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NSA Targeted 'The Two Leading' Encryption Chips (theintercept.com)

Posted by Soulskill on from the makes-more-sense-than-targeting-the-two-trailing-ones dept.

Advocatus Diaboli sends a report from Glenn Greenwald at The Intercept about the NSA's efforts to subvert encryption. Back in 2013, several major publications reported that the NSA was able to crack encryption surrounding commerce and banking systems. Their reports did not identify which specific technology was affected. The recent backdoor found in Juniper systems has caused the journalists involved to un-redact a particular passage from the Snowden documents indicating the NSA targeted the "two leading encryption chips" in their attempts to compromise encryption. Quoting: The reference to "the two leading encryption chips" provides some hints, but no definitive proof, as to which ones were successfully targeted. Matthew Green, a cryptography expert at Johns Hopkins, declined to speculate on which companies this might reference. But he said that "the damage has already been done. From what I've heard, many foreign purchasers have already begun to look at all U.S.-manufactured encryption technology with a much more skeptical eye as a result of what the NSA has done. That's too bad, because I suspect only a minority of products have been compromised this way."

3 of 113 comments (clear)

  1. Well of course ... by gstoddart · · Score: 5, Informative

    From what I've heard, many foreign purchasers have already begun to look at all U.S.-manufactured encryption technology with a much more skeptical eye as a result of what the NSA has done. That's too bad, because I suspect only a minority of products have been compromised this way

    Not just encryption, but pretty much any US created technology ... cloud services or anything else.

    If the US has made their technology companies part of their spy apparatus, then who the hell would trust a US technology company? You simply can't.

    So don't go all boo-hoo that people are looking at your products with some skepticism they can trust you when you created the situation in which they can't trust you.

    Anybody outside of the US has no choice but to look at US technologies and ask "given that it's almost certain they're under the thumb of the NSA, what are my alternatives?"

    You can't have it both ways. And you don't get to whine if people stop buying your products because they can't trust you anymore.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    1. Re:Well of course ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Well the US doing this is fact.
      Other countries doing it is a suspicion.

      The NSA and CIA being involved in corporate espionage is fact.
      Other countries doing corporate espionage is suspicion.

  2. Re:Too late by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    * perpetual state of pseudowar
    * extreme incarceration rate
    * taking the mickey out of your own constitution (misuse of state power)
    * state == religion (flag code, indoctrination of children with pledge of allegiance, flags everywhere, anthem at every sporting event with people standing up touching their hearts, etc)
    * mass media just a codeword for party propaganda machine
    * most of the nation living in poverty with elite 1% untouchable by law

    i'm not saying there aren't differences but do you seriously not see the similarities? you do not have a single dictator, instead you have a powerful corporate elite buying legislation.