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Sorm: Russia Intends To Monitor "All Communications" At Sochi Olympics
dryriver writes with this excerpt from The Guardian: "Athletes and spectators attending the Winter Olympics in Sochi in February will face some of the most invasive and systematic spying and surveillance in the history of the Games, documents shared with the Guardian show. Russia's powerful FSB security service plans to ensure that no communication by competitors or spectators goes unmonitored during the event, according to a dossier compiled by a team of Russian investigative journalists looking into preparations for the 2014 Games. The journalists ... found that major amendments have been made to telephone and Wi-Fi networks in the Black Sea resort to ensure extensive and all-permeating monitoring and filtering of all traffic, using Sorm, Russia's system for intercepting phone and internet communications. Ron Deibert, a professor at the University of Toronto and director of Citizen Lab, which co-operated with the Sochi research, describes the Sorm amendments as "Prism on steroids", referring to the programme used by the NSA in the US and revealed to the Guardian by the whistleblower Edward Snowden."
That's just what oppressive governments do. They have to monitor everything to stay in power.
Anybody heard of SLOP (Severe Loss of Perspective Syndrome?)
The techno-libertarian community seemed to get a big dose of it when we saw those leaks from Snowden and friends. All of a sudden, we were the Devil incarnate, despite:
1) surveillance being subject to judicial and legislative oversight
2) not being anywhere near as far-reaching as SORM or the Chinese systems, or
3) anybody being hauled away in the dead of night for offending the sensibilities of anybody in power.
I suggest that some people need to grow up, and realise that the West is the absolute paragon of virtue compared to what Russia, China and Muslim countries are doing.
I shudder to think what will happen to the world when the baton of world domination is handed to these despots. I know the techno-libertarian crowd will be celebrating.
Nothing can beat the NSA in the surveillance event competition!
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
Another reason to boycott the event.
This is is nothing short of a war between powerful governments and the people of the world.
The trouble is that only one side is fighting the war. The people are cheerfully thinking about nothing more than whether Facebook works, taking no steps to guard themselves, while the other side for decades has systematically been destroying their privacy and anonymity.
It was clear from the outset who would win a war one side is too stupid to realize they are fighting. Now, here we are... no privacy left.
Nobody is going to stop you from encrypting your data, they just want to read the
data you're too lazy to encrypt.. and so they will.
Records break you!
This news doesn't come as a shock to me. Actually, I halfway respect the fact that they admit it flat out.
Already too late.
but in Soviet Russia, Olympics watch YOU!
It'll be hard for the US government to file a formal complaint without getting laughed at, as they've been doing the same (although not limited to Olympic Games) in their own country.
Just send lots of photos, png format of course, home attached to your emails. That way you can say anything you want by using undetectable steganography.
Undetectable Steganography? Yep, there's an app fo
with no alternative service available, and FSB doing the compilation and analysis instead of Google.
Face it, the IOC is perfectly OK with corruption, oppression, censorship, and spying, as long as committee members get their payoffs, a pleasant facade is maintained while cameras are rolling, and nobody but Jews get killed. Russia wishes they could have the all encompassing monitoring that Beijing had, but they just don't currently have the resources. Keeping the athletes in segregated housing simply makes it easier to ensure that every single area is bugged, and each and every person there that the participants can possibly come in contact with is engaged in intelligence collecting.
You're just jealous 'cuz the voices talk to *me*
I love how americans love to throw up their arms at these FUD about China and Russia, all while having not reports, but PROOF that their country is doing stuff that is much worse.
At least Russia and China are not invading countries and killing hundreds of thousands of people so they can loot them and then pass them a bill for the "reconstruction".
...gnupg? ...tor? ...ssl+pfs? ...ssh? ...ipsec? ...openvpn? ...voip? .....<insert your favorite encryption/privacy tool here>?
Block everything? That would probably kick up more dust than the anti-gay legislation.
Love over Gold.
1) surveillance being subject to judicial and legislative oversight
You mean the secret surveillance conducted by a secret agency under secret orders with secret legal justification, "overseen" by a secret rubber stamp court with secret findings? Exactly how do you propose oversight works when there is no accountability to the electorate whatsoever?
2) not being anywhere near as far-reaching as SORM or the Chinese systems,
Got proof to back that up? I didn't think so.
3) anybody being hauled away in the dead of night for offending the sensibilities of anybody in power.
So you are claiming the US government has never engaged in extraordinary rendition and does not operate a prison camp without any due process?
I suggest that some people need to grow up, and realise that the West is the absolute paragon of virtue compared to what Russia, China and Muslim countries are doing.
Not it the last 10 years, particularly in the US. The US has engaged in kidnapping, torture, secret and illegal surveillance, political assassinations, gag orders without any warrant or due process, and started two unjustified wars which are still going on over a decade later, and you want to claim that we are a "paragon of virtue"? Maybe we are better but it certainly isn't by much these days. Hell we had a president who was awarded the Nobel peace prize and used the opportunity to argue why war is sometimes necessary. Talk about hypocritical.
I guess you missed all the leaks which revealed that oversight worked?
I'm amazed at how little snooping of American citizens were going on. There was a number in the press that about 50,000 emails of US citizens were mistakenly collected.
I have 50,000 unread emails in my inbox alone.
So, the NSA's surveillance program is robust enough that, out of 300 million people, they had an oversight margin-of-error of 1 person.
That's it.
This is how a proper government surveillance programs are SUPPOSED to work - filled with both technical and legal checks and balances.
And remember, government surveillance is a good thing. We need to make sure libertarians understand that. Government surveillance enables a stronger government, which is always a good, since a big government is better than a small government.
NOBODY wants a small government. A small government results in Somalia. Everybody wants a strong, socialist government, instead.
A strong, socialist government produces much better results, resulting in a stronger, richer population.
Just look at how Reaganomics destroyed America. It is these Republican principles that caused such economic disparity in America, because they weakened government.
We need to make sure we undo all the work that the Reagan Republicans did.
The medal is YOU! =)
Yes. But most people are too stupid. They only care about being entertained.
Panem et circensem.
As the Romans said.
Bread and games.
To keep the plebs happy and docile.
Russia has enemies in Chechnya. Some financing of Chech rebels has been traced to the middle East. More recently, it was rumored that Prince Bandar suggested to Putin that there would be no trouble at the Olympics if Assad received less support. Islamists fighting in Syria are mad, because of Russia's extensive support to Syria. The 2014 Olympics would be a great way for terrorists to strike at Russia. If I was Russia, I'd be spying on the 2014 Olympics up the wazoo.
Ever consider that maybe Edward Snowden is a double agent, planted by the NSA to infiltrate the Russian security service and spill their most secret documents to the web? Me neither.
NBC will use this to say why can't have it shown live even if it's not delaying the broadcast
we monitor you!
The notion of human rights seems quite foreign to Russia's leaders today. This follows the incredible state-sponsored persecution of LGBT people, which taps into (and caters to) the already fairly widespread homophobia in large parts of the population.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/22/opinion/russias-anti-gay-crackdown.html?_r=0
Gravitation is a theory, not a fact.
Is this some sort of 'Hey we can do this even better !' or what exactly could be the point of - besides fighting, err, terrorism of course - spying on everyone at the olympics ? Don't get me wrong, I still wish that there wouldn't this sort of spying on harmless people, but what exactly could be gained from it ?
Wasn't there a vulnerability that allowed them to turn javascript back on?
Well, if history taught us anything, then that Rome didn't outlast that phase of its existence for more than a few hundred years before the barbarians steamrolled all over them.
And given the speed of development these days, I'd be surprised if this goes on another decade or two before the steamroller comes down on us.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
In what way is this related in any way to corruption? The IOC did not go forward in time, read this news, and then go back and approve Russia. I have no doubt that payoffs happen, and as demonstrated by the China games' focus on minimizing pollution to be just under the obviousness threshold, the facade has to be maintained even when the problem is well known. But how is this one of those "face it" times that demonstrates whatever point you failed to make?
On the international stage, if we limit the selection committee to only those places where there is no corruption or oppression, there would be no Olympics - because every country is seen as corrupt in some fashion to at least a few other countries. So everyone is off the list.
Not sure what your point is re: keeping athletes in segregated housing. Almost like only athletes could be suspect, and anyone who wants to talk to them would go to athlete housing, and they can't leave at all, which is clearly not true.
If you take this at face value "will face some of the most invasive and systematic spying and surveillance in the history of the Games" as well as the "all communications" part of the article's headline, your comment about the Russian vs. Chinese resources falls apart.
I dont get it.
Apple trips over itself to endorse Communism.
Rather do business there than wait on trickle down here.
Human Rights are really no longer important.
No one in their right mind would put it there and if it did get bribed into the place no one would go.
You know I trained all my life for a job But if me or others are mistreated I still have quit the job.
3 jobs I walked away from that thought they were a real big deal have folded.
Looks like I was not the only one voting with their feet or not returning for business.
In Russia, showing them how to get it done.
In Soviet Russia, State watches you!
Err... what changed?
When the copyright term is "forever minus a day", live every day like it's the last.
I thought you all said only the USA does this.. so this cant be true.. right?
---- Booth was a patriot ----
A prince named Bandar bin Sultan, the head of saudi arabian secret agency, recently visited the Kremlin and openly blackmailed Vladimir Putin, saying their vahhabite regime will make sure the Sochi winter games remain free from extremist attacks, in exchange for Moscow abandoning the Assad regime in Syria. (The saudi sunni vahhabite muslims have a religious grudge against the shia-leaning and more secularized alavite muslims of Syria. Most jihadists fighting against the worldly government in Syria are actually saudi death row and arm chop-off sentenced inmates, who are offered parole if they win, pending hostage captivity of their relatives as an assurance.)
Anyhow, Putin czar sent Prince Bandar home and stated he has utmost trust in the russian security establisment, including the FSB, GRU and Spetnaz (the latter one is the DEV-GRU that belongs to GRU, not CIA).
In such a situation, utmost surveillance and operational intelligence gathering is necessary, because the humiliated and enraged saudi vahhabite will be sending echelons of would be fedayeen (self-offer warriors) to Soci and also many chechen tenorists will try to gain carnal knowledge of TV screens with ample gore offerings. Therefore, Russia will have to reign with an iron fist in its southern territories, so that nothing bad can happen. Phone eavesdropping is the littlest of your worries in such a situation!
Sat phones
Somethingawful event: See who can send the internet monitors screaming from the room the fastest.
Cryptographers event: See who can code the best covert channel that the monitors won't notice.
Piracy event: See who can distribute footage of the events without the Olympics Committee noticing.
Sports? We don't need no steenkin sports! (Except maybe for the piracy event.)
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Saudis Threaten Russia With Olympic Terrorist Attacks Unless It Abandons Syria Support
Saudi Arabia threatens Russia with Olympic Terror
Saudis offer Russia secret oil deal if it drops Syria
Bandar Bush threatens President Putin with Sochi terrorist attack
Putin Orders Massive Strike Against Saudi Arabia If West Attacks Syria
So you are claiming the US government has never engaged in extraordinary rendition and does not operate a prison camp without any due process
Both of which require a much higher threshold than what is considered worthy of action in Russia or China. In China, it merely requires the uttering of an unharmonious joke against a public official. In Russia, it only requires that you publish something unsavory enough to offend the government.
In the US, you actually have to be a threat to human life - instead of a journalist, a politician, or an ordinary citizen that said the wrong thing at the wrong time.
Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
http://it.slashdot.org/story/12/02/03/2244204/satellite-phone-encryption-cracked
I have to return some videotapes...
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/08/in-salt-lake-city-for-the-2002-olympics-the-nsa-may-have-read-your-texts/
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130821/00421524264/nsa-fbi-spied-all-emails-salt-lake-city-before-after-olympics.shtml
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/08/nsa-olympics-spying-salt-lake-city/
"nobody agreed that we would trade off our fundamental civil rights for the government to come in and spy on us"
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
Re http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/10266957/Saudis-offer-Russia-secret-oil-deal-if-it-drops-Syria.html
AL-CIAda: the freedom fighters that just keep on helping, generation after generation.
“I can give you a guarantee to protect the Winter Olympics next year. The Chechen groups that threaten the security of the games are controlled by us,”
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
There is a difference between US and Russia surveillance: contrarily to the former, the later never claimed to be the land of freedom. Russians are slowly leaning to democracy, but it is not surprising the journey is long, if you considered they only had the Czar and the communist regime before.
... when some foreign visitor sends a strongly encrypted message they the Russian authorities find difficult or impossible to decrypt. If this were a typical Russian citizen, this would probably merit a visit from some representative of the authorities who will persuade you that the encryption is a bad idea based on bad consequences if you don't. In the case of the international attendees, one assumes the Russians will not able to do this quite so casually. But they will probably be pretty obsessed with those visitors...
Here's a prime example of a way the US government could subsidize activities it's already engaged in. You know the NSA will also be monitoring everything, they could just sell what they intercept and pay for their next data warehouse building in the US.
Both of which require a much higher threshold than what is considered worthy of action in Russia or China.
Way to set the bar low. So because they are engaged in completely reprehensible conduct that means it is somehow ok for the US to engage is conduct that is just mostly reprehensible? Sorry but I expect MUCH more from our leaders than to be just a little bit better than a repressive dictatorship.
In the US, you actually have to be a threat to human life - instead of a journalist, a politician, or an ordinary citizen that said the wrong thing at the wrong time.
No you do not have to be an actual threat to anyone. You just have to be perceived as a threat by one of the various homeland security agencies regardless of the validity of that perception. There are countless examples of people being jailed for jokes, harmless tweets, and the like. Journalists have been jailed for reporting on government malfeasance. Hell, in the 1940s we wrongly imprisoned thousands of completely innocent US citizens of japanese descent because of the mere fact that they were of Japanese descent. Furthermore tell that to the hundreds of innocent people who ended up in Guantanamo Bay. Over 600 people have been released from there without any charge and never should have been there in the first place. Most who remain are there admittedly because there is insufficient admissible evidence to convict them of any crime. That is NOT how a country that follows rule of law should behave.
The Roman empire lasted close to a thousand years not a few hundred. And after Rome fell the world rapidly descended into that period lovingly referred to as the "Dark Ages".
The dark ages are due to the Catholic church. There was nothing "dark" in the East of Europe after the fall of Rome. We did great in fact...
Why did we need someone to throw himself over the coals and run away to seek asylum and cause international incidents to find out about this stuff happening in the US, but in Russia, it gets announced through media outlets and Olympic fever.
Sadly, a Libertarian cannot force his views on another, and freedom cannot spread as does the cancer known as religion.
Religion was only a part of the reason for decline. Not every single province or country experienced the same amount or type of decline but the majority did. The Roman empire administered a huge amount of territory that provided a measure of stability across the board. At it's high point one quarter of the world population fell under Roman control. A lot of people relied on that administrative and trading framework to prosper. During it's conquests the Romans helped spread a common language along with providing a measure of modern civilization for that time period. Corruption and civil wars also contributed to Rome's fall. After Rome fell feudalism, religion, and just plain survival for some became the driving factors of the day. Towards the very end the "Black Death" was the final straw because it hit populations already weakened by Rome's fall.
how to tell russia that you don't like what they are doing?
do not watch the games, do not watch streams, just ignore everything from the games.
And tell those who try to bring broadcasts to you, that you do not watch that, and you are encouraging all your friends to do the same.
Best to start doing this now, before broadcasters buy expensive rights which they can't monetize by ads because noone is watching.
to itself, and the world...
In total, yes. What I talked about was the end of the Empire, the time past 100BC, when "panem et circenses" became the corner stone of the domestic policy.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
"Bread and Circuses" can often bring stability.
It's only a stopgag, not a solution. Sadly, it's often mistaken for one.
Bread and games is sedating the population, it makes them happy and distracts them from the underlying problem, but the problem itself remains. Unless you're willing to solve that, don't expect "bread and games" to solve it for you.
There are two ways this can bite you in the rear. First, the obvious one, that the population will remember, with a vengeance, their problems when you should for some reason be unable to provide more bread and games. And now YOU are the bad guy. Because you promised them food and entertainment and you failed to deliver, so they have to face ugly reality again. And no matter who is actually responsible for their problems (likely, they themselves) since YOU failed and they can only see it because of your failure, YOU are responsible for it in their eyes.
To make matters worse, and that's what actually fell Empires in the past, a complacent population is also an idle one. An attitude of "we're number 1" is almost instantly followed by "then why try harder?" Once you're at the point where you sedate your population with games and food, and keep them occupied by getting them worked up over non-issues so they can't concentrate on matters of importance (religion and religious topics, from abortion to homosexuality, work like a charm there), it doesn't take long until another civilization catches up, overtakes and takes over.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
How will they do that? HTTPS is completely secure. (Exclude browser/OS backdoor using). Never ever decryption key out going network. Stay on computer memory.
The people fumbling for power are different factions of the same powerful class.
USians still believe those people represent them...
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
President-Prime Minister-President
Opposition: in jail or in exile, some of them murdered in suspicious circumstances.
But whatever you say buddy.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
Snowden handed the Ruskies the NSA docs showing how to monitor all electronics. Should be simple to implement.