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CIA Co-Developed 'Athena' Windows Malware With US Cyber Security Company, WikiLeaks Reveals (bleepingcomputer.com)

Posted by msmash on from the inside-story dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Today, WikiLeaks leaked documentation about a tool called Athena. According to leaked documents, which WikiLeaks previously claimed it received from hackers and CIA insiders, Athena is an implant -- a CIA technical term for "malware" -- that can target and infect any Windows system, from Windows XP to Windows 10, Microsoft's latest OS version. Documents leaked today are dated between September 2015 and February 2016, showing that the CIA had the ability to hack Windows 10 months after its launch, despite Microsoft boasting about how hard it would be to hack its new OS. [...] The documents reveal that CIA had received help from a non-government contractor in developing the malware. The company is Siege Technologies, a cyber-security company based in New Hampshire, which was acquired on November 15, 2016, by Nehemiah Security, another US company, based in Tysons, Virginia, on the outskirts of Washington and near CIA's headquarters, in a zone peppered with various military and defense contractors.

108 comments

  1. Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    The CIA and NSA are out of control with their mass surveillance and development of malware to exploit targets. Obama campaigned on promises to rein in these agencies and stop their abuses. However, their abuses actually grew under Obama and we lost even more control. How can the Democrats justify Obama's lies, broken promises, and abuses of the Constitution? The left needs to answer for this.

    - snruter rotsac

    1. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by The+Real+Dr+John · · Score: 5, Insightful

      No, everyone is responsible. All the spy agencies are involved, and corporations are clearly involved. It was done under Bush/Cheney and Obama, and so far the American public has failed to complain enough, and the media have failed their role as watchdogs. It is everybody's fault. If people don't start complaining a lot more to their representatives, and vote in more honest representatives, it will only get worse.

      --
      A brain is a terrible thing to waste... Mind? That's debatable.
    2. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      "Hurr derpa durrrr, but TROMMMPPPP!"

    3. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by The+Real+Dr+John · · Score: 5, Insightful

      And by the way, Obama is not the left. He may be the center-right, but he has nothing to do with the Bernie Left. The spy agencies are all right wing. The military is right wing, the wars are done by right wing Democrats and Republicans colluding together. The people least responsible for the spying and the wars are all those lefty anti-war and-spying protesters. But I still maintain that just about everyone is to blame, including the public who barely pays attention to anything other than their phone.

      --
      A brain is a terrible thing to waste... Mind? That's debatable.
    4. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The "resistance" from the left is identical to all the pop-up Communist groups the CIA funded in South America. Everything hit topic from the intersectional corner of bad ideas is designed to form rifts in the community to prevent a unified voter base. You can't occupy wallstreet when part of the crowd calls you racist for daring to speak for them, and the entire movement has to spend all their time checking their privilege.

    5. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by sexconker · · Score: 1, Flamebait

      Bernie isn't left. Bernie is past left field, past the back bleachers, out in the parking lot just next to the hot dog cart.

    6. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by asdfman2000 · · Score: 1

      And by the way, Obama is not the left. He may be the center-right, but he has nothing to do with the Bernie Left. The spy agencies are all right wing.

      Sure, Obama was "right wing" if you define "right wing" as everything bad, and "left wing" as everything good.

      The authoritarian left is a thing. Unless you think Stalin and Mao were card-carrying Republicans?

    7. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by fustakrakich · · Score: 2

      Yeah yeah, we heard all about the CIA, etc back in '75. Nothing came of it then either. But that heart attack gun is pretty cool, doncha think?

      As for the 'left' in the United States, there isn't one to speak of, certainly not in their government. And the voting records confirm that.

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    8. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by spacepimp · · Score: 1

      Everyone is responsible, except left wing Democrats, but there are no left wing Democrats in power, because of collusion? So Democrats are the answer but the democratic party is corrupt so they aren't the answer? Got it.

    9. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What actually needs to happen is let the spy people quietly get on with their jobs.

    10. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

      The 'authoritarian left' is an oxymoron. There is no such thing. Leftists are antiauthoritarian. Once you become an authoritarian you are no longer a 'leftist'. It is impossible. Leftists are anarchists. Authoritarianism, state and corporate (in reality a distinction without a difference), is extremely right wing, designed to acquire and conserve power. It can't be anything else.

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    11. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nonsense. Progressives are leftist and tend to be pretty damned authoritarian about it.

    12. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Insisting that Stalin and Mao were not leftists has got to be the worst No True Scotsman fallacy I've ever seen.

    13. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Insane and historically ignorant.

      On the ground, leftism concentrates power, which then corrupts, game over. Can't be fixed, stick a fork in it.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    14. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by boa · · Score: 1

      The 'authoritarian left' is an oxymoron. There is no such thing. Leftists are antiauthoritarian. Once you become an authoritarian you are no longer a 'leftist'. It is impossible. Leftists are anarchists. Authoritarianism, state and corporate (in reality a distinction without a difference), is extremely right wing, designed to acquire and conserve power. It can't be anything else.

      Bah. Have you forgotten about the revolution and the necessary "period of terror" to rob the establishment of their powers and means of production? A.k.a. proletarian dictatorship. This so-called interrim period tends to last and last and last, until the system collapses or morphs into a neo-fascist state like China.

      The left is all about power and control. Read up, kiddo.

    15. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      What you don't seem to accept is that this evil rank and file "right" you keep going on about, is for things like:
      LIMITED SMALL government, more personal freedom (and responsibility), and conserving the original meaning of the constitution (not some government or other).

      The fact that NEITHER party's representatives is doing what their base thinks they should be standing for, SHOULD give you some food for thought, and perhaps get you to start questioning a few narratives. Just as you complain about the bad shit Republicans are doing, and giving maximum leeway Democrats because they are well meaning, the EXACT same thing is happening on the other side with the labels reversed. It'd be comical if it was not so tragic.

    16. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

      Sorry, you all have it backwards. You're trying to distinguish state from corporate (which uses (corrupts) the state to flex its power) authority, when there is no difference between them. All authority and the desire for it, no matter where it comes from, is a right wing phenomenon. Historically and presently leftists are anarchists. Any desire for authority means you're not a leftist.

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    17. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by Scroatzilla · · Score: 1

      Wrong-- US conservatism leans toward preserving the liberty afforded by the liberal principals on which the US was founded. The Left in the US wish to fascistically centralize power, legislating and regulating and outright strangling the freedom of the individual, which they would gladly-- if given the means-- enforce via authoritarian methods. See "Soviet Union" for a quick and easy example of this in action. See also "Venezuela."

      Why do you think the Left are the ones these days who overtly oppose free speech?

      The Anarchists are the useful idiots/soldiers of the Left who tear gas old ladies to oppose those who they disagree with. (Unless you mean the mythical notion that Socialism would evolve into a system where the state is no longer necessary, in which case nothing will bring you back from your dementia. Socialism always seems to derail once all of the country's resources have been depleted after short-term material gains of the unfortunate citizens within such a system, who then tend to riot against the state because their promised egalitarianism is a stupidly desirable religious dogma that is counter to Western civilization.)

    18. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

      proletarian dictatorship

      Says it all right there, dictatorship. It's not 'left' by any means. It's a dictatorship. It doesn't matter by whom. Sorry, but you are wrong. It doesn't matter who does it. It only matters what is being done. A leftist cannot be an authoritarian.

      You are making the same mistake as all the others by trying to distinguish the source (kind of a 'kill the messenger' thing). As if some authoritarians are good.

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    19. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

      Not much I can do when you let FOX and mass media define your words for you. There is no leftism in the battle amongst global empires fighting for dominance of hearts and minds. The 'left' you read about is a complete fantasy.

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    20. Re: Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I seriously think the social justice warriors were injected into those groups- or at least their philosophy- to completely neuter them. Once the group is racist, it is totally dead. If it is arguing it is not racist because they have a definition for racism that excludes themselves for being racist ("it is just the preference of the people of that state", "racism is predjudice plus power"), or denies he identity of the target group ("X group is vermin", "white isn't a race", etc), then that is even worse.

      If anyone will succeed at actually slowing down the corporatism and the centralization of wealth, they won't have a single SJW among them, no privledge stack, no bitching about whitey. All of that has to go.

      Further, that is TOTALLY OBVIOUS. For them to fail to do it means something top down is causing it.

    21. Re: Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      By your definition, shared only with YOU, communists are right wing and libertarians are left wing. Also Democrats and Republicans are both right wing, as they both argue for tons of governments.

      But wait, it gets stupider! While Nazis count as right wing under your definition, plenty of "race realists" do not.

      What a stupid definition.

    22. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the media have failed their role as watchdogs

      Lapdogs get to sleep in the human beds.

    23. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by boa · · Score: 1

      proletarian dictatorship

      Says it all right there, dictatorship. It's not 'left' by any means. It's a dictatorship. It doesn't matter by whom. Sorry, but you are wrong. It doesn't matter who does it. It only matters what is being done. A leftist cannot be an authoritarian.

      You are making the same mistake as all the others by trying to distinguish the source (kind of a 'kill the messenger' thing). As if some authoritarians are good.

      So Marx and Lenin, they weren't leftists? The inventor of Communism as an ideology, Karl Marx, he was not a communist? That sounds silly, doesn't it? Or maybe communism isn't leftism? Maybe Bakunin was the only true leftist?

      The thing is, left or right, it's all about power. It's about control. Communism is all about collective control over the individual (yes, anarchism is a pipe dream), just like nazism (or religions, but that's another discussion). It's all about power.

      Someone has lured you into a logic trap. Snap out of it. "Leftism" is a meaningless term anyway. Be more precise.

    24. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are no honest representatives to vote in.

      Sufficient transparency and accountability will help us hold representatives to their promises by force, but we have to fight hard enough to demand that, and we aren't about to do that.

      And by "we" I mean "all of you." Damn lazy bastards. I have put my money where my mouth is, politically speaking, but I do not see my effort matched.

    25. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

      Marx may have been (his goals of the withering state would indicate such), Lenin definitely not. You still got it wrong. Just like people who see humans as property, it is antiquated and wrong. Leftism and authoritarianism are direct polar opposites. Leftism ~ anarchism. You're letting mass media define your words for you. And your faith in them does not mean you are correct by any means, nor does your majority status.

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    26. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What is left? What is right? I see these terms used (primarily derogatorily, it seems) inconsistently. What's a good general definition for each, and what are some of the dividing lines?

    27. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 1

      Bernie isn't left. Bernie is past left field, past the back bleachers, out in the parking lot just next to the hot dog cart.

      Hebrew Nationals, baby!

      --
      If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
    28. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by PoopJuggler · · Score: 1

      That's where the intelligent people go when the arena is just a circus of mindless idiots swimming in a culture of toxic self-destruction.

    29. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by The+Real+Dr+John · · Score: 1

      You said it not me. I'm sure you think you made a point.

      I said the least responsible people for the spying and the endless wars are the left wing progressives who don't want any spying or wars of regime change. Right wing people push for war, not the lefties. Clinton is a right wing Democrat, Obama isa right wing Democrat. Bernie Sanders is an independent for a reason. Because progressives like him are not welcome in the corporate owned DNC.

      --
      A brain is a terrible thing to waste... Mind? That's debatable.
    30. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      See you in prison, mindbender.

    31. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by The+Real+Dr+John · · Score: 1

      Yeah, healthcare for all is such a crazy idea, only the US is smart enough to not have fallen for it.

      --
      A brain is a terrible thing to waste... Mind? That's debatable.
    32. Re: Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nah, it's just a natural result of social media. When you can insulate yourself from dissenting opinions to the point where anyone who might disagree with you can be instantly and permanently excluded from your life and consciousness, the remaining few quickly find new, ever-more-trivial things to fight about. Combine that with vague, undirected rage and a constant need to publicly project your moral superiority and you wind up with the great heaving mass of pointless shrieking that is the current left.

      The deeper into the depths they go and the more people they drive out for insufficient fanaticism (of which I was one), the more irrelevant they will grow. Trump's election proves that if nothing else.

    33. Re: Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      It sure is convenient for him though. 'Will to power' is rightwing, everybody, even a baby, has 'will to power', abracadabra, clean slate for leftists. I'm sure the millions of dead feel better.

      Even seeking authority over oneself is 'right wing'. Fustakrakich hasn't thought the definition out, at all. Needs a test script for future tries.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    34. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by rholtzjr · · Score: 1

      Ahhh, nope. Left can be authoritarian just like the right can. It depends on how you look at it. It is the social or economical spectrum.

    35. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by The+Real+Dr+John · · Score: 1

      Stalin was left wing in your dreams. Left wing is peace, protecting our environment, healthcare and education for everyone and greater equality. No progressive is an authoritarian. Trump is, Bernie isn't. .

      --
      A brain is a terrible thing to waste... Mind? That's debatable.
    36. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by boa · · Score: 1

      Marx may have been (his goals of the withering state would indicate such), Lenin definitely not. You still got it wrong. Just like people who see humans as property, it is antiquated and wrong. Leftism and authoritarianism are direct polar opposites. Leftism ~ anarchism.

      You're a funny guy. If you mean anarchism, say anarchism. Don't go around calling non-anarchist communists and socialists for non-authoritanian 'leftists' just becaust anarchists claim to be. It's called Fallacy of the Undistributed Middle, and is invalid arguing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      You're letting mass media define your words for you. And your faith in them does not mean you are correct by any means, nor does your majority status.

      Troll alert, or brain-washed Berkeley student detected. Seriously, that last statement of yours is just beyond sense and logic. Normally, one has to go to chuch to hear something that far out. I'm guessing riseup/antifa material here.

    37. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by rholtzjr · · Score: 1

      Nope, Stalin was definitely not right wing on anything. Not only societal was he on the far left, so was his economic standpoint. There was no free market, personal liberties were non existent.

    38. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by spacepimp · · Score: 1

      That's more reasonable than my first response had first appreciated. I apologize for my obnoxious comment earlier. My marginal comment was meant to imply I think both parties are corrupt, and equally criminal. I think Bernie is one of the few with integrity intact. Sadly, there doesn't seem to be much accountability for their actions. The only politician suffering legal consequence is for sexting dick picks to a minor.

    39. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by sexconker · · Score: 1

      Something for nothing is a crazy idea.
      Tax-payer funded healthcare for all may or may not be a good idea, depending on how it's implemented. (I'm firmly in the camp that says it would be a bad idea because I know there's no fucking chance that it will end up helping anyone but the mega wealthy and the very poor.)

    40. Re: Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So Canada (and thus I) do not exist then, according to you?

    41. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dammit! Now I want hot dogs for dinner...

    42. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

      You are like the bureaucrat, having to categorize everything nice and neat to match the narrative you choose to believe (usually in order to 'fit in'). Conformity is not always a virtue.

      Sorry if I 'triggered' you :-)

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    43. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

      Exactly, he was a right wing authoritarian dictator, just not as crazy as Hitler. Nothing 'leftist' about him. And closing the markets makes it even less so.

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    44. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

      Sorry, 'authoritarian left' is purely a political fantasy to create nonsensical arguments. It is nothing but a distraction. It is something that cannot exist outside the realm of human imagination. Authoritarianism can only be measured by degree, not by character.

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    45. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by rholtzjr · · Score: 1

      Ahhh, there have been many articles on this that disputes your claim that Communism is a right wing, or Socialism is a right wing. Both of these type of government are on the LEFT side of the political spectrum.

    46. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 1

      Why is anybody at fault at all? The CIA has been doing this stuff since it has existed. Whether it's planting a bug in an office or tapping somebody's line, it has always happened. The fact that they're using newer technology isn't a bad thing, it just means they're staying technologically relevant.

      The NSA stuff was bad because they were spying domestically, and Snowden was right for exposing that, and did the US a service. Unless the CIA is doing domestic spying, I don't see the problem here, and these leaks are a disservice.

      Manning and Assange are mostly out to get attention for themselves, and those leaks were wrong. In fact, the whole reason the US has a case against Assange now is because he blatantly targets the US and only very rarely targets foreign entities. Disagree? Well let me point to the 2016 election. You'd have to be quite hypocritical to think that the NSA leaks were a good thing because they were spying on the US, and yet somehow Assange is the good guy for doing the exact same thing.

      My take? Assange is nothing but a narcissist asshole rapist and should answer for that, and when Sweden is finished, he should answer for it just like the NSA.

    47. Re: Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Libertarians are not anarchists.

    48. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by dbIII · · Score: 2

      Assange now is because he blatantly targets the US and only very rarely targets foreign entities. Disagree?

      Wikileaks won an award for some stuff about Kenya not long before the Manning leak.
      You only think Wikileaks is US-centric because your local media is (understandably) US-centric.

    49. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by The+Real+Dr+John · · Score: 1

      Your take is worthless nationalistic tripe.

      --
      A brain is a terrible thing to waste... Mind? That's debatable.
    50. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by The+Real+Dr+John · · Score: 1

      So you don't pay attention to anything going on in the rest of the world, where universal health coverage works for everyone, and the costs are about half, and the outcomes better? Now I understand.

      Corporations get something for nothing every day.

      --
      A brain is a terrible thing to waste... Mind? That's debatable.
    51. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Right and left are just media labels. Its tells us which part of the Harvard/Yale see them as political allies in their quest for power. They don't actually have any intellectual meaning in terms of the ideas or programs they support.

      Right now the current ruling elite is defending its position. The "left" has become the defenders of the status quo against the Trump insurgents. So its anti-Trump hysteria all day, every day. It would be nice if someone was actually organizing to take advantage of Trump's disruption with a progressive alternative. But there is no money or media support of that. Instead, we are defending Obama/Romney care and worrying about the Russians. And, of course, expressing our ineffectual outrage at Trump.

      Bernie has always given the nice speeches, just like Ralph Nader. The difference is that, unlike Nader, Bernie has repeatedly failed to have any real impact on anything of substance. We need to organize and empower real people, not choose a new celebrity to worship.

    52. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by boa · · Score: 1

      If Ad Hominem and strawman arguments is all you've got, you ain't got much, my trolling friend.

    53. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

      :-) I am not trolling, but I will be your friend

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    54. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Exploit "targets". Why exactly is this concerning to you? Don't want to know what Iran is up to? Don't want to dig up proof of Syria building chemical weapons? Don't want anyone tracking North Korea's violation of sanctions with other countries? Want to allow terrorists free reign across the 'net to coordinate? Want the Govt kept in the dark about other countries capabilities? When two countries, ANY countries, are negotiating a treaty do you think they don't try to figure out the other side's position by hook or by crook? What "abuses" exactly have you imagined? What violation of the Constitution?

      Grow up. Spies spy and information resides in computers so yes pretty much all countries are hacking one another. Do you seriously think that if the United States ceased cyber activities that the world would be a better place? If a capability takes a year and a million dollars worth of research to figure out are you one of those idiots that think it should be turned over to be patched?

      Who do you think jumps through more red tape to get something done - North Korea, Russia, Iran, or the United States? One of these things is not like the others and if you paint them all with the same brush you need your tinfoil hat tuned up, it's too tight.

    55. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Media have failed as watchdogs how? Did spying just now begin with the advent of computers? Are you truly so ignorant as to think that spying shouldn't occur? If the US stopped spying on anyone today how exactly would the world be better? Our "leaders" such as they are, would be blinded to what the rest of the world was up to. Everything from drug interdiction, to knowing military capabilities (and movements), to tracking down terrorist bombmakers would be muzzled. The rest of the world, especially the ones that have no free press and doesn't think twice about executing dissenters would continue the practice - and the US Govt would be none the wiser until it was too late.

      Those "honest representatives" you're bleating about? They shut up really quick when someone from one of the various intel agencies shows up and lets them know exactly how the world is and just how dangerous it is. From the safety of your basement it's really easy to wish the world were made of cotton candy and sweet dreams. It's not. Some countries are downright shitholes and you should probably visit a few of them just to get a better understanding as to what the world is really like. Or perhaps maybe you live in one of those countries and would like an easier playing field?

    56. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 1

      Wikileaks won an award for some stuff about Kenya not long before the Manning leak.
      You only think Wikileaks is US-centric because your local media is (understandably) US-centric.

      Ok, let's play a game of "name that tune": Name the second most targeted country by wikileaks, and list the number of times it has had anything leaked. Now compare that number to the US.

      Let me know what you find, and then explain to me why you think the US isn't disproportionately targeted.

    57. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The clue phone rang - seems you answered it! I think you pretty much hit it on the head. The hand wringing about spy agencies doing their job is amazing.Hell if nothing pat them on the back for having done it well and then kick them in the ass for allowing it to get out. I'd sure hate to be in Assange's shoes...

    58. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 1

      I think your understanding of nationalism is different from mine.

      In Europe, nationalism means "I live here, and fuck everybody else" hence it is perceived as bad. This is understandable because of Europe's love of fascism and its history of starting world wars.

      In the US, nationalism means "I live here, and I think it's nice", so we don't view it the same as you do. Hence it's a bit more common to wave the flag here while also being critical of some of the things the US does. And that is healthy.

    59. Re: Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are, like the Fox viewership you deride, confusing the ideas of leftism and liberalism.

    60. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by The+Real+Dr+John · · Score: 1

      Anyone who thinks that whistle blowers that inform the public of the illegal, immoral and dangerously counterproductive acts of our government does needs to be prosecuted is clearly favoring the deep state over the people. Any free society that is not allowed to know what its government is doing, is not a free society by definition. You may think it is "nice here", and maybe you have a cushy job in the deep state, or IT. But that is not how this country is working out for the poor people, the people without health care, and the hungry. It also isn't working out well for young, unarmed black kids getting shot by police. Nationalism of your sort is very widespread among conservatives here. It is the same nationalism as overseas, but you being an American, think your version is better. Read "Sapiens" by Yuval Harari, you might learn something.

      --
      A brain is a terrible thing to waste... Mind? That's debatable.
    61. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 1

      Anyone who thinks that whistle blowers that inform the public of the illegal, immoral and dangerously counterproductive acts of our government does needs to be prosecuted is clearly favoring the deep state over the people.

      And who are you speaking of here? Because I'm pretty sure I spoke in favor of Ed Snowden, so you can't be speaking about me.

      Which by the way, Snowden is a whistleblower, while Assange is just a self-aggrandizing prick who does anything to make a name for himself, even if it means putting other people in harm's way (something he has done.) Even other people within wikileaks say as much, and anybody who supports him (yourself included) is a fucking asshole that just wants to watch civilization burn.

    62. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by The+Real+Dr+John · · Score: 1

      Whistleblowers use Wikileaks to get the information to the public you moron. GFU.

      --
      A brain is a terrible thing to waste... Mind? That's debatable.
    63. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 1

      Snowden didn't use wikileaks, rather he did the responsible thing and passed it off to journalists so that they could properly control information that would put people at risk. Wikileaks doesn't do that. While wikileaks gave him travel assistance, he didn't use them as a medium.

      Besides, my beef isn't with wikileaks as much as it is Assange and to a lessser extent, Manning. Oh, and want more evidence that Assange is full of shit about why he's holed up in that embassy? Well, it turns out that if he goes to his intended destination, Ecuador, it would be dead simple for the CIA to snatch him as they basically operate with impunity there. But he doesn't care because he's not trying to avoid the US, rather he's trying to avoid Sweden. Furthermore, it also turns out that the CIA is really good at manipulating latin American governments, and if they really wanted Assange out of that embassy, they could make it happen. By the way, remember how he lost his internet access around the time of the US election? Who do you think wanted that to happen? (Hint: It wasn't Ecuador.)

      How do I know this? Because Snowden announced that he's specifically avoiding latin America now because going there would be too dangerous for that exact reason. Everyone around him has advised him that Russia is by far the safest place for him to remain unless he gets asylum anywhere in Europe.

    64. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by The+Real+Dr+John · · Score: 1

      So you are saying that the CIA and other muck up the world agencies are really bad, so that makes Assange full of shit because he is helping whistle blowers out their dirty deeds? Your thinking on this is far beyond muddy. Indeed, you haven't made a single point about Assange that makes me think anything other than he is a hero, and you are the one who is full of shit. You have an extremely warped sense of right and wrong on this topic. Snowden good, Assange, bad, very bad as our imperious leader would say. Sorry, you haven't made a single valid point about why Assange is not a hero, with far more guts than you my friend.

      --
      A brain is a terrible thing to waste... Mind? That's debatable.
    65. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by The+Real+Dr+John · · Score: 1

      And in case you missed it:

      http://www.truthdig.com/report...

      --
      A brain is a terrible thing to waste... Mind? That's debatable.
    66. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 1

      So you are saying that the CIA and other muck up the world agencies are really bad

      You fail at reading.

    67. Re:Need to curtail the CIA and NSA by The+Real+Dr+John · · Score: 1

      You fail at thinking, so I guess we are even. It''s difficult to read and understand nonsense. Clearly there is something wrong with your logic that Snowden did good but Wikileaks is bad. All I can assume is that you have a political agenda that forces you to ignore the obvious, and come to some absurd conclusion divorced from reality. If what Snowden did was good for the public's understanding, then Wikileaks is even more important because it is ongoing and continues to inform the public, something Snowden can no longer do. I assume you find Wikileaks dangerous because you have a stake in the game and will be harmed by further releases from Wikileaks. Otherwise, you are just a useful idiot for the NSA.

      --
      A brain is a terrible thing to waste... Mind? That's debatable.
  2. CIA Fronts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Siege Technologies, a cyber-security company based in New Hampshire, which was acquired on November 15, 2016, by Nehemiah Security, another US company, based in Tysons, Virginia, on the outskirts of Washington and near CIA's headquarters, in a zone peppered with various military and defense contractors."

    Many of which are CIA front companies. Essentially the CIA contracts with companies it controls moving the money away from any elected meddling - aka oversight. The money is then used to fund "special projects" that don't need to be reported to anyone.

    1. Re:CIA Fronts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      And many of these TLA front-companies turn a profit which goes straight into the TLA's off-record 'black fund' which has no controls or oversight. We're talking billions here. Whistleblowers and journalists who have tried to expose it have been killed.

    2. Re:CIA Fronts by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      But they don't have sovereign immunity do they?

      Anybody who got hit by this toolkit now has a lawsuit against the company that developed it. Even if the code had escaped into the wild.

      No doubt there is no money there to recover, but it can embarrass the fuck out of the CIA, so settlements are likely, provided the settlement remains lower than the total cost of wetwork (CIA would have to include a 'risk cost', related to how public the person/shyster was).

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    3. Re:CIA Fronts by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

      but it can embarrass the fuck out of the CIA

      It's been done hundreds of times, but c'mon... How do you 'embarrass' or shame a psychopath? They laugh at the outrage. *They fart in our general direction* And minuscule 'settlements' are already factored in, under petty cash. And if something goes wrong, tank the economy and/or start a war to divert attention. Works every single time. Like, right now...

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    4. Re:CIA Fronts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Whistleblowers and journalists who have tried to expose it have been killed.

      Links?

  3. If Athena's C&C is host-domain name served? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    Add 'em as blocked to your custom hosts file via APK Hosts File Engine 9.0++ SR-7 32/64-bit https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&biw=&bih=&q=%22APK+Hosts+File+Engine%22+and+%22start64%22&btnG=Google+Search&gbv=1/

    Ads/script & malware rob speed/security/privacy

    Hosts add speed (via hardcodes/adblocks), security (vs. bad sites/malware/poisoned dns), reliability (vs. dns down), & anonymity (vs. dns requestlogs/trackers).

    Less power/cpu/ram + IO use vs. DNS/routers/addons/antivirus + less security bugs/complexity & faster vs. addons/routers/remote dns!

    Avoids DNSChangers in routers/IP settings & dns redirects (99.999% of ISP DNS != patched vs. it) + lightens DNS load & resolves faster from local system RAM!

    * Via what u NATIVELY have in the IP stack in FASTER kernelmode!

    APK

    P.S. - Safe https://www.virustotal.com/en/file/e01211ca36aa02e923f20adee0a3c4f5d5187dc65bdf1c997b3da3c2b0745425/analysis/1433430542/

  4. All car has always a backdoor, the 3rd or 5th door by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The 3-letter agencies did it for winning the cyberwar in the future, destroying many machines and data from the people of the rest of the world. Also creating a kind of e-terrorism through backdoors, vulnerabilities, viruses, trojans, worms, ramsonwares, etc.

    Jesus!

  5. Expect the foreign lawsuits to start soon by davidwr · · Score: 1

    Expect non-US victims whose countries allow it to sue these companies and their officers in local courts.

    Of course, there won't be any trial and they won't be able to collect any judgements, but the officers may find themselves unable to travel to those countries without risking being hit with a subpoena or possibly worse.

    If "successful" in restricting travel, it may deter other US companies from cooperating with the CIA or buying companies that have cooperated with the CIA in the past.

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
  6. Cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    I'm an American, and I think this is cool. I'm GLAD our intelligence agencies have good tools available when they need them. There are a lot of assholes out there and, while I'm sure we fit that category sometimes, we're not the ones gang raping goats and training children to chop heads off infidels. So, if this helps us kill more assholes or save more innocent lives, more power to them.

    Of course, this should all be done within the confines of US law. Once our agencies are unlawfully spying on their own citizens, they're rogue. But, having these tools available doesn't prima facie mean they will be used unlawfully.

    1. Re:Cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      >having these tools available doesn't prima facie mean they will be used unlawfully.

      but it does though

    2. Re:Cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So, because you own a butcher knife, this means you're going to be a murderer?

    3. Re:Cool by WolfgangVL · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I've seen firsthand the enemy your talking about, and the great majority of them that *I* came into contact with could not even read their own language, let alone operate sophisticated computer systems. While I'm sure there are upper echelons that DO leverage technology in a way that would justify tools such as these, I doubt they are rocking Samsung smart TVs, ordering takeout on the latest iphone, or operating stable and reliably connected windows based personal computers.

      Your argument has been employed in the defense of terrible weapons and processes for centuries. Sometimes, it's correct as much as it's ugly. Other times, it's just mouth frothing for more powers/power/abilities, and justification for the boot that grinds.

      The ability to (maybe) compromise the enemy commanders smartphone via the mobileapps he's using, or own his smart TV for surveillance purposes is next to useless against the real high value targets. On the flip side, these tools are incredibly effective for illegal use against our own people, our allies, and other western cultures. Add the risk of catastrophic damage to systems throughout the world being incredibly high when these tools inevitably leak to the public and the scale starts to tip to the side of WTF-land.

      If these tools had been developed on Mars, and stored on the moon, they would still be used against innocents, and leaked to the public eventually.

      Sometimes the only way to win is not to play.

      --
      You are being ripped off every second of every day, so that advertisers can help rip you off even more tomorrow.
    4. Re:Cool by zedaroca · · Score: 2

      Standard US person ideology. "It's great we can murder foreigners. Only our law and our people's rights matter."
      You finance ISIS and other terrorist groups and then proceed to feel good about killing the assholes. Pretend to save innocent lives. No one but yourselves is buying this BS anymore.
      Read your own intelligence reports, read your previous secretary of state emails (“Al-Qaeda is on our side in Syria.”). Stop being a murder supporter.

    5. Re: Cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Individuals almost always have a conscience. Large organizations almost never do. This isn't new research.

  7. Cyber by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Isn't that just some weird computer sex thing?

  8. no one cares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Informative

    boners

  9. Re:All car has always a backdoor, the 3rd or 5th d by sexconker · · Score: 1

    This is why I only run Multics.

  10. Journalistic integrity by Hatechall · · Score: 0

    From TFA and TFS ...showing that the CIA had the ability to hack Windows 10 months after its launch, despite Microsoft boasting about how hard it would be to hack its new OS... This was completely unnecessary and unproductive. If you are going to editorialize and add childish zingers like this to your article, people are going to assume the rest of your article is not objective as well and will not take your point seriously. Not to mention that noone is going to be surprised that the collective efforts of the CIA along with a security contractor will be able to crack into an OS during the course of 10 months.

    1. Re:Journalistic integrity by Dracos · · Score: 1

      With every new version of Windows, MS boasts (quite loudly) about how it's the most secure Windows ever... you're calling out the article author for citing that fact? Part of it is marketing to sell the upgrade, and part of it is necessary due to their lackluster security track record.

      There are persistent rumors that the CIA pays MS to leave backdoors open and/or deliberately implement them, so I rather doubt that the agency had to actually find the exploit.

    2. Re:Journalistic integrity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Other countries have similar capabilities - did Microsoft get paid by them too? Perhaps there's millions of dollars being spent on research and hard work?

      Win10 IS more secure and much more hardened, if you worked in the industry you would realize this. It's certainly more secure than OSX and a great deal less scattered than Linux. Setup correctly and actually patched it's pretty tough to write an exploit for. Rumors are for idiots.

  11. Security Company by Kunedog · · Score: 1

    The company is Siege Technologies, a cyber-security company

    I think they've forfeited that title.

  12. Imagine if Microsoft sued the CIA over this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    and won?

  13. Government hires contractors to do work. by thevirtualcat · · Score: 0

    Story at 11.

  14. oh boy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Look, more dog-whistling by Trump's boy Assange for people to get really really outraged and want to cripple our own institutions.

  15. Windows XP to Windows 10, by future+assassin · · Score: 1

    Time for BeOS and Windows 3.1 resurgence.

    --
    by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
    1. Re:Windows XP to Windows 10, by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      1+ for https://www.haiku-os.org/ for an OS and file system thats not MS.

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
  16. REALLY surprising RT is interested in this story by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    It is really interesting to me that if you Google "Siege Technologies" and click News all of the current articles about Athena are from RT... including RT en Español!

  17. operation mockingbird by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    has infiltrated and mind controlled the shit out of you, look it up

  18. Sue them by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Isn't creating this software illegal? Shouldn't these companies be shutdown immediately? Is nobody paying attention anymore? Ooh shiny.

  19. Yet another case of zionist control over USA. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    > by Nehemiah Security, another US company

    Are you sure? It sure has a self-chosenite sounding name.

    Regrettably the widespread adoption of protestantism makes the USA very susceptible to zionist ascendancy, since the heresies promulgated by Luther and Calvin are essentially neo-judaism covered up with the rawhide of Jesus: adoration of violence, money worship, praise of selfishness, conman-ship and sexual immorality, such as divorce.

    1. Re:Yet another case of zionist control over USA. by Suiggy · · Score: 1

      Oy vey, the goyim know, shut it down.

  20. Re:REALLY surprising RT is interested in this stor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's because CNN, NYT, WP and MSNBC spent all day calling Trump an idiot and Fox spends all day playing clips from CNN and MSNBC attacking Trump and then saying they're wrong. Or something like that.

    No time for news about something that might cause you to loose all your data or your privacy.

  21. If Athena's C&C is host-domain name served? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Add 'em as blocked to your custom hosts file via APK Hosts File Engine 9.0++ SR-7 32/64-bit https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&biw=&bih=&q=%22APK+Hosts+File+Engine%22+and+%22start64%22&btnG=Google+Search&gbv=1/

    Ads/script & malware rob speed/security/privacy

    Hosts add speed (via hardcodes/adblocks), security (vs. bad sites/malware/poisoned dns), reliability (vs. dns down), & anonymity (vs. dns requestlogs/trackers).

    Less power/cpu/ram + IO use vs. DNS/routers/addons/antivirus + less security bugs/complexity & faster vs. addons/routers/remote dns!

    Avoids DNSChangers in routers/IP settings & dns redirects (99.999% of ISP DNS != patched vs. it) + lightens DNS load & resolves faster from local system RAM!

    * Via what u NATIVELY have in the IP stack in FASTER kernelmode!

    APK

    P.S. - Safe https://www.virustotal.com/en/file/e01211ca36aa02e923f20adee0a3c4f5d5187dc65bdf1c997b3da3c2b0745425/analysis/1433430542/

  22. What to do by AHuxley · · Score: 2

    Stop storing important files on any Microsoft product.
    Build a walk in secure vault and hold meetings well away from any devices, Microsoft, Apple or other products.
    Consider access your vault area? Elevator, common areas, areas open to the public, areas open to clearers, other contractors, other workers in the same building or secure complex.
    Building doors, office doors can be held open, waited until opened.
    Take notes on paper, use a typewriter. Secure all paperwork after an important meeting.
    Do not have a photocopier near the vault. Ensure all photocopies are secure under CCTV, have a camera to image all copied pages and track paper counts.
    No user digital devices should be near your most vital work so secure anything in an office setting that can make a copy.
    Air gap any networks that deal with users, your nations courts wanting user details, all US brands, services. Keep your company secrets away from any US brands or users, networks that are open to other requests.
    When a product or service is ready for the public, use US brands for later global integration but keep all emerging and work in progress away from any US products, hardware, software, experts and services.
    Dont hire workers that are not trustworthy. That foreigner left their own nation to work for any good wage, who else are they working for?
    If the clandestine services cant get into your secure and air gapped networks, expect staff to be approached. Have your security ready for once trusted staff to be turned by offers of cash or US paperwork.
    Look back over the education of your staff, are they local, smart, loyal, happy, have issues, addictions, faith or cult? Did they tell the truth in their resume? Are they political, have any hidden issues in their past that could be used to make them spy for another nation? Find out before other nations clandestine services make a cash offer. Would they respond to their own faith more than protecting your nation or company?
    Start looking over your logs, past average "malware" intrusion attempts, hire good experts to look at network security and improve it given the Microsoft OS issues.
    Hide your brands real secrets, and then use Microsoft products to create a fiction on your brands networks.

    Get a few staff members to write up fictional projects, busy work, ideas, support, project names, patents, new crypto, software, hardware, amazing advancements.
    Put that disinformation strategy on Microsoft computers and have it face your open networks. See who comes looking given the attractive keyword fiction created. Use very unique project names.
    Use US approved crypto, OS, network standards for the creative fictional digital files. Keep up with anti virus software and log everything.
    Also read up on past projects (1920-2000) against brands and nations that create products, services and that advanced crypto, science, technology of interest to the USA.
    What offer got made to staff or methods used to walk out documents.
    Wait and see if perfect new applicants seem to be a prefect fit for the fictional projects in the skill sets they present.

    Understand that if your brand is able to out smart US brands and bring new, better, cheaper, faster, more secure products to the world your brand is been watched.
    Fix the software, network, OS and hardware issues, understand what could motivate trusted staff to sell, give away, copy or trade your brands secrets. Dont allow a stranger or best "new" "friend" of a staff member to just wonder around your company. No all long term collection methods need internet access. Never hire people your security team cant find information on. Make sure all staff resumes match reality not just a quick look over other altered digital databases.
    Hire only local quality workers for all work. Buying networked hardware on the open market in your brands own name and then having it imported is a risk for hardware alteration.

    --
    Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    1. Re:What to do by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So... turn your company into a bunker and slow productivity to a standstill? Sounds profitable - go for it!

    2. Re:What to do by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      AC Re slow productivity vs security?
      Have new designs, patent work, staff lists and prototypes walked out by other agencies and the clandestine services.

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    3. Re:What to do by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Stop storing important files on any Microsoft product.

      Build a walk in secure vault and hold meetings well away from any devices, Microsoft, Apple or other products.

      Consider access your vault area? Elevator, common areas, areas open to the public, areas open to clearers, other contractors, other workers in the same building or secure complex.

      Building doors, office doors can be held open, waited until opened.

      Take notes on paper, use a typewriter. Secure all paperwork after an important meeting.

      Do not have a photocopier near the vault. Ensure all photocopies are secure under CCTV, have a camera to image all copied pages and track paper counts.

      No user digital devices should be near your most vital work so secure anything in an office setting that can make a copy.

      Air gap any networks that deal with users, your nations courts wanting user details, all US brands, services. Keep your company secrets away from any US brands or users, networks that are open to other requests.

      When a product or service is ready for the public, use US brands for later global integration but keep all emerging and work in progress away from any US products, hardware, software, experts and services.

      Dont hire workers that are not trustworthy. That foreigner left their own nation to work for any good wage, who else are they working for?

      If the clandestine services cant get into your secure and air gapped networks, expect staff to be approached. Have your security ready for once trusted staff to be turned by offers of cash or US paperwork.

      Look back over the education of your staff, are they local, smart, loyal, happy, have issues, addictions, faith or cult? Did they tell the truth in their resume? Are they political, have any hidden issues in their past that could be used to make them spy for another nation? Find out before other nations clandestine services make a cash offer. Would they respond to their own faith more than protecting your nation or company?

      Start looking over your logs, past average "malware" intrusion attempts, hire good experts to look at network security and improve it given the Microsoft OS issues.

      Hide your brands real secrets, and then use Microsoft products to create a fiction on your brands networks.

      Get a few staff members to write up fictional projects, busy work, ideas, support, project names, patents, new crypto, software, hardware, amazing advancements.

      Put that disinformation strategy on Microsoft computers and have it face your open networks. See who comes looking given the attractive keyword fiction created. Use very unique project names.

      Use US approved crypto, OS, network standards for the creative fictional digital files. Keep up with anti virus software and log everything.

      Also read up on past projects (1920-2000) against brands and nations that create products, services and that advanced crypto, science, technology of interest to the USA.

      What offer got made to staff or methods used to walk out documents.

      Wait and see if perfect new applicants seem to be a prefect fit for the fictional projects in the skill sets they present.

      Understand that if your brand is able to out smart US brands and bring new, better, cheaper, faster, more secure products to the world your brand is been watched.

      Fix the software, network, OS and hardware issues, understand what could motivate trusted staff to sell, give away, copy or trade your brands secrets. Dont allow a stranger or best "new" "friend" of a staff member to just wonder around your company. No all long term collection methods need internet access. Never hire people your security team cant find information on. Make sure all staff resumes match reality not just a quick look over other altered digital databases.

      Hire only local quality workers for all work. Buying networked hardware on the open market in your brands own name and then having it imported is a risk for hardware alteration.

      Or try Buddhism instead.

  23. Could you please ask your backdoor to be embedded by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Could you please ask your backdoor to be embedded to MS, Cisco, Apple and Other companies instead of leaving vulnabilities open to every bad guy or kiddie on the internet?!?

  24. Re:REALLY surprising RT is interested in this stor by BLKMGK · · Score: 1

    To be fair it really is damn near a full time job keeping up with his idiocy...

    --
    Build it, Drive it, Improve it! Hybridz.org
  25. Goalpost shift! by dbIII · · Score: 1

    Goalpost shift - and what's so strange about the USA coming up frequently on an English language site anyway?
    Also something like Wikileaks only really has an impact in places with a democracy. A massive scandal in Russia, Iran or China isn't going to result in a government being in danger of getting voted out is it? So stuff from those places isn't going to be common or maybe even coming in at all.

    Also think about what is IS and what it PUBLISHES. If a lot of their readers are in the USA isn't it very likely that most of the submissions would come from the USA?

    It appears very much that you (and others) are basing your opinion on only two items - the Manning leak and the Democratic Party emails. Perhaps you should consider that and consider revising what could be seen as paranoia. I cannot see you they are out to get you or your country - just corrupt pieces of shit that happen to be there and others like that in some other places.