NSA & GCHQ hack 2bn SIM-cards according to new Snowden documents

[PizzaSHARK]

LOL

Honestly I don't think stuff like this happens. Generally speaking they track calls going to and from certain areas of the world, like Yemen, or North Pakistan, maybe listen to those calls, and continue to track the people calling that number and where they are from, so forth and so on.

Why not just ask for access to that information, then? Why steal it?

[Puremallace]

One step closer to becoming Rome by turning on our founding documents yet again. This is shit Stalin did to people in West Germany after WW2

[lockedout]

I take anything Snowden says with a grain of salt.

You mean the government not Snowden right?

[Polyxo]

This is a serious issue. Not because the government as a monolithic organization will misuse this as a tyrannical entity. The problem is that people will have access to this information. There was a case a few years back of some DHS agents around Seattle using the patriot act to stalk women. Stuff like that is bound to happen, and there's no real system to police it.

[Theinquisition]

Why not just ask for access to that information, then? Why steal it?

Maybe because they are doing it.....wait for it...wait for it....covertly.

[Xargoth6634]

You mean the government not Snowden right?

No, I mean Snowden. I doubt the authenticity of a lot of his "evidence."

[Nadiru]

Well, its no secret that the US and UK governments often work toghter regarding intellegence. I'm glad we do.

Five Eyes Snoopers and Spies

[Redfingers]

Pretty cool.

Good way to track badguys using cellphones across places like Afganistan, Pakistan Yemen, etc etc.

Yeah that's exactly what they're doing. They don't monitor your communications at all.

Also, they didn't fund (or arm) or create ISIS and this program is definitely helping to fight ISIS and the reason ISIS exists is of course in no way related to the fact that they've been obsessively monitoring (and laughing at) your porn habits instead of fighting terrorism.

[Theinquisition]

Five Eyes Snoopers and Spies

Well, the U.S. and the U.K. have been pretty tight for a long time regarding intelligence operations. I think its a great thing.

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Yeah that's exactly what they're doing. They don't monitor your communications at all.

Also, they didn't fund (or arm) or create ISIS and this program is definitely helping to fight ISIS and the reason ISIS exists is of course in no way related to the fact that they've been obsessively monitoring (and laughing at) your porn habits instead of fighting terrorism.

Well....if they are really interested in my MILF porn watching habits, lol, then go for it.

[Redfingers]

I think that's why there hasn't been a lot of outrage. People have assumed this has been going on for over 10 years.

Which you would think would be cause for outrage

It's like people had a collective brain fart and forgot that repressive civilizations have been the norm for several thousand years. Swarms of letter openers, spies, McCarthyites, blackmail, that kind of shit.

What's funny is that they're refusing to prosecute Gen David Petraeus even though he was the head of the CIA and handed classified documents over to his hagiographer Paula Broadwell. Which is like, a fucking crime.

[lockedout]

No, I mean Snowden. I doubt the authenticity of a lot of his "evidence."

So then why is he a wanted fugitive? For leaking false information he didn't take from the US government?

[Theinquisition]

Which you would think would be cause for outrage

It's like people had a collective brain fart and forgot that repressive civilizations have been the norm for several thousand years. Swarms of letter openers, spies, McCarthyites, blackmail, that kind of shit.

What's funny is that they're refusing to prosecute Gen David Petraeus even though he was the head of the CIA and handed classified documents over to his hagiographer Paula Broadwell. Which is like, a fucking crime.

Has it been proven?

Anyway, that's politics....seriously. Remember good ol Sandy Berger? guy who was caught taking classified materials from the national archives during the Clinton Administration, nothing happen there either, well a slap on the wrist anyway.

On July 19, 2004, it was revealed that the U.S. Department of Justice was investigating Berger for unauthorized removal of classified documents in October 2003 from a National Archives reading room prior to testifying before the 9/11 Commission. The documents were five classified copies of a single report commissioned from Richard Clarke covering internal assessments of the Clinton Administration's handling of the unsuccessful 2000 millennium attack plots. An associate of Berger said Berger took one copy in September 2003 and four copies in October 2003.[15] Berger subsequently lied to investigators when questioned about the removal of the documents.[1]

Berger pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of unauthorized removal and retention of classified material on April 1, 2005. Berger was fined $50,000,[16] sentenced to serve two years of probation and 100 hours of community service, and stripped of his security clearance for 3 years.[1][17] The Justice Department initially said Berger stole only copies of classified documents and not originals.[18] But the House Government Reform Committee later revealed that an unsupervised Berger had been given access to classified files of original, uncopied, uninventoried documents on terrorism. During the House Government Reform Committee hearings, Nancy Kegan Smith acknowledged that she had granted Berger access to original materials in her office. [19]

On December 20, 2006, Inspector General Paul Brachfeld reported that Berger took a break to go outside without an escort. "In total, during this visit, he removed four documents ... Mr. Berger said he placed the documents under a trailer in an accessible construction area outside Archives 1 (the main Archives building)." Berger acknowledged that he later retrieved the documents from the construction area and returned with them to his office.[20][21]

On May 17, 2007, Berger relinquished his license to practice law as a result of the Justice Department investigation. Saying, "I have decided to voluntarily relinquish my license." He added that, "While I derived great satisfaction from years of practicing law, I have not done so for 15 years and do not envision returning to the profession. I am very sorry for what I did, and I deeply apologize." By giving up his license, Berger avoided cross-examination by the Bar Counsel regarding details of his thefts.[22]

[Xargoth6634]

So then why is he a wanted fugitive? For leaking false information he didn't take from the US government?

Didn't say none of it was true. I just think he's long out of juice at this point and the ruskies are fabricating shit to give the US a black eye.

[Redfingers]

I'm sure the classified documents somehow magically appeared on Paula Broadwell's computer while she was having an affair with him

You'd think maybe they could have an investigation into it and find out considering supposedly they have access to the backdoor in everyone's computers and they've been trying to get encryption keys from security companies for years and he was the head of the CIA. But I'm guessing they don't want to because it's politically inconvenient. After all, in the view of John McCain, David Petraeus is an American Hero and a military genius or something.



Diane Feinstein: He's suffered enough


Edward Snowden hasn't suffered enough, Bradley Manning hasn't suffered enough, John Kiriakou hasn't suffered enough, but poor old American Hero David Petraeboo has suffered too much at the hands of the mean media

[DEATHETERNAL]

Firstly, this is yet another case where "Anyone who is surprised at this really needs to learn to think".

Secondly, spying on foreigners' communications and communications to foreigners in an attempt to make the nation more secure is unquestionably good.

After all, in the view of John McCain, David Petraeus is an American Hero and a military genius or something.

He was an adulterer. Heroes aren’t adulterers.

[Redfingers]

He was an adulterer. Heroes aren’t adulterers.

You may want to tell that to Diane Feinstein and John McCain, because to them this adulterer is an American hero.

They're not going to prosecute him for the crime they've prosecuted American journalists for, the crime of leaking classified documents to his mistress.

His excellence in dropping bags of money off at the doorstep of Hamid Karzai and his backroom money laundering to the Ali Abdullah Saleh regime just makes him too much of an American hero to prosecute for the crime of leaking classified information.

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Interestingly, they actually threw Bradley Manning in jail for leaking that bit about David Petraeus' giving $100 million to President Saleh of Yemen, but they won't prosecute David Petraeus for some reason because he's an "American hero."

[Daethz]

If the NSA is going to have full super servilence, i require every elected official to wear a body cam that is live-streamed to a public television channel 24/7, they get 1 hour per day where the device can be turned off so they may have intimate moments with their significant other.
Why? Well i personally believe ALL elected officials are corrupt, so if the NSA believes ALL civilians are terrorists and we ALL need to be watched, why cant civilians monitor the people who control the monitors?
Its only fair.

[Redfingers]

I want to videotape people while they're going to the bathroom. If they're doing nothing wrong, then they have nothing to hide.

[Deleted]

Let me rephrase: considering who he is and who he's living with right now, I'd question the legitimacy of anything he releases. You'll notice that it's all anti-American. Wouldn't be surprised if the Russians are cooking up some bogus propaganda docs and releasing them in his name at this point. Not that I don't believe that the NSA does some shady shit, I just think Snowden's a shitbag and I don't buy into everything he says/releases.

Anti American?!
You mean... you think this topic right here now is "antiamerican"?
Are you saying that this kind of behavior is what "being American" is about?

Oh boy...

[ringpriest]

Sim card database hack gave US and UK spies access to billions of cellphones



Time for another round of how to piss off allies and friends.

What makes it even worse, is that "pissing off friends and allies" is apparently the only thing they're good for - they certainly don't stop terrorists, keep US communications safe, or report on enemy plans and actions (you know, their actual fucking job):
No Evidence Behind Broad Claims of NSA's Effectiveness
Report suggests NSA surveillance has not stopped terrorism
Must Reads: U.S. Spies Kinda Sorta Missed the Whole Russia-Crimea Thing
Why Did the NSA Miss the Rise of ISIS?

Oh, wait. The NSA is good at something else: making money for high-ranking NSA officers.
NSA Chief Bet Money on AT&T as It Spied on You
Exclusive: NSA reviewing deal between official, ex-spy agency head
Where Is the Investigation Into Financial Corruption at the NSA?

Earlier this year, when Keith Alexander resigned as head of the National Security Agency, he began trying to cash in on expertise he'd gained while in government, pitching himself as a security consultant who could protect Wall Street banks and other large corporations from cyber-attacks by hackers or foreign governments. Early reports focused on the eye-popping price tag for his services: He reportedly asked for $1 million a month, later decreasing his rate to $600,000.

"I question how Mr. Alexander can provide any of the services he is offering unless he discloses or misuses classified information, including extremely sensitive sources and methods," Representative Alan Grayson wrote in a letter to banking trade groups that retained him. "Without the classified information that he acquired in his former position, he literally would have nothing to offer to you.”