Report: NSA Infected More Than 50,000 Networks by Mid-2012

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
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More revelations are forthcoming from whistleblower Edward Snowden describing the depth and scope of the NSA’s intrusion into computer networks around the world. The latest disclosure, printed in a Dutch newspaper reports that the NSA has planted malware in approximately 50K networks.

"The malware can be controlled remotely and be turned on and off at will. The 'implants' act as digital 'sleeper cells' that can be activated with a single push of a button."
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I find it funny that all this is thanks to Edward Snowden. The stuff he released has certainly changed the way I do computing, and who I trust. This point forward, if I don't have total control over the product, and I mean total open source control, then I don't trust it. It doesn't matter how much more dirt they find on the NSA, cause right now I assume everything is spying on me.

Trust is not something you want to lose. It takes years to gain someone's trust, but only a split second to destroy it. Right now I have my eyes on Google, Microsoft, and Apple. I don't care how much the NSA had them by the balls, cause a single man did something they should have done, and it may have very well cost his life. He's not dead, but hiding from the most powerful government would make everyday feel like it.

That's also the #1 reason why cloud computing will just never happen. USB flash drives work just fine thank you.
 
I don't think there's much point in being paranoid about it. They're operating on a level way beyond what users can defend against. For example, from the article, if they want your LinkedIn info, they can just spoof the entire LinkedIn site in ways that you don't have a prayer of detecting.

The good news is that they're operating on a level that's way beyond being interested in you. They're after other governments. You're not the target.
 
thebufenator said:
What? You mean they don't care about what i ate for breakfast?

Damn you nsa!
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People like you are the reason why the NSA gets away with it in the first place. Some of us actually value our privacy, no matter how miniscule others may think it is.
 
Spazturtle said:
Why should you have privacy and not me, keep your filthy government out of my business, your the ones who screwed it all up, you suffer.
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The thing about this is... yea, the NSA looks at other countries. I'm not really okay with that. But when the other countries is looking back, then it's fair game. Which.. they are. If they aren't then I can't really say I approve.
 
Nothing will change until people are held accountable. We keep hearing about this shit week after week but when are we going to start seeing the guys giving these orders go to prison.
 
I'd hate to break this, but generally, it would take nothing short of regime change for the files and dossiers to come wide open. The last time that something like that has happened was when Stasi dissolved along with East Germany in 1990.

NSA no doubt would take this to heart. Since NSA is documenting this, I have to say on the record that the Americans do have the constitutional right to overthrow bad administrations, with arm if it comes down to is- not that the Americans will do it.
 
Reimu said:
I'd hate to break this, but generally, it would take nothing short of regime change for the files and dossiers to come wide open. The last time that something like that has happened was when Stasi dissolved along with East Germany in 1990.

NSA no doubt would take this to heart. Since NSA is documenting this, I have to say on the record that the Americans do have the constitutional right to overthrow bad administrations, with arm if it comes down to is- not that the Americans will do it.
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When you hear reports, that even justices that are supposed to monitor these programs, actually have reservations about the NSA methods, one wonders if the administrations in question actually knew the scope of such abuses.
And then the question remains; with whom or what group would you replace those 'bad administrations'. The US being an oddity in that they have a bipolar political party system, and that members of both parties were in on these programs to a certain degrees, makes is even more unlikely that there would a suitable replacement for these 'bad administrations'.
 
aShrubbery! said:
And then the question remains; with whom or what group would you replace those 'bad administrations'. The US being an oddity in that they have a bipolar political party system, and that members of both parties were in on these programs to a certain degrees, makes is even more unlikely that there would a suitable replacement for these 'bad administrations'.
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I don't know. I am a spectator, and all I can do is cite this passage.

that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness... whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it...
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I think the jury's still out on whether or not if the general populace of the US of A would think that their representatives and their bureaucracy are still doing a-ok in filling those criteria.
 
HardLiner said:
Nothing will change until people are held accountable. We keep hearing about this shit week after week but when are we going to start seeing the guys giving these orders go to prison.
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Yup, give Snowden a medal for uncovering this and impeach the lying scum Obama for stealing our email and violating the Constitution daily.
 
evilsofa said:
The good news is that they're operating on a level that's way beyond being interested in you. They're after other governments. You're not the target.
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Unless some NSA employee happens take an in interest in you, for political or personal reasons.
 
Unless some NSA employee happens take an in interest in you, for political or personal reasons.
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FFS dont people get this?
If you happen to know an NSA worker and piss them off they could fuck you over so fast you would not even know what hit you.
Still this country is simply brainwashed and scared. Everyone is willing to listen to the next appointed liar of a politician but not enough are willing to listen to the voice of us, the American People.
 
Spazturtle said:
Why should you have privacy and not me, keep your filthy government out of my business, your the ones who screwed it all up, you suffer.
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You'll never , ever .. ever stop any Government from spying on another. Its been an act of the very nature of Civilization since the dawn of it since the inception of a hierarchy.

While the NSA deserves the lions share of the blame , MANY other countries where happy to tag along and tap the resources when it suited them and don't think for a moment they didn't know they were being watched. Suddenly those countries are telling the media they are "Appalled and dismayed at the behavior of the US Government!" when it reality they got their hand caught in the cookie jar as well. Your government like many others simply doesn't give a shit if a foreign government is spying on their citizens or not. They give a shit what they are looking for as to what extent it involves your Government and its interests strictly.

We live in an International community now that is connected instantly at even the deepest levels , you simply can not run a program like Prisim for years and not know about it throughout the Intelligence community.
 
I have a difficult time trying to decide which is the most comical and funny--Snowden's melodramatic rants about the NSA that are 90%-100% pure fabrication, or the fact that people just believe this confused guy utterly and totally, every time he opens his mouth. ROFL...:) Snowden, with his idiot stories about "little black books" being kept on every American, people listening in on every phone call we make, but believing that while at the NSA he, a very low-level employee, could have "tapped Obama's phone," and so on, is just hilarious...;) (If Snowden could have done it, a thousand other people with far higher security clearances than his could have done it, too, and they'd be writing books and making a fortune--we'd know about it.)

The picture he paints is of an NSA 100 feet tall that strides like a giant across the world doing whatever it wants, whenever it wants, like Superman! Man, what garbage. Snowden needs help in a big way--I hear the asylums in Russia are, well, very effective and if he doesn't watch his step he's going to end up in one of them, and not just because he's as nutty as a fruitcake, either....;) If you simply say something bad about a politician over there they'll cart you off to "mental hospital" for a "readjustment."

If I didn't think otherwise, I'd swear all of this is the result of an NSA plant, Snowden, whose actions are designed to buttress and magnify the NSA's reputation (among the other intelligence services dumb enough to swallow his yarns)--around the globe...! Snowden is surely doing that. Guy burned his bridges here, though, apparently. Of course, to make it all convincing, it would have to appear just that way, wouldn't it?
 
But but... where are all the skeptics and deniers that vicariously troll each thread saying everything is just tin foil hat nonsense???
 
Every time the NSA violates out computers or routers can we come up with some kind of nifty catchphrase for it?
Like can we say the NSA "Pulled a Wilt Chamberlain" or "Magicked my gear?" (Magic Johnson and Wilt were both notorious for notching their headboards if you get my drift, and god bless those of you that got it before reading this)
 
Stories like this make me sick to my stomach of my own government. Its not right, and everyone knows its not right, but we peasants/serfs are just built for stepping on.

worm
 
{NG}Fidel said:
FFS dont people get this?
If you happen to know an NSA worker and piss them off they could fuck you over so fast you would not even know what hit you.
Still this country is simply brainwashed and scared. Everyone is willing to listen to the next appointed liar of a politician but not enough are willing to listen to the voice of us, the American People.
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But the NSA claim less then 100 employes have used the system to fuck over people they don't like. We should trust them right?
 
Another example of how they are making everyone LESS safe.

Well now that depends on who's networks they are compromising now doesn't it. I understand how this article, written in another country, might have a negative tone to it. But that is the NSA's job. I didn't see anywhere in the article where anyone claimed the compromised networks belonged to US Persons or US Person Businesses. Just sayin'.
 
Like I said before, these guys writing these article sure want you to feel this way and they sure make it so it's easy to mistake what they are saying if they don't actually try to mislead you.
 
lcpiper said:
Another example of how they are making everyone LESS safe.

Well now that depends on who's networks they are compromising now doesn't it. I understand how this article, written in another country, might have a negative tone to it. But that is the NSA's job. I didn't see anywhere in the article where anyone claimed the compromised networks belonged to US Persons or US Person Businesses. Just sayin'.
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I don't think committing wire fraud and information theft is exactly legal.
 
Spazturtle said:
Why should you have privacy and not me, keep your filthy government out of my business, your the ones who screwed it all up, you suffer.
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Please recount what your government does? I bet you don't know because you don't care.
 
Ashbringer said:
I find it funny that all this is thanks to Edward Snowden. The stuff he released has certainly changed the way I do computing, and who I trust. This point forward, if I don't have total control over the product, and I mean total open source control, then I don't trust it. It doesn't matter how much more dirt they find on the NSA, cause right now I assume everything is spying on me.

Trust is not something you want to lose. It takes years to gain someone's trust, but only a split second to destroy it. Right now I have my eyes on Google, Microsoft, and Apple. I don't care how much the NSA had them by the balls, cause a single man did something they should have done, and it may have very well cost his life. He's not dead, but hiding from the most powerful government would make everyday feel like it.

That's also the #1 reason why cloud computing will just never happen. USB flash drives work just fine thank you.
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If Snowden was doing this altruistically, why is he trickling it out one bit at a time. Why was this detail not released up front. Why not all of it up front? He's working it for max PR. Either for his own ego or more likely now to maximize the negative PR at the direction of his Russian handlers. He isn't holding things back for your benefit.
 
There comes a day when we need to determine if the NSA is a benefit or a detriment to society. Same goes to other 3 letter operations like the TSA, EPA, etc etc. For example, has the TSA ever stopped a terrorist? NO. Have they been busted stealing and groping constantly? YES. Now we find out the NSA infecting the internet with malware. Who made the decision that thinking that subverting encryption, placing backdoors in programs, and spreading malware was a good idea? Who's the terrorists again?

Is it really worth for the "50" terror plots NSA supposedly foiled for the stasi state we're in now? How many of these plots were initiated for the purpose of "being the hero with a solution"? The lies pulled off in the past just aren't working as well in the media age. Which is why they can't cover up everything as easy as they used too.

As far as questioning why Snowden didn't release this information before? Because, in general, the American public is too dumb to process / retain the information if he released it all at once. He's doing it the right way. This way this news stays in the news... It also keeps the administration guessing on which lies they can tell and which ones they will eventually be busted on.

"No one is listening on your phone calls" turns into.."we only capture metadata". turns into "ok we just snoop on ex gf's"

Hell you have the head of DNI lying to Congress and nothing happened. Not a thing.

IMO, You can't trust these people because their job is to lie and deceive, and misdirect. It looks like people and businesses around the world are starting to think the same way. Stay far away from U.S. based cloud products and email providers.
 
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I don't think committing wire fraud and information theft is exactly legal.
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It is in the real world when our Intelligence Services do it against other no US Person types.

In war time, do we call killing the enemy murder?

Need to get your frame of reference straight brother, your off course.
 
In the last few wars the US has been involved in they have committed plenty of murders. You just don't get to hear about them unless another "collateral damage" video is leaked by someone like Manning or Snowden.
 
RailGunRiz said:
People like you are the reason why the NSA gets away with it in the first place. Some of us actually value our privacy, no matter how miniscule others may think it is.
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Yup. I don't care what they are doing with it - they are still spying on US citizens. Doesn't matter if I'm the direct target. They are still doing it. I'm not too keen on having people watching what I do, regardless on whether or not they look at it or act on it. It's still being done. THAT'S the bad part.

If you're ok with that, let me video tape everything you do. Don't worry, I'm just looking for something else, and won't watch the tapes unless something is reported. How's that going to work for you? Me? I don't like it one bit. I may be some insignificant piss ant not even on the NSA's radar, but they are still looking at what I do. Not cool. Not cool at all. NSA needs to step back a bit.
 
lcpiper said:
It is in the real world when our Intelligence Services do it against other no US Person types.

In war time, do we call killing the enemy murder?

Need to get your frame of reference straight brother, your off course.
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Yes, I'm sure we are at war with the Dutch, Brazilians and everyone else on the planet.
 
In the last few wars the US has been involved in they have committed plenty of murders. You just don't get to hear about them unless another "collateral damage" video is leaked by someone like Manning or Snowden.
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Oh yes, there are criminals in war time just like in peacetime. The murders usually get found and prosecuted and you don't want to go to the jail they go to. Leavenworth is no joke. As for Manning and his videos, war is nasty business, some people have problems keeping their perspective and professionalism is hard thing to maintain.

Did you see the movie "Saving Private Ryan" Lith1um?

Do you remember the scene about 15 minutes into the beach landing where the G.I.s are executing some of the German Soldiers? War is nasty business, and it's nastier the closer to the ground you get.

Have you seen one yourself, personally?
If not then keep your judgement to yourself, you have no experience that qualifies you to even open your mouth.
 
Yes, I'm sure we are at war with the Dutch, Brazilians and everyone else on the planet.
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Lith1um I have said it before but you have either missed it or it is too much of a concept for you to grasp.

It's a very old saying, "There are friendly nations, but there are no friendly intelligence services."

That's the real world, get used to it.
 
Ashbringer said:
I find it funny that all this is thanks to Edward Snowden. The stuff he released has certainly changed the way I do computing, and who I trust. This point forward, if I don't have total control over the product, and I mean total open source control, then I don't trust it. It doesn't matter how much more dirt they find on the NSA, cause right now I assume everything is spying on me.

Trust is not something you want to lose. It takes years to gain someone's trust, but only a split second to destroy it. Right now I have my eyes on Google, Microsoft, and Apple. I don't care how much the NSA had them by the balls, cause a single man did something they should have done, and it may have very well cost his life. He's not dead, but hiding from the most powerful government would make everyday feel like it.

That's also the #1 reason why cloud computing will just never happen. USB flash drives work just fine thank you.
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there's a black van sitting outside your house since you made this public announcement on the [H]. :rolleyes:
 
BladeVenom said:
They also know which senators and representatives have mistresses. Want to bet none of those politicians will ever vote against the NSA.
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Eh, it's the media that point these infidelities out. NSA has more important things to do like locate the next Al Qaeda cells in Pakistan or prevent another plane from crashing into the new trade center.
 
Azhar said:
Eh, it's the media that point these infidelities out. NSA has more important things to do like create the next Al Qaeda cells in Pakistan or not prevent another plane from crashing into the new trade center.
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FIFY.
 
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