Training Materials for NSA Spying Tool "XKeyScore" Revealed 347
dryriver writes with news of the latest document release on NSA spying programs. Quoting The Guardian: "A top secret National Security Agency program allows analysts to search with no prior authorization through vast databases containing emails, online chats, social media activities and the internet browsing histories of millions of individuals, according to documents provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden. The NSA boasts in training materials that the program, called XKeyscore, is its 'widest-reaching' system for developing intelligence from the Internet. The latest revelations will add to the intense public and congressional debate around the extent of NSA surveillance programs. They come as senior intelligence officials testify to the Senate judiciary committee on Wednesday, releasing classified documents in response to the Guardian's earlier stories on bulk collection of phone records and Fisa surveillance court oversight. The files shed light on one of Snowden's most controversial statements, made in his first video interview published by the Guardian on June 10. 'I, sitting at my desk,' said Snowden, could 'wiretap anyone, from you or your accountant, to a federal judge or even the president, if I had a personal email.' U.S. officials vehemently denied this specific claim. Mike Rogers, the Republican chairman of the House intelligence committee, said of Snowden's assertion: 'He's lying. It's impossible for him to do what he was saying he could do.'"
The slides in question. Looks like it was Mike Rogers that was lying and not Snowden. So much for the NSA's attempt at quieting public fear by releasing information on the Verizon phone data collection program before Congressional hearings today.
The NSA is out of control. (Score:5, Interesting)
They run themselves. They have a secret court where defendants are not allowed to attend, and are not even told they are on trial. They lie to congress. They lie to the president. They have an unlimited secret budget that nobody can check. They appear to be mostly controlled by the contractors and companies that sell them services. It's a giant graft. Private parties are helping themselves to public money, creating a surveillance state for unknown reasons under the guise fighting terrorism.
This is going to end badly. People with money and lots of power don't give up their toys easily. Expect to see the following soon: Lots of assassinations, or the NSA being raided by another enforcement branch of govt. Or maybe both.
The NSA is lying, ALWAYS (Score:3, Interesting)
Every public statement they make is a fucking lie. If they tell you it's sunny outside, you can bet that it's raining. They lie to Congress, they lie to the public, they lie to the President. When they go home at night, they lie to their wives and kids. They tell their dying grandmothers that they're fine and don't need chemo. They take down "Road Closed" signs and laugh when people wreck their cars as a result. They will climb a tree to lie when they could stand on the ground and tell the truth.
They always lie. They always WILL lie.
VPNs not safe from the NSA (Score:5, Interesting)
Lovely bullet point:
* Show me all the VPN startups in country X, and give me the data so I can decrypt and discover the users.
Translation: not only do you have no privacy, doing what you think will make you hidden will just shine a spotlight on yourself.
b&
Re:Quote from another dead hero (Score:5, Interesting)
Just fine. Its so much easier to do their own snooping when they just have to tap the lines going into one location. Not to mention they can seize the servers at will.
Re:No, it still looks like Snowden was lying... (Score:1, Interesting)
You can do most of what Snowden says for free on the internet with a couple of specific search engines for pete's sake. For instance: https://pipl.com/search/?q=Jeff+Flanagan&l=Bolingbrook%2C+IL%2C+US&sloc=US|IL|Bolingbrook&in=5
That's a literal 3 seconds of work on a publicly available site without an email address, doesn't require an extensive database for even that small amount of information and your profile is relatively clean. They've already admitted that nearly the entire US was in their "authorized" group of people through 3 hops from the target. I'd guess that their software has access to a lot more than this really simple public tool, and even some of the paid tools. Make no mistake I can ruin your life without NSA tools, the NSA can most definitely do what Snowden was saying they could do and believes it has the authority to do so.
Re:Quote from another dead hero (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:No, it still looks like Snowden was lying... (Score:5, Interesting)
The new revelation here is that a relatively low-level guy could easily search through the database looking for everything they want. That lapse in security is actually surprising, even if you have a low opinion of the NSA.
From a legal perspective, it seems they are allowed to collect the data, but they can only look at it if authorized (ie, crtain requirements are met). What Snowden is saying is that the authorization method wasn't very robust, which means that someone somewhere probably has actually abused this to check up on his girlfriend or something.
So much for the MetaData myth (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Quote from another dead hero (Score:4, Interesting)
CCP is hiring game programmers in Iceland for Eve Online
http://www.ccpgames.com/en/jobs [ccpgames.com]
best company to work for, Eve Online over 10 years old and going strong, plus 2 other mmo's being worked on
they have offices in Atlanta, GA and Shanghai China, but Headquartered in Iceland with many job openings in Iceland, and if qualified they will even help you move to Iceland with a moving package.
Re:Quote from another dead hero (Score:5, Interesting)
I have an SSH monitor script that emails me every morning with a list of unauthorized login attempts. These attempts have completely stopped, right about the time Snowden came out in the news. Weird.
Re:More info (Score:5, Interesting)
I don't know if I was the only one that picked it up, but the slides are for a version of software that was in use in 2008. Considering everything else, the capabilities now are more likely to be much more advanced.