Snowden: US hacks Chinese mobile phone messages

[Cali_Democrat]

Source: GMA News

HONG KONG - The United States government hacks Chinese mobile phone companies to gather millions of text messages, former CIA agent Edward Snowden said in a report published in the South China Morning Post (SCMP) on Saturday.

The former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor has been hiding in Hong Kong since revealing a massive electronic spying programme by the US and was charged with espionage on Friday.

The latest claim comes after Snowden told the SCMP that network backbones in China and Hong Kong were targeted hundreds of times by the NSA.

"The NSA does all kinds of things like hack Chinese cell phone companies to steal all of your SMS data," the former CIA technician said in the latest report published on the SCMP's website late Saturday, which quoted the 30-year-old in an interview conducted on June 12.

Read more: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/314104/news/world/us-hacks-chinese-mobile-phone-messages-snowden

[intaglio]

1. And what is not reported ?

The known fact that China will be hacking US mobile phone calls.

At this time Edward Snowden seems interested only in damaging the USA not in being a high-minded freedom fighter

[Cali_Democrat]

3. That's my thinking as well

Snowden probably should have stopped at the release of the FISA warrant which details the collection of phone records. Now he's practically in China revealing details of US espionage against China.

[intaglio]

9. TBH, Cali, China will already know about this

But they will use the publicity for their own purposes.

If I was not such a supporter of the "cock-up" theory of history I would think that this was part of some deep conspiracy to get China accepting fantasies about US capabilities/knowledge.

[SunSeeker]

51. Seems to me China is using Snowden for propaganda purposes.

And Snowden is happy to oblige, to the detriment of his country. I agree with you, I think China already knew about the hacking. Since they got their hand caught in the cookie jar so many times, the Chinese leaders were hoping for something to use against the U.S. to take the heat off themselves.

[wtmusic]

10. It's likely Snowden had specific knowledge of one and not the other.

He's not interested in damaging the USA - just cutting out the rot.

[intaglio]

13. If that's the case why did he run to China to hide out?

If that's the case why has he persisted in revealing secrets about US activities against China?

Perhaps, in principle, China knows about this activity (after all they are doing the same to the US) but that is no excuse for Mr Snowden to become an actual traitor as opposed to a principled whistleblower.

Prior to this I have never called Mr Snowden a villain only denied that he was in any way a hero. A comparison with Bradley Manning is instructive in that Mr Manning did not receive money for his activities, did not seek publicity, did not seek to run away and did not reveal state secrets.

Mr Snowden did

[wtmusic]

14. Hong Kong is very different from Beijing

with a stronger tradition of protecting human rights.

Corrections:

1) Neither Manning nor Snowden received any money of consequence for their activities. If Snowden did receive money for his interview it's small recompense for living his life in exile.
2) Manning didn't seek publicity because he would have been silenced immediately; Snowden sought publicity because being a whistleblower without publicity is kind of pointless (?)
3) Snowden would have been silenced immediately had he not "run away". In freedom, with even more information at his disposal, he's in a position of immense power right now which could be used to ensure change.
4) Both Manning and Snowden revealed state secrets at a high level.

Still waiting for the prosecution of Hillary Clinton for demanding theft of U.N. credit card data...whatever happened to that?

[intaglio]

17. Hong Kong is a "Special Administrative Region"

In practice only commercial decisions are made independently of the PRC.

As to your "Corrections"

1) You do not know how much money Edward Snowden receives from the various media groups to whom he grants interviews. You are also completely unaware of what book deals Mr Snowden may or may not have been offered.
2) So what was to stop Snowden passing his "revelations" on to outlets such as RT, the Guardian or Al Jazeera under conditions of anonymity?
3) If Snowden had remained anonymous he could have passed further information on to these outlets and would not have been silence immediately. Being aware of how the monitoring was carried out would have allowed him to "game the system".
4) My apologies, I should have been clearer - did not reveal state secrets damaging to current US activities.

Edward Snowden is a traitor and a pusillanimous traitor to boot.

[wtmusic]

21. Nope. Hong Kong has its own Bill of Rights:

"Human rights protection is enshrined in the Basic Law and its Bill of Rights Ordinance (Cap.383). By virtue of the Bill of Rights Ordinance, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is put into effect in Hong Kong. Any legislation that is inconsistent with the Basic Law can be set aside by the courts.

In general, Hong Kong is perceived to enjoy a high level of civil liberties.[1] The Hong Kong government generally respects the human rights of the citizens, although core issues remain.[2] There are concerns over the freedom of assembly which is restricted by the Public Order Ordinance. The police has been occasionally accused of using heavy-handed tactics towards protestors[3] and questions are asked towards the extensive powers of the police.[4] As to the right of privacy, covert surveillance remains the major concern.[5] There is a lack of protection for homosexuals due to the absence of a sexual orientation discrimination law.[6] There are also comments regarding a lack of protection for labour rights.[2]"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Hong_Kong#Bill_of_Rights_Ordinance

1) I hope his revelations make him $millions. AFAIAC you couldn't pay him enough to force him to give up his cushy job and live in exile.
2) I hope he passes his revelations around the world.
3) There's no evidence any individual has the capability to "game the system" alone, which would be a ridiculously careless way to set it up to begin with. Give the NSA more credit than that.

[intaglio]

25. Hong Kong has a Bill of Rights

and who oversees that?
A judiciary wholly dependent upon Beijing.

Who oversees the elections?
Beijing.

In case it has escaped your notice, nominally the USSR had a Bill of Rights ...

... as did the German Republics in 1930.

1) Well I'm glad you think so much of making money from betrayal.
2) He could have passed his "revelations" without becoming a media darling.
3) I'm happy you have such a high opinion of the NSA - what a pity their vetting procedures were so easily bypassed.

[wtmusic]

29. You're wrong, and apparently you think he's a dummy.

NSA leak: Why Edward Snowden's Hong Kong gamble might pay off

http://behindthewall.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/06/20/19058271-nsa-leak-why-edward-snowdens-hong-kong-gamble-might-pay-off?lite

1) I'm glad you're so protective of the real betrayers.
2) His personality ('media darling') apparently bothers you more than the actions he's taking. Is it his hairstyle? Glasses? Let's cut to the chase.
3) Again, give the NSA credit - finding capable people who are slutty enough to collect a check while they watch their country's Constitution being trampled would be a challenge. It's remarkable this hasn't happened more often.

[intaglio]

30. No I think he is a money grubber

a traitorous, money grubber; media darling is an essential stage in his search for cash. I am certain there was no patriotism driving his activities.

I think he is intelligent enough to have gamed immigration system in Hong Kong, another open secret

And now you believe the NSA are so wonderfully effective that only a super secret patriot squirrel could have done what Snowden did.

All you are doing is openly justifying a man now giving US secrets to competing countries. Do you also lionise General Arnold?

[wtmusic]

31. I see. And Julian Assange is living the dream by confining himself to the Ecuadorean Embassy

for the rest of his life. Mm-hmm.

I am certain it is patriotism driving his activities. How much would they have to pay you to move to Iceland forever? And as Snowden said himself, "If I wanted to cash in with the PRC I could be living in a mansion and petting a phoenix right now..."

[intaglio]

40. I am not talking about Julian Assange

There's a small hint in that I have referred to Snowden, Mr Snowden or Edward Snowden throughout.

You want to talk about Julian Assange? Start a new thread.

As to Mr Snowden's declarations of good intent and honesty? to judge those we need only to look at his record..

Let's also ask where his money is coming from. Before begining with how he earned $200,000 per annum remember that is the pro-rata rate and external contractors will actually only gain about a quarter or one half that. Seems like a lot of money except until you calculate living expenses and all the other little costs. If he ended up with $25,000 invested per annum I would be very surprised, if he has $1 million total invested on current rates of return that would get him between $35,000 and $40,000 per annum - not an awful lot.

[cstanleytech]

38. OK now just a minute. While I believe that revealing US spying activity on

China conducted by the US is completely wrong on his part both morally and legally so far there isnt any evidence that I have seen to show that he has done this for money so how can it be about money grubbing on his part?

[intaglio]

42. Because unless he has a better investment record than George Soros

he is not making enough money to support himself under normal conditions.

[Turbineguy]

22. Snowden's been living pretty well

for a guy who gets no money. Maybe as part of his "expose" he should reveal who's footing his hotel bills.

[wtmusic]

23. His salary was $200,000/yr

If he's smart he's socked some away - and he seems pretty smart.

[Cali_Democrat]

35. No...it was actually $122,000/year according to his employer

He lied about that too.

[Raine1967]

47. I may be incorrect here but that $122,000 was the amount BAH hired him at:

HE wasn't there long enough to earn that money.

[olddad56]

24. how is it that you know he is staying in a hotel?

[Turbineguy]

28. TV news.

but maybe that too is another plot by Obama.

[SunSeeker]

50. LOL. nt

[Kahuna]

12. +1,000,000! nt

[Berlum]

2. "We are shocked. Shocked I tell you." - China

[savalez]

4. former CIA agent?

That's a stretch.

[Cali_Democrat]

5. He worked for the CIA

But the articles mentions him as an agent in once sentence and a technician in another.

[savalez]

7. CIA Agent has a specific connotation.

Perhaps they don't know that. They should though. I hope that are not intentionally elevating his status for effect.

[BeyondGeography]

6. Snowden obviously wanted out from America

for some time. Which is ok as a personal goal, not so the extreme means by which he is pursuing that goal. If you look at some of his Ars Technica posts he mentioned China as a place he'd like to live back in 2006 and had some well-worded and clearly deeply felt comments about our meaningless materialist lifestyle. My point is his personal motivations are a big and underappreciated part of the story here, IMO. He doesn't want to come back and it's about more than avoiding prosecution. He sees the whole place as a prison.

[stonecutter357]

8. He should be.

He should be shot for Treason,after a Trial!

[Iliyah]

11. I wonder if Hong Kong is in cahoots

with the U.S.A. in smearing Snowden -

Inquirer minds want to know. I believe he's giving more information to China and maybe other countries as well. Will Greenwald write these as well?

[intaglio]

15. Hong Kong is NOT an independent country

Hong Kong is a "Special Administrative Region" of the People's Republic of China. It has a, nominally, democratically elected council but is entirely beholden to China for infrastructure, defense and immigration. It holds this position because the Chinese did not wish to loose the vast amount of trade associated with Hong Kong when the British lease on the New Territories ran out.

Anything that Hong Kong does regarding Snowden will be entirely because the Chinese Government wish it to happen.

[Android3.14]

26. Hong Kong

It's like a USB port for a communist government.

[intaglio]

27. Nice! +1

Except at this time I think it's not so much a Communist as a Bureaucratic state

[Hissyspit]

33. Snowden: "No contact with China"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014515313

[intaglio]

43. He has still traitorously reported intelligence gathering in relation to PRC

I do not say that he receives money for that but he will certainly be hoping for preferential treatment from that nation in respect of any claim of asylum or request for residency. Additionally, unless he is in Hong Kong illegally, he will have had contact with both PRC and local Hong Kong authorities; thus it seems that Mr Snowden is, yet again, being economical with the truth.

Edit to add; If the NYT is to be believed, then he has issued more lies even more than I had assumed
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023070190

[wtmusic]

49. Now you're just frothing nonsense.

"He will have had contact with both PRC and local Hong Kong authorities?"

I was in Hong Kong and I had neither. What a crock of shit.

[Iliyah]

16. DUH

I'm only quoting what some are saying about HK & USA which I find quite funny in their defense of him.

[arely staircase]

18. I can't wait till this guy gets his day in court.

nt

[bhikkhu]

19. Well, I suppose if I were hiding in China and hoping for refuge...

I'd be spilling the beans too, anything China wanted. Of course anyone who reads the news would know that China has its own army of government hackers working on our systems, and of course we reciprocate. But at least it makes him look cooperative to his prospective new overlords.

[DreamSmoker]

20. More corrupt that anyone imagined...

Yes this Government is lying and pulled out the stops to silence these Folks..
I heard on the Radio last night that both have been contacted by Officials in Iceland.. A Plane is waiting on standby to take either or both there for asylum immediately..

Think of it this way..
All in Congress and higher know about this...
But yet empowered this Government and themselves under the cover of the War on Terror to keep this top secret from the Public...
It did not follow typical Party lines.. Instead President Obama after his promise he would shut down Monitoring Americans.. Doubled down and expanded the Program..

((Today)) many of us do not believe squat this Government says and question everything.... No matter what Party is in control...They are all not to be trusted...

[bhikkhu]

37. Because we spy on China?

Whatever kind of innocence makes that a shock to a person, I don't know that I ever had it. All sorts of countries spy on all sorts of other countries, even allies. It would be a scandal if we found Canada bugging our embassy there, but old news if we found Russia or China bugging our embassies in their countries. Its reciprocal and expected, and has been for ages.

[Ash_F]

34. Is that anyway to be treating our future economic overlords? /nt

[Psephos]

36. Cheney slammed Snowden as a traitor, not a hero. He has some true bedfellows here. n/t

[cstanleytech]

39. On the brightside atleast he isnt the VP anymore though the damage he and Bush did will take decades

to fix.

[intaglio]

41. And Dick Cheney should know a traitor

when he sees one ...

[Psephos]

44. You really think so?

My recollection is that he saw anyone who disagreed with him as a traitor.

[intaglio]

45. I think he just needs to look in a mirror!

Sorry, I thought I was being obvious

[Psephos]

46. You were being obvious.

Just not in the way you think.

I accept that we view Snowden differently. From my pov, anyone Cheney calls a traitor is already two steps ahead.

[flamingdem]

48. He's in hiding in an HK security controlled apartment

I think it's clear he went to HK with a known plan and this is why so much was arranged, his apt. the protest the reaction of the Chinese in his favor ... it was orchestrated.