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Showing Original Post only (View all)Take A Break From The Snowden Drama For A Reminder Of What He's Revealed So Far [View all]
Take A Break From The Snowden Drama For A Reminder Of What He's Revealed So Far
Andy Greenberg, Forbes Staff
Covering the worlds of data security, privacy and hacker culture.
...
now may be as good a time as any to take an intermission from the drama and recall the real story: the biggest global privacy scandal of the decade. Heres a recap of Snowdens leaked documents published so far, in my own highly subjective order of importance.
--- The publication of Snowdens leaks began with a top secret order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) sent to Verizon on behalf of the NSA, demanding the cell phone records of all of Verizon Business Network Services American customers for the three month period ending in July. The order, obtained by the Guardian, sought only the metadata of those millions of users callswho called whom when and from what locationsbut specifically requested Americans' records, disregarding foreigners despite the NSAs legal restrictions that it may only surveil non-U.S. persons. Senators Saxby Chambliss and Diane Feinstein defended the program and said it was in fact a three-month renewal of surveillance practices that had gone for seven years.
--- In a congressional hearing, NSA director Keith Alexander argued that the kind of surveillance of Americans data revealed in that Verizon order was necessary to for archiving purposes, but was rarely accessed and only with strict oversight from Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court judges. But another secret document published by the Guardian revealed the NSAs own rules for when it makes broad exceptions to its foreign vs. U.S. persons distinction, accessing Americans data and holding onto it indefinitely. Those exceptions include anytime Americans data includes significant foreign intelligence information or information about a crime that has been or is about to be committed, any data involved in the unauthorized disclosure of national security information, or necessary to assess a communications security vulnerability. Any encrypted data that the NSA wants to crack can also be held indefinitely, regardless of whether its American or foreign origin.
--- Another leaked slide deck revealed a software tool called Boundless Informant, which the NSA appears to use for tracking the origin of data it collects. The leaked materials included a map produced by the program showing the frequency of data collection in countries around the world. While Iran, Pakistan and Jordan appeared to be the most surveilled countries according to the map, it also pointed to significant data collection from the United States.
--- A leaked executive order from President Obama shows the administration asked intelligence agencies to draw up a list of potential offensive cyberattack targets around the world. The order, which suggests targeting "systems, processes and infrastructure" states that such offensive hacking operations can offer unique and unconventional capabilities to advance U.S. national objectives around the world with little or no warning to the adversary or target and with potential effects ranging from subtle to severely damaging. The order followed repeated accusations by the U.S. government that China has engaged in state-sponsored hacking operations, and was timed just a day before President Obamas summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
--- Documents leaked to the Guardian revealed a five-year-old British intelligence scheme to tap transatlantic fiberoptic cables to gather data. A program known as Tempora, created by the U.K.s NSA equivalent Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) has for the last 18 months been able to store huge amounts of that raw data for up to 30 days. Much of the data is shared with the NSA, which had assigned 250 analysts to sift through it as of May of last year.
--- Another GCHQ project revealed to the Guardian through leaked documents intercepted the communications of delegates to the G20 summit of world leaders in London in 2009. The scheme included monitoring the attendees phone calls and emails by accessing their Blackberrys, and even setting up fake Internet cafes that used keylogging software to surveil them.
--- Snowden showed the Hong Kong newspaper the South China Morning Post documents that it said outlined extensive hacking of Chinese and Hong Kong targets by the NSA since 2009, with 61,000 targets globally and hundreds in China. Other SCMP stories based on Snowdens revelations stated that the NSA had gained access to the Chinese fiberoptic network operator Pacnet as well as Chinese mobile phone carriers, and had gathered large quantities of Chinese SMS messages.
--- The Guardians Glenn Greenwald has said that Snowden provided him thousands of documents, of which dozens are newsworthy. And Snowden himself has said hed like to expose his trove of leaks to the global media so that each country's reporters can decide whether U.S. network operations against their people should be published. So regardless of where Snowden ends up, expect more of his revelations to follow.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/06/25/take-a-break-from-the-snowden-drama-for-a-reminder-of-what-hes-revealed-so-far/
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Take A Break From The Snowden Drama For A Reminder Of What He's Revealed So Far [View all]
Catherina
Jun 2013
OP
Yes but on the other hand, his former girlfriend was a pole dancer and he was expelled from kinder-
rhett o rick
Jun 2013
#5
That is what is known so far. No one knows yet the full extent of what he stole, at least the
still_one
Jun 2013
#6
So, what do you think about the ffact that the US has turned into a huge Surveillance State?
sabrina 1
Jun 2013
#95
No. The story is already moving from mass warrantless surveillance to what they do with the info
KurtNYC
Jun 2013
#72
I don't think this story will go away no matter what twisted spin or distraction some may invent
Catherina
Jun 2013
#17
Ironic that he's being accused of spying for exposing the government was spying on everybody. nt
limpyhobbler
Jun 2013
#19
Here, let me try to make this clear. I don't want peeping toms 'collecting and storing' my phone
sabrina 1
Jun 2013
#36
I'll try to make it simple. If I agree to someone having access to something that belongs to me,
sabrina 1
Jun 2013
#44
I prefer to give CONSENT and HAVE KNOWLEDGE of the people and the info I give out.
Th1onein
Jun 2013
#66
And when you first used Google at what point did you sign up to terms of service?
intaglio
Jun 2013
#106
Reading this post it is quite obvious the poster lacks the ability to think clearly
intaglio
Jun 2013
#114
I'm sure MANY have died as the result of the release of this information.
bullwinkle428
Jun 2013
#26
He's revealed nothing that wasn't already known. This entire thing is ridiculous theatre.
harmonicon
Jun 2013
#93
K&R! The real story is not Snowden, but the NSA's violation of our privacy. n/t
backscatter712
Jun 2013
#102