Some Hackers Unknowingly Gathering Intel For the NSA 69
itwbennett writes As reported Wednesday by the news website The Intercept, the U.S. National Security Agency and its intelligence partners are sifting through data stolen by state-sponsored and freelance hackers on a regular basis in search of valuable information. A page from an internal wiki used by the intelligence agencies of the U.S., Canada and the U.K, which was last modified in 2012 and was among the files leaked by Edward Snowden reads: "Hackers are stealing the emails of some of our targets... by collecting the hackers' 'take' we 1) get access to the emails ourselves and 2) get insights into who's being hacked."
What I want to know is? (Score:5, Insightful)
Why aren't more Americans stepping up and demanding that the government grant Clemency to Snowden?
Snowden did the right thing, and we all benefited from it, so we all owe him a favor.
Re:What I want to know is? (Score:5, Funny)
As Americans, there are some values we cherish above others, which you Eurotrash with your lack of a Bill of Rights or the fire of the Declaration of Independence, would never understand.
And among those American values that we try to live our lives by, and teach to our childen through constant example, there is only one that we hold higher and more idealistic esteem than cowardice. And that premiere value is apathy. If you care about anything, that's not cool, and so, you aren't cool. And if you care and are willing to speak up about it, that's even not-cooler.
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Because most of those of us with the courage to post under our own /. ID recognize that Snowden, while performing a large public service also immensely damaged the USA & other allied countries in revealing to people that are the enemies of everything that we believe in how we spy on them, what we know & how we learned it.
Snowden's services in the former do not make the latter disappear & if apprehended Snowden should pay for them. Until then, let him benefit from the "freedom" that Putin is offe
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"Thugs", being the big and scary type tend to fight with other "thugs", this can be used to reduce the size of their network but can be expedited with a bit of instigation. If they can force organized crime on the people, then the people can organize a "Valentines Day" on them. Beyond that this country still holds the 1st amendment, anything that bleeds can be killed, most laws under the condition of emergency do not apply.
Alternatively a law can be drafted to render known members of the "thugs" aka the "
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Yes sir, I'd like to take a look at that 12ga. nuke... .... or are you saying they will start a nuclear war if we revolt against organized crime? My response would be "shit or get off the pot, push the fucking button".
Re:What I want to know is? (Score:5, Insightful)
Speak for yourself, fascist!
Snowden did nothing whatsoever to "damage" the USA; the NSA did all the damage itself. Snowden is a hero, period.
That said, the government should not "grant clemency" to Snowden because doing so still implies that he did something wrong and the government is merely being "merciful." Instead, what the government should do is exonerate Snowden and go after the real criminals, i.e., the treasonous fuckwads at the NSA.
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First, Congress does not have the authority to direct any entity to act unconstitutionally.
Second, by implying that you believe the NSA acted properly, you are conflating the NSA's legal actions against foreigners
Traitors? They're in Rotherham, not GCHQ. (Score:1)
If you're wondering about traitors in the UK, one might look at the abuses at Rotherham and who enabled them. Then look at all the no-go zones and the general lack of courage to stand up to militant Islam.
On the other hand, a GCHQ intelligence swap with the NSA would serve to ensure no safe haven for any terrorist. The UK would benefit from the effectively world-wide reach of the US while the US would get detailed coverage.
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Lol, mr-anarchy, after calling me a fascist for stating the obvious (Snowden caused enormous damage to the US & will not be forgiven) now whines that he was the victim of an ad-hominem.
That you must suffer with a supreme court, a government, law enforcement & in fact the immense majority of the US population that refuse to recognize that YOUR interpretation of the constitution is the only correct one. Oh, how that must be frustrating for you...
Poor, poor you... Tis indeed fortunate that you can salv
Shame that we have no HUAC for your kind. (Score:1)
Snowden did nothing whatsoever to "damage" the USA
The facts betray you. No amount of modpoints can change that.
He provided intelligence to known-hostile countries such as Russia and China. In addition, various anti-American groups (such as ISIS and others inspired by them) have adjusted their actions to account for the unauthorized disclosures.
Snowden's proper place is a secure corrections facility in Florence, Colorado - after the evidence is used to convict him in a US court of law. The NSA's proper place is to exist as they are now and adapt to threa
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Had the NSA not COMMITTED TREASON, Snowden would have never felt the need to blow the whistle.
So go fuck yourself. Or better yet, GTFO of the US and go to some fascist shithole where you belong.
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Because the F35 Joint Strike Fighter plans landing in the hands of China isn't really a big deal. However, obvious constitutional violations based on proof is.
Re:What I want to know is? (Score:4, Informative)
That's your opinion .
The American justice system is based upon law -- not opinion.
The Snowden story is unfolding precisely as it should.
The US government has the responsibility to mitigate and litigate leaks. Snowden could have used the whistle-blower route. He says he has good reason for not doing that. Whether he is guilty of treason or other crimes has yet to be determined. Until such time, he is presumed to be innocent.
He's in Russia and they will not give him up. That's Russia's call. Snowden's documents are still being released and that's expected.
--
Clemency is not granted by popular vote. It is granted via due process. Snowden is avoiding due process, and, because he is working within the legal framework of a complicated mixture of US and Russian law, his situation is still legal when judged in his current context. Russia will not extradite, and that's their business. US cannot extract him and that is what it is.
Until America or Russia or Snowden chooses to make a move to change things, the legality of each party is in equilibrium.
Until due process is applied, no one is guilty ... all are innocent.
Public opinions have no legal standing in the matter.
So it is written, so let it be done.
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Yes, Manning got due process, and Snowden would risk getting the same.
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TFS and TFA are regarding a specific legal proceeding that is documented as a matter of record.
You may have a point regarding some vague, unrelated, perhaps speculative, meta-legal philosophical thought experiment and have most probably posted to the wrong thread.
I hate it when I do that, too.
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The American justice system is based upon law -- not opinion.
That is incorrect. The American justice system is based upon the opinions of judges on the laws written by the legislature with respect to their adherence to the Constitution, the Declaration, other founding documents, British common law, and the founding principles.
That having been said, a case like this would have to reach the justice system first before it could be subject to American justice. And in this situation, just as in say, Assange's situation, there's good reason to believe that these people wou
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The American justice system is based upon the opinions of judges.
The justice system does not allow judges to base decisions on personal opinions. More properly, judges have options that are defined by law.
This, coupled with your bias and speculative statements, not supported by any facts, nullifies any point you may have been trying to make.
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The US government has the responsibility to mitigate and litigate leaks. Snowden could have used the whistle-blower route. He says he has good reason for not doing that. Whether he is guilty of treason or other crimes has yet to be determined. Until such time, he is presumed to be innocent.
The evidence against him (which grows with each unauthorized disclosure) assures his guilt in all but name.
He's in Russia and they will not give him up. That's Russia's call. Snowden's documents are still being released and that's expected.
A fugitive from justice in the most criminal-friendly country. Turn up the heat against Russia and they'll crack - especially with their bad economy.
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The evidence against him ...
Which you do not have access to.
Turn up the heat against Russia ...
No need to go there.
The government doesn't want Snowden as badly as they want the documents .
He's no hero. (Score:1)
Snowden did the right thing for all the enemies of America and we all benefited from it, so we all owe him a favor.
He only helped the enemies of the US, such as Russia, China, and entities like ISIS. The sooner he/his helpers can face justice in a US court (and convicted with the Mt. Everest of evidence), the sooner America is done a favor.
Your original words can only be spoken in the context of the Russian/Chinese governments or the various groups that stand against the US and its allies, such as ISIS.
The Real Reason... (Score:3)
heck even I do most of that (Score:3)
I little ole me does most of what TFA describes UK intelligence doing. OF COURSE you pay attention to open sources like Twitter and blogs.
TFA is silly in asserting that the government said Anonymous is a threat "but" their own memo says the threat is small COMPARED TO THE THREAT FROM NATION STATES. Duh, China is a bigger threat than Anonymous. That doesn't mean hacktivists aren't a threat.
Not just unofficial hackers (Score:4, Interesting)
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They all do this. It's illegal for them to spy on their own populace, so they have the intelligence agencies of other countries do it, and then "share intel".
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But it's only "bad" when the NSA does it (That's what French politicians say when referring to spying by the NSA/DGSE, what German politicians say when referring to spying by the NSA/BND, what Brazilian...).
And now for something completely different... (Score:3, Funny)
This story reads like a Monty Python movie credit - "Those responsible for hacking the people who have just been hacked have been hacked."
Just using the internet gathers intel for them (Score:1)
How is this Canada ? (Score:4, Funny)
Really
Shouldn't there be an octopus strangling the globe or maybe a man in black icon for this
Re:How is this Canada ? (Score:4, Funny)
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Sorry, quiet and polite would be the British. You're just the incredibly friendly sidekick.
Letters of Marque (Score:4, Interesting)
How long until the NSA/FBI/DHS/CIA begin issuing Letters of Marque and Reprisal to hackers and (online) pirates, to do the surveillance dirty work for them?
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I prefer "privateer". Now close with her amidships!
Update to Headline (Score:2)
Some NSA Stooges Unknowingly Gathering Intel For Hackers
When you monitor everything... (Score:3)
When you monitor everything, you get everything.
I'd be more interested in what they aren't/can't monitor. As would evil people, but I'm not evil. You can take my word for it...
You mean like trolling PASTEBIN? (Score:3)
I'm sure there is a whole set of robot eyes watching for pastebin urls on IRC / Twitter et al
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There are numerous spiders slurping up the entire public corpus of Pastebin. You can observe this by creating a new public paste. Check it 24, 48, 72 hours later and watch as the view count increments. Their recently added pastes [pastebin.com] list is heavily mined, and who knows who's saving it all. I doubt the "private" pastes are much more secure.
And the beauty part is (Score:2)
and one step further... (Score:2)
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And if they've already hacked you, we're just two automation scripts away from a recursive loop and a lot of full disks. :)
Not proven until in a US court, modbomb in 3,2,1.. (Score:1)
Of course, that makes the faulty assumption that it is unquestionably true. The only source is someone that cannot be trusted.
On the other hand, such unauthorized releases of material, including everything from the Intercept, has only served to cause harm.
Through their actions, they are indirectly complicit in aiding/abetting groups like ISIS, in addition to directly being complicit in aiding hostile countries like Russia and China. The blood is on all of their hands - nothing short of turning themselves
Don't know about hackers, but China is helpful.. (Score:2)
I do network and computer security for a university. In the last couple years we have received a couple alerts from the FBI. The info was fairly old and limited in scope. And, they didn't want us to share the info with those who really needed to have it.
In the same period, the Chinese government has instituted a program of rigourous scanning [usu.edu] and vulnerability asses