Edward Snowden's New Job: Tech Support

Nerval's Lobster writes "Government whistleblower Edward Snowden, exiled in Russia after releasing top-secret documents about the National Security Agency's surveillance activities to the press, has a new job: tech support. Snowden's lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, told the Associated Press that his client starts work Nov. 1 for a "major" Russian Website, which he declined to name. In June, Snowden—a former CIA employee who worked as a contractor for the NSA—began feeding an enormous pile of classified charts and documents about federal surveillance programs to The Guardian and other newspapers. Many of those documents suggested that the NSA, ordinarily tasked with intercepting communications from terrorists and foreign governments, collects massive amounts of information on ordinary Americans, which in turn ignited a firestorm of controversy. The Snowden revelations have continued into this week, with The Washington Post reporting that the NSA has aggressively targeted Google and Yahoo servers. Snowden's documents suggest that the agency has figured out how to tap the links connecting the two tech giants' datacenters to the broader Web. Google told the Post that it was "troubled" by the report. A Yahoo spokesperson insisted that the company had "strict controls in place to protect the security of our datacenters" and that "we have not given access to our data centers to the NSA or to any other government agency.""

Comments

IT support

[K. S. Kyosuke]

"IT support. Have you tried turning the NSA tapping device off and on again?"

Re:IT support

[Anonymous Coward]

Dammit, it was working fine last week. I had Merkel's phone records, Calderón's e-mails, I even had Rousseff's contact list. Can't you IT people keep anything working!

Re:IT support

[Thanshin]

"IT support?"
"Yes."
"I hear a strange noise on my phone."
"It's... cosmic radiation. Yeah. That's it. A whole bunch of cosmic radiation."
[long pause]
"... Tovarisch, you know in this country we do study physics, right?"

Re:IT support

[LifesABeach]

News Flash! AP - (Moscow,Ru) Edward Snowden discovered that the Russian government has tapped into all phones, and internet traffic, globally; film at 11.

Re:IT support

[Frigga's Ring]

While you might have been joking, they have been caught trying. http://www.theverge.com/2013/10/29/5045076/russia-denies-using-poisoned-flash-drives-to-spy-on-g20-attendees

Re:IT support

[IamTheRealMike]

Actual most likely job, from the BBC: "Pavel Durov, who founded VKontakte in 2006, invited Mr Snowden through a post on his own webpage to join the company's St Petersburg headquarters to work on data protection."

VK would count as a major website, for sure.

Re:IT support

[FriendlyLurker]

Much more likely it is an NSA/GCHQ malware USB stick given they have been caught red handed spying at the G20. Even going as far as setting up dummy internet cafes which are a lot more expensive than distributing a few USB sticks.

Accusing Russia at this point of a few malware USB sticks without presenting any hard evidence is really just lame and shows how desperate they are to divert media attention off their own despicable actions (i.e. spying for industrial and economic espionage purposes, G20 has nothing to do with terrorism).

Step forward with the hard evidence if your trying to justify your own criminal actions by accusing others of what you have been caught doing... and even if true it hardly excuses the fact.

Re:IT support

[BitZtream]

Accusing Russia at this point of a few malware USB sticks without presenting any hard evidence is really just lame and shows how desperate they are to divert media attention off their own despicable actions (i.e. spying for industrial and economic espionage purposes, G20 has nothing to do with terrorism).

Not nearly as lame as pretending Russia doesn't do it.

Here's a hint guys ... our spy agencies ... SPY ON PEOPLE, ITS THEIR FUCKING JOB. Why the fuck do you guys act surprised or outraged? This has been going on for thousands of years, you're an idiot if Snowden has told you something you didn't know before.

You should be pissed that the NSA is spying on Americans. But you should be more pissed if they weren't spying on leaders of other countries. That is their charter. EVERYONE KNOW IT except apparently a bunch of moron wanna be geeks who seem to be shocked that our spy organization spy on people.

Re:IT support

[telchine]

"IT support. Have you tried turning the NSA tapping device off and on again?"

"Hello my name's Edward Snowden. I can help you today. I can see you tried switching it off and switching it off again but the password you just entered is not the one we have on file."

Re:IT support

[K. S. Kyosuke]

"IT support?"
"Yes."
"I hear a strange noise on my phone."
"That's my voice."

permissions

[schneidafunk]

Don't give him root.

Re:permissions

[Reverand Dave]

Well, some information is so important that it begs to breach the proprietary wall.

Re:permissions

[Chatterton]

If your data's are completely legitimate and show no wrongdoing from the company part, I don't think you should be afraid of him working for your company. A whist-blower is not someone who like to share your data, it is someone who can't bear all the wrongdoing you/your company are doing that he don't see other way to make you stop doing it than showing it to the world hoping that you will change. Generally they are people who have a high level of moral integrity.

Re:permissions

[jbolden]

Who exactly gets the absolute right to decide what's ultimately "wrongdoing" as opposed to just "secret"?

For the USA, the people of the United States who elected a president that made campaign promises not to do many of the things that Snowden proved they were doing. For corporations the government which they are chartered or acting.

Re:permissions

[CanHasDIY]

Generally they are people who have a high level of moral integrity.

Morals are not universal.

Oh, the fuck they aren't.

I'm getting pretty fed up with people excusing fucked up behavior by claiming, 'waaah, but morals are hard!'

No, they fucking aren't; you want to be a morally just person? Remember one rule: treat every other person the way you want to be treated. Excluding true sociopaths who are chemically unable to parse the concept, yes, morality really is that simple.

Re:permissions

[AchilleTalon]

I do not agree with this simplistic view. The guy may think you are evil and decide to share your data, it is all left to his own appreciation and judgement. A single guy may destroy a lot of other guys because he believes it is the right thing to do. In some sense, your data is better in the hands of the NSA than in the hands of a free-electron you don't know really what he is thinking and cannot predict what he will do with it..

Sorry to say that, but a whistleblower isn't automagically a good guy with high moral and integrity. You just don't know.

Re:permissions

[Vitriol Angst]

THIS a thousand times.

IF the internet had a "punch in face" button, I'd be pressing it a few times for the next person who tries to debate torture, spying and why we shouldn't be pushing green tech yesterday. There's debatable points, but some things aren't up for debate.

The NSA is doing the wrong thing, and it isn't even after bad guys -- it's clear they were on the path of control and a lot of their data was going to be used for Corporate Espionage. Stop pretending that the CIA and these other three-letter companies haven't gone well past their original purpose and into the deep end. The number of people doing the wrong thing doesn't justify doing the wrong thing -- they just have a lot of cover and finger pointing exercises.

Re:permissions

[Anonymous Coward]

Remember one rule: treat every other person the way you want to be treated.

So a masochist would be allowed to hurt other people?

Re:permissions

[Anonymous Coward]

Remember one rule: treat every other person the way you want to be treated.

As a exhibitionist who's also a voyeur, I couldn't agree more. Now if you'd just open the curtains a bit more...

Re:permissions

[Ravaldy]

The way I see it is, if you had you family killed by say "a terrorist" and the NSA told you: "we could have prevented that attack if we were allowed to tap in". You would have a completely different view of the whole issue and would consider Snowden to be a hold back towards American family's security.

On the flip side you could be the 22 year old paranoid tech savvy guy that cares so much about his privacy that Snowden is a hero.

So who is right? The answer is nobody. It's a split debate and some will see data tapping as a good thing and some as a bad thing.

Re:permissions

[Uberbah]

That's retarded. I'm not going to treat 8-year-olds like they're 35.

So, you're some kind of jerk then.

Re:permissions

[CanHasDIY]

Think of it this way:

- We don't want our country invaded and blown up, so we shouldn't invade other countries and blow them up.

- I'd wager that Saddam Hussein probably wouldn't be keen on being tortured, dismembered, murdered, etc., so if he had been a moral person, he wouldn't have treated the Kurds so poorly, and they wouldn't have wanted us to invade.

That's the problem, I think: most people seem to have trouble applying The Rule universally.

Anyways, any sensible interpretation of the Golden Rule re-interprets it to treat others as they wish to be treated in preference to how you like to be treated, if you happen to know how their preferences are not yours. I.e. don't take a vegetarian out for steaks.

Sigh... boy do I tire of explaining apparently simple concepts...

For one thing, it's not amoral to invite a person to a steak dinner, regardless of what their eating preference is; granted, if you know they're a vegan beforehand, then it is a dick move, but not amoral, because A) it causes no harm, and B) you're not treating them in a way that you would not appreciate being treated (not a vegan myself, but I wouldn't be offended in the least if one invited me to their favorite non-meat-serving establishment).

Conversely, forcing a vegan to eat steak would be amoral, because you would not appreciate it if someone forced you to eat something you refused to eat.

FWIW, I really shouldn't complain, considering the mental gymnastics some folks perform to justify things that actually do cause harm, like wars and racism.

Re:permissions

[CanHasDIY]

FWIW, nobody knows what's best for me but me.

Really? Say there is some poisoned food, but you don't know that it is poisoned, and you are hungry. But someone else does.

According to your claim, that other person should not stop you from eating that stuff, because after all, you know best what is good for you.

Oh, come now. You know as well as I do that is a ridiculous non-sequitur; hell, in your next couple of sentences you pretty much call yourself out on it!

OK, now you will say "ah, but that's just a lack of knowledge, if I knew what is in that food, I'd certainly decide not to eat it." So let's slightly modify the situation:

You know quite well that there's cyanide in the food, but you believe cyanide would be harmless. The other person knows quite well that cyanide will kill you. So should that other person still stop you?

That other person would have to ask themselves, "If I was about to eat something that would kill me, and someone else knows that I shouldn't, would I want that person to tell me about it?"

The Golden Rule still applies.

OK, let's modify again: The person doesn't know that there's cyanide in the food, but only firmly believes it. Should she still prevent your from eating it?

Is that something you would want someone else to do to you? Because that's your answer. Personally, I wouldn't be poisoning other people's food to begin with, because I'm not an amoral asshole.

OK, make another slight change: She doesn't believe that there's cyanide in the food, but she believes that God will throw you in hell if you eat that food. Should she still prevent you from eating it?

Well, for starters, she should ask herself the Golden Question.

Secondly, if I'm the one who's got the food, how is the other person's decision on whether or not to do the moral thing my responsibility? In your attempts to negate the Golden Rule, I fear you may have lost track of your own train of thought.

Now I'm pretty sure that in the first scenario you'd say "prevent" (thus violating your own rule), and in the last scenario you would say "not prevent". But where would you make the switch, and why?

And where does this nonsense come from? At what point does "treat other people the way you want to be treated" become a bad thing, outliers and sociopaths aside?

Things are simply not as simple as you want them to make.

Yea, actually they are. Stop trying to rationalize bad behavior.

Wow, harsh.

[T.E.D.]

So he hasn't even been arrested yet, and his punishement has already started?

Now *that's* punishment

[Chris Mattern]

He should've just let them shoot him.

idiot

[Anonymous Coward]

since the u.s. claims global jurisdiction over its citizens regardless of where they travel to or reside, and he is still one, now he's gonna have to file taxes.... that means if they don't know it yet, by april 15th, the feds will know his address... and if he doesn't file, he can then be arrested on tax evasion.. even if what he's done already ends up being legal whistleblowing.

Re:idiot

[bobbied]

Just not all that true. The same Russians that denied extradition of Snowden from the transit lounge at the Moscow airport are not likely to agree to have him arrested and sent to the USA for tax evasion.

Re:idiot

[telchine]

if he doesn't file, he can then be arrested on tax evasion

Yeah, he's wanted for international espionage. I'm sure a charge of tax evasion doesn't bother him! What are they going to threaten him with next? A speeding ticket? Jaywalking? Littering?

The US, for all its power, hasn't plugged the leak

[davide marney]

Whatever Snowden did to bottle up his stolen cache of documents, it has apparently kept the entire US security apparatus at bay.

Now, THAT'S a project that would look good on an IT resume, anywhere.

In Soviet Russia

[Anonymous Coward]

Document leaker provides IT support for YOU!

Re:Thanks to him

[Opportunist]

He's just the messenger. Whether it gets safer or not is up to us now.

Good life

[skaag]

After having lived in Russia for some 6 month cumulatively, I have this to say: Edward Snowden is going to love it.

A few reasons:

- Incredibly beautiful women
- Incredibly cool clubs and bars
- Awesome Moscow Ballet / Classical Music / Cultural Events / Arts / Museums
- McDonalds has a whole wheat bun, need I say more?

Worked for Capone

[Overzeetop]

If the FBI can't get him, the IRS will. Nice.

Re:SNOWDEN !! DOUBLE-AGENT ??

[captainpanic]

But answer this: if he WERE a double agent, SO WHAT? Does that make the data he got wrong? No. Does it make what the documents say a good thing for the NSA to do? No.

So *even if* you're right and Snowden is a double agent, that has no bearing WHATSOEVER about the crimes the revelations have documented.

You don't get it. It is not about the data. At this moment the global attention is aimed at the NSA, and it says: "NSA = bad" and "Snowden = good". Some people just want to turn that around, and make it "Snowden = bad", and make people forget about the NSA.

It's really that simple.

Re:Thanks to him

[gmuslera]

Knowing that there is a ticking bomb under your feet don't automatically disable it, you are not safer than before. But let you take measures to try to be safe in the future, before it explodes in your face. For making the world better you must know where it is broken.

You merkins.

[Anonymous Coward]

When China wiretaps and cracks US systems, it's an act of war.

When the USA wiretaps and cracks soverign states like Germany, it's "Well, they're spies! Whadayuhexpect?".

Re:You merkins.

[bobbied]

How you see it depends on what side of the firewall you are on.

Generally, I figure that everybody that's thinking about the social and political world is going to be involved in collecting as much information as they can. They'd be stupid not too. If there is information you don't want others to know then it is YOUR responsibility to protect your information. If somebody manages to get such information from you, it's your fault.

That the NSA monitors world leaders phone calls should come as no surprise to anybody (foreign or domestic). We have done this sort of thing for centuries and have grown quite good at intercepting and deciphering communications of all sorts. Other countries are doing the same thing and many of them are quite capable of gathering information too. Some of these countries are friendly some are not. So, if you don't want your information compromised? Hide it better.

This is not to say anything about how STUPID it is to get caught spying on your friends. Never, ever, get caught spying on your friends should be in the top 10 most important rules of foreign relations. Not that you don't do it sometimes, but that you DON'T get caught doing it, ever. Also, figure that your friends are spying on you too and take the steps necessary to protect yourself and deal with it. So when you boil down all the common sense here, it means that spying on friends happens from time to time, but it should be rare. It should also NEVER be discovered.

worst IT support EVER

[drewsup]

Ed - "Hello this Edward, how can I help you today."

L User - "yes Comrad, my mouse appears not to be working anymore."

Ed - " Ok" (.Clicky- clack- clack) "just let me get root access here on your PC"...

L User- "Click"

Ed - "Hello Comrad, are you still there? I seem to have lost you..."

Re:Hell Desk

[rvw]

I can feel his pain.

Then it's your pain, not his.

Re:SNOWDEN !! DOUBLE-AGENT ??

[CreatureComfort]

That is so incredibly devious! It take s real fiend to spread rumors and lies this malicious.

NSA Operative: Our public profile is way too high, and this Snowden jerk is winning in the popularity polls. We need to discredit him, quick!
NSA Public Relations Rat: Well, we need to get people to despise Snowden and focus on him and his new antics so we can fade back into the background.
NSA Operative: OK, so who is the most despised group on earth? Terrorists? Traitors?
NSA PRR: No. No. We've been trying that for months, and we just can't get any traction with the press or public. Worse, both those arguments lead back to us and our data.
NSA Operative: How about members of Congress, or the White House?
NSA PRR: You mean get him elected? No good, do you know what a seat in Congress is going for these days? Even our black budget can't afford any more than we already have, and don't even get me started on what a White House position costs now.
NSA Operative: Hmm... pedophile rapist?
NSA PRR: Maybe you're onto something... He is in Russia after-all... Wait! I've got it. The most universally reviled, disgusting, hated group in the world!
NSA Operative: What? What!?
NSA PRR: We'll tell everyone he's....... Tech Support.
NSA Operative: You vicious bastard. Even I couldn't have some up with something so foul. I love you for it.

In the long tradition of Philby, Oswald, MacLean

[Ancient_Hacker]

The USSR often gives jobs, usually non-cushy ones, to defectors. Lee Harvey Oswald got a job in a radio factory assembly line. I guess IT support is the modern equivalent.

Re:No. He did not

[isorox]

"Snowden did transition from a whistle blower to a spy though"

No. He did not.

He was a whistleblower and remains a whistleblower.

He did. Initially the U.S. media were supportive of him as a whistleblower. Their owners and editors then had their briefing, and suddenly actions that were pro-american whistleblowing were anti-american spying.

So yes, he didn't change, but the media's portrayal of him did, and that's what's important.

Re:Hell Desk

[Yomers]

According to initial tweet on Russian he'll be supporting one of non-government internet portals - more like system administrator, not customer support.

Re:Hell Desk

[ackthpt]

I can feel his pain.

Then it's your pain, not his.

In Soviet Russia Snowden feels your pain TOO!

Re:SNOWDEN !! DOUBLE-AGENT ??

[Swampash]

Sorry you love the Federal Government so much, but Snowden is a patriot standing up for the ideals on which the USA was founded. Deal with it.

Re:A bunch of lying liars who lie

[Jason Levine]

What I took away from the Yahoo comment was how it was worded vs the Snowden revelation. "We have not given access to our data centers to the NSA or to any other government agency." However, the Snowden leak said that the cables to the data centers were tapped. The NSA wouldn't need access to the physical servers if they could just grab a copy of all data heading into and out of the data center. Now, this could have been done without Yahoo knowing or it could have been done with their help (but without giving access to the data center to allow for plausible deniability should the story get out).

Re:No. He did not

[Nyder]

"Snowden did transition from a whistle blower to a spy though"

No. He did not.

He was a whistleblower and remains a whistleblower.

He did. Initially the U.S. media were supportive of him as a whistleblower. Their owners and editors then had their briefing, and suddenly actions that were pro-american whistleblowing were anti-american spying.

So yes, he didn't change, but the media's portrayal of him did, and that's what's important.

Yes, the U.S. media, now there is a group that sticks up for the rights of the people over the government & corporations. And yes, I am being really fucking sarcastic when I say that. Who the fuck do you think the U.S. Media works for, and why the fuck do you think Snowden ignored them and went to the Guardian?

Re:In the long tradition of Philby, Oswald, MacLea

[Arker]

"You might want to look up your history a bit"

Irony detector overload.

You might want to look up some history yourself. Mr Oswald worked in a factory after defecting to the USSR, before returning to the USA and ultimately eating those bullets.

Re:your reputation will precede you...

[Nyder]

I'm surprised he was hired in the first place. He might be talented and an asset to any organization but he's also proven himself to be a liability. He will likely never be hired anywhere anybody has something to hide ever again.

And yet he was given a job.

You know the saying, if you are doing nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide? Well, that applies to jobs he works at. If they have nothing to hide, then they have nothing to fear.

If the NSA had nothing to hide, why do they fear what Snowden leaked? Remember, they first said he didn't have access to anything and didn't have anything important. Are they still saying that? No, they went to tell the other countries that will force economic sanctions on any country helping him. Which is a lie, because they haven't done shit to Russia.

If i was a honest company, Snowden is the sort of person I'd probably like working there.

Re:SNOWDEN !! DOUBLE-AGENT ??

[Uberbah]

I was a huge supporter of the guy when he was telling people in his country about the NSA violating it's mission statement and turning its guns on the American people. Now, when he went down the Bradley Manning path and just started dumping anything he had in his hands related to our overseas communications and surveillance (that is what the NSA is SUPPOSED to be doing), then THAT became a serious problem.

Yeah, that was a bullshit talking point the first time around, too. Manning didn't "leak documents indiscriminately" - if I were king for a day fascists would recieve an automatic shock to the balls for using that talking point - he gave them to a responsible media organization: Wikileaks. Who vetted the documents before release, and even asked the USG for help in redacting names of sources, etc.

But given the fact that Snowden personally selected the information he wanted, rather than a lowly grunt taking a database dump, that junk talking point doesn't even get off the ground. You guys also tip your hands by getting all hot and bothered over the laws broken by whistleblowers while at the same time not giving two shits about the lawbreaking revealed by said whisteblowers.

Re:Hell Desk

[cold fjord]

... he'll be supporting one of non-government internet portals ...

Odd that the Russian government took a pass on hiring such talent. On the other hand, the Russians aren't stupid.