Cyberkidd writes "According to CNN, one of the NSA's main spy computers crashed for three days, and has not been completely fixed yet. No details as to the type of computer, but one can only wonder if it was a Microsoft Blue Screen..."
The NSA is all about controlled image. Most government agencies are--I've heard some rather interesting stories of military coverups--but the NSA is particularly secretive.
You don't get referred to as No Such Agency for no reason;-)
If the NSA is making this announcement, it's because A) They're making a statement about the difficult situation that export regulations are going to put them in(remember--they're the ones who get the flack when they're given an uncrackable signal) and B) They want more money, or at least their existing funds not to go away. As long as their situation is inadequate, all those "one time upgrade" budget justifications can survive. As soon as they appear in full working order, it's cool to take a few points off the top from them.
Ah, the machinations of government...
Yours Truly,
Dan Kaminsky DoxPara Research http://www.doxpara.com
NSA Computer Operating System
by
Detritus
·
· Score: 4
No details as to the type of computer, but one can only wonder if it was a Microsoft Blue Screen...
Highly unlikely.
From unclassified information in the press, the NSA has large numbers of Sun workstations (Solaris) and Cray/SGI supercomputers (Unicos).
-- Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
Re:NSA lesser of evils? Or the worse?
by
JamesKPolk
·
· Score: 4
Which is less fearsome? The power of the individual, or the power of a group?
I think that history has shown that governments have the power to do far greater harm, than lone nuts.
You'd think that Slashdot posts were a little off-
by
extrasolar
·
· Score: 5
...and the moon isn't full. But I beleive that the CNN article was a clearly direct attempt to stir up another Slashdot post. Then once the story hit Slashdot, the operatives under cover in foreign lands beep back *using Slashdot* for their medium of communication using some mind-boggling form code-encryption that appears to us as First Posts and random references to Natalie Portman.
Monday's crash affected "the processing of intelligence, but not the collection of intelligence," according to the spokeswoman.
Thank you for calling the NSA. All operators are busy, but we value your call and hope you'll stay on the line and we'll get back to you in the order your call was received. Your call may be monitored for quality assurance purposes.
Sources said the problem occurred because the computer system was overloaded and badly stressed.
Basically, they forgot to feed the hamsters and the wheels just stopped a-turnin'. It's really sad that the US claims to be the last-remaining and still reigning superpower but can't afford to slap another couple nodes on the NSA's infrastructure. But as we all know, monopolies breed complacency....
--
"If one is really a superior person, the fact is likely to leak out without too much assistance" -- John Andrew Holmes
The Truth (Might Be) Out There
by
rjh
·
· Score: 5
Just a few thoughts on the subject. Feel free to moderate me as (+1, -1, +2, -pi, Moderation As Rambling As The Content Is).
1. For the last two or three months the NSA has been playing "woe is me". Check out the press they've received recently; most egregiously was a Newsweek article which was very possibly written by the NSA. The NSA knows that the best PR is no PR -- the more people who watch the NSA, the harder it is for them to do their job. If people must watch the NSA, best if they point, laugh and make rude noises to mock them... after all, if the NSA is a laughingstock, nobody will take them seriously, which makes it easier for them to do their job.
2. Never believe anything the NSA tells you without independent confirmation. If the NSA feels it's in the national security of the United States to lie to you, they'll do so with a straight face and a clear conscience. The NSA says that some computers went down? Great -- big deal, computers go down all the time. "No," the NSA says, "these were important computers." Great -- that happens all the time, too. What, don't you guys have backup systems? A budget larger than every other intelligence agency combined and you can't afford redundant, independent computers for your mission-critical tasks?
Something in there just doesn't sound right to me.
3. The ability to process information is now more important than the ability to collect it. The article says that an NSA official downplayed the incident, saying that data was still collected -- it just wasn't processed and it'll have to be looked at later. Sounds like it wasn't too bad after all, right?
No. It means the NSA was blind, deaf and dumb, and not only that, they will likely forever be blind, deaf and dumb to events that happened during those few days.
NASA still has data from the Apollo Program which they haven't had the time or resources to look through and catalog yet. The NSA collects orders of magnitude more data than NASA, and unless they've got some incredibly advanced form of storage technology, they simply cannot store data for very long. They do not have the manpower or the resources to look through their backlog; with the scope and prevalence of digital communications today, they're drowning -- they must be drowning -- in a tidal wave of noise searching for the life-preserver of signal. It's a Herculean task.
... Add all of the above together and what do you get? I don't know. If I knew, I'd be Bruce Schneier.
National Security is rather important, no matter how greedy or crooked the fucks are.
The NSA randomly monitors all voice and data transmissions, even those of people who have not and never will commit a crime. Like grandmothers. And scoutmasters. And Natalie Portman (moderators, please don't moderate this down because of mentioning her, it's just an example!). Yes, national security is important, and a lot of groups have agents inside this country for less than honorable reasons, but they now treat everyone like a criminal.
Our Rights (which we really haven't had in 30 years)
Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, [I consider my communications to be my property -- kc] against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Where's the warrant stating my crimes? Why has the NSA intercepted and stored my communications as evidence?
Amendment II
A well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.
Since the federal government classifies my copy of PGP as a munition (even with the recent relaxation of export regulations) it is therefore 'Arms' (a synonym of 'munitions') and any attempt to break my encrypted communications is therefore an infringement of my rights given to me by our founding fathers. Sure, Thomas Jefferson et al could not foresee the future, but they laid down the Bill of Rights in plain language to insure the rights of every American citizen for as long as this great country stands.
I propose the NSA turns it's voice and data scanning to a truly criminal group inside this country.
Facts about this relatively (less than 600 total) group as of mid-1999.
29 members of this group have been accused of spousal abuse
7 have been arrested for fraud.
19 have been accused of writing bad checks.
3 have been arrested for assault.
14 have been arrested on drug-related charges.
8 have been arrested for shoplifting.
84 were stopped for drunk driving, but released after they claimed immunity.
This group, ladies and gentlemen, is The United States Congress. source: www.firecongress.com.
It doesn't matter how crooked our watchdogs are? Bullshit! It matters very much. Most of us born after 1970 have never been able to communicate electronically without a chance of interception. We are one of the most carefully watched societies on the planet, and I don't see that changing. Do you believe that you're best protected when the government treats everyone like a criminal? I don't. And I don't like living in a prison, which is all this country will amount to the farther we travel down this path.
And no, this is not assfucking our country and you so eloquently put it. Our country is asking us to bend over which is not their right because their power devolves from the people, not the other way around. Put into your vernacular the can only assfuck you if you've given permission, which you seem more than willing to do.
Kristian C. Note to the NSA's computers if you read this: Fuck off.
That single perl script they are running to parse all the world's email for words like "BOMB" and "ENCRYPTION" must of finally choked from our Echelon protest last month;)
Slashdot Mirror
The NSA is all about controlled image. Most government agencies are--I've heard some rather interesting stories of military coverups--but the NSA is particularly secretive.
;-)
You don't get referred to as No Such Agency for no reason
If the NSA is making this announcement, it's because A) They're making a statement about the difficult situation that export regulations are going to put them in(remember--they're the ones who get the flack when they're given an uncrackable signal) and B) They want more money, or at least their existing funds not to go away. As long as their situation is inadequate, all those "one time upgrade" budget justifications can survive. As soon as they appear in full working order, it's cool to take a few points off the top from them.
Ah, the machinations of government...
Yours Truly,
Dan Kaminsky
DoxPara Research
http://www.doxpara.com
Highly unlikely.
From unclassified information in the press, the NSA has large numbers of Sun workstations (Solaris) and Cray/SGI supercomputers (Unicos).
Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
Which is less fearsome? The power of the individual, or the power of a group?
I think that history has shown that governments have the power to do far greater harm, than lone nuts.
...and the moon isn't full. But I beleive that the CNN article was a clearly direct attempt to stir up another Slashdot post. Then once the story hit Slashdot, the operatives under cover in foreign lands beep back *using Slashdot* for their medium of communication using some mind-boggling form code-encryption that appears to us as First Posts and random references to Natalie Portman.
NSA, CIA, and mere mortals, I'M ON TO YOU!!!
Muah hah hahahahahah!
Monday's crash affected "the processing of intelligence, but not the collection of intelligence," according to the spokeswoman.
Thank you for calling the NSA. All operators are busy, but we value your call and hope you'll stay on the line and we'll get back to you in the order your call was received. Your call may be monitored for quality assurance purposes.
Sources said the problem occurred because the computer system was overloaded and badly stressed.
Basically, they forgot to feed the hamsters and the wheels just stopped a-turnin'. It's really sad that the US claims to be the last-remaining and still reigning superpower but can't afford to slap another couple nodes on the NSA's infrastructure. But as we all know, monopolies breed complacency....
"If one is really a superior person, the fact is likely to leak out without too much assistance" -- John Andrew Holmes
Just a few thoughts on the subject. Feel free to moderate me as (+1, -1, +2, -pi, Moderation As Rambling As The Content Is).
1. For the last two or three months the NSA has been playing "woe is me". Check out the press they've received recently; most egregiously was a Newsweek article which was very possibly written by the NSA. The NSA knows that the best PR is no PR -- the more people who watch the NSA, the harder it is for them to do their job. If people must watch the NSA, best if they point, laugh and make rude noises to mock them... after all, if the NSA is a laughingstock, nobody will take them seriously, which makes it easier for them to do their job.
2. Never believe anything the NSA tells you without independent confirmation. If the NSA feels it's in the national security of the United States to lie to you, they'll do so with a straight face and a clear conscience. The NSA says that some computers went down? Great -- big deal, computers go down all the time. "No," the NSA says, "these were important computers." Great -- that happens all the time, too. What, don't you guys have backup systems? A budget larger than every other intelligence agency combined and you can't afford redundant, independent computers for your mission-critical tasks?
Something in there just doesn't sound right to me.
3. The ability to process information is now more important than the ability to collect it. The article says that an NSA official downplayed the incident, saying that data was still collected -- it just wasn't processed and it'll have to be looked at later. Sounds like it wasn't too bad after all, right?
No. It means the NSA was blind, deaf and dumb, and not only that, they will likely forever be blind, deaf and dumb to events that happened during those few days.
NASA still has data from the Apollo Program which they haven't had the time or resources to look through and catalog yet. The NSA collects orders of magnitude more data than NASA, and unless they've got some incredibly advanced form of storage technology, they simply cannot store data for very long. They do not have the manpower or the resources to look through their backlog; with the scope and prevalence of digital communications today, they're drowning -- they must be drowning -- in a tidal wave of noise searching for the life-preserver of signal. It's a Herculean task.
... Add all of the above together and what do you get? I don't know. If I knew, I'd be Bruce Schneier.
The NSA randomly monitors all voice and data transmissions, even those of people who have not and never will commit a crime. Like grandmothers. And scoutmasters. And Natalie Portman (moderators, please don't moderate this down because of mentioning her, it's just an example!). Yes, national security is important, and a lot of groups have agents inside this country for less than honorable reasons, but they now treat everyone like a criminal.
- Our Rights (which we really haven't had in 30 years)
- Amendment IV
- The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, [I consider my communications to be my property -- kc] against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
- Where's the warrant stating my crimes? Why has the NSA intercepted and stored my communications as evidence?
- Amendment II
- A well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.
- Since the federal government classifies my copy of PGP as a munition (even with the recent relaxation of export regulations) it is therefore 'Arms' (a synonym of 'munitions') and any attempt to break my encrypted communications is therefore an infringement of my rights given to me by our founding fathers. Sure, Thomas Jefferson et al could not foresee the future, but they laid down the Bill of Rights in plain language to insure the rights of every American citizen for as long as this great country stands.
I propose the NSA turns it's voice and data scanning to a truly criminal group inside this country.- Facts about this relatively (less than 600 total) group as of mid-1999.
- 29 members of this group have been accused of spousal abuse
- 7 have been arrested for fraud.
- 19 have been accused of writing bad checks.
- 3 have been arrested for assault.
- 14 have been arrested on drug-related charges.
- 8 have been arrested for shoplifting.
- 84 were stopped for drunk driving, but released after they claimed immunity.
- This group, ladies and gentlemen, is The United States Congress. source: www.firecongress.com.
It doesn't matter how crooked our watchdogs are? Bullshit! It matters very much. Most of us born after 1970 have never been able to communicate electronically without a chance of interception. We are one of the most carefully watched societies on the planet, and I don't see that changing. Do you believe that you're best protected when the government treats everyone like a criminal? I don't. And I don't like living in a prison, which is all this country will amount to the farther we travel down this path.And no, this is not assfucking our country and you so eloquently put it. Our country is asking us to bend over which is not their right because their power devolves from the people, not the other way around. Put into your vernacular the can only assfuck you if you've given permission, which you seem more than willing to do.
Kristian C.
Note to the NSA's computers if you read this: Fuck off.
That single perl script they are running to parse all the world's email for words like "BOMB" and "ENCRYPTION" must of finally choked from our Echelon protest last month ;)