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hueymahl
hueymahl's Journal
hueymahl's Journal
January 8, 2014
At first we were in an arms race with sophisticated criminals, says Eric Grosse, Googles head of security. Then we found ourselves in an arms race with certain nation-state actors [with a reputation for cyberattacks]. And now were in an arms race with the best nation-state actors. Primarily, the US government.
But perhaps the most authentic expression of betrayal came from a relatively unknown Google security engineer named Brandon Downey in a post on his personal Google+ account. He prefaced his message by stating that he was speaking only for himselfbut he might as well have been channeling his colleagues across the industry:
Fuck these guys. Ive spent the last ten years of my life trying to keep Googles users safe and secure from the many diverse threats Google faces. Ive seen armies of machines DOS-ing Google. Ive seen worms DOSing Google to find vulnerabilities in other peoples software. Ive seen criminal gangs figure out malware. Ive seen spyware masquerading as toolbars so thick it breaks computers because it interferes with the other spyware. Ive even seen oppressive governments use state-sponsored hacking to target dissidents But after spending all that time helping in my tiny way to protect Googleone of the greatest things to arise from the internetseeing this, well, its just a little like coming home from War with Sauron, destroying the One Ring, only to discover the NSA is on the front porch of the Shire chopping down the Party Tree and outsourcing all the hobbit farmers with half-orcs and whips.
For all you NSA apologists out there, all you defenders of the state, your government's actions have consequences. And one of those consequences is it harms Americans and American companies:
Certainly the tech companies felt worse off. In November, the German newsweekly Der Spiegelanother recipient of Snowden leaksdescribed an NSA/GCHQ exploit that seemed tailor-made to erode trust. In an attempt to gain access to the Brussels-based telecommunications firm Belgacom, the agencies set up bogus versions of sites like Slashdot and LinkedIn. When employees tried to access the sites from corporate computers, their requests were diverted to the phony replicas, which the spies used to inject malware into their machines.
Using considerable understatement, LinkedIns general counsel, Erika Rottenberg, says, We are not happy that our intellectual property is being used in that way. It is not hard to see why. If foreign customers cant know whether they are using a legitimate social network or a spy-created fake, they are liable to log off altogether.
For years, companies from espionage-happy countries like China have been spurned by overseas buyers who didnt trust their products. Now its Americas turn.
Folks, this is not for our "own good". It is not for "flag and country". It is not likely even terribly effective. But it is damn destructive.
The NSA is willing to compromise the security of everything to get what they want, security expert Bruce Schneier says.
Think about the damage this does to America, says US Representative Rush Holt (D-New Jersey), who is the rare member of Congress with a PhD in physicsand one of a number of legislators pursuing measures that would curtail the NSAs activities. The NSA is saying, Weve got to make sure the encryption has flaws so we can decrypt. Isnt that the pinnacle of arrogance? No one else knows how to do it or is as smart as we are. They wont realize weve degraded our product. But the truth always comes out. And America is worse off because of it.
Fuck You NSA. And Fuck You to every politician that supports it.
Oh yeah, and thank you Mr. Snowden. We need more heroes like you willing to take a principled stand.
Wired - How the US Almost Killed the Internet
Google to NSA - F*ck You
That is not an official quote, but it is what they wish they could say:
At first we were in an arms race with sophisticated criminals, says Eric Grosse, Googles head of security. Then we found ourselves in an arms race with certain nation-state actors [with a reputation for cyberattacks]. And now were in an arms race with the best nation-state actors. Primarily, the US government.
But perhaps the most authentic expression of betrayal came from a relatively unknown Google security engineer named Brandon Downey in a post on his personal Google+ account. He prefaced his message by stating that he was speaking only for himselfbut he might as well have been channeling his colleagues across the industry:
Fuck these guys. Ive spent the last ten years of my life trying to keep Googles users safe and secure from the many diverse threats Google faces. Ive seen armies of machines DOS-ing Google. Ive seen worms DOSing Google to find vulnerabilities in other peoples software. Ive seen criminal gangs figure out malware. Ive seen spyware masquerading as toolbars so thick it breaks computers because it interferes with the other spyware. Ive even seen oppressive governments use state-sponsored hacking to target dissidents But after spending all that time helping in my tiny way to protect Googleone of the greatest things to arise from the internetseeing this, well, its just a little like coming home from War with Sauron, destroying the One Ring, only to discover the NSA is on the front porch of the Shire chopping down the Party Tree and outsourcing all the hobbit farmers with half-orcs and whips.
For all you NSA apologists out there, all you defenders of the state, your government's actions have consequences. And one of those consequences is it harms Americans and American companies:
Certainly the tech companies felt worse off. In November, the German newsweekly Der Spiegelanother recipient of Snowden leaksdescribed an NSA/GCHQ exploit that seemed tailor-made to erode trust. In an attempt to gain access to the Brussels-based telecommunications firm Belgacom, the agencies set up bogus versions of sites like Slashdot and LinkedIn. When employees tried to access the sites from corporate computers, their requests were diverted to the phony replicas, which the spies used to inject malware into their machines.
Using considerable understatement, LinkedIns general counsel, Erika Rottenberg, says, We are not happy that our intellectual property is being used in that way. It is not hard to see why. If foreign customers cant know whether they are using a legitimate social network or a spy-created fake, they are liable to log off altogether.
For years, companies from espionage-happy countries like China have been spurned by overseas buyers who didnt trust their products. Now its Americas turn.
Folks, this is not for our "own good". It is not for "flag and country". It is not likely even terribly effective. But it is damn destructive.
The NSA is willing to compromise the security of everything to get what they want, security expert Bruce Schneier says.
Think about the damage this does to America, says US Representative Rush Holt (D-New Jersey), who is the rare member of Congress with a PhD in physicsand one of a number of legislators pursuing measures that would curtail the NSAs activities. The NSA is saying, Weve got to make sure the encryption has flaws so we can decrypt. Isnt that the pinnacle of arrogance? No one else knows how to do it or is as smart as we are. They wont realize weve degraded our product. But the truth always comes out. And America is worse off because of it.
Fuck You NSA. And Fuck You to every politician that supports it.
Oh yeah, and thank you Mr. Snowden. We need more heroes like you willing to take a principled stand.
Wired - How the US Almost Killed the Internet
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Gender: MaleHome country: USA
Member since: Mon Sep 24, 2012, 12:07 PM
Number of posts: 2,495