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NSA: Others Implicated in Making Snowden Data Leaks Possible
NBC News reports that "A civilian NSA employee recently resigned after being stripped of his security clearance for allowing former agency contractor Edward Snowden to use his personal log-in credentials to access classified information, according to an agency memo obtained by NBC News. In addition, an active duty member of the U.S. military and a contractor have been barred from accessing National Security Agency facilities after they were 'implicated' in actions that may have aided Snowden, the memo states. Their status is now being reviewed by their employers, the memo says." You can read the memo for yourself.
The NSA, the "experts" in computer security, doesn't use hardware access tokens? Everyone knows that passwords can be compromised (and a PKI certificate adds little since an attacker could copy the cert).
Though I guess since the NSA already hacked RSA, they knew they couldn't trust RSA tokens.
This was my immediate thought too....
Hmm, the humour and sarcasm seem to have been be lost on you.
It has been obvious to me for a while that Snowden did not act alone, and that he probably represents a surface manifestation of deep divisions within the intelligence community.
I can easily imagine a situation where he calls up someone with access to classified info, and says something like, "this is Snowden from IT; we're having problems restoring the backup of your encrypted data files on such-and-such server; can you loan me your login information so we can properly validate the checksums? You can change your password right afterward."
Why in the world would you let someone use YOUR OWN PERSONAL login credentials? Why not just give him a key that you can lock out after he's done his work. I cannot believe that someone was deliberately this stupid
So Snowden social hacked a couple of people into allowing him to use their login credentials. That isn't exactly big news and while I'm not saying it's a particularly smart thing to do I seriously doubt that these people are the only ones in NSA history to share login credentials. The real news is that now that the US authorities can't get Snowden they are going to do the next best thing which is to hang these people out to dry as accomplices. I believe that's a mistake since don't think that the vindictiveness of the Obama administration and the US security apparatus is going to do them any favours in the long run but at least it is in the very best traditions of American 'come down on them like a ton-of-bricks' justice.
“At Snowden’s request,” the civilian NSA employee, who is not identified by name, entered his password onto Snowden’s computer terminal, the memo states.
“Unbeknownst to the civilian, Mr. Snowden was able to capture the password, allowing him even greater access to classified information,” the memo states.
Snowden lied to the other employee in order to steal classified information.
It's not vindictiveness -- it's procedure. Anyone with a TS-SCI clearance gets the "we'll ruin your life if you screw up" speech when they accept the status. And, given how often you're required to review training on how not to screw up, these people have zero room to complain about any proverbial ton of bricks.
Apart from the fact that I'm glad the leaks happened, it betrays an extraordinary amount of stupidity on the part of those who gave Snowden their credentials and indicates, at least to me, a considerable lack of training.
The company I run has some government contracts dealing with a considerable amount of very personal and detailed information of unemployed and disabled persons. I can tell you right now that we regularly drum into everyone's heads the level of confidentiality we require, that under no circumstances are you to give someone your IDs and passwords, or let them use your workstation while you're logged in. Every access to client information is logged, and information is strictly limited to what is needed by each employee to do their job.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
If I had to guess, They wanted him to do what he did.At least I would like to believe anyway that he wasnt the only one sick of unconstitutional acts
have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
When access to resources is a difficult or lengthy process, and deadlines for products using those resources don't take that into consideration, then it is easier to hand over your credentials.
If the processes for gaining access were streamlines and efficient, then this wouldn't occur. Since it probably is not streamlines and efficient, this is what you get.
I guarantee you Snowden really did no "social hacking" at all.
If you have EVER been someone who solves people's computer problems (sysadmin, DT support, phone support, etc.) you know that LOTS of people will just flat out tell you their passwords when they contact you. They'll put their passwords on post-its, in e-mails, even in the trouble ticket itself. Or they'll just tell you on the phone or in person. No matter how you try to tell them "I don't want or need that information" they still do it. Upper management and C-levels are the worst about doing this, and their accounts can usually access anything in the organization.
Hell, I don't even do support any more, but people still leave me notes or tell me their passwords if they want me to help them with something IT won't do.
This just in!
Officials are investigating the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, which is alleged to have aided Snowden in getting to and from secure facilities!
> Others Implicated in Making Snowden Data Leaks Possible
Since Snowden mentioned Clapper's lying to Congress got him to release the documents, I'd start by implicating Clapper.
From there it's hard not to implicate the Presidents who didn't honor their pledge to uphold the Constitution. Congress. Decision-makers within the NSA.
Without all of them, there would be nothing for Snowden to release.
My immediate thought was: They fire, Investigate and prosecute everyone involved except those in power that systematically broke our laws on a massive scale and violated our constitution. If ever there was an example of how far we have sunk into a corporate fascist dictatorship hiding behind words like "freedom", "democracy", then this must be it.
I can tell you right now that we regularly drum into everyone's heads the level of confidentiality we require, that under no circumstances are you to give someone your IDs and passwords, or let them use your workstation while you're logged in. Every access to client information is logged, and information is strictly limited to what is needed by each employee to do their job.
You should contract work for the NSA. Apparently, they need someone with your expertise.
And I can tell you right now that unless you're a tiny operation, people are doing it anyways.
Yes it is. The people looking up their girlfriends info and obviously violating FISA warrants don't get fired. The ones sending information to the FBI with "don't tell anybody we are doing this and make sure to claim your "investigation" started with some other evidence don't get fired.
Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
I certainly hope that NSA contractors are a little better than your run-of-the-mill company in terms of security.
Hate to break it to you....
The cesspool just got a check and balance.
then why the fuck hasn't the people in the NSA who have been targeting American's [namely " The people looking up their girlfriends info" and "obviously violating FISA warrants" and "the ones sending information to the FBI with "don't tell anybody we are doing this and make sure to claim your "investigation" started with some other evidence", which CLEARLY violates the law don't face similar punishments?
Or is it just a pick and choose method of law enforcement.
And don't get me started on the whole "it's an emergency, no need to follow procedure anymore".
Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
The failing startup I was stuck at for a few years eventually hired some expensive ex-NSA security company to spy on us. I won't go into the reasons why, but it was purely political, and an empty gesture to satisfy some of our more vocal/deluded shareholders. You can imagine what it does to morale to have someone being paid at least twice your salary to monitor you, but I digress.
The point is, they went around one day, asked us each for our password(s), and then wrote them down on a legal pad. When it was my turn, they were impressed because I had the only password in the entire company that wasn't trivially crackable and, to prove it, showed me the legal pad with everyone's passwords on it.
I really hope that they were trying to set me up into using someone else's login (which of course I wouldn't), and that they weren't actually that stupid. I respect malice over incompetence, but I suspect that in reality they were just that incompetent.
Posting anonymously out of paranoia. I don't think the company even exists anymore, but whatever.
which CLEARLY violates the law don't face similar punishments?
Because it isn't CLEAR that any laws were broken. People around here like to point to some advisory board report that said the activities were probably illegal, but that 5-person board was split 3-2 so you can't say that CLEARLY the activities were illegal. It is CLEAR to you because that is what you believe it to be, but (fortunately) the US legal system isn't beholden to what you specifically believe.
Ah, sorry, but the fourth Amendment is pretty fucking CLEAR. Argue all you want about FISA panels and other such bullshit we've legalized in the last decade to completely fucking derail that Right, but it is VERY fucking CLEAR what laws have been broken and by whom here if you're willing to dilute the issue down to the very basics where it belongs. It's this bullshit dissection of these kinds of violations that allows you and everyone else to not see the fucking elephant in the room CLEAR as day. An "investigation" is opened, and results are published about 6 months after the last person stopped giving a shit about any of it. And then the illegal activity continues, just as it will here.
Knowing where the violations are, and having the power to do fuck-all about it, are worlds apart. This is why we all know they're breaking laws, and yet not a fucking thing has changed to stop it. If any concept is CLEAR here, that one is.
unless every single LOVEINT target was not a US citizen, the law was broken [as the NSA isn't permitted by law to spy on US citizens]
and a FISA judge [he should know] said the NSA violated his warrant for YEARS.
How more illegal do you need to get?
Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
The accomplices were the perps who violated our Constitution. Without them, Snowden would have had nothing to expose.
This is what is called speculation, and would be thrown out in court. Snowden claimed long ago he didn't, these people are claiming he did. I trust Snowden a bit more than I trust most of the shitheads we currently have in Government, and could easily find character witnesses who are unbiased to support Snowden.
Keep being distracted by all the hand waives though.
For what it's worth, IANAL either. I am not fooled by the distractions they keep playing against people.
-The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.