NSA Patents Network Tampering Detection Technique

Terry Olaes

Terry Olaes

I Used to be the [H] News Guy
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The US National Security Agency (NSA) has patented a network tampering detection technique. According to the patent filing, the NSA’s software “measures the amount of time the network takes to send different types of data from one computer to another” and alerts when something takes too long. I didn’t know the government can patent things like that.

IOActive security researcher Dan Kaminsky was less impressed. "Think of it as -- 'if your network gets a little slower, maybe a bad guy has physically inserted a device that is intercepting and retransmitting packets,' " he said via e-mail. "Sure, that's possible. Or perhaps you're routing through a slower path for one of a billion reasons."
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Granted I didn't read the whole thing, but It really depends how much overhead is involved to if it'd be worth it IMO... Because physical security is still a higher priority than something like this.
 
How the fuck can our government patent something to keep it away from us? Isn't that entirely oxymoronical being that they are us and we are the ones paying for the research?
 
As they are about to leave, let me point out, the Bush admin never actually understood ANYTHING about how a government... esp OURS... actually works.

The government, as the price for operating the patent system, gets TOTAL FREE ACCESS to any and all inventions and copyrights for its on use, always, end of story.

You cannot patent something to STOP the government from using it, it is not affected by patents.

Also, any INDIVIDUAL, for personal use, may make and use on his own ANY patented invention.

Patenting controls COMMERCIAL EXPLOITATION of inventions, and that's all.

So the NSA is on drugs, but then, after listening to everything everyone in the nation says and types, wouldn't YOU BE on drugs too? :eek::rolleyes::p
 
xX_Jack_Carver_Xx said:
As they are about to leave, let me point out, the Bush admin never actually understood ANYTHING about how a government... esp OURS... actually works.

The government, as the price for operating the patent system, gets TOTAL FREE ACCESS to any and all inventions and copyrights for its on use, always, end of story.

You cannot patent something to STOP the government from using it, it is not affected by patents.

Also, any INDIVIDUAL, for personal use, may make and use on his own ANY patented invention.

Patenting controls COMMERCIAL EXPLOITATION of inventions, and that's all.

So the NSA is on drugs, but then, after listening to everything everyone in the nation says and types, wouldn't YOU BE on drugs too? :eek::rolleyes::p
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The government gets complete access to every invention and copyright because they operate the system that we pay for? That's news to me.
 
sounds like the NSA is going to start a spin-off commerce company that sells anti-spyware programs. yikes.
 
Kristofff said:
How the fuck can our government patent something to keep it away from us? Isn't that entirely oxymoronical being that they are us and we are the ones paying for the research?
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Two words. Area 51.

Regardless what your opinions are of what is actually out there, the fact remains it is heavily guarded.

WE fund it, yet don't have any idea what it is.

I think there's also plenty of situations in which case keeping a matter of national security a knowledge privileged to few is better than privileged to many. Simple example: bomb threats. Much better to keep folks calm than go into a chaos and end up taking longer to exit the building.
 
TechieSooner said:
Two words. Area 51.

Regardless what your opinions are of what is actually out there, the fact remains it is heavily guarded.

WE fund it, yet don't have any idea what it is.

I think there's also plenty of situations in which case keeping a matter of national security a knowledge privileged to few is better than privileged to many. Simple example: bomb threats. Much better to keep folks calm than go into a chaos and end up taking longer to exit the building.
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no... open door policy, if people can't handle the truth they need to weed themselves out. There should be no such thing as "privileged" information... everyone should have access to everything. That is a deterrent in and of itself of threat. At the core we are all just animals anyway... no one should be more privileged than another.

i'm so sick of using national security as a guise to do whatever the hell they want. fuck it, fuck them.
 
Manaknight said:
everyone should have access to everything.
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I missed this.

How ignorant and narrow-minded can one think?

I, for one, would rather the government keep under wraps the location of all our nuclear warheads. I, for one, would rather the government keep under wraps the locations of our national defense system, and activities (who scrambles where, anti-missile, etc).

I think the History channel did a deal several years ago, and Bush had invited the Russian prez over to take a look at one HUGE missile that the USA has. It's big enough to wipe Russia off the map. They had video of the monstrosity, but obviously the location was never disclosed.
The flip side to that Bush was invited over to Russia- and they have one too :p

I'd rather stuff like that be kept secret, otherwise we render ourselves defenseless.
 
What, you thought Russia didn't have an equal or bigger sized bomb to compare? Gotta be kidding :p.
 
Emission said:
What, you thought Russia didn't have an equal or bigger sized bomb to compare? Gotta be kidding :p.
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I never said I was surprised :)

But considering theirs can evaporate the United States and ours can evaporate Russia, I think ours would be bigger :D
 
Ohh cmon, you know they're packing a bigger one SOMEWHERE in that big country :D. It's only proper!
 
xX_Jack_Carver_Xx said:
Also, any INDIVIDUAL, for personal use, may make and use on his own ANY patented invention.

Patenting controls COMMERCIAL EXPLOITATION of inventions, and that's all.
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False.

A patent provides the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, offering for sale, or importing the patented invention for the term of the patent. It does not only include commercial exploitation. If I get a patent for a neat way to tie my shoes and I find out you're tying your shoes in the same way whether you looked at my patent app. or you came about it on your own I could sue you for patent infringement and most likely win.
 
sfsuphysics said:
False.

A patent provides the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, offering for sale, or importing the patented invention for the term of the patent. It does not only include commercial exploitation. If I get a patent for a neat way to tie my shoes and I find out you're tying your shoes in the same way whether you looked at my patent app. or you came about it on your own I could sue you for patent infringement and most likely win.
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How can I go about getting a patent? I'm just going start patenting everything I can think of.
 
sfsuphysics said:
False.

A patent provides the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, offering for sale, or importing the patented invention for the term of the patent. It does not only include commercial exploitation. If I get a patent for a neat way to tie my shoes and I find out you're tying your shoes in the same way whether you looked at my patent app. or you came about it on your own I could sue you for patent infringement and most likely win.
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That's also not entirely true. Even if you patent it, if someone shows there to be folks using it BEFORE the patent (in which case the shoe tying example is dead) it can be overturned easily.

It's really the best for new products and/or technologies that don't exist. Ideas, common day to day activities and the like either won't pass the patent office or if challenged they'll get revoked.
 
You are incorrect. Individual citizens are free to build for thier own personal use anything patented.

The patent system exists to provide for exclusive COMMERCIAL use of the invented item.

You cannot commercially exploit a patented thing, not even for barter or any other manner to make it look NOT commercial. To do so is Patent Infringement.

I am free to cook up my own Phenom II in the basement for my own use. I am not free to sell/trade/barter/give it for any compensation to others. Now if I only had a $1 BILLION fab in the basement.
 
*sigh*... rather than going around and back again of saying "you're wrong" I'm just going to state again, when you patent something you obtain exclusive rights to sell, produce or USE that "object"... if you think that means you as an individual can do whatever you want, that's fine.. you're wrong, it's not only about commercial use of said item.
 
sfsuphysics said:
*sigh*... rather than going around and back again of saying "you're wrong" I'm just going to state again, when you patent something you obtain exclusive rights to sell, produce or USE that "object"... if you think that means you as an individual can do whatever you want, that's fine.. you're wrong, it's not only about commercial use of said item.
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He is right in the aspect you can't do it personally, either. The patent owner owns that invention.

It's just generally, patent owners don't care about an individual person using it. The people that are trying to push it out for others: for money or not, are the ones that patent owners care about.
 
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