Opinions on the NSA

Parent Cafe
41

<p>calmom-
I linked the article as a reference, but without disclosing anything further, let me just say… I know. I have to leave it at that. I didn’t say they were “eavesdroping”. I said they were “monitored”. They are.</p>

42

<p>I live quite near NSA. I know people in my neighborhood who work there, and many with security clearances for a variety of reasons. The people I know who work there are nice, neighborly, married, raising families, majored in math or computers or languages. They are not anything like Edward Snowden. </p>

<p>My thoughts about all of this are all over the place. I think anyone who is surprised has had his head in the sand since the Patriot Act was passed. I’m squeamish about privacy rights, but on the other hand, I have always assumed that anything that happens over the internet or via cell phone is open game.</p>

<p>Edward Snowden has a number of inconsistencies and outright lies in his statements, and that bothers me as well. He has inflated his resume in statements he made, which leads me to distrust him, his methods, and his goals.</p>

<p>The following is from Voice of America “Edward Snowden High School Dropout to Intelligence Consultant”, Huffington Post, “NSA Leaker Edward Snowden has Strong Maryland Ties”, Mother Jones “Community College Says NSA Whistleblower Edward Snowden took No Cyber-Related Classes”, The Guardian “Edward Snowden did enlist for special forces, US army confirms”, and NPR Morning Edition as reported in the Inquisitr. </p>

<p>Snowden told the Guardian that his military career was cut short after he “broke both his legs in a training accident.” According an Army spokesman, “His records indicate he enlisted in the army reserve as a special forces recruit on 7 May 2004 but was discharged 28 September 2004. He did not complete any training or receive any awards.” The Army did not explain the reason for Snowden’s incomplete special forces recruitment. </p>

<p>A person with the same name and birthdate as Snowden took classes at Anne Arundel Community College intermittently from 1999, when Snowden was about 15, through the fall of 2005. He dropped out of high school, says he later earned a GED. He never earned a degree or certificate at Anne Arundel CC . He took no “cyber-related courses” at this college. Nor did he take any classes in the college’s NSA-certified “Information Systems Security” program, which focuses on safeguarding computer data and networks. </p>

<p>The Guardian said Snowden got his first job as a security guard for the NSA, which assigned him to a covert facility at the University of Maryland. UMD’s newspaper, The Diamondback, reported “Which facility and exactly where it was Snowden worked is unknown, but the NSA has connections to several university facilities, including the Laboratory for Physical Sciences, the Office of Technology Commercialization and the Lab for Telecommunication Science.” It is unlikely that there are NSA “covert facilities” at the University of Maryland.</p>

<p>He stated that his salary at Booz Allen was $200,000, when it was $120,000. He was hired earlier this year, and had been employed for less than three months when he told reporters that he was the source of leaks.</p>

<p>The Guardian said Snowden’s talent for computer programming helped him to move on to a job with the CIA as an Information Technology Security Specialist. It says the CIA stationed him with diplomatic cover in Geneva, Switzerland by 2007. The CIA has not commented on this.</p>

<p>Snowden also said that he left the CIA in 2009 and took on several jobs as a private contractor for the NSA, including assignments at the computer company Dell and a US military facility in Japan.</p>

<p>He was a busy, busy young man. </p>

<p>I have questions about a lot of what he said about his background.</p>

43

<p>Thanks for posting the background information. It’s hard to get a clear picture of the guy. It’s even harder to understand why BAH would hire him for $120K per year unless that’s the typical starting salary for someone that doesn’t have skills that can be nailed down.</p>

44

<p>oops, I skipped over one of the tabs I had opened:</p>

<p>From The Inquisitr, as reported on NPR’s Morning Edition:</p>

<p>Snowden said that during his few months as a NSA private contractor in Hawaii, he was given the authority to wiretap anyone he wanted. He claimed he could perform wiretaps without a legal court order.</p>

<p>In an interview, former Justice and DNI lawyer Carrie Cordero said such unfettered power isn’t plausible. “The notion that this individual has the authority to go ahead and… “wiretap” people is just ridiculous. Edward Snowden’s claim does not resemble anything close to what I observed within the intelligence community.” In order for a system to work as Snowden has claimed the NSA would need to bypass court requests all together, even the secret court orders they have sought and received in recent years.</p>

45

<p>The worst thing I’ve learned so far, worse to me than the NSA’s surveillance itself, is that the information was leaked like this:</p>

<p>NSA -(docs)-> The Washington Post, The Guardian -(4 slides + editorial)-> public</p>

<p>instead of:</p>

<p>NSA -(docs)-> P2P, e.g. torrent or Freenet -(docs)-> public</p>

<p>My frustration in trying to wade through the garbage (i.e. alarmist speculation about the NSA and discussion about the person who leaked the information) to get to the actual leaked information just confirmed the disgust I’ve long had for the industry of journalism.</p>

<p>[This</a> is the best I could find.](<a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/prism-collection-documents/]This”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/prism-collection-documents/) Wikipedia’s [url=&lt;a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRISM_(surveillance_program)]article[/url”&gt;PRISM - Wikipedia]article[/url</a>] on PRISM is also helpful despite being a tertiary source. More helpful, at least, than the almost entirely useless news publications.</p>

46

<p>Maybe it’s just me, but I’m willing to trade having the government know how often I call my mother if it helps with surveillance of terrorists. I really can’t understand what the huge uproar is all about.</p>

47

<p>What’s the difference between recording internet traffic and recording video feeds from security cameras in public places? No one should expect for information that leaves their computer unencrypted to remain private if it has to travel through an enormous global network composed of many routers and servers owned by different people, just as no one should be upset if they do something on a street corner and it is later visible to someone not on that corner.</p>

48

<p>Adding on to my own posts, #42 and 44.</p>

<p>Another thing or two that bothers me about Snowden and his story:</p>

<p>In his comunications with a reporter at the Washington Post, he used a code name - “Verax”, or truth teller in Latin. “I’ve been a spy almost all of my adult life,” he told the Washington Post. </p>

<p>He’s worried he’s being watched and puts a red hood over his head and laptop when he enters passwords. (Reported in the Guardian.)</p>

<p>When he decided to go to Hong Kong, Snowden told the NSA that he was taking a leave fro treatment of epilepsy, a condition he told the Guardian he was diagnosed with last year after seizures.</p>

<p>From “What we know about NSA leaker Edward Snowden” US News NBC News</p>

<p>A little bit of something else going on with this guy? Emerging mental health issues? Sudden onset of seizures can also be a sign of other health issues.</p>

49

<p>Here’s where it gets dangerous to me. Say Joe Blow works at the NSA and decides to take a peek into someone’s life. Look at how easy it was to find a judge to okay the James Rosen stuff. And stop thinking - who cares, I don’t like that network or their beliefs. </p>

<p>How easy is it for an IRS agent, NSA employee, etc to get this info and decide what they want to do with it? Apparently extremely easy.</p>

<p>And who really is under the impression that all these federal workers are somehow more intelligent and able to interpret information any better than most of us? We’re handing over a LOT of freedom with barely a squeak.</p>

<p>”He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither" - Ben Franklin</p>

50

<p>Again, PRISM is NOT a “surveillance” program. PRISM is a SOFTWARE application that handles the transmission and storage of electronic data provided by internet companies in compliance with FISA warrants. (The NSA probably does have “surveillance” programs but they are not called “PRISM”).</p>

<p>Links:

  1. The slide at <a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/prism-collection-documents/images/prism-slide-4.jpg[/url]”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/prism-collection-documents/images/prism-slide-4.jpg&lt;/a&gt; has the words, “Complete list and details on PRISM web page / Go PRISMFAA” — A search of the PRISMFAA takes you to documentation on the FAA and Department of Transporation web sites describing the software, which they use to handle procurements. Presumably the NSA has modified or customized its installation of the software for its own use. See [PIA</a> - PRISM | Department of Transportation](<a href=“http://www.dot.gov/individuals/privacy/pia-prism]PIA”>PIA - PRISM | US Department of Transportation) and <a href=“https://faaco.faa.gov/index.cfm/announcement/view/9184[/url]”>https://faaco.faa.gov/index.cfm/announcement/view/9184&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>The software is a product of Compusearch, which markets its software to government agencies: [Compusearch</a> to Supply and Implement PRISM as WMATA?s New Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) System | Compusearch](<a href=“Unison | We power the business of government”>Unison | We power the business of government)</p>

<ol>
<li> The way the PRISM data acquisition works is explained here:
[PRISM</a> data transfers done conservatively](<a href=“http://www.usatoday.com/story/cybertruth/2013/06/10/prism-data-transfers-done-conservatively/2407793/]PRISM”>PRISM data transfers done conservatively)
and
<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/08/technology/tech-companies-bristling-concede-to-government-surveillance-efforts.html[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/08/technology/tech-companies-bristling-concede-to-government-surveillance-efforts.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
</ol>

<p>

</p>

<ol>
<li> This is consistent with the factsheet released by the Director of National Intelligence, at <a href=“http://www.dni.gov/files/documents/Facts%20on%20the%20Collection%20of%20Intelligence%20Pursuant%20to%20Section%20702.pdf[/url]”>http://www.dni.gov/files/documents/Facts%20on%20the%20Collection%20of%20Intelligence%20Pursuant%20to%20Section%20702.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
</ol>

<p>

</p>

<p>Now you can speculate that “PRISM” means something else, based on internet rumor or the claims of a person who is known to be a liar and a thief (if nothing else, he lied to his employer and stole documents he knew to be classified) – but you don’t have EVIDENCE to contradict the DNI release. There is nothing in the actual documentation (slides and copy of a FISA warrant) that shows anything different. Wild speculation is NOT evidence. </p>

<p>Yes, the NSA operates in secret. That is what it is supposed to do. </p>

<p>So no, there is no absolute way to prove that the President, the DNI, multiple members of Congress from Lindsey Graham and John Boehner to Al Franken, and all the internet companies (Google, Yahoo, etc.) aren’t all lying and the guy who is hiding out in Hong Kong is the only one telling the truth…</p>

<p>but sometimes you have to use common sense. </p>

<p>Keep in mind that the Chinese government has been involved in some major hacking of US government-affiliated web sites. They hacked into the Obama campaign’s web site and they hacked into the McCain campaign’s web site. Now you have a 29-year-old guy with a very odd background who somehow has an IT job related to network computer security that give him access to highly classified data – who walks away from his $122k/year job after less than 3 months in order to flee the US …and where does he end up? China. (Yes, China allows Hong Kong to operate as an independent enclave – but that doesn’t change the fact that Mr. Snowden appears to be very comfortable staying in a place where agents of the Chinese government can easily reach him.) </p>

<p>If we want to speculate about conspiracies, then I am inclined to speculate that maybe someone has paid Mr. Snowden to steal classified documents, and maybe a government that would spend effort to hack into computers might also be interested in working with a human being who has direct access to computers containing classified data. There are a lot of dots out there. When I connect them all up I see something very nefarious, but it isn’t the NSA I’m worried about.</p>

51

<p>We already have a problem with state troopers and city police looking up state records on women that they pull over for traffic stops so that they can ask them for a date.</p>

52

<p>

An employee can always potentially abuse their position. Google has more than 30,000 employees – many of whom are techs employed in ways that would give them access to your gmail account. Are they all honest? </p>

<p>But an employee needs MOTIVE to start breaking the rules of their office. There are several possible motives:

  • theft / monetary gain (such as the employee of a bank or restaurant who steals credit card numbers)
  • idle curiosity, usually directed at celebrities (such as a hospital employee who peeks at the medical records of a famous person who has come for treatment)
  • personal vendetta (such as an IRS employee digging into the financials of an ex-in-law)
  • work related over zealousness (such as unauthorized tapping into investigative resources by a cop who lacks probable cause).</p>

<p>When it is over zealousness, it is going to be job/mission related. The job of an NSA analyst is to develop information about foreign terrorism – if he’s going to cheat, he’ll cheat in a way that is targeted at a suspected foreign terrorist. Maybe that cheating means telling a few lies to a FISA judge – but the FISA courts can only issue warrants directed to foreign activity – lying about an American in order to access US-based data on that American won’t work. And maybe that cheating means pulling some other strings. But if the motivation is to take short-cuts on the way to catching a foreign terrorist, the short-cuts are going to be targeted. </p>

<p>So if you are worried about your own privacy - and if you are living in the US and do not regularly correspond with or phone people in the middle east - then it’s pretty unlikely that the NSA is what you need to worry about. They just aren’t that into you.</p>

53

<p>The goverment lawyer they interviewed yesterday was very careful about her words. She said there is no way he had the “authority” (as in government permission) to do unwarranted wiretaps. As far as I could tell, she never refuted that he had the capacity. “Authority” in IT terms refers to software and network permissions, not contracted job permission.</p>

54

<p>The FBI has the capacity to eavesdrop on everything in my house. That doesn’t mean they want to, or that they will. Nor is their ability to do so a reason to abolish the FBI. For me it’s the same as with the NSA. </p>

<p>If what they’re doing is to see what US numbers a terrorist calls, all I can say is, have at it. If they want to do what US private security people do and plug in certain words or phrases into computer traffic, I’m okay with that, as long as the gov’t needs a judge’s okay to listen in on my calls and read my email. And it appears they do need a warrant to do so. </p>

<p>I also admit to not being swayed anymore by the Benjamin Franklin quote about he who gives up freedom for security gets neither. If you take it in its purist form, you wouldn’t have police or FBI or CIA at all.</p>

55

<p>Any secure system has a list of credentials which controls what a person, group or role can do. The system should also have audit trails enabled which documents anything that the person, group or role does. So someone might abuse their credentials but there should be a record of it that’s checked later on. Or checked in the event that a problem is discovered.</p>

56

<p>That’s a true distinction, but an IT network administrator would not have the capacity to place a wiretap. (It’s not something that can be done with the click of a button on a computer). </p>

<p>But if Snowden was working with IT network security as he claims to have been, then he would have probably have had the capacity to bypass a firewall and pull documents off of a server. He probably would have also had the capacity to change a password or to create a new user name / password combination for SFTP or SSH access to the server. Documents that can’t be accessed via a web interface may still be copied or downloaded via SFTP by a person who has root access to the server. </p>

<p>The job of an IT security guy would also include the responsibility for installing and patching the software that controls security – which means that person would also be able to sabotage what he is supposed to be installing or fixing. It’s like if you hired a dishonest locksmith to replace the locks on your house – the locksmith could easily make and retain copies of the keys to every lock he replaces for you. There is no way you can protect against that other than learning how to replace your own locks. </p>

<p>Unfortunately, the IT guy also has the capacity to plant nefarious software on the computers or networks he is supposed to be protecting. If I was the CEO of Booz Allen Hamilton, I’d have ordered a complete security check of all computers the day that Snowden left his employment, as well requiring all remaining employees to change passwords. </p>

<p>I don’t think there’s any way around this other than to build a lot of redundant security systems, keeping some of them hidden from the people who have the ability to do mischief based on their jobs-- that is, by creating some sort of nanny cam program that is constantly looking over the shoulder of the IT people. It’s similar to the situation if you have a maid coming to your house to clean when you are not home – you can trust the maid, or you can hide your jewelry and valuables and hope the person who has unfettered access to your property won’t be able to figure out where you are hiding things, or you can have a system to spy on the person… or you can not hire the maid and do all your own housekeeping and cleaning. It’s a balance. Most of the time people are honest and trustworthy, but I’ve been ripped off more than once by housecleaners, and that’s why I now live in a very messy, very cluttered house. But some things are more important than housekeeping – I couldn’t choose to leave a toddler unattended for 8 hours a day because I don’t trust the babysitter. </p>

<p>I’m sure that Booz Allen Hamilton is reviewing its hiring practices very carefully. I don’t think a new hire in the IT department should have had the type of access or apparent lack of supervision that Snowden apparently enjoyed.</p>

57

<p>

The “later on” part is the problem. Snowden may have known he would be caught, and times his flight to Hong Kong accordingly. </p>

<p>On the other hand, we’ve only seen seen evidence of his taking two documents. It’s possible that Snowden stumbled across them in the course of doing what he was supposed to be doing – for example, let’s say he was assisting a high level analyst who was having difficulty accessing a particular directory on the computer. He “helps” the analyst by resetting the password and verifying that the directory can be accessed – and in the course of doing so transfers a small number of documents. It doesn’t set off any alarms precisely because the transfer is small and within the scope of his regular duties (like the hypothetical housekeeper who regularly steals some of the small change you leave laying around the house – the housekeeper is smart enough to skim rather than take all the change, and you never notice the disappearing dimes and quarters – only when an IT guy copies a document, nothing disappears.)</p>

58

<p>Again, referring back to my own post #42:</p>

<p>The University of Maryland confirmed that in 2005 Snowden worked for less than a year as a “security specialist” for the NSA-linked Center for Advanced Study of Language (CASL), which serves as a research enter for the intelligence community. The relationship between the agency and UMD, which goes well beyond CASL, has been well documented. for years. The Center conducts research in areas such as language acquisition, contextual analysis of language, and human computer interaction and computer translation. </p>

<p>Other research conducted there is discussed in the article “What Happens in the University of Maryland NSA Facility Where Edward Snowden Worked?” (Mother Jones)</p>

<p>In his interview with the Guardian it was stated that, “he got his first job in an NSA facility, working as a security guard for one of the agency’s covert facilities at the University of Maryland.”</p>

<p>Not very covert. I wonder if it was Snowden or the Guardian reporter who referred to it as “covert”?</p>

59

<p>Maybe someone can explain to me why knowing about the person who acquired information and how he did it is more important than knowing what the information means and how we should take it.</p>

60

<p>Because the only reliable information we have at this point is that the government has been using FISA warrants for “business records” in accordance the the express provisions of the Patriot Act allowing them to do so, all the while advising Congress of those warrants, but they happen to be taking more records more regularly than most Americans were aware; and that the US Government via NSA is using a computer program called “PRISM” to coordinate direct digital transfer of other records that are subject to FISA warrants. </p>

<p>Any other conclusions rely on the word of an information whose credibility is in doubt.</p>

<p>Several Congress members have called for declassifying the FISA warrants in order for there to be more transparency, and Google has similarly requested permission to reveal limited information about the scope of those warrants. I assume that any such classification or release would be limited in scope so as not to jeopardize ongoing operations-- which would probably entail releasing information about past or expired warrants rather than ongoing investigations. </p>

<p>Also, the more I think about this, the more I think that the odd background of the person who is releasing the information is an indication of something very nefarious going on. It seems to me that the most likely reason that this particular young man got the job he had is that some higher-up pulled some strings.</p>