Category: nsa

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New Revelations from the Snowden Documents

Posted on By infossl
academic papers, backdoors, cryptography, Edward Snowden, nsa, privacy, Schneier news, Security technology, surveillance, Uncategorized

Jake Appelbaum’s PhD thesis contains several new revelations from the classified NSA documents provided to journalists by Edward Snowden. Nothing major, but a few more tidbits. Kind of amazing that that all happened ten years ago. At this point, those documents are more historical than anything else. And it’s unclear who has those archives anymore. … Read More “New Revelations from the Snowden Documents” »

The US Is Spying on the UN Secretary General

Posted on By infossl
espionage, fisa, leaks, nsa, Security technology, Uncategorized

The Washington Post is reporting that the US is spying on the UN Secretary General. The reports on Guterres appear to contain the secretary general’s personal conversations with aides regarding diplomatic encounters. They indicate that the United States relied on spying powers granted under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to gather the intercepts. Lots … Read More “The US Is Spying on the UN Secretary General” »

Snowden Ten Years Later

Posted on By infossl
Edward Snowden, essays, history of security, nsa, privacy, Security technology, surveillance, Uncategorized

In 2013 and 2014, I wrote extensively about new revelations regarding NSA surveillance based on the documents provided by Edward Snowden. But I had a more personal involvement as well. I wrote the essay below in September 2013. The New Yorker agreed to publish it, but the Guardian asked me not to. It was scared … Read More “Snowden Ten Years Later” »

The FBI Identified a Tor User

Posted on By infossl
dark web, de-anonymization, fbi, hacking, nsa, privacy, Security technology, surveillance, tor, Uncategorized

No details, though: According to the complaint against him, Al-Azhari allegedly visited a dark web site that hosts “unofficial propaganda and photographs related to ISIS” multiple times on May 14, 2019. In virtue of being a dark web site—­that is, one hosted on the Tor anonymity network—­it should have been difficult for the site owner’s … Read More “The FBI Identified a Tor User” »

NSA Over-surveillance

Posted on By infossl
nsa, privacy, Security technology, surveillance, Uncategorized

Here in 2022, we have a newly declassified 2016 Inspector General report—”Misuse of Sigint Systems”—about a 2013 NSA program that resulted in the unauthorized (that is, illegal) targeting of Americans. Given all we learned from Edward Snowden, this feels like a minor coda. There’s nothing really interesting in the IG document, which is heavily redacted. … Read More “NSA Over-surveillance” »

NSA on Supply Chain Security

Posted on By infossl
infrastructure, nsa, operational security, reports, Security technology, supply chain, Uncategorized

The NSA (together with CISA) has published a long report on supply-chain security: “Securing the Software Supply Chain: Recommended Practices Guide for Suppliers.“: Prevention is often seen as the responsibility of the software developer, as they are required to securely develop and deliver code, verify third party components, and harden the build environment. But the … Read More “NSA on Supply Chain Security” »

NSA Employee Charged with Espionage

Posted on By infossl
cryptocurrency, cyberespionage, espionage, fbi, nsa, Security technology, Uncategorized, undercover

An ex-NSA employee has been charged with trying to sell classified data to the Russians (but instead actually talking to an undercover FBI agent). It’s a weird story, and the FBI affidavit raises more questions than it answers. The employee only worked for the NSA for three weeks—which is weird in itself. I can’t figure … Read More “NSA Employee Charged with Espionage” »

Ecuador’s Attempt to Resettle Edward Snowden

Posted on By infossl
Edward Snowden, nsa, Security technology, Uncategorized, whistleblowers

Someone hacked the Ecuadorian embassy in Moscow and found a document related to Ecuador’s 2013 efforts to bring Edward Snowden there. If you remember, Snowden was traveling from Hong Kong to somewhere when the US revoked his passport, stranding him in Russia. In the document, Ecuador asks Russia to provide Snowden with safe passage to … Read More “Ecuador’s Attempt to Resettle Edward Snowden” »

On the Subversion of NIST by the NSA

Posted on By infossl
academic papers, algorithms, cryptography, nist, nsa, Security technology, Uncategorized

Nadiya Kostyuk and Susan Landau wrote an interesting paper: “Dueling Over DUAL_EC_DRBG: The Consequences of Corrupting a Cryptographic Standardization Process“: Abstract: In recent decades, the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which develops cryptographic standards for non-national security agencies of the U.S. government, has emerged as the de facto international source for cryptographic … Read More “On the Subversion of NIST by the NSA” »

The NSA Says that There are No Known Flaws in NIST’s Quantum-Resistant Algorithms

Posted on By infossl
encryption, nist, nsa, quantum computing, Security technology, Uncategorized

Rob Joyce, the director of cybersecurity at the NSA, said so in an interview: The NSA already has classified quantum-resistant algorithms of its own that it developed over many years, said Joyce. But it didn’t enter any of its own in the contest. The agency’s mathematicians, however, worked with NIST to support the process, trying … Read More “The NSA Says that There are No Known Flaws in NIST’s Quantum-Resistant Algorithms” »