Except they didn't notify their customers when the potential backdoor became public knowledge and most crypto library developers cautioned against it..... leaving those customers using crypto that RSA basically knew was backdoored for years.
Nobody has proven that any backdoor exists. It has only been shown that the form of the curve might allow for one. For all anyone outside of NSA actually knows, that form of a curve may be particularly resistant to analysis (like what NSA did with DES that everyone was suspicious of for 20 years until differential cryptanalysis was rediscovered in academia), or it could be a troll to suck in the intelligence services of other countries with NSA knowing that it only looks vulnerable.
The "crypto library developers" don't control NIST standards, do they? Did they have actual proof that anything was bad? No, only their suspicions. Since it was a NIST standard and NSA signed off on it, you would need more than some open source developer with a personal theory to result in any real action.
NSA may simply have been trying to spread elliptic curve technology for all anybody actually knows. You may recall that it looked highly promising at the time, but the problem with new things is always to get people to adopt them. DES lingered in use far longer than it should have since people weren't moving off from it. Everyone is entitled to their own ideas, ever suspicious ones.
Feel free to use crypto that isn't NIST compliant, there are markets that won't use it. That is more opportunity for everyone else.
The morally bankrupt tactics are on the part of al Qaida and its associates who deliberately slaughter noncombatants by many means. The blinkered views of some in the West are of aid to them.
You are fundamentally confused about the source of the war against al Qaida - it is their decision, they declared war and began attacks killing many people years before the US made a serious response. They want a war of conquest. They want to restore the "glory of Islam" by restoring the Caliphate government that was dissolved in 1924 after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, and starting a world-wide conflict to bring all nations to the Muslim faith under Islamic rule. They want to take back lands formerly governed by Muslims, including the country of Spain, and al Qaida is not alone in that goal.
If you follow the argument from before his post, he is trying to claim that fighting against terrorism causes terrorism. He is trying to claim that the terrorists being held in Gitmo were created by fighting against al Qaida and / or the Taliban. That is clearly wrong since they existed before the US attacked Afghanistan, and al Qaida has often been an unwelcome "guest" in the tribal territories. Regrettable things happen in war, that is why it should be avoided.
Try that in Texas... hell, try it in any state in the union. A foreign aggressor who pulled that on Americans would without doubt create new "terrorists" more quickly than they could kill them.
No, a foreign aggressor that did that would be in a war, just like al Qaida is. Yet somehow you fault the US for defending itself in this case. There is a key difference between the US and Pakistan, for example. The US government controls all of its own territory whereas Pakistan's central government does not. The tribal territories in Pakistan are largely outside the control of the central government. That is where various guerillas and terrorists flourish. That is where much of the drone activity that you decry occurs. There are without a doubt occasional mistakes made in targeting, but the US has made efforts to avoid that, and probably has caused much less collateral damaged that most wars in the past. The Pakistani army has a view about that.
There is an unacknowledged asymmetry in your grievance. You only complain about the occasional random mistake by the US, but you have nothing to say about the regular, planned, and deliberate brutality of the Taliban and al Qaida, including at weddings.
A massacre of 17 deliberate beheadings at a wedding versus the unfortunate rare accidental strike on a wedding. The regular occurrence, versus the rare occurrence. Do you think that the Taliban should worry about its wedding massacres too? Or just the US?
Also, we also have to thank Glenn Greenwald and we have to not-thank the US press for failing to be trustworthy enough to be government watchdogs.
The KGB seldom scored as well as what Greenwald has been delivering on the intelligence services of the West, which they assess as devastating blows. The new "patriotism" you honor is barely distinguishable from the old treason.
NSA's director James Clapper, when testified, under oath, to the Congressional Oversight Committee, LIED.
Was it a "lie," or a cover story for something that should never have been asked in open session, and about which the Congress had already been properly notified? I guess we'll find out.... maybe.
Trying to hoodwink us with your fairy tales again, Cold Fjord ?
Quoting from a major German paper is deceptive?
Just a few days ago NSA admitted that they have NO IDEA HOW EXTENSIVE IS THE SNOWDEN'S SECRET FILE COLLECTION ) and the one who has the BIGGEST PANIC ATTACK is NSA, not Russia, not China, and of course, not the Germans.
My post had nothing to do with panic, but rather the lack of evidence about who actually entered Applebaum's apartment.
The fact that the Berlin apartment of one Jacob Appelbaum was invaded, with 3 of his 4 alarms cut off, and his computers tempered with, signifies the SHEER PANIC ATTACKS NSA is suffering right now !
Interesting. What is the source of your claimed knowledge that it was NSA, and not some other country or intelligence service? Are you making it up, or is there a clue in this line in your post:
And btw, Cold Fjord, you are NOT the only one who has worked in clandestine projects.
That seems to be quite an admission on your part. Who are you working for? Is that why you are trying so hard to discredit the NSA and the US?
Had the Ruskies so hard up for the files, Edward Snowden is IN THEIR HAND RIGHT NOW and KGB sure knows a lot of ways to GET RESULT OUT OF PEOPLE WHO REFUSE TO TELL THEM ANYTHING.
Even the KGB/FSB can't get something that doesn't exist. If Snowden didn't bring the files with him, as people keep claiming, then there is nothing for them to get, is there? Are you claiming that is a lie, and that he really has the files with him?
Aha! Yes, those were the exact stages I went through after realizing that the U.S. was just another torturing state and that all that BS they taught me in high school about how we were above all that was indeed BS.
Funny that you mention "BS," since I smell some right now. The US only waterboarded a total of 3 terrorists, the most recent of which was 10 years ago, although it has waterboarded probably tens of thousands of its own service members. You're claiming that you changed your entire viewpoint, went through denial and grief because of that?
As to your first point, you are mistaken as to the purpose of moderation. Too many moderators make it their mission to suppress valid viewpoints in a discussion, ones they personally disagree with. That isn't the purpose. They should be moderating up good arguments, good data, even if they disagree with it. I've certainly done that in the past. Saying that "this isn't the first time you've seen your comment modded as Troll" is a considerable understatement. I regularly get mod bombed for the simple act of presenting minority views or evidence that other people want to suppress. You can't really have a good, reasoned debate when that happens. It makes it much harder to learn anything useful, or to change your mind, if you never encounter other viewpoints. If you think that there isn't considerable hostility to the "authority/FBI" side here I wouldn't need to look at your ID number to say, "Hi! You must be new here!"
As to your second point about redactions, the first redaction would conceal information about the structure of the FBI's counterintelligence apparatus. The second redaction protects a technique to limit fabrications by prisoners, the knowledge of which could lead to a new tactic for fabricating evidence. I have one in mind myself.
It appears we can only discuss ACLU criticism of the FBI manual, and in a favorable light at that. We cannot question the ACLU's criticism, we cannot see why it may not reflect all concerns, nor what other competing interests there are. Any perceived dissent must be smothered, for our "freedom."
Something to keep in mind is that different people play by different rules, and not everyone that is claimed to be "innocent" is in fact innocent and/or truthful.
The closing chapter teaches al Qaeda operatives how to operate in a prison or detention center. It directs detainees to "insist on proving that torture was inflicted" and to "complain of mistreatment while in prison."...
Butler said the Manchester document includes "a large section which teaches al Qaeda operatives counterinterrogation techniques: how to lie, how to minimize your role."
The document, he said, has surfaced in various locations, including Afghanistan.
Of the 603 former detainees tracked by US intelligence services, a total of 100 have now been confirmed as reengaging in "terrorism" or "insurgent" activities, while another 74 are suspected of reengaging. This brings the total rate of recidivism to nearly 29 percent, up from 28 percent as of the last report six months ago.
I would also like to know what was claimed as a "favorable references to the KUBARK manual" since electric shock or other forms of torture would not be acceptable methods of interrogation in a criminal investigation, and would seem to have little relevance.
As to another point, gathering information for intelligence is to some degree a separate question from gathering evidence for a criminal prosecution. I expect that is where the "clean teams" comment came in.
I have to agree with the Tories on this one. I'm not sure that using Slashdot for "sex education" is a good idea. I think you could say there are some strange ideas on the matter that get posted, others are just plain baaaaaad ideas. (No, I won't link to them.);)
"A document that has not been released does not even need a copyright," says Steven Aftergood, a government secrecy expert at the Federation of American Scientists. "Who is going to plagiarize from it? Even if you wanted to, you couldn't violate the copyright because you don't have the document. It isn't available."
"The whole thing is a comedy of errors," he adds. "It sounds like gross incompetence and ignorance."
It's surprising that there are still some people in the USA who are surprised that your spooks are generally perceived, all over the world, to be criminals.
It is surprising that some people are unable to conceive of the idea that many nations would like to get their hands on the information that Snowden took, and which Appelbaum has access to. For all you know it could be Russians, Chinese, Iranians, Germans, French, Israelis, Swedes, or just about any other country's agents. That is before you consider criminal gangs or hacker groups. Your imagination is far too limited to consider the range of possibilities.
It is always an interesting question though as to which "they" it is. Appelbaum has access to documents that Snowden leaked. Is it the Russian government trying to get their hands on the full cache of documents that Snowden leaked, assuming they don't have it already? Germany is crawling with Russian spies. Is it the German government looking for more information on US and British activity? Chancellor Merkel brought a former intelligence officer into her government recently. Is it the US government? Is it the Iranian government looking for ways to avoid detection of its agents? Is it another nation, impatient to see if there are any revelations about intelligence involving it but not wanting to wait for newspaper publication that may never come? Is it another advocacy group looking for information to share in the limelight? Is it another hacker group looking for clues as to how to avoid government surveillance of their activities, or for information they can crib into attacks? It is criminal gangs looking for information that can be exploited in many ways - making a profit and avoiding police surveillance? Is it a former lover looking for revenge? All that can be said is that he claims that something happened, but what it means is very much an open question. Various people will claim to know that it was this, or that, but Appelbaum doesn't know exactly what, how could anyone else but the perpetrators.... if they exist?
Slashdot Mirror
The alternative would be Insulin Coma Therapy, at least for some disorders. Not practiced in the West any more.
Sources: Insulin Coma Therapy
The famous mathematician John Nash (depicted in A Beautiful Mind*) was treated with it.
If you suffer from Nash's malady, don't read my current sig.
* Book , movie , trailer , documentary , DVD.
Except they didn't notify their customers when the potential backdoor became public knowledge and most crypto library developers cautioned against it. .... leaving those customers using crypto that RSA basically knew was backdoored for years.
Nobody has proven that any backdoor exists. It has only been shown that the form of the curve might allow for one. For all anyone outside of NSA actually knows, that form of a curve may be particularly resistant to analysis (like what NSA did with DES that everyone was suspicious of for 20 years until differential cryptanalysis was rediscovered in academia), or it could be a troll to suck in the intelligence services of other countries with NSA knowing that it only looks vulnerable.
The "crypto library developers" don't control NIST standards, do they? Did they have actual proof that anything was bad? No, only their suspicions. Since it was a NIST standard and NSA signed off on it, you would need more than some open source developer with a personal theory to result in any real action.
NSA may simply have been trying to spread elliptic curve technology for all anybody actually knows. You may recall that it looked highly promising at the time, but the problem with new things is always to get people to adopt them. DES lingered in use far longer than it should have since people weren't moving off from it. Everyone is entitled to their own ideas, ever suspicious ones.
Feel free to use crypto that isn't NIST compliant, there are markets that won't use it. That is more opportunity for everyone else.
The morally bankrupt tactics are on the part of al Qaida and its associates who deliberately slaughter noncombatants by many means. The blinkered views of some in the West are of aid to them.
You are fundamentally confused about the source of the war against al Qaida - it is their decision, they declared war and began attacks killing many people years before the US made a serious response. They want a war of conquest. They want to restore the "glory of Islam" by restoring the Caliphate government that was dissolved in 1924 after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, and starting a world-wide conflict to bring all nations to the Muslim faith under Islamic rule. They want to take back lands formerly governed by Muslims, including the country of Spain, and al Qaida is not alone in that goal.
Alarm in Spain over al-Qaeda call for its "reconquest"
HAMAS Targets Spain
Please explain to me how it is the fault of the US that al Qaida and Hamas want to reconquer Spain?
This is about them, not about the US. You are simply mistaken.
If you follow the argument from before his post, he is trying to claim that fighting against terrorism causes terrorism. He is trying to claim that the terrorists being held in Gitmo were created by fighting against al Qaida and / or the Taliban. That is clearly wrong since they existed before the US attacked Afghanistan, and al Qaida has often been an unwelcome "guest" in the tribal territories. Regrettable things happen in war, that is why it should be avoided.
Try that in Texas... hell, try it in any state in the union. A foreign aggressor who pulled that on Americans would without doubt create new "terrorists" more quickly than they could kill them.
No, a foreign aggressor that did that would be in a war, just like al Qaida is. Yet somehow you fault the US for defending itself in this case. There is a key difference between the US and Pakistan, for example. The US government controls all of its own territory whereas Pakistan's central government does not. The tribal territories in Pakistan are largely outside the control of the central government. That is where various guerillas and terrorists flourish. That is where much of the drone activity that you decry occurs. There are without a doubt occasional mistakes made in targeting, but the US has made efforts to avoid that, and probably has caused much less collateral damaged that most wars in the past. The Pakistani army has a view about that.
Pakistani General: Actually, The Drones Are Awesome
There is an unacknowledged asymmetry in your grievance. You only complain about the occasional random mistake by the US, but you have nothing to say about the regular, planned, and deliberate brutality of the Taliban and al Qaida, including at weddings.
17 Beheaded in Taliban-Controlled Afghanistan for Attending Wedding Party with Dancing
A massacre of 17 deliberate beheadings at a wedding versus the unfortunate rare accidental strike on a wedding. The regular occurrence, versus the rare occurrence. Do you think that the Taliban should worry about its wedding massacres too? Or just the US?
The "just because" is you may be a psychopath, simply evil, or both.
Also, we also have to thank Glenn Greenwald and we have to not-thank the US press for failing to be trustworthy enough to be government watchdogs.
The KGB seldom scored as well as what Greenwald has been delivering on the intelligence services of the West, which they assess as devastating blows. The new "patriotism" you honor is barely distinguishable from the old treason.
The only thing you have to do to be held as a POW is fight for the other side.
NSA's director James Clapper, when testified, under oath, to the Congressional Oversight Committee, LIED.
Was it a "lie," or a cover story for something that should never have been asked in open session, and about which the Congress had already been properly notified? I guess we'll find out.... maybe.
Wyden’s Stunt Was Congress at its Worst
Trying to hoodwink us with your fairy tales again, Cold Fjord ?
Quoting from a major German paper is deceptive?
Just a few days ago NSA admitted that they have NO IDEA HOW EXTENSIVE IS THE SNOWDEN'S SECRET FILE COLLECTION ) and the one who has the BIGGEST PANIC ATTACK is NSA, not Russia, not China, and of course, not the Germans.
My post had nothing to do with panic, but rather the lack of evidence about who actually entered Applebaum's apartment.
The fact that the Berlin apartment of one Jacob Appelbaum was invaded, with 3 of his 4 alarms cut off, and his computers tempered with, signifies the SHEER PANIC ATTACKS NSA is suffering right now !
Interesting. What is the source of your claimed knowledge that it was NSA, and not some other country or intelligence service? Are you making it up, or is there a clue in this line in your post:
And btw, Cold Fjord, you are NOT the only one who has worked in clandestine projects.
That seems to be quite an admission on your part. Who are you working for? Is that why you are trying so hard to discredit the NSA and the US?
Had the Ruskies so hard up for the files, Edward Snowden is IN THEIR HAND RIGHT NOW and KGB sure knows a lot of ways to GET RESULT OUT OF PEOPLE WHO REFUSE TO TELL THEM ANYTHING.
Even the KGB/FSB can't get something that doesn't exist. If Snowden didn't bring the files with him, as people keep claiming, then there is nothing for them to get, is there? Are you claiming that is a lie, and that he really has the files with him?
Aha! Yes, those were the exact stages I went through after realizing that the U.S. was just another torturing state and that all that BS they taught me in high school about how we were above all that was indeed BS.
Funny that you mention "BS," since I smell some right now. The US only waterboarded a total of 3 terrorists, the most recent of which was 10 years ago, although it has waterboarded probably tens of thousands of its own service members. You're claiming that you changed your entire viewpoint, went through denial and grief because of that?
Exclusive: Only Three Have Been Waterboarded by CIA
Holder on Waterboarding -- Proving It’s Not Torture While Insisting It Is
You seem to have a perspective problem, at the very least, assuming you are maintaining your integrity in stating what you did.
"Hypocrisy is the homage vice pays to virtue." - Francois de La Rochefoucauld
It is interesting the way that can play out.
Well said.
As to your first point, you are mistaken as to the purpose of moderation. Too many moderators make it their mission to suppress valid viewpoints in a discussion, ones they personally disagree with. That isn't the purpose. They should be moderating up good arguments, good data, even if they disagree with it. I've certainly done that in the past. Saying that "this isn't the first time you've seen your comment modded as Troll" is a considerable understatement. I regularly get mod bombed for the simple act of presenting minority views or evidence that other people want to suppress. You can't really have a good, reasoned debate when that happens. It makes it much harder to learn anything useful, or to change your mind, if you never encounter other viewpoints. If you think that there isn't considerable hostility to the "authority/FBI" side here I wouldn't need to look at your ID number to say, "Hi! You must be new here!"
As to your second point about redactions, the first redaction would conceal information about the structure of the FBI's counterintelligence apparatus. The second redaction protects a technique to limit fabrications by prisoners, the knowledge of which could lead to a new tactic for fabricating evidence. I have one in mind myself.
It appears we can only discuss ACLU criticism of the FBI manual, and in a favorable light at that. We cannot question the ACLU's criticism, we cannot see why it may not reflect all concerns, nor what other competing interests there are. Any perceived dissent must be smothered, for our "freedom."
Something to keep in mind is that different people play by different rules, and not everyone that is claimed to be "innocent" is in fact innocent and/or truthful.
Al Qaeda Manual Drives Detainee Behavior at Guantanamo Bay
The closing chapter teaches al Qaeda operatives how to operate in a prison or detention center. It directs detainees to "insist on proving that torture was inflicted" and to "complain of mistreatment while in prison." ...
Butler said the Manchester document includes "a large section which teaches al Qaeda operatives counterinterrogation techniques: how to lie, how to minimize your role."
The document, he said, has surfaced in various locations, including Afghanistan.
More Former Guantanamo Bay Detainees Return To Terrorism
Of the 603 former detainees tracked by US intelligence services, a total of 100 have now been confirmed as reengaging in "terrorism" or "insurgent" activities, while another 74 are suspected of reengaging. This brings the total rate of recidivism to nearly 29 percent, up from 28 percent as of the last report six months ago.
I would also like to know what was claimed as a "favorable references to the KUBARK manual" since electric shock or other forms of torture would not be acceptable methods of interrogation in a criminal investigation, and would seem to have little relevance.
As to another point, gathering information for intelligence is to some degree a separate question from gathering evidence for a criminal prosecution. I expect that is where the "clean teams" comment came in.
I have to agree with the Tories on this one. I'm not sure that using Slashdot for "sex education" is a good idea. I think you could say there are some strange ideas on the matter that get posted, others are just plain baaaaaad ideas. (No, I won't link to them.) ;)
Two words: NIC firmware.
Sounds like the name of a secret agent for the 21st century, a German one at that, and appropriate for the story.
Who's that? Nicholas "Nic" Firmwehr, Bundesnachrichtendienst
"A document that has not been released does not even need a copyright," says Steven Aftergood, a government secrecy expert at the Federation of American Scientists. "Who is going to plagiarize from it? Even if you wanted to, you couldn't violate the copyright because you don't have the document. It isn't available."
"The whole thing is a comedy of errors," he adds. "It sounds like gross incompetence and ignorance."
It's genius, all the way down.
Colleges Cut Men’s Programs to Satisfy Title IX
Sokal's Hoax
Yes, There’s a War on Boys in Schools
What About Our Boys?
The direction this is likely to go is easily predictable.
Snowden ally Appelbaum claims his Berlin apartment was invaded
Appelbaum ... is one of the few people with access to some of the data held by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
You tell me.
It's surprising that there are still some people in the USA who are surprised that your spooks are generally perceived, all over the world, to be criminals.
It is surprising that some people are unable to conceive of the idea that many nations would like to get their hands on the information that Snowden took, and which Appelbaum has access to. For all you know it could be Russians, Chinese, Iranians, Germans, French, Israelis, Swedes, or just about any other country's agents. That is before you consider criminal gangs or hacker groups. Your imagination is far too limited to consider the range of possibilities.
Although that is clever, in more ways than one, how do you know he doesn't have copper wallpaper?
You can't overlook the possibility that they were leaving a message, whoever it was.
It is always an interesting question though as to which "they" it is. Appelbaum has access to documents that Snowden leaked. Is it the Russian government trying to get their hands on the full cache of documents that Snowden leaked, assuming they don't have it already? Germany is crawling with Russian spies. Is it the German government looking for more information on US and British activity? Chancellor Merkel brought a former intelligence officer into her government recently. Is it the US government? Is it the Iranian government looking for ways to avoid detection of its agents? Is it another nation, impatient to see if there are any revelations about intelligence involving it but not wanting to wait for newspaper publication that may never come? Is it another advocacy group looking for information to share in the limelight? Is it another hacker group looking for clues as to how to avoid government surveillance of their activities, or for information they can crib into attacks? It is criminal gangs looking for information that can be exploited in many ways - making a profit and avoiding police surveillance? Is it a former lover looking for revenge? All that can be said is that he claims that something happened, but what it means is very much an open question. Various people will claim to know that it was this, or that, but Appelbaum doesn't know exactly what, how could anyone else but the perpetrators.... if they exist?