NSA Attacks on VPN, SSL, TLS, SSH, Tor

[z9wahqvh]

as long as we have our tinfoil hats on, one data point to keep in mind here
is to remember that USGov, despite having many uniform policies, is also
shot through with warring fiefdoms and turfs.

Snowden and Michael Hayden both have the odd career path CIA - NSA. To say
that is unusual is to make an enormous understatement. we are usually told,
"once CIA, always CIA." you can't "quit." and there are hundreds of stories
over 50+ years of history to suggest this.

CIA and NSA have often been thought not to be on the same page, largely
because NSA is military and CIA is civilian (or whatever special/uber
designation it has at this point). CIA sees itself as entitled to operate
much *more* lawlessly than NSA.

it is not hard to imagine scenarios where CIA might want to weaken NSA
capabilities in part via public embarrassment. and one involved in the plot
could even go public with his statements about how damaging the leaks are.
convenient!

our noble leaker(s) would not even necessarily need to know how it was
possible to grab so much information without being stopped/noticed.


On Wed, Dec 31, 2014 at 10:29 PM, Seth <list at sysfu.com> wrote:

> On Tue, 30 Dec 2014 14:16:21 -0800, Jason Richards <jjr2 at gmx.com> wrote:
>
>> OK, I'll bite: why? What benefit does the US govt get from the
>>>> information leaked by Snowden?
>>>>
>>>
> The way this question is worded frames the debate to an extent. To me,
> using the phrase 'the US Govt' implies a monolithic entity with coherent
> motives.
>
> It does not leave room for explanations involving fedgov internecine
> info-warfare for example.
>
>  So the US government seems to have said "we do things you don't want us
>> to, but if you use proven, open source crypto you're reasonably
>> secure." The only benefit I can see would be if they could break that
>> crypto and wanted people to have a false sense of security by using
>> that easily broken crypto.
>>
>> My tinfoil hat isn't that thick. I don't buy it. So what are the other
>> benefits?
>>
>
> Just throwing some ideas out:
>
> * Terrorize disenfranchised members of the population into the cyber-fetal
> position. Self-censor accordingly and don't get too uppity, submitizen!
>
> * Make it clear for any potential rivals to deep state power who 'didn't
> get the memo' that their every move is being watched, cataloged, recorded
> and stored in perpetuity.
>
> * Frame the debate. Never ask the fundamental question of whether the
> surveillance state should exist or not. Keep the discussion focused on 'how
> much' surveillance.
>
> * Throw up a fog of dis-information consisting of yesterdays obsolete
> capabilities, which by themselves are enough to stun even the tinfoil hat
> brigade. Mobilize interesting targets into adopting defenses against the
> obsolete attacks, until they think they are safe and can let their hair
> down again. Immediately begin harvesting juicy new intel via unrevealed
> nextgen attacks.
>
> * Inflict political pain on rival agencies and political enemies
>
> Anyone else?
>
> Let the paranoia flow...
>
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