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NSA Planned To Hijack Google App Store To Hack Smartphones

Posted by samzenpus on from the all-the-better-to-see-you-with dept.

Advocatus Diaboli writes: A newly released top secret document reveals that the NSA planned to hijack Google and Samsung app stores to plant spying software on smartphones. The report on the surveillance project, dubbed "IRRITANT HORN," shows the U.S. and its "Five Eyes" alliance: Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia, were looking at ways to hack smartphones and spy on users. According to The Intercept: "The top-secret document, obtained from NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, was published Wednesday by CBC News in collaboration with The Intercept. The document outlines a series of tactics that the NSA and its counterparts in the Five Eyes were working on during workshops held in Australia and Canada between November 2011 and February 2012."

94 comments

  1. And most don't care by danbuter · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Bad part is, this would be middle of the newspaper, at best. Most people in the USA just don't care how badly our government is abusing everyone.

    1. Re:And most don't care by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

      That's because it doesn't affect most people. Besides, in relative terms it isn't too bad. Yes, pervasive surveillance infringes people's rights[1], and (speculatively) a small number of people who haven't done anything wrong get hurt by that. But the US (and the rest of the 5 eyes) aren't China, or North Korea, or ISIS. They aren't actively killing or seriously repressing large numbers of their own people. All this stuff just doesn't impact on the life of Joe Ordinary, so he doesn't care.

    2. Re:And most don't care by Noryungi · · Score: 3, Informative

      That's because it doesn't affect most people. Besides, in relative terms it isn't too bad. Yes, pervasive surveillance infringes people's rights[1], and (speculatively) a small number of people who haven't done anything wrong get hurt by that. But the US (and the rest of the 5 eyes) aren't China, or North Korea, or ISIS. They aren't actively killing or seriously repressing large numbers of their own people. All this stuff just doesn't impact on the life of Joe Ordinary, so he doesn't care.

      Some people within the United States may disagree with you. Pot, meet Kettle. Kettle, meet Pot.

      --
      The right to offend is far more important than the right not to be offended. (Rowan Atkinson)
    3. Re:And most don't care by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Most people don't care about a third-hand rumor of something that never actually happened. The Snowden documents being slow-released are old news.

    4. Re:And most don't care by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The best thing Snowden could have released is all the metadata for our elected officials. This would finally culminate in news that is both juicy and explosive, but also would show Americans how pervasive this collection is.

    5. Re:And most don't care by MitchDev · · Score: 0

      Death Penalty for the the NSA already, they are making the KGB, Nazis, and Stormtroopers look like good guys by comparison.

    6. Re:And most don't care by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 0

      The last time I tried criticizing the US government, I got called a racist and told to shut up. Has anything changed since then? If not, then what gives you the idea that you're qualified to complain?

      --
      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    7. Re:And most don't care by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because it's just research. It's not an actual live program. There's thousands of these. It doesn't mean anything. Just like when the government created a plan for what to do in case of zombie invasions.

    8. Re:And most don't care by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 0

      The last time I tried criticizing the US government, I got called a racist and told to shut up. Has anything changed since then? If not, then what gives you the idea that you're qualified to complain?

      Sensitive little racist aren't we? Now shut up.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    9. Re:And most don't care by hairyfeet · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I have to LMAO when you see those "black lives matter" and screams about "racism" when the #1 cause of death of black males is other black males beating the next four causes of death combined. Sure black lives matter....only when they are killed by white people as that supports the permanent victim class political narrative, but when black men like David Carroll and Tommy Sotomayor point out the biggest threat to the lives of black males is other black males? The black community attacks them as "coons" and "Uncle Toms"....I guess supporting an end to thugs preying on their own neighborhoods means they aren't "keepin it real".

      Oh and just a little food for thought......if the plight of the American black was racism, why is it a black man from Africa, fresh off the boat, is something like 300% more likely to become middle class in 1 generation, and something like 3000% more likely to become middle class in 2 generations than an American black, despite the language and culture handicaps from not being a native? I'd say the answer is obvious, its nothing to do with race and everything to do with culture and in the USA the black culture has become toxic, glorifying violence, abusing women and not being fathers to their children, while actively condemning education as "acting white".

      As for TFA this kind of shit DOES affect Americans heavily even if they do not know it, as it gets them used to living in a police state where laws protecting against the ever watching eye only apply to the wealthy and the rule of law is whatever they say it is this week.

      --
      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
    10. Re:And most don't care by kilfarsnar · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I have to LMAO when you see those "black lives matter" and screams about "racism" when the #1 cause of death of black males is other black males beating the next four causes of death combined. Sure black lives matter....only when they are killed by white people as that supports the permanent victim class political narrative, but when black men like David Carroll and Tommy Sotomayor point out the biggest threat to the lives of black males is other black males? The black community attacks them as "coons" and "Uncle Toms"....I guess supporting an end to thugs preying on their own neighborhoods means they aren't "keepin it real".

      Oh and just a little food for thought......if the plight of the American black was racism, why is it a black man from Africa, fresh off the boat, is something like 300% more likely to become middle class in 1 generation, and something like 3000% more likely to become middle class in 2 generations than an American black, despite the language and culture handicaps from not being a native? I'd say the answer is obvious, its nothing to do with race and everything to do with culture and in the USA the black culture has become toxic, glorifying violence, abusing women and not being fathers to their children, while actively condemning education as "acting white".

      As for TFA this kind of shit DOES affect Americans heavily even if they do not know it, as it gets them used to living in a police state where laws protecting against the ever watching eye only apply to the wealthy and the rule of law is whatever they say it is this week.

      Your last paragraph describes what it is like to be Black in relationship to the System. And you seem to think it's not good. I agree!

      "Black Lives Matter" isn't simply about the lives of Black people. It is specifically about how Black people are treated by law enforcement and the System in general. It is different from how White people are treated. I don't think that's really controversial. I'm not sure where your statistic about the fresh-off-the-boat African comes from, but he did not grow up in the same environment as the African American. It is about culture, as you say. But you can't critique that culture divorced from the context within which it formed.

      The echoes of slavery, Jim Crow and other hardships for the Black community take their toll. Like any person, if you are treated badly as a child you have a better chance of growing up to be an angry, maladjusted person. It's the same for the Black community. You can't expect them to put up with the hundreds of years of supreme bullshit they have, and come out fresh faced and positive. And that bullshit isn't all in the past; they still put up with some of it.

      So you can talk about their culture, but you can't blame it for their predicament. It was born from centuries of abuse at the hands of White people. And that's something White people need to recognize and work to end. We can't fix the past and we in the present are not to blame for it. But we should do what we can to be compassionate and understanding so as to not perpetuate the problem.

      --
      "What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
    11. Re:And most don't care by mi · · Score: 1

      Some people within the United States may disagree with you. [blacklivesmatter.com]

      Seriously? BlackLivesMatter? If you have to refer to a "movement" born out of a lie — that the robber Michael Brown, supposedly, had his arms up when he was shot — your whole position gets seriously compromised.

      Pot, meet Kettle. Kettle, meet Pot. [mxgm.org]

      An inflammatory collection of lies and innuendo based, once again, on the sorry fate of another thug, whose reaction to being followed in the street was to "whoop the shit out of the cracker".

      If, while alleging "historical" and "nationwide" victimhood, you don't have decent poster-boys, something must be wrong with your premise.

      The anonymous GP is right: we aren't actively killing nor seriously repressing a large number of our own people. Not usually. And if/when it happens, it is a cause of outrage here in the US, whereas in China, North Korea, Cuba or under ISIS it is accepted, grudgingly or otherwise...

      But then, I suppose that proverbial kettle of Joseph McCarthy and the pot of Lavrenty Beria are equally "black" to you too...

      --
      In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
    12. Re:And most don't care by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bad part is, this would be middle of the newspaper, at best. Most people in the USA just don't care how badly our government is abusing everyone.

      Bullshit, its probably the one issue millenails and under 40's will vote on.

    13. Re:And most don't care by nehumanuscrede · · Score: 1

      Maybe.

      I'm sure there are quite a few who are clueless and / or don't care because they naively believe it doesn't impact them.
      ( There is a reason both parties target young ( read that: inexperienced in how corrupt politics really are ) voters so much. )

      There are also quite a few who DO care, but are pretty much powerless to do anything about it outside of partying like it's 1776.

      We can pretend we're still a Democracy and that voting for X over Y will magically fix things but, in reality, both X and Y are just mouthpieces of Z.
      ( Z = big business / big campaign donors / pretty much anyone with large checkbooks and an agenda )

      So no matter whom we vote for, it's pretty much business as usual. ( See Mr. Hope and Change for the most recent example of this in action )

    14. Re:And most don't care by PeteJanda · · Score: 1

      A prerequisite for someone caring about the NSA's collection of personal data and metadata is awareness of the issue, and my thesis is that the average U.S. citizen is blissfully unaware. Major media outlets in the U.S. appear to have been co-opted, since they don't report on Snowden's staggered releases. Germany's Der Spiegel and other international outlets cover this news in decent detail, but domestic sources such as CNN, NYTimes, Fox News, MSNBC and others that the avg. person reads? Not so much (if at all). They did initially... but now? A common retort is that domestic outlets don't report this news anymore because the average person doesn't care, and the stories don't help sell advertising. So outlets go back to reporting on the latest important developments with the Kardashians. But this is circular logic, isn't it? Regarding the point about these programs not affecting most people, I'm reminded of the analogy about a frog sitting in a pot of increasingly hotter water. The frog doesn't fare very well.

    15. Re:And most don't care by l0ungeb0y · · Score: 1

      That's because it doesn't affect most people

      It only doesn't effect those that don't give a shit about their rights. Which is most Americans that only care about their ability to buy an SUV and pay rent.

      Besides, in relative terms it isn't too bad.

      Sure -- enslavement by a cabal of Corporate and Government fascism beats death and imprisonment. But not by much.

      The bars might be "invisible" but they are still there.

    16. Re: And most don't care by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lets see how many this WILL effect. Remember if you have more than three days supply of food you are a terrorist. They are actively locking up preppers so write me when you get settled in c-block.

      Everyone is a terrorist by the US definitions in law. Just wait till the mass arrests.

    17. Re: And most don't care by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A poor white guy with long hair gets the same treatment... tryst me. You can take your racism (reverse or otherwise) and shove it. This is an issue where we give the high school bullies badges and guns and instruct them to be abusive. It has shit all to do with race.

    18. Re:And most don't care by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 2

      "Black Lives Matter" isn't simply about the lives of Black people. It is specifically about how Black people are treated by law enforcement and the System in general. It is different from how White people are treated. I don't think that's really controversial. I'm not sure where your statistic about the fresh-off-the-boat African comes from, but he did not grow up in the same environment as the African American. It is about culture, as you say. But you can't critique that culture divorced from the context within which it formed.

      Sure, black lives matter, but American blacks really need to clean up their act more than everybody else needs to give them a hand up. By constantly saying it's everybody else's fault, we're reinforcing their ideas about how they themselves deserve the world for free, which is the underlying cause of their problems.

      And I can prove to you, without a shadow of a doubt, that the police, or even "the white man" are NOT the cause of it all. First, let's start here:

      http://www.ntnews.com.au/news/...

      Anybody remember the big media shitstorm crying racism when Anthony Stokes was denied a heart transplant because of his long criminal record? Essentially he was given something so profoundly good, which would NEVER be given to a white person in the same situation: Even though the transplant team knew he wouldn't last long post transplant, he got it anyways because they were forced to feel sorry about black history. Not less than 18 months after his transplant, he dies in a criminal rampage after he shot an elderly lady and ran over a pedestrian.

      Now, who do we blame for that one? Well, look at the photos he took of himself. He fancied himself a thug, plain and simple. You can tell that's what he wanted to be when he grew up, because he thought it was cool. That is something he learned from black culture, (think like hip-hop music that always glorifies that) not from the white man, not from police.

      Now let's look here: https://maggiemcneill.wordpres...

      Most call girls, especially black call girls, refuse to take calls from black men. The black call girls indicate the same reason as the white ones, and that reason is very interesting: Black men have a cultural mindset that they are god's gift of masculinity to the world and can just do whatever the hell they want, and are really rough during sex to the point of it being painful, and they also try to short them on money because they have the attitude that they were so good that they get to pay less.

      They do often make exceptions for men who don't sound black on the phone, because they say that usually those ones aren't tainted by "black culture" and will actually behave like gentlemen. That and they'll often accept blacks who are current or ex-military (as I myself can attest, the military will take that shit culture out of anybody) or older blacks who tend to have a better sense of humility.

      These are the kind of black men who escaped the disaster that is black culture.

      As for why a lot of American blacks tend to behave the same way, look here: http://science.slashdot.org/st...

      Basically, we as humans are naturally driven to associate with people who look like ourselves. When people tend to stick around one another, they tend to develop similar mannerisms and cultural traits that are different from others. That said, it makes perfect sense why blacks in America would act differently than any other ethnic group in America, and also why they would act different from blacks in other countries (there's a geographical separation.)

      That said, very often it occurs that blacks reinforce to themselves that they, as human beings, deserve more than they are given, so they have to take it by whatever means necessary.

    19. Re:And most don't care by Em+Adespoton · · Score: 1

      Bad part is, this would be middle of the newspaper, at best. Most people in the USA just don't care how badly our government is abusing everyone.

      "The top-secret document, obtained from NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, was published Wednesday by CBC News in collaboration with The Intercept."

      For those not in the know, CBC News is roughly equivalent to CBS News in the US. So on the one side, it's not going to be in the "middle of the newspaper." On the other, publishing this on the CBC News website is equivalent to publishing this on the CBS News website -- meaning, it didn't even make it into a newspaper in the first place. CBC News does television, radio, and web.

    20. Re:And most don't care by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Look folks... many of you are afraid of being monitored but you are forgetting some key points. Surveillance is not free! Surveillance cost money in time, equipment, and people. The powers that be are NOT going to go through the expense of monitoring someone insignificant! Most of you writing comments on Slashdot have nothing to fear because, quite frankly, you are not a person of interest! Think about it... if it is possible to track and find someone like Sadam Hussein; a leader of a foreign land, who had soldiers, intelligence, and money, then why is it so hard for the authorities to catch the neighborhood crook? The answer is because the neighborhood crook does not rank in importance to justify the expense of surveillance resources! This is NOT to say that we do not need to keep an eye on our government, but we have to be realistic with the situation we are faced with today. Terrorist threats are not isolated to easily identifiable targets. We are faced with attacks from groups formed by an 'idea' or 'belief,' and as such, these types of threats can manifest at anywhere and anytime. Unfortunately, there is no other effective method to detect these types of threats (lots of folks complaining about surveillance, but nobody has come up with a viable alternative)!

    21. Re:And most don't care by SmaryJerry · · Score: 1

      I think the quoted text doesn't disagree with anything you said, it's point is that the skin color itself and racism has nothing to do with blacks being poor. The skin color of a black man from Africa and a black man from America does not land them in jail more often, does not keep them poor, whatever racism may exist does not limit their ability to prosper. What does limit abilities to prosper is speaking a different language, not understanding the local laws, and not having any support around you, yet despite all that, an African is more likely than a black American to go to the middle class. Having known single moms with minimum wage jobs, these people claiming to be held down by the system can stick their excuses up their *ss. For one, all children get free insurance so health problems are immediately a non-issue. Secondly, low-income housing is everywhere, if you or I wanted the exact same apartment as someone making under 60% of the median wage, we have to pay approximately double for the rent. But you say , how can we go to college? Well scholorships and loans are available to everyone no matter what. You don't need good grades, you don't need to be good at sports, you just need to have the desire to go and even then if your income is low enough, you only have to pay back 50% of your loans (which also pay for housing, food, books and tuition) not the whole amount. When someone says the system is to blame, it is the most ludicrous statement. America has the best system in the world for the poor.

    22. Re:And most don't care by SmaryJerry · · Score: 1

      Just to add to your statement, non-black drug dealers refuse to deal with black men as well. Black men always pull guns and try to steal your cash or stash. The few black men who don't become the distribution for the rest of the black community.

    23. Re:And most don't care by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sure, black lives matter, but American blacks really need to clean up their act more than everybody else needs to give them a hand up. By constantly saying it's everybody else's fault, we're reinforcing their ideas about how they themselves deserve the world for free, which is the underlying cause of their problems.

      Ah, such reasoning, it lets you blow off any number problems because it's THEY who have a problem that THEY need to fix.

      Never teach swim lessons, ok?

    24. Re:And most don't care by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe not now but by the time it gets to the point where everyone does it will be too late. Just look at the war on whistleblowers making it pretty much illegal to report corruption on any level. We should all be very concerned because eventually, inevitably it will affect every single one of us.

    25. Re:And most don't care by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It was born from centuries of abuse at the hands of White people. And that's something White people need to recognize and work to end. We can't fix the past and we in the present are not to blame for it. But we should do what we can to be compassionate and understanding so as to not perpetuate the problem.

      Yea well what about Native Americans?

      Lets face it white people especially white people from the US see themselves as the Superior Fucking Race. When in truth they are only thugs and fools.

    26. Re: And most don't care by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The government isn't a race, so I'm very suspicious that you are not reasonable.

  2. Unintended consequences by ledow · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And, since then, almost every Internet service I use has started bringing their stuff out of the US. Not saying that makes us "hack-proof" (not least from our own intelligence agencies) but businesses can't do business with other governments or even large corporations if this kind of thing is suspected to be going on.

    Every week or so, another large company tells me that they've pulled all their EU users and their data to their Ireland datacentre so that only the US people's data can be "collected" by the US authorities and otherwise the NSA are just the same as any other foreign hostile entity trying to get into their systems.

    DropBox was the latest one I got an email from. The government and education services already do everything in-EU anyway because of a lovely thing called the Data Protection Act (which the US really needs to start adopting its own version of), and now even people's photo-sharing sites are doing the same because they just don't want this kind of stuff reflecting on them because they happen to do business in the US too.

    Tell me, people, if China were doing this everybody would be up in arms. But because it's the US, it's okay?

    All they've done is made everybody go from "Maybe the NSA could do this if they wanted" to "We have to assume they are doing this, all day, every day, no matter what the law says", move their data abroad, and massively increase awareness of security and encryption.

    Hell, I'm now suspicious of Elliptic Curve, especially if it relies on published curve parameters rather than them being an inherently configurable part of the exchange (like Diffie-Helman - agree on a curve that nobody has used before but has certain properties and then use that as the basis for encryption) - I have a feeling that all the push to move on COULD be a cleverly orchestrated move to something such agencies "approve" of in secret even if they say it causes them problems in public.

    When you think the trick is happening, maybe it's already been done...

    1. Re:Unintended consequences by pscottdv · · Score: 3, Informative

      We moved our EU data to EU servers because EU law requires it.

      --

      this signature has been removed due to a DMCA takedown notice

    2. Re:Unintended consequences by oobayly · · Score: 2

      Moving Dropbox data to the Republic of Ireland makes it more legal for the NSA to access the data - they're definitely not accessing US citizen's data - not that I imagine it makes much of a difference.

      The difference it does make is that it's harder for the TLAs to get warrants to access the data - they now have to go via a foreign government's legal system, rather than the US rubber stamp system. The Irish government *appears* to have been less than accommodating - as show in the Microsoft email case:

      The US government has claimed a US warrant is sufficient to get emails even when stored in another country, while Microsoft has resisted, arguing the US warrant power does not reach that far. The case has made business rivals into temporary allies and forced Ireland's Minister for Foreign Affairs and Data Protection to ask the European Commission to formally support Microsoft.

      The Faulty Logic at the Heart of Microsoft Ireland Email Dispute

      That, and the fact that Dropbox probably have to pay a shitload less tax now.

    3. Re:Unintended consequences by Ryanrule · · Score: 1, Insightful

      You know how fucking stupid you are right? All the euro countries the nsa was spying on? Turns out THEY were doing the spying for the nsa, in exchange for access to the big intel pie. All the outrage was just for the sheeple. Those in power already knew. So take it somewhere else bro. Brah.

    4. Re:Unintended consequences by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Depends which curves you use. The NIST ECs you should be suspicious of. DJB and Tanja Lange provide a good list of what works here: http://safecurves.cr.yp.to/

  3. This is a declaration of cyberwar. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So when is the U.S.A. going to defend itself against the terrorists sabotaging its own and the global information infrastructure?

  4. Why only Android? by Rik+Sweeney · · Score: 1

    Why not also the iPhone, or has this already been hacked?

    --
    Summation 2
    1. Re:Why only Android? by Chrisq · · Score: 3, Informative

      Why not also the iPhone, or has this already been hacked?

      They obviously already have a hack, or more likely an access deal with Apple

    2. Re:Why only Android? by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 5, Funny

      "Spying? There's an app for that!"

      But you don't need one . . . we support spying natively!

      --
      Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
    3. Re:Why only Android? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Considering that the iPhone is primarily an AT&T phone and AT&T has already been outed as a direct conduit to the Feds, I'd think that this would be a foregone conclusion.

    4. Re:Why only Android? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually your right all apps spy on you. It may not be the NSA but the whole reason behind apps is to mine data. If they weren't mining data why not use use a web app? The whole reason behind a downloaded app is to mine your life.

      Hell the Android OS is designed to spy on you by Goog.

      If your using Android and a bunch of apps you might as well let the NSA spy on you everyone else is.

  5. Easier ways by aglider · · Score: 1

    Hijack the android source code repository. Or maybe any blob there included...

    --
    Sent as ripples into the electromagnetic field. No single photon has been harmed in the process.
    1. Re:Easier ways by meta-monkey · · Score: 2

      At the end of the day the cellular firmware is a closed blob. No idea what's going on there, and with access that low level, you can do anything you want.

      --
      We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
  6. doing it the hard way by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    All they need to do is launch their own pirate app site and they'd have people coming to them :P

  7. Simple solution: Don't Use Google. by Jack+Zombie · · Score: 1

    Cyanogen works better than Android, and you can avoid Google Play.

    --
    "You should never doubt what nobody is sure about." -- Willy Wonka
    1. Re:Simple solution: Don't Use Google. by GrumpySteen · · Score: 1

      Because there's absolutely no chance that the NSA would ever think to hijack a connection to any other source of apps beyond Google's store?

    2. Re: Simple solution: Don't Use Google. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because you get to not run all the Google data collection and tracking software (aka Google Apps) that comes with every Android phone, plus not have to run the bundled spyware that you cannot even uninstall. At best you can disable them on some devices, but if that does more than simply remove the icon from view is anyones guess. You can trust f-droid.org apps pretty much to the same degree you can trust software on Github (which is where most apps on f-droid comes from).

    3. Re:Simple solution: Don't Use Google. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Most people on Slashdot have never heard of a watering hole attack, and have idea that it is a standard method to compromise target machines used by people all over the world for years.

      In other words, this isn't news, and the idea that any other website frequented by people is being used the exact same way by others simply eludes slashdoters.

    4. Re:Simple solution: Don't Use Google. by meta-monkey · · Score: 1

      I'd give even money more than 50% of VPN services are fronts for intelligence agencies.

      (cue someone telling me I'm being naive and not near paranoid enough because it's obviously 100%!!!! OR MORE!)

      --
      We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
  8. NSA by buck-yar · · Score: 1

    You are witnessing pure evil at work.

    1. Re:NSA by Noryungi · · Score: 2

      Nah, just business as usual.

      For pure evil, you have to go to Wall Street.

      --
      The right to offend is far more important than the right not to be offended. (Rowan Atkinson)
    2. Re:NSA by oobayly · · Score: 1

      No, they're both evil - the difference [IMO] opinion is that Wall Street does their evil in public and doesn't pretend that it's for your own good.

  9. Fooling nobody by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I think that [moving data to Irish subsidiary] fools nobody, we know that DropBox provided a PRISM interface to NSA, and if DropBox can get the data, then it can get it from Ireland. Ultimately you cannot use DropBox because DropBox is a US company.

    But your basic point is true, US companies are suffering from NSA actions, not so much directly from the hacking, but from the Republidroids pushing through laws to make it legal. So when they push a law giving immunity to corps for providing NSA with 'cyber-security-data', we know that is simply cover for the PRISM data they're buying from US Corps/Banks/Telcos. Which in turn confirms the program as far more widespread than Microsoft/Apple/Google/Facebook...

    With US Corps legally spying on their customers, why would their customers stick around?

    1. Re:Fooling nobody by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The NSA has collaboration agreements and monitoring points in place at most of the overseas cables, which feeds the XKeyScore programme. This means that even if your data is in (insert generic European country here) then it will still be eavesdropped upon by the NSA if it crosses a country border within the EU. This is what is known as 'the intelligence bazaar of Europe'.

      So even if you don't use Dropbox but say JottaCloud you will still be fucked because the NSA has the ability to insert MIM-servers between you and the non-US third party server in order to do downgrade attacks based on LOGJAM-techniques.

    2. Re: Fooling nobody by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh yes its only republican driods that did this not the innocent democrats... Seriously wake up, its all of them.

  10. Irritant Horn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    There's an ointment for that.

  11. debian digital signing and the GPG keyring by lkcl · · Score: 2

    this is why debian has the GPG key-signing parties, and why all packages are GPG-signed by the package maintainer when they compile it, why the ftp masters sign the package when it's uploaded, and why the release files which include the checksums of all the packages are also GPG-signed. under this scenario there are an extremely limited number of extremely paranoid methods by which debian may be compromised. even the scenario of "cooperation between long-term sleeper agents within debian's ranks" would have a one-shot opportunity to get away with introducing malicious code, following the discovery of which their GPG keys would be revoked, the perpetrators kicked out of debian, their packages pulled immediately pending a review, and the already-effective procedures reviewed to involve multi-person GPG signing that would make it even harder for compromise to occur in the future.

    now, if you recall, there was an announcement a couple of years back that the development of Mozilla's B2G was declared to be "open" to all, so i contributed with a thorough security-conscious review of how to do package distribution. it turns out that Mozilla is *NOT* open - at all. several other contributors have learned that the Mozilla Foundation is in direct violation of its charter.

    basically, the Mozilla Foundation *completely* ignored the advice that i gave - which was that the use of SSL as a distribution mechanism would be vulnerable to *exactly* the kinds of attacks that we see the NSA attempting to do on google. they went so far as to enact censorship, preventing and prohibiting me from pointing out the severe security flaws inherent in their chosen method of package distribution. i remain deeply unimpressed with many aspects of so-called "open-ness" of well-funded software libre projects.

    1. Re:debian digital signing and the GPG keyring by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or because they didn't want to be corrected, or have to do more work than expected...

    2. Re:debian digital signing and the GPG keyring by Uecker · · Score: 1

      this is why debian has the GPG key-signing parties, and why all packages are GPG-signed by the package maintainer when they compile it, why the ftp masters sign the package when it's uploaded, and why the release files which include the checksums of all the packages are also GPG-signed.

      Sorry, this is almost completely worthless without reproducible builds. (which finally some people started working on in debian) A compromised build host of a single debian developer (of which there are how many?) could easily introduce backdoor into a binary package which could be very hard to detect.

      But because we have gaping security holes in essential crypto and with the low quality of software in general this is a mood point anyway.

  12. Too bad they failed... by Karmashock · · Score: 1

    The success of this sort of thing could cripple the walled garden model. We need a more decentralized software distribution system. Yes, people that are terrible at this sort of thing profit from a walled garden. But it is also a crutch, gives too much power to apple, google, etc, and is apparently a security risk.

    --
    I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
    1. Re:Too bad they failed... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We need a more decentralized software distribution system.

      I think you'll find thats called BitTorrent :-)

    2. Re:Too bad they failed... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think you overestimate how much the average person will care about this, and the extent to which they will blame the walled garden model for it. Most people probably have no conception that any other model could be used. Their first thoughts, if they even see this as a problem, will be to think of ways to solve the problem within the existing model, such as legislation or band-aid style add-on security, rather than to improve the model itself.

      I agree that a decentralized system is desirable, for several reasons, but it needs people who are willing and able to promote its benefits widely and convincingly, if it is going to cripple anything.

  13. Burn them to the ground ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Pretty much the entire black hat community should be looking to burn these assholes to the ground.

    Work for the NSA, you should have all of your private information released to the public.

    If these clowns want to hack the world, burn the mother fuckers to the ground.

    Fuck you America. Fuck you and your spy agencies.

    The world hasn't consented to this, you self important cocksuckers.

    Don't give us this crap about you not being able to do anything about it. You keep whining about your right to keep guns, and if this isn't why you keep them, what is the point?

    Fix it, or shut the fuck up when the rest of the world does.

    1. Re:Burn them to the ground ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      While the NSA certainly deserves our ire, don't forget that much of what enables all this surveillance is the cooperation of businesses, both in how they hand over information and in how they designed their systems up front for surveillance (so they can sell your data to advertisers).

  14. Past Tense? by ThatsNotPudding · · Score: 2

    "NSA Planned..."? Where is the proof they did not go ahead, or are still planning to, via moles or NSL-threatened insiders?

    Such a headline gives the impression we safely dodged a bullet, while still in the midst of a massive firefight (and our side only has sparklers and rubber bands).

    1. Re:Past Tense? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or have already done so?

  15. Classic "do nothing" claim by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's the classic "you are powerless against NSA spying" claim, however it isn't true. If they had other ways of obtaining the data, they wouldn't need PRISM, so if you avoid the PRISM collaborators you make your data harder to spy on.

    As a programmer, you are definitely not powerless. Every single one of you can understand the principles of a One-Time-Pad and that encryption method we know is as secure as the private key. There will be chances to encrypt point to point links with OTP and that will increasingly be done. LOGJAM will be fixed. The problem of Certificate Authorities authorizing NSA site keys, will be fixed too. One fix at a time.

    Side note. Do you recall this (Greece spying on Vodafone network mobile phones, using spyware installed in the switches).
    http://spectrum.ieee.org/telecom/security/the-athens-affair
    Now we know Vodafone did surveillance for GCHQ, it points the finger at them for the Vodafone Greece spying.

    So add Vodafone to the 'do not use' list

    1. Re:Classic "do nothing" claim by meta-monkey · · Score: 1

      As a programmer, I understand the difference between a technical problem and a political one.

      Yes, we should use encryption to make it more difficult (less easy?) to spy on us, and quality software design practices, testing, code audits, etc, to make it less likely we will be the victims of data theft due to exploits. But to rely on technical solutions to protect us from government surveillance is to succumb to the same fallacy as the copyright lobby, relying on inherently flawed DRM principles and playing whack-a-mole with file sharing methods. You can never plug every leak.

      I know I am not smart enough to outsmart the NSA. They have slightly more resources than I do. Slightly. They're on this 24/7. They have "legal" authority to do all sorts of things I would be thrown in a cell to rot for if I did them.

      The only viable solution is a political one: change the laws to disallow the unacceptable activities of the surveillance state, with punishments for violating these rules. Until then, it's just an unwinnable arms race.

      --
      We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
  16. Oh man by jones_supa · · Score: 1

    The report on the surveillance project, dubbed "IRRITANT HORN,"

    Hehheh... the gay names of various NSA projects are always great humor.

  17. Spy agency was spying. by Ryanrule · · Score: 2, Insightful

    in other news, wind is windy.

    1. Re:Spy agency was spying. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      in other news, wind is windy.

      A troll was trolling. In other news, shit is smelly.

    2. Re:Spy agency was spying. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      in other news spy agency is continuing to violate laws by mass surveillance of citizens

      stupid trolls are stupid

  18. Headline wrong by blogagog · · Score: 2

    Shouldn't it say "NSA _Plans_ To Hijack Google App Store To Hack Smartphones"? I haven't read anywhere that they cancelled the plan.

  19. Propaganda article? by buck-yar · · Score: 1

    I bet its already compromised, maybe for quite some time. What if this and articles like this are put out to make people think the NSA isn't as far along as they are. /paranoid mode off

  20. OK by koan · · Score: 2

    The project was motivated in part by concerns about the possibility of “another Arab Spring,” which was sparked in Tunisia in December 2010 and later spread to countries across the Middle East and North Africa. Western governments and intelligence agencies were largely blindsided by those events, and the document detailing IRRITANT HORN suggests the spies wanted to be prepared to launch surveillance operations in the event of more unrest.

    It appears in some ways that these agencies have become dependent on their digital surveillance, to the point they are missing exactly what they claim to be looking for.
    I guess if you want to plan a revolution just use paper...

    --
    "If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
  21. Additionally by koan · · Score: 1

    How many Linux/Unix repositories have been hacked? What exactly drops in when you update?

    --
    "If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
  22. Can't wait for the NSA bricking app by tekrat · · Score: 1

    Sooner or later, every digital device we "own" will also be owned by the NSA, and they will have the ability to brick it. Even your car (thanks OnStar) will be bricked. For what purpose? Who knows? But it's clear that we have more to fear from the pricks at the NSA than we do from any hacker, terrorist or criminal, as the NSA is pure evil.

    --
    If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
    1. Re:Can't wait for the NSA bricking app by koan · · Score: 2

      Yes, and soon a cashless society is thrust upon you, and then you can never be without your phone.

      --
      "If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
  23. Another win for Windows phones? by Bob+the+Super+Hamste · · Score: 1

    Can this be counted as a win for Windows phones. The NSA didn't even consider spying on them so they must be secure.

    --
    Time to offend someone
    1. Re:Another win for Windows phones? by PPH · · Score: 1

      We figure that Microsoft has been compromised since the first DoJ consent decree. So nothing new here.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
    2. Re:Another win for Windows phones? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      yeah the 7 people who use them should be ok...for now.

  24. dem haxx0rz by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    r in de app stoar nao

  25. More Like Willful Ignoance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Actually, moving it out of country and to a non-US subsidiary means that the NSA no longer needs a search warrant to access the data. They may merely collect, not process data on US persons (that includes corporations). However, when the data moves overseas, it becomes fair game.

  26. People Don't Know by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The press has done a very bad job in explaining the connections between various events and their implications. The serious negative effects that NSA activities have had has been reported but not explained. Large scale hacking has very negative consequences. This hacking was helped by the NSA and it's efforts to have broad powers to spy on the internet. Encryption software was down graded by the NSA to the disadvantage of everyone but the NSA. NSA activities have harmed American business in both sales and operations. A serious cost benefit analysis of NSA operations is long overdue. People every where should be very worried about what is done secretly in their name.

  27. What's Canada's spy agency called? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What do Canadians call their primary spy agency? Is it called the C.I.eh?

  28. Already running on your phone by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

    Look, just operate under the general assumption that we live in a Police State that makes Eastern German Stasi look like kindergarten cops.

    Then you'll be a good serf.

    Is it unconstitutional and illegal?

    Of course.

    Will they do anything about it that actually changes anything?

    No.

    --
    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
  29. Thats why by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is the reason you should NEVER trust an app store. Download your apps manually and manually install on your JAILBROKE phone.

  30. Show of hands by DiEx-15 · · Score: 1

    Is anybody surprised?

    *Cricket sounds*

    Ok, now show of hands: Is anybody surprised the US Populace doesn't care?

    *Cricket sounds*

  31. Reverse the curse? by hamsterz1 · · Score: 1

    Maybe someone will code an app that gives false info to the NSA when polled at regular intervals. Or perhaps gives so much info that it b0rks the NSA spy grid with useless garbage info.:)

    1. Re:Reverse the curse? by hamsterz1 · · Score: 1

      Maybe someone will code an app that gives false info to the NSA when polled at regular intervals. Or perhaps gives so much info that it b0rks the NSA spy grid with useless garbage info.:)

      PS Or even an app that sends a garbage routine command/request to the NSA compromised servers, you know, the gift that KEEPS ON GIVING.

    2. Re:Reverse the curse? by hamsterz1 · · Score: 1

      Maybe someone will code an app that gives false info to the NSA when polled at regular intervals. Or perhaps gives so much info that it b0rks the NSA spy grid with useless garbage info.:)

      PS Or even an app that sends a garbage routine command/request to the NSA compromised servers, you know, the gift that KEEPS ON GIVING.

      PPS Or an app that sends a constant command/request to defrag the NSA compromised servers, or run (chkdsk C: /x /scan /f /v /sdcleanup /perf).