonel, domestic disruption, smuggle, 15kg, nitrate, Pretoria, M-14, enigma, Bletchley Park, Clandestine, nkvd, argus, afsatcom, CQB, NVD, Counter Terrorism Security, Rapid Reaction, Corporate Security, Police, sniper, PPS, ASIS, ASLET, TSCM, Security Consulting, High Security, Security Evaluation, Electronic Surveillance, MI-17, Counterterrorism, spies, eavesdropping, debugging, interception, COCOT, rhost, rhosts, SETA, Amherst, Broadside, Capricorn, Gamma, Gorizont, Guppy, Ionosphere, Mole, Keyhole, Kilderkin, Artichoke, Badger, Cornflower, Daisy, Egret, Iris, Hollyhock, Jasmine, Juile, Vinnell, B.D.M.,Sphinx, Stephanie, Reflection, Spoke, Talent, Trump, FX, FXR, IMF, POCSAG, Covert Video, Intiso, r00t, lock picking, Beyond Hope, csystems, passwd, 2600 Magazine, Competitor, EO, Chan, Alouette,executive, Event Security, Mace, Cap-Stun, stakeout, ninja, ASIS, ISA, EOD, Oscor, Merlin, NTT, SL-1, Rolm, TIE, Tie-fighter, PBX, SLI, NTT, MSCJ, MIT, 69, RIT, Time, MSEE, Cable & Wireless, CSE, Embassy, ETA, Porno, Fax, finks, Fax encryption, white noise, pink noise, CRA, M.P.R.I., top secret, Mossberg, 50BMG, Macintosh Security, Macintosh Internet Security, Macintosh Firewalls, Unix Security, VIP Protection, SIG, sweep, Medco, TRD, TDR, sweeping, TELINT, Audiotel, Harvard, 1080H, SWS, Asset, Satellite imagery, force, Cypherpunks, Coderpunks, TRW, remailers, replay, redheads, RX-7, explicit, FLAME, Pornstars, AVN, Playboy, Anonymous, Sex, chaining, codes, Nuclear, 20, subversives, SLIP, toad, fish, data havens, unix, c, a, b, d, the, Elvis, quiche, DES, 1*, NATIA, NATOA, sneakers, counterintelligence, industrial espionage, PI, TSCI, industrial intelligence, H.N.P., Juiliett Class Submarine, Locks, loch, Ingram Mac-10, sigvoice, ssa, E.O.D., SEMTEX, penrep, racal, OTP, OSS, Blowpipe, CCS, GSA, Kilo Class, squib, primacord, RSP, Becker, Nerd, fangs, Austin, Comirex, GPMG, Speakeasy, humint, GEODSS, SORO, M5, ANC, zone, SBI, DSS, S.A.I.C., Minox, Keyhole, SAR, Rand Corporation, Wackenhutt, EO, Wackendude, mol, Hillal, GGL, CTU, botux, Virii, CCC, Blacklisted 411, Internet Underground, XS4ALL, Retinal Fetish, Fetish, Yobie, CTP, CATO, Phon-e, Chicago Posse, l0ck, spook keywords, PLA, TDYC, W3, CUD, CdC, Weekly World News, Zen, World Domination, Dead, GRU, M72750, Salsa, 7, Blowfish, Gorelick, Glock, Ft. Meade, press-release, Indigo, wire transfer, e-cash, Bubba the Love Sponge, Digicash, zip, SWAT, Ortega, PPP, crypto-anarchy, AT&T, SGI, SUN, MCI, Blacknet, Middleman, KLM, Blackbird, plutonium, Texas, jihad, SDI, Uzi, Fort Meade, supercomputer, bullion, 3, Blackmednet, Propaganda, ABC, Satellite phones, Planet-1, cryptanalysis, nuclear, FBI, Panama, fissionable, Sears Tower, NORAD, Delta Force, SEAL, virtual, Dolch, secure shell, screws, Black-Ops, Area51, SABC, basement, data-haven, black-bag, TEMPSET, Goodwin, rebels, ID, MD5, IDEA, garbage, market, beef, Stego, unclassified, utopia, orthodox, Alica, SHA, Global, gorilla, Bob, Pseudonyms, MITM, Gray Data, VLSI, mega, Leitrim, Yakima, Sugar Grove, Cowboy, Gist, 8182, Gatt, Platform, 1911, Geraldton, UKUSA, veggie, 3848, Morwenstow, Consul, Oratory, Pine Gap, Menwith, Mantis, DSD, BVD, 1984, Flintlock, cybercash, government, hate, speedbump, illuminati, president, freedom, cocaine, $, Roswell, ESN, COS, E.T., credit card, b9, fraud, assasinate, virus, anarchy, rogue, mailbomb, 888, Chelsea, 1997, Whitewater, MOD, York, plutonium, William Gates, clone, BATF, SGDN, Nike, Atlas, Delta, TWA, Kiwi, PGP 2.6.2., PGP 5.0i, PGP 5.1, siliconpimp, Lynch, 414, Face, Pixar, IRIDF, eternity server, Skytel, Yukon, Templeton, LUK, Cohiba, Soros, Standford, niche, 51, H&K, USP, ^, sardine, bank, EUB, USP, PCS, NRO, Red Cell, Glock 26, snuffle, Patel, package, ISI, INR, INS, IRS, GRU, RUOP, GSS, NSP, SRI, Ronco, Armani, BOSS, Chobetsu, FBIS, BND, SISDE, FSB, BfV, IB, froglegs, JITEM, SADF, advise, TUSA, HoHoCon, SISMI, FIS, MSW, Spyderco, UOP, SSCI, NIMA, MOIS, SVR, SIN, advisors, SAP, OAU, PFS, Aladdin, chameleon man, Hutsul, CESID, Bess, rail gun, Peering, 17, 312, NB, CBM, CTP, Sardine, SBIRS, SGDN, ADIU, DEADBEEF, IDP, IDF, Halibut, SONANGOL, Flu, &, Loin, PGP 5.53, EG&G, AIEWS, AMW, WORM, MP5K-SD, 1071, WINGS, cdi, DynCorp, UXO, Ti, THAAD, package, chosen, PRIME, SURVIAC, comrade Adam.

(list is from www.attrition.org - but "sardine" really? are they known for their terrorist tendencies?)

( http://attrition.org/misc/keywords.html is the link )

This is probably a huge coincidence but that tablet died last night and now it won't come back on.

Completely serious.

D'oh. Nevermind it works again.

But still.....makes you think.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/01/02/opinion/edward-snowden-whistle-blower.html

OPINION | EDITORIAL
Edward Snowden, Whistle-Blower
By THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Considering the value of his leaks and the N.S.A. abuses he has exposed, Mr. Snowden should be offered clemency or a plea bargain.

nyt otm

Good on the NYT.

Digby linked to this excellent speech given by Barton Gellman on responsible journalism in the age of terror.

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2014/01/priorities.html

Well, this is just precious:

That violent hostility lies just beneath the surface of the domestic debate over NSA spying is still ongoing. Some members of Congress have hailed Snowden as a whistle-blower, the New York Times has called for clemency, and pundits regularly defend his actions on Sunday talk shows. In intelligence community circles, Snowden is considered a nothing short of a traitor in wartime.

“His name is cursed every day over here,” a defense contractor told BuzzFeed, speaking from an overseas intelligence collections base. “Most everyone I talk to says he needs to be tried and hung, forget the trial and just hang him.”

One Army intelligence officer even offered BuzzFeed a chillingly detailed fantasy.

“I think if we had the chance, we would end it very quickly,” he said. “Just casually walking on the streets of Moscow, coming back from buying his groceries. Going back to his flat and he is casually poked by a passerby. He thinks nothing of it at the time starts to feel a little woozy and thinks it’s a parasite from the local water. He goes home very innocently and next thing you know he dies in the shower.”

http://www.buzzfeed.com/bennyjohnson/americas-spies-want-edward-snowden-dead

no news there rlly

“I would love to put a bullet in his head,” one Pentagon official, a former special forces officer, said bluntly. “I do not take pleasure in taking another human beings life, having to do it in uniform, but he is single-handedly the greatest traitor in American history.”

guess the civil war never happened, huh?

Charles Pierce:

Balls. COINTELPRO. CISPES. The McCarran Act. The Plumbers. Mossadegh. Arbenz. The "U.S. intelligence agencies" were anchored in nothing but their own arrogance. The president should be ashamed to base his arguments in such plainly ahistorical balderdash.

http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/obama-nsa-speech-011714

no news there rlly

It is a helpful story because it makes very explicit the degree to which our intelligence agencies imagine themselves to be sovereign states, answerable to no law but their own interests. They throw a thin disguise over this attitude by speaking as if their own interests were always absolutely identical to US interests, when in reality they are the tail that thinks it ought to wag the dog.

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/116253/edward-snowden-glenn-greenwald-julian-assange-what-they-believe

the fuck is up with that guy

Willentz sounds Deeply Saddened that these two men don't believe in Democratic states.

Snowden, it seems, mostly engaged in postadolescent banter about sex and Internet gaming—and occasionally mused about firearms. “I have a Walther P22,” he wrote. “It’s my only gun, but I love it to death.” The Walther P22, a fairly standard handgun, is not especially fearsome, but Snowden’s affection for it hinted at some of his developing affinities.

A response:

That New Republic article is just crazy. I don't give two flips what sort of ideological mess of pottage Snowden or Assange might carry around in their brains or what self-contradictory views they may hold about various leftist sacred cows. Exposing government corruption and overreach are non-ideological good deeds, unconnected to whatever beliefs motivated them.

yeah i would love to read a good greenwald takedown but man that thing is nowhere near it.

wilentz is pretty useless when he's not writing about 19th century history.

I saw Obama on Jay Leno and Obama noted in response to Leno mentioning how Daniel Ellsberg didn't flee, that yes we have whistleblower protection here in the US. Of course there was no discussion of how Obama's Justice Department has gone after whistleblowers more than any administration in history, and how Ellsberg supports what Snowden has done.

http://motherboard.vice.com/en_ca/blog/maybe-the-most-orwellian-text-message-ever-sent

Wow. Must admit I have not been following the recent Ukraine govt vs protestors events

amazing

not amazing actually, just yikes

yurp

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/independent-review-board-says-nsa-phone-data-program-is-illegal-and-should-end/2014/01/22/4cebd470-83dd-11e3-bbe5-6a2a3141e3a9_story.html?hpid=z4

But Prez and many others don't care what this board majority thinks, alas

At risk of dog piling even more info into this thread, the sessions from from the recent Chaos Communication Congress are of exceedingly high quality:
http://www.youtube.com/user/CCCen

If you only watch one, watch Paglen's "Seeing The Secret State" presentation. HFS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j56s46e97Lo

I spent a fruitless half day getting the friend of a certain Rolling Stone writer to recant her addled definition of "traitor" as it applied to Snowden.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/snowden-denies-stealing-passwords-to-access-secret-files/2014/01/23/d1f7d9e4-8472-11e3-8099-9181471f7aaf_story.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/obama-disagrees-with-watchdog-groups-conclusion-that-nsa-phone-program-is-illegal/2014/01/23/7a945564-8464-11e3-8099-9181471f7aaf_story.html

One more thing to read that I haven't read yet http://www.salon.com/2014/01/23/glenn_greenwalds_heroism_standing_up_to_our_new_orwellian_police_state/

got into it on twitter with cathy fitzpatrick today as she insisted that snowden, greenwald, the EFF, and anyone who wants useful encryption are secret anarchists plotting "anarchy, where anarchists are in charge"

that was fun

Uh, who is she?

kinda thinking someone who thinks anarchy is 'where anarchists are in charge' is prob terminally confused about what words mean in general

Uh, who is she?

― curmudgeon, Friday, January 24, 2014 6:09 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

historian/"human rights activist"/weirdo loved on the right for her writing about the USSR's large body count, with apparently a sideline in the technical details of encryption.

lol, looked her up and immediately found a horrified tweet from her about how 'there really is a magazine called JACOBIN!'