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Cisco Complains To Obama About NSA Adding Spyware To Routers
pdclarry (175918) writes "Glenn Greenwald's book No Place to Hide reveals that the NSA intercepts shipments of networking gear destined for overseas and adds spyware. Cisco has responded by asking the President to intervene and stop this practice, as it has severely hurt their non-U.S. business, with shipments to other countries falling from 7% for emerging countries to over 25% for Brazil and Russia."
Why does NSA have to do this? Can't they just order Cisco to install this in their factory?
Or did they co-operate in this way to prevent whistle-blowing or counterintelligence at the factory?
In any case, I doubt Cisco didn't know about this. They are probably trying to save their face after a third party uncovered this.
It takes one to know one. The US government was afraid of that kind of thing exactly because they knew they were doing it to everybody else.
Problem is that there is pretty much no possible way Cisco can put the toothpaste back in the tube. They have no simple way to prove to potential customers that their gear hasn't been hacked or compromised in some way. The actions (real or perceived) of the NSA have basically screwed a number of US companies in overseas markets where security is any sort of a concern.
Basically even the perception that the NSA may have compromised the equipment is enough to keep people from buying Cisco. Of course then the question becomes who do you trust? The Chinese make a lot of gear but they are probably trusted even less than the Americans if anything. Unless the gear is manufactured domestically under supervision it's unclear how you ensure that no one has introduced undesirable code/hardware.
...to think 40 years ago we were on the brink of nuclear war with a country that did shit like this.
Chewbacon
The Bible is like Wikipedia: written by a bunch of people and verifiable by questionable sources.
See Plausible deniability
Plausible deniability is a term coined by the CIA in the early 1960s to describe the withholding of information from senior officials in order to protect them from repercussions in the event that illegal or unpopular activities by the CIA became public knowledge.
It's roots go back to Eisenhower's NSC Directive NSC 5412 of March 15, 1954, which defined "covert operations" as "...all activities conducted pursuant to this directive which are so planned and executed that any U.S. Government responsibility for them is not evident to unauthorized persons and that if uncovered the U.S. Government can plausibly disclaim any responsibility for them." [NSC 5412 was de-classifed in 1977, and is located at the National Archives, RG 273.]
Otherwise known as "They think you're a fucking dumb cunt."
During the NBN infrastructure procurement process, apparently the USA provided intelligence to Australia indicating Chinese owned Huawei be excluded as a supplier . Not doubt to aid both Cisco's chances of winning the bid, whilst also providing an easy in for the NSA to get it's ears pre-installed in Australia's NBN well in advance. It certainly smells dirty to me...
In the case of Cisco most of the world can trust their gear with the exception of people who are direct targets of the NSA.
If there is anything we have learned since the Snowden Saga started, it is that most of the world are direct targets of the NSA. That is, your post is self-nullifying and vanishes in a poof of logic.
I'm glad America approves me hacking American systems and spying on American people. After all, foreigners are fair game, and Americans are foreigner to me, so...?
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
I am unsure if you realize this, but for the last 6 years Obama has been President, with the democrats owning the Senate since well before that. The biggest people complaining about this seem to be Rand Paul and sadly only a few others. Meanwhile the stupid and annoying cunts Barbara Boxer and Nancy Pelosi circle jerk around how we need this surveillance state.
I am unsure if you realize this but even the Republican mainstream will not fight too hard to get rid of Big Brother.
Government whores just want more government power over the people. Republicans and Democrats are to blame for this shit.
Why is it so hard to only have politicians for a few years, then have them go away?
Don't pin your hopes on teaching people what your religion believes. *Every* religion believes in wacky, nonsensical things that can be twisted around and laughed at.
Teach people that your religion *acts well*. That should be your central difference with Scientology -- the Scientologists break the law to spy on and destroy their enemies, while legitimate religions treat people fairly. Belief does not matter at all. The way a religion acts is what makes them honorable or criminal.
Genocide Man -- Life is funny. Death is funnier. Mass murder can be hilarious.