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09-05-2013, 07:00 PM #351
NSA cracks Web encryption using 'back doors,' files show
NSA cracks Web encryption using 'back doors,' files show
Michael Winter, USA TODAY 6:45 p.m. EDT September 5, 2013
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...acked/2772721/
Snowden documents reveal spy agency campaign to compromise online privacy for national security.
(Photo: Patrick Semansky, AP)
Story Highlights
- NSA also maintains control over international encryption standards
- Says it's the "price of admission for the U.S. to maintain unrestricted access to ... cyberspace"
- Affects the "big four" service providers %u2014 Google, Yahoo, Facebook and Microsoft's Hotmail
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U.S. and British intelligence agencies have cracked the encryption designed to provide online privacy and security, documents leaked by former intelligence analyst Edward Snowden show.
In a clandestine, decade-long effort to defeat digital scrambling, the National Security Agency, along with its British counterpart, the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), have used supercomputers to crack encryption codes through "brute force" and have inserted secret "back doors" into software with the help of technology companies, The Guardian,The New York Times and ProPublica reported Thursday.
The NSA has also maintained control over international encryption standards.
As the Times points out, encryption "guards global commerce and banking systems, protects sensitive data like trade secrets and medical records, and automatically secures the e-mails, Web searches, Internet chats and phone calls of Americans and others around the world."
The American Civil Liberties Union immediately called the NSA's efforts to defeat encryption "recklessly shortsighted'' and are making the internet less secure for all.
In a statement, the ACLU said the actions will "further erode not only the United States' reputation as a global champion of civil liberties and privacy but the economic competitiveness of its largest companies.''
"The encryption technologies that the NSA has exploited to enable its secret dragnet surveillance are the same technologies that protect our most sensitive information, including medical records, financial transactions, and commercial secrets," Christopher Soghoian, principal technologist of the ACLU's Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, said. "Even as the NSA demands more powers to invade our privacy in the name of cybersecurity, it is making the internet less secure and exposing us to criminal hacking, foreign espionage, and unlawful surveillance.''
The spy agencies have focused on compromising encryption found in Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), virtual private networks (VPNs) and 4G smartphones. The NSA spent $255 million this year on the program, which aims to "covertly influence" software designs and "insert vulnerabilities into commercial encryption systems" that would be known only the agency.
The documents leaked by Snowden, who has been granted temporary asylum in Russia, do not name specific companies or encryption technologies, and refer to customers and users as "adversaries."
The NSA calls its decryption efforts the "price of admission for the U.S. to maintain unrestricted access to and use of cyberspace."
A 2010 memo describing an NSA briefing to British agents about the secret hacking said, "For the past decade, N.S.A. has led an aggressive, multipronged effort to break widely used Internet encryption technologies. Cryptanalytic capabilities are now coming online. Vast amounts of encrypted Internet data which have up till now been discarded are now exploitable."
The GCHQ is working to penetrate encrypted traffic on what it called the "big four" service providers — Google, Yahoo, Facebook and Microsoft's Hotmail.
One document shows that by 2012, the British agency had developed "new access opportunities" into Google's systems.
"The risk is that when you build a back door into systems, you're not the only one to exploit it," said Matthew Green, a cryptography researcher at Johns Hopkins University. "Those back doors could work against U.S. communications, too."
The NSA says code-breaking is fundamental to its mission of protecting national security by deciphering communications from terrorists, spies or other U.S. adversaries.
During the 1990s, the agency fought unsuccessfully to have a secret government portal included in all encryption protocols.
Experts and critics say that while "back doors" may help intelligence gathering, they weaken the Web's overall security and trust, and could be used by others against U.S. communications.
"The risk is that when you build a back door into systems, you're not the only one to exploit it," Matthew . Green, a cryptography researcher at Johns Hopkins University, told the Times.
The Times and ProPublica said intelligence officials asked them not to publish the article, arguing that the revelations "might prompt foreign targets to switch to new forms of encryption or communications that would be harder to collect or read."
After removing "some specific facts," they chose to publish "because of the value of a public debate about government actions that weaken the most powerful tools for protecting the privacy of Americans and others."“In questions of power…let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.” –Thomas Jefferson
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09-06-2013, 07:34 AM #352
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Thursday, September 5, 2013
NSA Blackmailing Corporate Media?
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09-07-2013, 05:48 PM #353AprilGuest
The NSA has the goods on everyone and can frame or blackmail whomever it wants.....I am sure Obama has blackmailed a few politicians.....somewhere Soros is smiling...
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09-08-2013, 05:10 PM #354
Long-shot bill forbidding NSA backdoors in encryption has renewed attention
Long-shot bill forbidding NSA backdoors in encryption has renewed attention
Introduced in July, the Surveillance State Repeal Act's provisions now seem more urgent.
by Megan Geuss - Sept 8 2013, 2:00pm EST
19
NSA leaks
- Spooks break most Internet crypto, but how?
- Google speeding up end-to-end crypto between data centers worldwide
- Let us count the ways: How the feds (legally, technically) get our data
- The NSA’s work to make crypto worse and better
- NSA’s pipe dream: Weakening crypto will only help the “good guys”
View all… In the wake of revelations that the National Security Agency (NSA) has broken through many Internet privacy protections, Representative Rush D. Holt (D-NJ) has introduced legislation to prohibit the NSA from building backdoors into encryption mechanisms, according to TheNew York Times. While Rep. Holt actually introduced the legislation to the House in July under the name “Surveillance State Repeal Act,” recent news may bring this bill more attention.
Still, that's not saying much for its success. The bill mainly asks for the total repeal of both the Patriot Act and the FISA Amendments Act of 2008. Government transparency tool Govtrack.us currently estimates that the bill has a zero percent chance of getting through committee review and thus a zero percent chance of being enacted. (Govtrack.us notes that in 2011-2013, only 11 percent of bills made it past committee and only about three percent were enacted). Without any co-sponsors, the bill even has an uphill battle to see the light of day.
For now, Rep. Holt's legislation is going through the process at a time when doubt about the necessity of the NSA's spying techniques is palpably growing both in Congress and among businesses. A one-sheet summary of the bill, posted on July 24, 2013, specifically states that it would, “Prohibit the government from mandating that electronic device or software manufacturers build in so-called 'back doors' to allow the government to bypass encryption or other privacy technology built into said hardware and/or software.”
The bill would also increase the terms of the FISC judges from seven to 10 years, and it would “mandate that the FISC utilize technologically competent Special Masters (technical and legal experts) to help determine the veracity of government claims about privacy, minimization, and collection capabilities employed by the US government in FISA applications.”
On Friday afternoon, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence issued a statement about the leaks saying, “the fact that NSA’s mission includes deciphering enciphered communications is not a secret and is not news.” Still, the office cautioned that the recent revelations offered specific and classified details that give information “to our adversaries about the specific techniques we are using to try to intercept their communications in our attempts to keep America and our allies safe and to provide our leaders with the information they need to make difficult and critical national security decisions.”“In questions of power…let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.” –Thomas Jefferson
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09-10-2013, 12:54 PM #355
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Tenth Amendment Center
NSA: The Abyss from Which There Is No Return?
http://tenthamendmentcenter.com/abyss
While Obama and company keep you fixated on their war hysteria, don't forget another major constitutional scandal - spying on everyone.Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)
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09-11-2013, 10:55 PM #356
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9/11 Commission Chair: Director of Intelligence James Clapper Should Be Indicted for Perjury regarding NSA Spying
Submitted by George Washington on 09/11/2013 14:57 -0400
The co-chairs of the 9/11 Commission – Lee Hamilton and Thomas Keane – slammed the NSA last month, saying that spying was out of control.
As the Herald Times reported Saturday, Hamilton has now become more outspoken:
Former U.S. Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind., who is now the director of the Center on Congress at IU, used the sharpest language in criticizing the institution where he had worked for three decades.
“The amount of misinformation about government surveillance programs is simply astounding and appalling,”Hamilton said, going on to say he is waiting for Attorney General Eric Holder to indict U.S. Director of Intelligence James Clapper on charges of perjury for saying his agencies were not spying on Americans, which was later debunked by Snowden’s leaks about programs that mine data from companies such as Verizon.
Hamilton was pronounced in his condemnation of the NSA and the legislators who have enabled the secret courts that allow spy programs to operate with inadequate oversight, repeatedly emphasizing activity that he considered “OUT-rageous,” describing the amount of information that is in the hands of the NSA as “mind-boggling.” It would “knock your socks off,” he said.
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[Hamilton] blamed legislators for creating the laws that constrain their ability to tell the American public what U.S. spy agencies are up to.
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But, on the whole, [Hamilton] joined the other panelists in painting a grim outlook for privacy and people’s perspectives on it. What has been completely missing, he said, is “public outrage” over Snowden’s leaks.
“Welcome to the world of mega data. You are going to be living with it for the rest of your life,” Hamilton said. “What concerns me is the potential for abuse. Once you give government power, government does not relinquish that power. When you look at these programs, you need to think of what they do now, but you also have to think of what they will become in perpetuity.”
http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed...-be-indicted-p
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09-12-2013, 12:38 PM #357
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Yahoo CEO: We faced jail if we revealed NSA secrets “If you don’t comply, it’s treason!”
Posted by Austin Petersen on 12 Sep 2013 / 12 Comments
TRUTH IS TREASON IN THE EMPIRE OF LIES…
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer revealed the extent of harassment that the NSA has engaged in to bully tech companies into revealing American citizen’s private information. Mayer is pushing for the right to publish how many requests they get for personal information from the spy agency. For now, the company is forbidden by law to disclose how much data they provide to the government.
From the GuardianDuring an interview at the Techcrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco, Mayer was asked why tech companies had not simply decided to tell the public more about what the US surveillance industry was up to. “Releasing classified information is treason and you are incarcerated,” she said.
Mayer said she was “proud to be part of an organisation that from the beginning, in 2007, has been sceptical of – and has been scrutinizing – those requests [from the NSA].”
Yahoo has previously unsuccessfully sued the foreign intelligence surveillance (Fisa) court, which provides the legal framework for NSA surveillance. In 2007 it asked to be allowed to publish details of requests it receives from the spy agency. “When you lose and you don’t comply, it’s treason,” said Mayer. “We think it make more sense to work within the system,” she said.
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09-12-2013, 11:12 PM #358AprilGuest
Yahoo CEO fears defying NSA could mean prison
Published September 12, 2013AFP
SAN FRANCISCO – Yahoo chief Marissa Mayer said she feared winding up in prison for treason if she refused to comply with U.S. spy demands for data.
Her comments came after being asked what she is doing to protect Yahoo users from "tyrannical government" during an on-stage interview Wednesday afternoon at a TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco.
Mayer said Yahoo scrutinizes and fights U.S. government data requests stamped with the authority of a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, but when the company loses battles it must do as directed or risk being branded a traitor.
Data requests authorized by the court come with an order barring anyone at the company receiving the request from disclosing anything about them, even their existence.
"If you don't comply, it is treason," Mayer said when asked why she couldn't just spill details of requests by U.S. spy agencies for information about Yahoo users.
"We can't talk about it because it is classified," she continued. "Releasing classified information is treason, and you are incarcerated. In terms of protecting our users, it makes more sense to work within the system."
Yahoo, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft are among Internet firms pushing for permission to disclose more details to users about demands for data made in the name of fighting terrorism or other threats.
Technology titans have been eager to bolster the trust of its users by making it clearer what has actually been demanded by and disclosed to U.S. authorities.
"It is our government's job to protect all of us and also protect our freedoms and protect the economy and protect companies," said Facebook co-founder and chief Mark Zuckerberg said at TechCrunch Disrupt on Wednesday.
"Frankly, I think the government blew it."
U.S. intelligence officials declassified documents Tuesday revealing the National Security Agency violated privacy rules for three years when it sifted through phone records of Americans with no suspected links to terrorists.
The revelations raised fresh questions about the NSA's ability to manage the massive amount of data it collects and whether the U.S. government is able to safeguard the privacy of its citizens.
The government was forced to disclose the documents by a judge's order after a Freedom of Information lawsuit filed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit group promoting digital privacy rights and free speech.
The foundation called the release of the documents a "victory" for transparency but intelligence officials said the papers illustrated how the spy service had made unintentional "mistakes" that were rectified under strict judicial oversight.
The release came after the scale of NSA spying was exposed in a series of bombshell media leaks in recent months by former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, who has been granted temporary asylum in Russia.
Documents divulged by Snowden have shown the NSA conducts a massive electronic dragnet, including trawling through phone records and online traffic, that has sometimes flouted privacy laws.
The declassified documents released on Tuesday shed light on friction between the NSA and the court, with judges castigating the agency for failing to abide by their orders and misrepresenting the nature of their data collection.
http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/09/12/yahoo-ceo-fears-defying-nsa-...
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09-12-2013, 11:13 PM #359AprilGuest
Google loses appeal in Street View privacy case
By Jonathan Stempel
Tue Sep 10, 2013 4:48pm EDT
(Reuters) - A federal appeals court rejected Google Inc's bid to dismiss a lawsuit accusing it of violating federal wiretap law when its accidentally collected emails and other personal data while building its popular Street View program.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to exempt Google from liability under the federal Wiretap Act for having inadvertently intercepted emails, user names, passwords and other data from private Wi-Fi networks to create Street View, which provides panoramic views of city streets.
"It's a landmark decision that affirms the privacy of electronic communications for wireless networks," said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, D.C.
"Many Internet users depend on wireless networks to connect devices in their homes, such as printers and laptops, and companies should not be snooping on their communications or collecting private data."
Writing for a three-judge panel, Circuit Judge Jay Bybee said Wi-Fi communications did not qualify as a "radio communication," or an "electronic communication" that was "readily accessible to the general public," such that Google deserved an exemption from the Wiretap Act.
"Even if it is commonplace for members of the general public to connect to a neighbor's unencrypted Wi-Fi network," Bybee wrote, "members of the general public do not typically mistakenly intercept, store, and decode data transmitted by other devices on the network."
A Google spokeswoman said: "We are disappointed in the Ninth Circuit's decision and are considering our next steps."
Elizabeth Cabraser, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said she is pleased with the decision, and "reassured that our courts continue to uphold personal privacy as an important value."
The lawsuit arose soon after the Mountain View, California-based company publicly apologized in May 2010 for having collected fragments of "payload data" from unsecured wireless networks in more than 30 countries.
Google was accused of having collected the data while driving its vehicles through neighborhoods from 2008 to 2010 to collect photos for Street View.
SETTLEMENT WITH STATES
In June 2011, U.S. District Judge James Ware in San Francisco allowed plaintiffs in several consolidated private lawsuits to pursue federal Wiretap Act claims against Google, while dismissing California state law claims.
Upholding that ruling, Bybee said Google's "expansive" view of the Wiretap Act's exceptions would have produced the "absurd" result that the law's protections would depend on whether a recipient of communications was using a secure network.
He said this could, in theory, allow someone to park outside the home or office of a person using an unsecured network, and without penalty use a "packet sniffer," a device that captures data being transmitted over a network, to intercept an email intended for that person because it was readily accessible.
"Surely Congress did not intend to condone such an intrusive and unwarranted invasion of privacy when it enacted the Wiretap Act 'to protect against the unauthorized interception of electronic communications,'" he said.
Eighteen individual plaintiffs are named in the appeal.
In March, Google agreed to pay $7 million to settle a probe into the matter involving 38 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. As part of that settlement, Google agreed to destroy data collected in the United States.
The Electronic Privacy Information Center is a nonprofit that in court papers urged the upholding of Ware's ruling.
The case is Google Inc v. Joffe et al, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 11-17483.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/10/us-google-streetview-laws...
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09-12-2013, 11:13 PM #360AprilGuest
FTC examines if Facebook breaking 2011 privacy deal
By Brendan Sasso - 09/12/13 09:19 AM ET
The Federal Trade Commission is examining whether Facebook's planned changes to its privacy policy violate a 2011 settlement with the agency."As in all cases, we're monitoring compliance with the order, and part of that involves interacting with Facebook," FTC spokesman Peter Kaplan said.
Among other changes, the new policy would clarify that Facebook has the right to include users' photos, names and other personal information in advertisements to their friends.
A coalition of privacy groups has urged the FTC to block the proposed changes, arguing they run afoul of the 2011 FTC settlement. That agreement barred Facebook from sharing users' information with third parties without first obtaining their "affirmative express consent."
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) also asked the agency to review the proposed changes in a letter to FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez on Wednesday.
"This troubling shift in policy raises a number of questions about whether Facebook is improperly altering its privacy policy without proper user consent and, if the changes go into effect, the degree to which Facebook users will lose control over their personal information," Markey wrote.
Markey and the privacy groups expressed particular concern about how the changes would affect teens. Facebook said that by agreeing to the new policy, users who are younger than 18 "represent" that their parents have also agreed to the terms.
Facebook argues that it is only clarifying its policy statement and not changing any of its actual practices."We routinely discuss policy updates with the FTC and this time is no different," Facebook spokeswoman Jodi Seth said. "Importantly, our updated policies do not grant Facebook any additional rights to use consumer information in advertising. Rather, the new policies further clarify and explain our existing practices. We take these issues very seriously and are confident that our policies are fully compliant with our agreement with the FTC."
Facebook had already been including users' photos and other information in advertisements and paid $20 million to settle a class action lawsuit over the practice. Notifying users of the advertising practice was part of that legal settlement.
http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/321825-ftc-revi...
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