What concerns?
Telco hardware is a product that can be designed and produced like most of other tech products and has been for most telco networks going back many years.
Pick a secure winning design, find a low wage nation to build the hardware in.
The only telco change is need for a secure network.
Its a bit like the Apollo program https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Set the spec, use anyone trusted in the private sector to produce what is needed.
The private sector gets the winning bid, the US gets all the secure 5G it wants at a low cost.
The private sector keeps on innovating. The US mil has less to worry about another nations telco brand "workers" spying on their camp/fort/base/port.
The locals would have noticed all the embassy workers herding them to speeches.
People all over the USA, in all professions, retired, mil, gov had the freedom to listen to the speeches and vote for who they wanted.
More states liked one candidate who could give a great speech in their state over a candidate who used short media releases.
What "election hack?"?
One US political leader went to more parts of the USA and gave good speeches the people in that state responded to.
During the election they voted. The votes got counted and the vote got observed by party officials. People recalled who visited their state and gave a good speech.
People recalled who stayed in the costal states and did not give good speeches.
Be nice to more people all over the USA and win an election. No "election hack" needed.
Just find a candidate who can give a long speech and has something to say thats positive in different parts of the USA.
Voters all over the USA responded to a candidate they liked. A candidate who did not take the time to get to know their state did not win that state.
Get the design from a trusted US, Germany, Japan, France, UK brand. All thats needed is the experts to show their design is 5G ready and secure to US standards.
Something that will work in the varied conditions all over the USA.
Get a new factory designed to turn key standards. Shop around the world for any more trusted nation that will to go cheaper than China for the bid to build 5G for the USA. The difficult design work is done. Its just finding a nation with really cheap workers, a good power supply, no taxes and thats ready for the robot parts.
Find the winning nation, build the production line. Put any logo, branding on the parts as needed for the US. With low local wages, gov support, no unions, no protests the low cost hardware will export back to the USA.
No China and its Communist party factory tech sharing "conditions" needed. The low wage incentives a China once offered are not that great anymore.
Just find a low cost, trusted nation willing to accept US security conditions and that has a lot of workers who can be educated on how to keep the robots working.
Once the standard is set? Why pay a tech wage in China?
Build a new turn key factory in a Laos, Indonesia, Vietnam. Get their governments to give their full support for the new tech "jobs"
Make them bid lower than China can for the same factory.
Set up the production line, print on any trusted US, German, Italian, French telco brand on the side of the new hardware that the US will accept as trusted.
Any one can build the communications equipment.
Wonder how many nations spies have tracked US contractors, experts and officers globally and made them an offer, became their friend?
Are the data sets that descriptive as to sort the low ranks from the unhappy officers, contractors with money problems?
Wonder if the US and UK had the smarts to create fake signals and see who went looking to be a base "friend" attracted by the data sets.
Re"Do they simply not use these devices?"
If they need camera, they use approved camera and camera team. If they need radio, they use approved radio. Gym? Thats part of everyday.
They know the NSA and GCHQ is trying to collect on them. So no extra kit. Private companies support Russian mil in approved way. Not with consumer devices that do not help security. A better esprit de corps that is professionally aware of the risks of NATO collect it all. i.e. always on mission rather than a shift is over and its time for "consumer" fun on a mil base.
Russia knows the risks of all consumer devices. The US mil is all about allowing its contractors and troops feel relaxed, enjoy some rest to help with staff retention.
The real question is why the NSA and GCHQ did not notice the US sites are glowing and let the devices keep on collecting.
In theory every communications in and out of a war zone is collected by the NSA, GCHQ... They just let the US contractors and troop keep on having their consumer fun?
Russian "troop concentrations" don't really exist in the same way as they don't have bases all over the world.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_military_bases#Overseas_2
Russia would be more aware of any data in and out of its very secure sites and would know it had to fully protect its own troops to a much better standard.
Russian knows what the NSA and GCHQ is looking for and what any data loss can do thanks to its many spies in the West.
Been collected on by the NSA for decades makes Russia a bit more aware of such collection and the mil results the US expects from data collection.
The NSA and GCHQ, NATO "experts" might have been told to ignore consumer devices for contractor comfort "reasons" when discovered, doing their work.
Or the NSA and GCHQ just expect the US mil to glow, broadcast as that is ok for that part of the world in 2017. Its not 1980's West Germany....
Quality of troops, their technical support, experts, training and readiness can all be seen by their situational awareness and consumer device discipline.
Same with consumer devices on nuclear subs. Some nations navy are very aware, others have a total lack of discipline. Enjoy music, images, movies on consumer devices. Once that break down in any unit takes hold its very hard work to restore. The US mil thinks its better to allow its troops and contractors to have good conditions. Consumer products.
Russia knows it has to be much more disciplined and not have such devices. The rules are enforced and their troops kept much safer.
For the NSA and GCHQ the mission is to keep the US mil contractors relaxed after a days work. For Russia the mission is to always keep their troops safe and they have a full understanding of everything the NSA, GCHQ, NATO collects 24/7.
Re "had been hacked why didn't they do anything about it? "
The data walked out with a human, no hack over any network. Just like Pentagon Papers the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Re "Did Russia stand to gain something by"
The Soviet Union and Russia had their well placed spies deep in all levels of the US and UK gov. What is the last thing any well placed spy who is safe and advancing up the mil/gov would want?
Investigations. Questions. FBI, MI5, NSA, GCHQ doing internal spy hunts. A low access job that is watched by the media and other parties that ends with a political election cycle or decades in the US mil?
Russia wants its spies and people of influence to stay in place for decades and work their way deeper in the US and UK mil/gov without any political or party distractions.
Would Russia be distracted by any US political party? Not really. They have the US bureaucracy, contractors and mil covered. The risk in the US political system is well covered by media/FBI/investigators/rank and file/party members. The party machines set up to win elections are mostly for tax, party funding. They get set up, people move in, the election is over, a new team moves in. Thats a huge risk for a "Russia" to invest in any short term party machine for nothing.
Russia is not interested in the US party machine that can change every election cycle. Too many people are looking, trying to cover political news with no reward.
Want to know where the spying is going? US Navy, Army, contractors, protest movements, faith groups, influencers, gov workers, celebrities, US mil, US education and research. Russia wants the mil secrets, gov, mil. Contractors who need money, contractors who have problems, influencers who can sway the US who are more trusted than all party politics. Political leaders and political parties are always in the news.
After Watergate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... the role and ability to do anything really creative in that area of US politics was just not worth it.
Did Russia stand to gain something by influencing the election?
Russia does not care who wins or will win next time. Their spies are up above that party level and are setting decades of US mil policy. What one political party could do over 4 or 8 years is not worth a good spy for. The aim is to get the US stuck and spending in another Iraq, Afghanistan, to surround China, to worry about Africa. More social spending on illegal immigrants. That takes decades of gov/mil/contractor/think tank access, not one political party trying to win one election.
Did the Soviet Union try for politics? In the 1920-30's and it failed. Every attempt to get into/create a UK or US political party was discovered.
So Russia now goes for the 40 years of the US mil/gov worker with top clearance than the low return election cycle of any one political party.
The author, celebrity, comedian, civil society commentator, journalist, person of faith, cult leader, musician, industrialist, educator, artist can also be a way for another nation to alter US directions given decades of publication, speeches, pronouncements. One election is too short term and has too much media interest to risk a spy getting caught. Everyone is in place and has been for decades, win, win, no matter what party gets in.
Re "How does anyone know whether to believe any of this stuff any longer? "
If it was an operation ability in Russian or near Russia and get "results" that would be kept secret for a generation, say 30 to 50 years.
If the results are in the Western media in real time, its a story.
No NATO, UK, US member would give up its covert ability to work in and around Russia to any media group about a fluke.
Even the sub and over flight of the Soviet Union in the 1950's is still not really talked about as it gives away methods.
Yet in 2018 we are to enjoy the amazing true story of "crucial evidence" and read along with the real time results of "offensive operations"?
No nation would talk of its new "offensive operations" as then the other nations will know who used what method and network.
What happened? A US party political staff member walked data out and gave it to the media. A classic Pentagon Papers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... internal and domestic to the USA.
No CCTV, Bears, malware needed. Just one person motivated to walk data out and talk to the media.
Lots of data compression, cell phone modems, anything that can make a network in different nations. The car knows what data it will be sending back so that that set can really be compressed. Its not like its sending back real time video, audio, images, conversations in the car at this time.
Re "How are they going to catch you?"
Motor vehicle inspections https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
No sending data back to the company and gov, no passing inspection.
US "experts" looked all over Iraq really wanting to find anything to help their political masters.
The expert who could look all over Iraq found vacuum cleaners, license plates, a swimming pool.
The "experts" the US media and press trusted so much all lied to the US media.
Now the same failed media is pushing social media stories about other nations winning US elections.
If you want to win a US election thats the way to do it. Speak to all the different voters all over the USA. Visit and give good speeches on jobs, the USA, eduction, wealth, exports, winning.
Know the name of the state your in and as a candidate have a real, positive story about that state.
Be able to give a long speech.
Voters remember who could give a good speech in their state, who had the energy to speak in their state and who said good things about their state.
Short negative statements to the tame media from coastal states do not win US elections.
No social media and "other" nations needed. An "embassy" cant magically change US votes that get counted at a city, state level and are witnessed by local observers.
Good news and great speeches gets the votes out all over the USA.
Find a good candidate that can give an interesting speech around the USA and win elections.
Yes but tracking is more interesting than telling people how they are been tracked and what to stop doing to avoid been tracked.
US law enforcement considers cyber as one big information only report.
Everything is been tracked but no lawyer, human rights group, FOIA is going to find out collect it all methods.
management who did not want union workers on site.
An engineer could use networking to replace many of the workers.
Now people work out that the sensors can be manipulated over distances.
Buy new, better sensors? With new code? Build a wall around a sensitive site? Have security patrol large areas of private land around sensitive sites?
Work out the distance that sound and other signals can still be a problem and buy up the land around a site greater that that range?
Build a wall, fence around the site.
Cant buy the land? Build a stronger wall, use a sally port. Consider the way mil factories got designed in the 1950-90's. Lots of land, few windows, a strong fence with guards on duty.
Keep the bad people away from the secrets and harden the networks. Find out who is going to want to alter the result of sensors. Spies? Other nations? Faith groups? Environmental activists? Party political activists? Ex and former gov/mil workers/contractors with skills and site plans? Competitors?
Start looking at who is walking, driving around, using a camera near the "sensors" that are so important. Use some facial recognition, voice prints, get a license plate. Consider the size and amount of equipment needed for sound and other signals to work over distances. What size are the "special tools"? A truck? Van? Car? Laptop? Bag? A tablet? Look for strangers walking, driving around the fence line who do not belong.
One time pads used once will be secure. That gives the needed privacy.
One time pads only fail is they get reused due to the amount of data needing to be sent.
Spies having full past plain text messages on them when captured due to they way they learned to decode and encode.
The problem is not getting found using a communications network i.e. anonymity. The number station works well one way.
Slashdot Mirror
What concerns?
Telco hardware is a product that can be designed and produced like most of other tech products and has been for most telco networks going back many years.
Pick a secure winning design, find a low wage nation to build the hardware in.
The only telco change is need for a secure network.
Think of the savings on the work force looking after the robots :)
Its a bit like the Apollo program https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Set the spec, use anyone trusted in the private sector to produce what is needed.
The private sector gets the winning bid, the US gets all the secure 5G it wants at a low cost.
The private sector keeps on innovating. The US mil has less to worry about another nations telco brand "workers" spying on their camp/fort/base/port.
The locals would have noticed all the embassy workers herding them to speeches.
People all over the USA, in all professions, retired, mil, gov had the freedom to listen to the speeches and vote for who they wanted.
More states liked one candidate who could give a great speech in their state over a candidate who used short media releases.
What "election hack?"?
One US political leader went to more parts of the USA and gave good speeches the people in that state responded to.
During the election they voted. The votes got counted and the vote got observed by party officials. People recalled who visited their state and gave a good speech.
People recalled who stayed in the costal states and did not give good speeches.
Be nice to more people all over the USA and win an election. No "election hack" needed.
Just find a candidate who can give a long speech and has something to say thats positive in different parts of the USA.
Voters all over the USA responded to a candidate they liked. A candidate who did not take the time to get to know their state did not win that state.
Get the design from a trusted US, Germany, Japan, France, UK brand. All thats needed is the experts to show their design is 5G ready and secure to US standards.
Something that will work in the varied conditions all over the USA.
Get a new factory designed to turn key standards. Shop around the world for any more trusted nation that will to go cheaper than China for the bid to build 5G for the USA.
The difficult design work is done. Its just finding a nation with really cheap workers, a good power supply, no taxes and thats ready for the robot parts.
Find the winning nation, build the production line. Put any logo, branding on the parts as needed for the US. With low local wages, gov support, no unions, no protests the low cost hardware will export back to the USA.
No China and its Communist party factory tech sharing "conditions" needed. The low wage incentives a China once offered are not that great anymore.
Just find a low cost, trusted nation willing to accept US security conditions and that has a lot of workers who can be educated on how to keep the robots working.
Once the standard is set? Why pay a tech wage in China?
Build a new turn key factory in a Laos, Indonesia, Vietnam. Get their governments to give their full support for the new tech "jobs"
Make them bid lower than China can for the same factory.
Set up the production line, print on any trusted US, German, Italian, French telco brand on the side of the new hardware that the US will accept as trusted.
Any one can build the communications equipment.
Wonder how many nations spies have tracked US contractors, experts and officers globally and made them an offer, became their friend?
Are the data sets that descriptive as to sort the low ranks from the unhappy officers, contractors with money problems?
Wonder if the US and UK had the smarts to create fake signals and see who went looking to be a base "friend" attracted by the data sets.
Re"Do they simply not use these devices?"
If they need camera, they use approved camera and camera team. If they need radio, they use approved radio. Gym? Thats part of everyday.
They know the NSA and GCHQ is trying to collect on them. So no extra kit. Private companies support Russian mil in approved way. Not with consumer devices that do not help security. A better esprit de corps that is professionally aware of the risks of NATO collect it all. i.e. always on mission rather than a shift is over and its time for "consumer" fun on a mil base.
Russia knows the risks of all consumer devices. The US mil is all about allowing its contractors and troops feel relaxed, enjoy some rest to help with staff retention.
The real question is why the NSA and GCHQ did not notice the US sites are glowing and let the devices keep on collecting.
In theory every communications in and out of a war zone is collected by the NSA, GCHQ... They just let the US contractors and troop keep on having their consumer fun?
Russian "troop concentrations" don't really exist in the same way as they don't have bases all over the world.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_military_bases#Overseas_2
Russia would be more aware of any data in and out of its very secure sites and would know it had to fully protect its own troops to a much better standard.
Russian knows what the NSA and GCHQ is looking for and what any data loss can do thanks to its many spies in the West.
Been collected on by the NSA for decades makes Russia a bit more aware of such collection and the mil results the US expects from data collection.
The NSA and GCHQ, NATO "experts" might have been told to ignore consumer devices for contractor comfort "reasons" when discovered, doing their work.
Or the NSA and GCHQ just expect the US mil to glow, broadcast as that is ok for that part of the world in 2017. Its not 1980's West Germany....
Quality of troops, their technical support, experts, training and readiness can all be seen by their situational awareness and consumer device discipline.
Same with consumer devices on nuclear subs. Some nations navy are very aware, others have a total lack of discipline. Enjoy music, images, movies on consumer devices. Once that break down in any unit takes hold its very hard work to restore. The US mil thinks its better to allow its troops and contractors to have good conditions. Consumer products.
Russia knows it has to be much more disciplined and not have such devices. The rules are enforced and their troops kept much safer.
For the NSA and GCHQ the mission is to keep the US mil contractors relaxed after a days work. For Russia the mission is to always keep their troops safe and they have a full understanding of everything the NSA, GCHQ, NATO collects 24/7.
Re "had been hacked why didn't they do anything about it? "
The data walked out with a human, no hack over any network. Just like Pentagon Papers the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Re "Did Russia stand to gain something by"
The Soviet Union and Russia had their well placed spies deep in all levels of the US and UK gov. What is the last thing any well placed spy who is safe and advancing up the mil/gov would want?
Investigations. Questions. FBI, MI5, NSA, GCHQ doing internal spy hunts. A low access job that is watched by the media and other parties that ends with a political election cycle or decades in the US mil?
Russia wants its spies and people of influence to stay in place for decades and work their way deeper in the US and UK mil/gov without any political or party distractions.
Would Russia be distracted by any US political party? Not really. They have the US bureaucracy, contractors and mil covered. The risk in the US political system is well covered by media/FBI/investigators/rank and file/party members.
The party machines set up to win elections are mostly for tax, party funding. They get set up, people move in, the election is over, a new team moves in. Thats a huge risk for a "Russia" to invest in any short term party machine for nothing.
Russia is not interested in the US party machine that can change every election cycle. Too many people are looking, trying to cover political news with no reward.
Want to know where the spying is going? US Navy, Army, contractors, protest movements, faith groups, influencers, gov workers, celebrities, US mil, US education and research. Russia wants the mil secrets, gov, mil. Contractors who need money, contractors who have problems, influencers who can sway the US who are more trusted than all party politics. Political leaders and political parties are always in the news.
After Watergate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... the role and ability to do anything really creative in that area of US politics was just not worth it.
Did Russia stand to gain something by influencing the election?
Russia does not care who wins or will win next time. Their spies are up above that party level and are setting decades of US mil policy. What one political party could do over 4 or 8 years is not worth a good spy for. The aim is to get the US stuck and spending in another Iraq, Afghanistan, to surround China, to worry about Africa. More social spending on illegal immigrants. That takes decades of gov/mil/contractor/think tank access, not one political party trying to win one election.
Did the Soviet Union try for politics? In the 1920-30's and it failed. Every attempt to get into/create a UK or US political party was discovered.
So Russia now goes for the 40 years of the US mil/gov worker with top clearance than the low return election cycle of any one political party.
The author, celebrity, comedian, civil society commentator, journalist, person of faith, cult leader, musician, industrialist, educator, artist can also be a way for another nation to alter US directions given decades of publication, speeches, pronouncements.
One election is too short term and has too much media interest to risk a spy getting caught. Everyone is in place and has been for decades, win, win, no matter what party gets in.
Re "How does anyone know whether to believe any of this stuff any longer? "
If it was an operation ability in Russian or near Russia and get "results" that would be kept secret for a generation, say 30 to 50 years.
If the results are in the Western media in real time, its a story.
No NATO, UK, US member would give up its covert ability to work in and around Russia to any media group about a fluke.
Even the sub and over flight of the Soviet Union in the 1950's is still not really talked about as it gives away methods.
Yet in 2018 we are to enjoy the amazing true story of "crucial evidence" and read along with the real time results of "offensive operations"?
No nation would talk of its new "offensive operations" as then the other nations will know who used what method and network.
What happened? A US party political staff member walked data out and gave it to the media. A classic Pentagon Papers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... internal and domestic to the USA.
No CCTV, Bears, malware needed. Just one person motivated to walk data out and talk to the media.
Lots of data compression, cell phone modems, anything that can make a network in different nations. The car knows what data it will be sending back so that that set can really be compressed. Its not like its sending back real time video, audio, images, conversations in the car at this time.
Re "How are they going to catch you?"
Motor vehicle inspections https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
No sending data back to the company and gov, no passing inspection.
Yes no matter how much a site layers over the demands and requests to whitelist them, never turn off the no script and ad blockers.
Photo ID to use social media? That would be a very interesting private sector database to create and keep secure AC.
US "experts" looked all over Iraq really wanting to find anything to help their political masters.
The expert who could look all over Iraq found vacuum cleaners, license plates, a swimming pool.
The "experts" the US media and press trusted so much all lied to the US media.
Now the same failed media is pushing social media stories about other nations winning US elections.
If you want to win a US election thats the way to do it. Speak to all the different voters all over the USA. Visit and give good speeches on jobs, the USA, eduction, wealth, exports, winning.
Know the name of the state your in and as a candidate have a real, positive story about that state.
Be able to give a long speech.
Voters remember who could give a good speech in their state, who had the energy to speak in their state and who said good things about their state.
Short negative statements to the tame media from coastal states do not win US elections.
No social media and "other" nations needed. An "embassy" cant magically change US votes that get counted at a city, state level and are witnessed by local observers.
Good news and great speeches gets the votes out all over the USA.
Find a good candidate that can give an interesting speech around the USA and win elections.
Expecting useful results from a US search engine that deranks for US party political reasons might be something to consider when searching.
Yes but tracking is more interesting than telling people how they are been tracked and what to stop doing to avoid been tracked.
US law enforcement considers cyber as one big information only report. Everything is been tracked but no lawyer, human rights group, FOIA is going to find out collect it all methods.
to always use FF, ad blockers and noscript.
AC it would be a great idea if the user was asked and could see an amount been created for an account on that site.
AC a lot of sites now ask to be whitelisted to allow their "ads" to be displayed. Extra code with that ad is now a real risk.
management who did not want union workers on site.
An engineer could use networking to replace many of the workers.
Now people work out that the sensors can be manipulated over distances.
Buy new, better sensors? With new code? Build a wall around a sensitive site? Have security patrol large areas of private land around sensitive sites?
Work out the distance that sound and other signals can still be a problem and buy up the land around a site greater that that range?
Build a wall, fence around the site.
Cant buy the land? Build a stronger wall, use a sally port. Consider the way mil factories got designed in the 1950-90's. Lots of land, few windows, a strong fence with guards on duty.
Keep the bad people away from the secrets and harden the networks. Find out who is going to want to alter the result of sensors. Spies? Other nations? Faith groups? Environmental activists? Party political activists? Ex and former gov/mil workers/contractors with skills and site plans? Competitors?
Start looking at who is walking, driving around, using a camera near the "sensors" that are so important. Use some facial recognition, voice prints, get a license plate. Consider the size and amount of equipment needed for sound and other signals to work over distances. What size are the "special tools"? A truck? Van? Car? Laptop? Bag? A tablet? Look for strangers walking, driving around the fence line who do not belong.
One time pads used once will be secure. That gives the needed privacy.
One time pads only fail is they get reused due to the amount of data needing to be sent.
Spies having full past plain text messages on them when captured due to they way they learned to decode and encode.
The problem is not getting found using a communications network i.e. anonymity. The number station works well one way.
By recovering the keys from anyone offering a telco product on their networks.