True Snowden
A selection of the most interesting thoughts voiced in the film “Citizen Four: the Truth of Snowden”, which in turn is the quintessence of the revelations of Edward Snowden - a former NSA employee who exposed the anti-democratic activities of government intelligence agencies.
It all started with a letter from Edward Snowden to WikiLeaks journalist, Laura Poitras, who was on the secret watch list in 2006 for making a film about the war in Iraq. After that, she was repeatedly detained and interrogated at the American border. So, the "historical" letter of Snowden:
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The same thought, but from a slightly different angle, was voiced by Jacob Applebaum, at one of his information security trainings:
Who has the feeling that he is being watched? And constant? And how many of you were arrested and taken into the back room on the day of the trial? Who scanned the iris? Guys ... You are all here kind of - canaries in the mine. Because all such initiatives are directed against you.
Have you ever seen an ad in the subway like: “Tie a card on the subway to a credit card - for auto-completion”? This is a concept that we will talk about today. The so-called "binding". Take one set of data, and bind it to another.
For example, you have a map on the subway and a payment card. You can draw a line between them. It would seem no big deal. Only here is your bank card tied to everything you do. Now interested security services know where you are going to make purchases. Interested in you, they can recreate your every step: using your card on the subway and credit cards. They know where you went and what you bought. And in principle, by comparing this with the data of other people with a similar route, they can also establish who you met with.
We take the data of your cellular, which track your location, and bind them to the data on purchases, trips to the subway and your payments. As a result, we get the so-called. metadata covering the entire life of a person. Collectively, this is a kind of content - they tell your story, consisting of facts. But not always true.
Here is an example. You were at the corner of the street where the crime was committed. But this does not mean that you are the culprit. It is important to note here that if someone finds you guilty of anything, it will haunt you for the rest of your life. So remember: all that is being applied to you now (fingerprinting, iris scanning, photographs) will all be used in the future to suppress people who are trying to resist initiatives retreating from the constitution.
I do not know how well you are aware of the programs, as well as their real technical capabilities, but there is an infrastructure - both in the USA and around the world - that the NSA has created in cooperation with other countries. It intercepts almost all digital connections, all radio connections, all analog connections - which can be fixed by its equipment. In fact, with such opportunities, all the huge variety of connections, - based on computers and other devices - is monitored automatically, without targeting. Including, informal communication between people. Such tracking allows you to retroactively search for your connections, based on the so-called. self-affirmations.
For example, if I want to know the contents of your correspondence or your wife's telephone conversations, etc. - I can use the so-called. "Selector", i.e. any element of the communication chain that can accurately or almost accurately identify your personality. These can be email addresses, IP addresses, phone numbers, credit cards. Even passwords that no other person uses except you. I can enter this data into the system, and it will not only look at the entire database and tell where I could meet this data before, but also introduce an additional level of observation - which includes future events as well. In other words, if the monitored event happens now or in the future, I will immediately receive the relevant information - in real time. Information that you communicate with someone.
After the attacks of September 11, the Americans justify all their actions in the fight against terrorism. Everything is done "in the name of national security," "in the name of protecting our people." In fact, the situation is completely different. The overwhelming majority of the documents monitored have absolutely nothing to do with the fight against terrorism or national security. These documents are related either to rivalry between countries, or to industrial, financial or economic issues.
I also mention the program "Exko". When we began to publish the first exposing articles, the US government was justified by not intercepting the content of conversations, but only collecting metadata:
But if I know for sure what kind of people you communicate with, and if I know about everyone with whom they communicate; if I know where and when your communication took place, the duration and place of your conversations - then I can find out a lot about your personality, about your activity, about your life. Here there is an obvious invasion of privacy.
However, in fact, the government’s statement that “we are not engaged in intercepting the content of conversations” is absolutely false. The US government has the opportunity to collect not only your metadata, but also the content of the letters that you send by e-mail, or listen to your conversations on the phone. They know the queries that you enter in the search bar of your Internet browser; they know which websites you recently visited, which documents you send to your work colleagues. This system is able to track almost everything that you, that any other person does during Internet sessions.
You will probably be watched if you work, say, as a journalist and investigate the actions of the American authorities, or if you got a job in a company that competes with American corporations; if you work in the field of human rights protection and your activities affect the interests of the authorities. In general, whatever you do - know that any of your negotiations can easily be intercepted.
Moreover, if you are American and live in the USA, then special services need to get permission from the court to intercept your data. By the way, they always get it. But if you are not an American, then for this they need nothing - no permission. No special documents. I think that the consequences of such an invasion of the personal life of people are very difficult to predict at this stage. But we must understand that somehow this is a huge blow for all of us. Because as a result, the ability of citizens to protest, organize demonstrations or organize some kind of political demonstrations is sharply reduced. Because we lose our right to privacy.
In September 2013, the European Parliament starts hearings on the fact of NSA surveillance of citizens and companies of the European Union:
Ladar Levinson: Lavabit is a postal service, which I hope will one day become known to all by itself, and not only in connection with the name of Snowden. I created this service so that no one could force me to violate the privacy secrets. Let's just say my idea was to exclude the service provider from the equation. I do not keep logs on the server, and I do not have access to the user's mail on the disk. Of course, this does not exclude the possibility of surveillance, but it excludes me from this equation itself - where observation can be established for any party: both the sender and the recipient of the message.
However, not long ago, I was contacted by FBI agents, who said that since I could not give them information about a particular user, I would have to give them the SSL protocol keys, allowing their people to secretly collect data from all correspondence carried out on my network. . Of course, I was not very pleased with it. To put it mildly. I was even more worried that I could not tell anyone about this. Therefore, I decided that if I could not make this situation public, if I did not have the opportunity to tell people about what was happening, then the only ethically right choice would be to close the network. Think about it.
I believe in the rule of law, I believe in the need to investigate. But for any investigation you need a good reason. Violation of the right to privacy should not be a trifling matter. Because it is an act of aggression, because it is an act of destruction. If we do not have the right to privacy, then how can we lead a free, open discussion? What is the use of the right to freedom of speech if it is not guarded? If you do not have the opportunity to conduct a private discussion with another person - about what you do not agree. Think what a devastating effect it will have. What a devastating effect it will have on countries where there is no right to privacy.
Jacob Applebaum: I want to draw your attention to one interesting point. What used to be called freedom, now we call the right to privacy. And we are immediately ready to admit that we are deprived of this right. This is what I am seriously concerned about. I am concerned about the freedom of our future generation. Especially when we say that we have nothing to surprise. We must understand that without the right to privacy we lose our ability to act - we lose freedom itself. Because we cannot freely express our thoughts.
There is a myth about the car "passive observation". However, what is any surveillance, if not control? Therefore, all these statements about the “passivity” of the NSA are simply nonsense. They are very active - in relation to Europeans, and Americans too. And in fact, in relation to anyone - if they need it.
In March 2014, Germany will initiate a parliamentary investigation into the spying of the NSA. William Binnie is invited to testify as an expert:
Ps. This selection was made for personal use (for conducting training on information security). However, I was surprised to find that such a review had not yet been published (at least I could not find it on the Internet), despite the fact that the film was released quite a long time ago, I decided to present it to the public.
It all started with a letter from Edward Snowden to WikiLeaks journalist, Laura Poitras, who was on the secret watch list in 2006 for making a film about the war in Iraq. After that, she was repeatedly detained and interrogated at the American border. So, the "historical" letter of Snowden:
')
You ask why I chose you. I did not choose - you did it. The surveillance you set means that you were selected. This term will become clear when you learn how a modern SIGINT system works. Know that whenever you:- you are controlled by a system whose coverage is unlimited. Because the defense is not perfect. Once you are a victim of the NSA system, then you are one of those few who are conscious and can tell about the threat posed to democracy by the unlimited secret police in their means.
- cross the border
- make purchases
- dial the phone number
- drive past the cell tower
- chatting with friends
- writing an article
- visiting sites
- write an email
- or send data
Total surveillance
The same thought, but from a slightly different angle, was voiced by Jacob Applebaum, at one of his information security trainings:
Who has the feeling that he is being watched? And constant? And how many of you were arrested and taken into the back room on the day of the trial? Who scanned the iris? Guys ... You are all here kind of - canaries in the mine. Because all such initiatives are directed against you.
Have you ever seen an ad in the subway like: “Tie a card on the subway to a credit card - for auto-completion”? This is a concept that we will talk about today. The so-called "binding". Take one set of data, and bind it to another.
For example, you have a map on the subway and a payment card. You can draw a line between them. It would seem no big deal. Only here is your bank card tied to everything you do. Now interested security services know where you are going to make purchases. Interested in you, they can recreate your every step: using your card on the subway and credit cards. They know where you went and what you bought. And in principle, by comparing this with the data of other people with a similar route, they can also establish who you met with.
We take the data of your cellular, which track your location, and bind them to the data on purchases, trips to the subway and your payments. As a result, we get the so-called. metadata covering the entire life of a person. Collectively, this is a kind of content - they tell your story, consisting of facts. But not always true.
Here is an example. You were at the corner of the street where the crime was committed. But this does not mean that you are the culprit. It is important to note here that if someone finds you guilty of anything, it will haunt you for the rest of your life. So remember: all that is being applied to you now (fingerprinting, iris scanning, photographs) will all be used in the future to suppress people who are trying to resist initiatives retreating from the constitution.
All-seeing eye
“Many of my friends think about it before typing a query in the search bar, knowing that it will be saved. This narrows the limits of their intellectual inquiry. I would rather go to the risk of imprisonment or other negative consequences for me personally, than agree to put at risk my own intellectual freedom and the freedom of those who are near me - whose life is as dear to me as my own. Once again I want to emphasize that I do not sacrifice myself. I feel satisfied that I can contribute to the common good. ” Edward Snowden
I do not know how well you are aware of the programs, as well as their real technical capabilities, but there is an infrastructure - both in the USA and around the world - that the NSA has created in cooperation with other countries. It intercepts almost all digital connections, all radio connections, all analog connections - which can be fixed by its equipment. In fact, with such opportunities, all the huge variety of connections, - based on computers and other devices - is monitored automatically, without targeting. Including, informal communication between people. Such tracking allows you to retroactively search for your connections, based on the so-called. self-affirmations.
For example, if I want to know the contents of your correspondence or your wife's telephone conversations, etc. - I can use the so-called. "Selector", i.e. any element of the communication chain that can accurately or almost accurately identify your personality. These can be email addresses, IP addresses, phone numbers, credit cards. Even passwords that no other person uses except you. I can enter this data into the system, and it will not only look at the entire database and tell where I could meet this data before, but also introduce an additional level of observation - which includes future events as well. In other words, if the monitored event happens now or in the future, I will immediately receive the relevant information - in real time. Information that you communicate with someone.
Phones using the IP protocol are equipped with a minicomputer from which you can record on a microphone - even when the handset is down. You can listen, even if the phone is just connected to the network.
Meta data alone will not be full
After the attacks of September 11, the Americans justify all their actions in the fight against terrorism. Everything is done "in the name of national security," "in the name of protecting our people." In fact, the situation is completely different. The overwhelming majority of the documents monitored have absolutely nothing to do with the fight against terrorism or national security. These documents are related either to rivalry between countries, or to industrial, financial or economic issues.
I also mention the program "Exko". When we began to publish the first exposing articles, the US government was justified by not intercepting the content of conversations, but only collecting metadata:
- the names of those who call and their interlocutors,
- the time and duration of their conversation,
- the place from where and where the call is made, etc. etc.
But if I know for sure what kind of people you communicate with, and if I know about everyone with whom they communicate; if I know where and when your communication took place, the duration and place of your conversations - then I can find out a lot about your personality, about your activity, about your life. Here there is an obvious invasion of privacy.
However, in fact, the government’s statement that “we are not engaged in intercepting the content of conversations” is absolutely false. The US government has the opportunity to collect not only your metadata, but also the content of the letters that you send by e-mail, or listen to your conversations on the phone. They know the queries that you enter in the search bar of your Internet browser; they know which websites you recently visited, which documents you send to your work colleagues. This system is able to track almost everything that you, that any other person does during Internet sessions.
You will probably be watched if you work, say, as a journalist and investigate the actions of the American authorities, or if you got a job in a company that competes with American corporations; if you work in the field of human rights protection and your activities affect the interests of the authorities. In general, whatever you do - know that any of your negotiations can easily be intercepted.
Moreover, if you are American and live in the USA, then special services need to get permission from the court to intercept your data. By the way, they always get it. But if you are not an American, then for this they need nothing - no permission. No special documents. I think that the consequences of such an invasion of the personal life of people are very difficult to predict at this stage. But we must understand that somehow this is a huge blow for all of us. Because as a result, the ability of citizens to protest, organize demonstrations or organize some kind of political demonstrations is sharply reduced. Because we lose our right to privacy.
"Big Brother" monitors the European Union
In September 2013, the European Parliament starts hearings on the fact of NSA surveillance of citizens and companies of the European Union:
According to the latest data, the NSA had access to encryption keys, and paid technology companies for introducing loopholes in encrypted protocols. Today we are gathered to talk about the methods by which you can defend yourself against government espionage. Jacob Applebaum is a journalist and developer of encryption and security software. Ladar Levinson, creator of the secure electronic messaging service, Lavabit, which was used by Edward Snowden. Word to you.
Ladar Levinson: Lavabit is a postal service, which I hope will one day become known to all by itself, and not only in connection with the name of Snowden. I created this service so that no one could force me to violate the privacy secrets. Let's just say my idea was to exclude the service provider from the equation. I do not keep logs on the server, and I do not have access to the user's mail on the disk. Of course, this does not exclude the possibility of surveillance, but it excludes me from this equation itself - where observation can be established for any party: both the sender and the recipient of the message.
However, not long ago, I was contacted by FBI agents, who said that since I could not give them information about a particular user, I would have to give them the SSL protocol keys, allowing their people to secretly collect data from all correspondence carried out on my network. . Of course, I was not very pleased with it. To put it mildly. I was even more worried that I could not tell anyone about this. Therefore, I decided that if I could not make this situation public, if I did not have the opportunity to tell people about what was happening, then the only ethically right choice would be to close the network. Think about it.
I believe in the rule of law, I believe in the need to investigate. But for any investigation you need a good reason. Violation of the right to privacy should not be a trifling matter. Because it is an act of aggression, because it is an act of destruction. If we do not have the right to privacy, then how can we lead a free, open discussion? What is the use of the right to freedom of speech if it is not guarded? If you do not have the opportunity to conduct a private discussion with another person - about what you do not agree. Think what a devastating effect it will have. What a devastating effect it will have on countries where there is no right to privacy.
Jacob Applebaum: I want to draw your attention to one interesting point. What used to be called freedom, now we call the right to privacy. And we are immediately ready to admit that we are deprived of this right. This is what I am seriously concerned about. I am concerned about the freedom of our future generation. Especially when we say that we have nothing to surprise. We must understand that without the right to privacy we lose our ability to act - we lose freedom itself. Because we cannot freely express our thoughts.
There is a myth about the car "passive observation". However, what is any surveillance, if not control? Therefore, all these statements about the “passivity” of the NSA are simply nonsense. They are very active - in relation to Europeans, and Americans too. And in fact, in relation to anyone - if they need it.
In March 2014, Germany will initiate a parliamentary investigation into the spying of the NSA. William Binnie is invited to testify as an expert:
“I am glad that I was called here. Since I think it is extremely important for us to talk about the secret activities of the intelligence communities around the world. And not only the NSA. All these programs, which Edward Snowden spoke about, are essentially tools for collecting information. Each dictatorial mode of history used such tools. One of the most important tasks for them is to know as much as possible about their people. For this and such programs are created. Personally, I see them as the greatest threat to democracy in the world. ”
Ps. This selection was made for personal use (for conducting training on information security). However, I was surprised to find that such a review had not yet been published (at least I could not find it on the Internet), despite the fact that the film was released quite a long time ago, I decided to present it to the public.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/272385/
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