In this article, we'll provide a few tips and tricks on how to use a couple simple advanced web searches to browse a website without actually visiting the target site, effectively remaining invisible to the site's proprietors. Maybe the website is blocked on the computer you are using. Maybe the site seems somewhat sketchy and you want to check it out before you actually visit it. Maybe you want to read some content on the site, while depriving them of your own web traffic. Maybe you don't want the site's proprietors to know your IP address. Whatever the case may be, if you have access to Google, you may very well be able to see the content you are looking for without ever connecting to the site in question.
Showing posts with label anonymity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label anonymity. Show all posts
Sucking Dox: Facial Recognition Software Used To Harass Porn Stars' Real Identities
Facial recognition software has long been touted as a necessary aide to combat crimes, from street-level surveillance up to complex police analysis of individuals' tattoos for identification. Now, a piece of software that allows you to search for faces as easily as one might search for a cupcake recipe has backfired to those who don't really want to be identified...well, for their facial features, at least.
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| They sell their bodies for a living, which enrages those who'd never get a buyer, or any kind of lover at all. (Image courtesy monsters4ever.com.) |
Blowing Up The Burners: New Bill To Make Anonymous Cell Phones Illegal?
Chances are, as a modern human being, you own at least one cell phone that you guard with a vigilance that many bodyguards would envy. It's as important as your wallet or keys, and maybe more so due to its irreplaceability. But what about the cell phones that are used specifically for their disposable nature? Should they be illegal just because sometimes you have business to handle that you don't want interacting with the rest of your real life?
| Burner phones: will they be burned at the legal stake for their perceived sins? (Image courtesy survivethewild.net.) |
X Marks The Spotted: Windows 10 Is Watching You
As citizens of the cyber-community, we've unfortunately become conditioned to seeing ads that are eerily targeted to things we say, emails that appear from long-forgotten websites, and other evidence of deep data gathering made manifest for use of moneymaking. Now, with the launch of Windows 10 becoming a necessity for some users, Microsoft seems to have pulled out even more stops to speed up their spying...
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| Seriously, what ISN'T spying on us these days? (Image courtesy hackread.com.) |
Found By Sound: Kidnapper Located Via Spotify Sign-Ons
The information superhighway has a lot of vehicles on it, and you might be followed without even realizing it. Such was the case with one woman who thought she could escape the law, but didn't count on the law looking in on what she listened to, and where...
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| If Bonnie and Clyde here are jamming Spotify while fleeing the law, they're gonna get caught! (Image courtesy musictimes.com.) |
Who Would Jesus Watch? New Facial Recognition Software Tracks Church Attendance
Oh, god. As if it weren't "bad" enough in the eyes of The Most High that your lapsed morals caused you to skip church on Sunday to be a brunch-munching heathen or false-idolater football fan, now you've also been caught...by computer.
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| The lord doesn't always work in mysterious ways...sometimes it's just computers and cameras. (Image courtesy hackingchristianity.net.) |
Bugs, Drugs, and Thugs: DEA Phone Tap Protocol From 1992 Onward Paved Way For Current NSA Programs
Many compelling arguments have been offered as evidence to stop the NSA and other agencies from spying on American (and others') phone calls. Constitutional rights infringement, invasion of privacy, and simply wasting time and manpower are all noteworthy points that the programs should be stopped. However, nothing justifies the removal of this century's scaled-up security state better than history itself: powers-that-be have been monitoring calls for decades, and it didn't stop terrorists one bit...
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| It didn't really stop drug dealers that much, either. (Image courtesy anyclip.com.) |
Positively Fourth Amendment: The Department Of Justice Wants In On Your Info, Anywhere
Thanks to a new initiative to amend the Constitutionally-sound rules regarding search and seizure, the United States Department of Justice seems to want to practice anything but. Currently the D.O.J. is seeking the authority to hack computers anywhere in the world...
| This isn't cool and never will be, regardless of what the Department of "Justice" thinks. (Image courtesy watchdog.org.) |
Keeping Quiet? Better Buy It. AT&T To Charge For Online Surveillance Opt-Out
So it's come to this. We're now "afforded" the option to bribe companies out of spying on us...
The Question Of Invisibility: Google's Yearly Content Removal Request Report
The thing about dealing with information supergiants is that they not only have power over who sees your secrets and how, but they'll also discuss them when comprehensively covering what dirtier deeds than your own were begged to be scrubbed from the internet.
Such is the nature of Google's semiannual transparency report, another installation of which was released today. For the first time, this report included some 30 examples of material that had been expressly asked (mostly by government operatives) to vanish from the common knowledge, as though what was reported on was really actually bad enough to transcend the public's millisecond-length attention span.
According to newsweek.com, some of it really WAS bad enough that it could ruin lives simply by remaining in the public eye. Prison inmate abuse, serious sexual accusations, and purported "defamation" of numerous police officers were all included in the materials requested for removal. None of these requests were granted.
By Google's anaylsis, nearly 8,000 requests were made for information removal during 2013. These covered the e-extraordinary rendition of some 14,367 pieces of information. Requests were up 60% from 2012 to have one's secrets permanently kept that way (at least from the eyes of the internet.) The full transparency report including cases and actions taken is available for analysis.
The specific offending material varied, with governments making 1,066 requests for content be removed from blogs, 841 requests for removal from Google searches, and 765 requests to never again grace the screens of YouTube. These requests comprised the time period between July and December 2013 alone.
The most cited reason for the prospective purge was explained as "defamation" (36%), with nudity/obscenity (16%) and security (11%) also making excuses. Google was quick to admit that their report is not a full account of possible online censorship, but is a good metric in that "it does provide a lens on the things that governments and courts ask us to remove, underscoring the importance of transparency around the processes governing such requests.”
You can run, and you can rant, and sling all the press and televised mess you want, but you can't hide from the internet. Little Brother has just as many cameras and ears as Big Brother. The "embarrassing" (and maybe appropriately defamatory) results are more than elements of evidence: they are mirrors to our very society. A stark and honest appraisal of that image requires the full picture of our actions, no matter how ugly.
Such is the nature of Google's semiannual transparency report, another installation of which was released today. For the first time, this report included some 30 examples of material that had been expressly asked (mostly by government operatives) to vanish from the common knowledge, as though what was reported on was really actually bad enough to transcend the public's millisecond-length attention span.
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| There's a lot of skullduggery out there...removing the evidence is kind of a big job. (Image courtesy betanews.com.) |
According to newsweek.com, some of it really WAS bad enough that it could ruin lives simply by remaining in the public eye. Prison inmate abuse, serious sexual accusations, and purported "defamation" of numerous police officers were all included in the materials requested for removal. None of these requests were granted.
By Google's anaylsis, nearly 8,000 requests were made for information removal during 2013. These covered the e-extraordinary rendition of some 14,367 pieces of information. Requests were up 60% from 2012 to have one's secrets permanently kept that way (at least from the eyes of the internet.) The full transparency report including cases and actions taken is available for analysis.
The specific offending material varied, with governments making 1,066 requests for content be removed from blogs, 841 requests for removal from Google searches, and 765 requests to never again grace the screens of YouTube. These requests comprised the time period between July and December 2013 alone.
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| Unsurprisingly, people said and did a bunch of dumb stuff caught on Twitter too. (Image courtesy transparency.twitter.com.) |
The most cited reason for the prospective purge was explained as "defamation" (36%), with nudity/obscenity (16%) and security (11%) also making excuses. Google was quick to admit that their report is not a full account of possible online censorship, but is a good metric in that "it does provide a lens on the things that governments and courts ask us to remove, underscoring the importance of transparency around the processes governing such requests.”
You can run, and you can rant, and sling all the press and televised mess you want, but you can't hide from the internet. Little Brother has just as many cameras and ears as Big Brother. The "embarrassing" (and maybe appropriately defamatory) results are more than elements of evidence: they are mirrors to our very society. A stark and honest appraisal of that image requires the full picture of our actions, no matter how ugly.
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| So that's how that works! Thanks, transparency! (Image courtesy watchdog.org.) |
If You Only Have Something Nice To Say, Say It On The Outpour App
Privacy on the internet is an important and valuable commodity, even for those who claim they have "nothing to hide." Though arguments on privacy frequently focus on the idea of not having to worry if you're not doing anything wrong, what if you're interested in remaining private because you're doing something wildly (and possibly uncharacteristically) nice for someone?
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| It's not always as hard as you think it might be. Even if it is, your discovery and notation of it increases its value. (Image courtesy twitter.com.) |
Enter a new app, Outpour. As reported by wired.com, Outpour abets those who would like to deluge someone in positive comments but can't quite say them to their face or their facebook. When freedom of expression just needs a new method of expression, Outpour steps in so you can brighten someone's day with a nice note, sans your name. The idea is to spur people to say something sweet that they might otherwise have left bottled up, like so much maple syrup that could never saturate your mental pancakes.
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| "GODDAMNIT I LOVE YOU SO MUCH." (Image courtesy redtri.com.) |
Yes, it could be used for evil, but the design is based against that. One would have to specifically seek out their victim's profile and consciously ignore all other nice messages before violating the "social norm" of the site with their message. For those who would buck that norm, their rantings can be deleted by the user, and the vitriol-spewer's account may be blocked. Numerous blockings could result in a site-wide ban. A unique phone number is required for sign-up, to prevent multiple accounts.
Outpour is available for iOS, with web and Android versions arriving next year. So if you're not near enough to someone to send a drink down the bar, or if you're not close enough to know where to send them a card, Outpour could help bring some small, secret joy with just a few keystrokes. How sweet.
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| Anonymous love is still love. (Image courtesy shinyshiny.tv.) |
Fall's Hot New Look: Antisurveillance "Dazzle" Camouflage
Camouflage takes many forms, some in plain sight, some you've maybe never even spotted (by design.) In today's world of ever-encroaching surveillance, one can't be too careful around cameras, both overt and hidden. If you're trying to keep your face out of the electronic archives, one way to dodge the documentation is to use some good old-fashioned dazzle camouflage.
Based on the premise of actual military warpaint used on planes and boats, CV Dazzle is a new means to break lines of vision while simultaneously breaking your monotonous old look. According to the CV Dazzle website, "Since facial-recognition algorithms rely on the identification and spatial relationship of key facial features, like symmetry and tonal contours, one can block detection by creating an “anti-face." Avant-garde, Surrealist, and cubist designs all contribute to the various elements of CV Dazzle.
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| In WWI, battleships were painted like hipsters (shipsters?) to confuse enemies. |
Based on the premise of actual military warpaint used on planes and boats, CV Dazzle is a new means to break lines of vision while simultaneously breaking your monotonous old look. According to the CV Dazzle website, "Since facial-recognition algorithms rely on the identification and spatial relationship of key facial features, like symmetry and tonal contours, one can block detection by creating an “anti-face." Avant-garde, Surrealist, and cubist designs all contribute to the various elements of CV Dazzle.
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| Arts AND sciences! (Image courtesy cvdazzle.com.) |
Some ideas for your new radar-revolting look could include:
-Long, facially-obscuring bangs in a variety of lengths and colors
-Facepaint including large "pixel"-style blocks
-makeup that contrasts with your skin tone and doesn't enhance specific features
-obscuring the nose bridge (a key indicator in facial recognition software)
-obscuring the size and shape of the head
-covering or altering the perceived appearance of the eyes (size, shape, color)
-developing an overall asymmetrical facial presentation
The CV website offers styling templates and a host of look ideas to ponder, if you need to take your anti-surveillance look to the next level. Would a mask also work? Sure, but you might look cooler with blue bangs.
Of course, if you're not inclined to wear facepaint or weird bangs, you can always just anonymize your face in photos with the Face Dazzler app. It'll take you right out the running for all the "tags" you don't need to be found in. Privacy never looked so pretty!
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| Dazzle camouflage still works in modern times, as shown by this Dazzle-inspired yacht painted by Jeff Koons. Yes, that is a real boat. |
Shrug Off "Atlas", Facebook's New Ad-Stalking Network
You are a target. Your likes, dislikes, and desires, as manifested via the internet, make you prime material for directed advertising, and social media giant Facebook knows it. That's why they're stepping in to make their ads follow you around the internet, like a lost dog of consumerism, or perhaps an over-egregious door-to-door salesman inside your screen.
According to mashable.com, the targeted ads will start following you immediately. You selections and mentions on facebook help them to direct material that they think you will be prone to clicking on, and thus your creepily-pertinent ad distractions will appear if you visit other facebook-affiliated sites (such as Amazon or various news outlets.)
Facebook's new ad network, Atlas, is responsible for this collection and dispersal. A former Microsoft company which Facebook purchased for $100 million last year, Atlas tracks your verbiage and serves up what it feels is appropriate topical consumer choices. Atlas CEO Erik Johnson stated this is superior to the logging of your info by your computer's "cookies", stating in a blog post that, "Cookies don’t work on mobile, are becoming less accurate in demographic targeting and can’t easily or accurately measure the customer purchase funnel across browsers and devices or into the offline world."
Now that they've stepped up their game, so can you. Services like Adblock, Ghostery, NoScript and Disconnect.me can help to combat the ever-encroaching e-eyeballs and protect your privacy. So if you've ever had the sneaking suspicion that your paper trail needs to be burned, now you know how to fire it up.
According to mashable.com, the targeted ads will start following you immediately. You selections and mentions on facebook help them to direct material that they think you will be prone to clicking on, and thus your creepily-pertinent ad distractions will appear if you visit other facebook-affiliated sites (such as Amazon or various news outlets.)
Facebook's new ad network, Atlas, is responsible for this collection and dispersal. A former Microsoft company which Facebook purchased for $100 million last year, Atlas tracks your verbiage and serves up what it feels is appropriate topical consumer choices. Atlas CEO Erik Johnson stated this is superior to the logging of your info by your computer's "cookies", stating in a blog post that, "Cookies don’t work on mobile, are becoming less accurate in demographic targeting and can’t easily or accurately measure the customer purchase funnel across browsers and devices or into the offline world."
Now that they've stepped up their game, so can you. Services like Adblock, Ghostery, NoScript and Disconnect.me can help to combat the ever-encroaching e-eyeballs and protect your privacy. So if you've ever had the sneaking suspicion that your paper trail needs to be burned, now you know how to fire it up.
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| You don't want to be on the shoulders of the Atlas that hefts the world wide web. |
Dead Drop: Darknet Service Will Be Your Whistleblower If You Mysteriously Disappear
It's hard out there for a whistleblower. With Bradley "Chelsea" Manning in extreme custody, Edward Snowden hiding out in Russia, and numerous other knowledge-droppers dead under sketchy circumstances, one would be deterred before breathing a word of any new top-secret info - no matter how damning. However, if you do happen to have your hands on some hot intel, and fear for your safety because of it, a new service will release your documents if you end up disappearing or dead.
The service, called Dead Man Zero, is accessible only through the deep web. According to vice.com, it costs around $120 (paid in bitcoin.) One uploads their files to a secure cloud, then the site requires password updates (set at a variable time preference by the user), which if not established will trigger a release of the documents to the user's desired outlets (lawyers, journalists, etc.)
“So what if something happens to you?” Dead Man Zero's site ponders. "Especially if you're trying to do something good like blow the whistle on something evil or wrong in society or government. There should be consequences if you are hurt, jailed, or even killed for trying to render a genuine and risky service to our free society...Now you have some protection. If 'something happens' to you, then your disclosures can be made public regardless.”
It adds, "If events overtake you, you can still overtake your adversaries."
Of course, for anyone paranoid enough to use this service, a secondary dose of worry ensues. Is the cloud secure enough? Will the site sustain long enough to make certain my documents really do survive me? Will they follow through with their promise despite what the intel may contain? Yes, it is a gamble. But so is possessing information worthy of this kind of necessity. For true protection of what is too dangerous for public knowledge, it's either a service like this, or a buried chest full of documents and some keys distributed to your close associates...which do you feel is truly the safest?
The service, called Dead Man Zero, is accessible only through the deep web. According to vice.com, it costs around $120 (paid in bitcoin.) One uploads their files to a secure cloud, then the site requires password updates (set at a variable time preference by the user), which if not established will trigger a release of the documents to the user's desired outlets (lawyers, journalists, etc.)
“So what if something happens to you?” Dead Man Zero's site ponders. "Especially if you're trying to do something good like blow the whistle on something evil or wrong in society or government. There should be consequences if you are hurt, jailed, or even killed for trying to render a genuine and risky service to our free society...Now you have some protection. If 'something happens' to you, then your disclosures can be made public regardless.”
It adds, "If events overtake you, you can still overtake your adversaries."
Of course, for anyone paranoid enough to use this service, a secondary dose of worry ensues. Is the cloud secure enough? Will the site sustain long enough to make certain my documents really do survive me? Will they follow through with their promise despite what the intel may contain? Yes, it is a gamble. But so is possessing information worthy of this kind of necessity. For true protection of what is too dangerous for public knowledge, it's either a service like this, or a buried chest full of documents and some keys distributed to your close associates...which do you feel is truly the safest?
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| You could always test their security by uploading a treasure map to the cloud and laying booby traps for anyone who comes after it. Just an option. |
Steal Your Face: The FBI Is Storing Your Dimensions, Fearing Criminal Intentions
If you value your privacy, you may want to stock up on extra Halloween masks this season. The FBI has recently announced its state-of-the-art new facial recognition system, and it is creepier than any macabre mask a citizen can don.
According to gizmodo.com, six years of development and a billion dollars of taxpayer money have led to this biometric facial recognition software system. If you're getting a visa, going to prison, or otherwise being photographed by any grabby arm of the government, your identifying facial dimensions are sure going in there. It's called the Next Generation Identification program, and you are getting forced into this future.
But why stop at the shape of your skull and surrounding tissues? They did spend a BILLION of your dollars, after all! Scars, tattoos, fingerprints and other major identifying characteristics will also be included in your (totally safe and secure, we're sure) recognition profile. This shared database, known as the Interstate Photo System, is only going to get more insidious as ubiquitous surveillance camera resolutions improve.
The FBI, of course, loves their new toy. They were proud to report, "Since phase one was deployed in February 2011, the NGI system has introduced enhanced automated fingerprint and latent search capabilities, mobile fingerprint identification, and electronic image storage, all while adding enhanced processing speed and automation for electronic exchange of fingerprints to more than 18,000 law enforcement agencies and other authorized criminal justice partners 24 hours a day, 365 days a year."
It wouldn't be surprising if ninja-style outfits of obscurity became fashionable in the next few years...
According to gizmodo.com, six years of development and a billion dollars of taxpayer money have led to this biometric facial recognition software system. If you're getting a visa, going to prison, or otherwise being photographed by any grabby arm of the government, your identifying facial dimensions are sure going in there. It's called the Next Generation Identification program, and you are getting forced into this future.
But why stop at the shape of your skull and surrounding tissues? They did spend a BILLION of your dollars, after all! Scars, tattoos, fingerprints and other major identifying characteristics will also be included in your (totally safe and secure, we're sure) recognition profile. This shared database, known as the Interstate Photo System, is only going to get more insidious as ubiquitous surveillance camera resolutions improve.
The FBI, of course, loves their new toy. They were proud to report, "Since phase one was deployed in February 2011, the NGI system has introduced enhanced automated fingerprint and latent search capabilities, mobile fingerprint identification, and electronic image storage, all while adding enhanced processing speed and automation for electronic exchange of fingerprints to more than 18,000 law enforcement agencies and other authorized criminal justice partners 24 hours a day, 365 days a year."
It wouldn't be surprising if ninja-style outfits of obscurity became fashionable in the next few years...
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| So by FBI logic, the best masks are now the ones with no facial characteristics whatsoever. |
OnionWare Anonymity Software Makes Spies Cry: New Secure Filesharing Service Expertly Thwarts Middlemen
With privacy issues becoming more and more critical in modern life, it is important to retain a feeling of security when dealing with one's major online documents. More than simple spied-on social media or intercepted emails, having a means to store and transfer large files online in a private manner is the focus of a new anonymity software.
Inspired by NSA patriot Edward Snowden, the new OnionWare technology uses the super-secure Tor network to thwart prying eyes, then establishes a temporary website on the user's computer. This eliminates the "middleman" of other filesharing services like Dropbox, which could be infiltrated by the government at any point. Using Onionware and Tor, a secure password and URL are exchanged peer-to-peer, and once the desired files are downloaded by the recipient, the temporary site is deleted permanently.
Parker Higgins, an activist with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, lauded the new technology, telling www.digitaljournal.com that, "Peer-to-peer offers no convenient mechanism for centralized surveillance or censorship. By design, there's usually no middleman that can easily record metadata about transfers—who uploaded and downloaded what, when, and from where—or block those transfers...recording all of it would require a dragnet effort, not a simple request for a log file from a centralized service provider."
The software was developed by tech analyst and cryptography/cybersecurity crusader Micah Lee while trying to expedite the secure transfer of files between Edward Snowden and journalists David Miranda and Glenn Greenwald, whose own files came under government scrutiny once the Snowden leaks were exposed.
No Cash For Spy Stash: The NSA Loses Government Funds For Domestic Peeping; Foreign Spyware
Will a lack of "backdoor funding" deter the NSA in any way from spying on citizens at home and abroad? Soon the world will have a chance to find out.
As reported by www.wired.co.uk, on June 19th the House of Representatives passed an amendment to the Department of Defense Appropriations Act 2015 that will prevent the NSA from using government funds to stock information obtained while stalking both Americans and foreign citizens not expressly under warrant.
An open letter from several civil liberties groups to the House Of Representatives regarding the vote stated, "...These measures would make appreciable changes that would advance government surveillance reform and help rebuild lost trust among internet users and businesses, while also preserving national security and intelligence authorities."
This is an important breakthrough, with many foreign citizens recently extra-suspicious of the NSA thanks to discoveries of wireless routers sold in Europe being tainted by American spyware (subsequent hacks and defenses have already been issued to quell this problem.) But will removing Uncle Sam's wallet from Big Brother's pocket really slow down the spying?
As reported by www.wired.co.uk, on June 19th the House of Representatives passed an amendment to the Department of Defense Appropriations Act 2015 that will prevent the NSA from using government funds to stock information obtained while stalking both Americans and foreign citizens not expressly under warrant.
An open letter from several civil liberties groups to the House Of Representatives regarding the vote stated, "...These measures would make appreciable changes that would advance government surveillance reform and help rebuild lost trust among internet users and businesses, while also preserving national security and intelligence authorities."
This is an important breakthrough, with many foreign citizens recently extra-suspicious of the NSA thanks to discoveries of wireless routers sold in Europe being tainted by American spyware (subsequent hacks and defenses have already been issued to quell this problem.) But will removing Uncle Sam's wallet from Big Brother's pocket really slow down the spying?
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| Now they'll have to raise funds just as shady as they are. |
Secret Service Using Totally Cool Sarcasm Detector While Watching Social Media
The United States Secret Service has escalated their social-media surveillance methods as of late, and it makes things soooo much better for the common person. If you don't have a specially-crafted program to filter that sentence, it contained sarcasm, which has become a problem for Big Brother by creating false positives for threats during their nitpicking of our online brain droppings.
The new technology is considered superior than tasking agents with creating fake profiles to gather and assess the public's social media commentary. According to www.nextgov.com, the technology also includes the abilities for “sentiment analysis,” "influencer identification," "access to historical Twitter data," “ability to detect sarcasm," and "heat maps" or graphics showing user trends by color intensity, agency officials said.
The program will operate in real time and totally respects your opinion.
The new technology is considered superior than tasking agents with creating fake profiles to gather and assess the public's social media commentary. According to www.nextgov.com, the technology also includes the abilities for “sentiment analysis,” "influencer identification," "access to historical Twitter data," “ability to detect sarcasm," and "heat maps" or graphics showing user trends by color intensity, agency officials said.
The program will operate in real time and totally respects your opinion.
Use of Online Privacy and Anonymity Tools on the Rise
From the Guardian:
Globally, 56% of those surveyed by GlobalWebIndex reported that they felt the internet is eroding their personal privacy, with an estimated 415 million people or 28% of the online population using tools to disguise their identity or location.
On these figures, Tor could be regularly used by as many as 45.13 million people. Its biggest userbase appears to be in Indonesia, where 21% of respondents said they used the tool, followed by 18% in Vietnam and 15% in India.
Indonesia also has the world's highest penetration of general anonymity tools among its internet users, with 42% using proxy servers or virtual private networks known as VPNs, which disguise the location of the user's internet connection - their IP address - and therefore bypass regional blocks on certain content.
The US, UK, Germany and Ireland meanwhile all report 17% penetration, with Japan the lowest at 5%. The data includes those aged 16-64 for the last quarter of 2013.
NSA Defends Its Attacks Against Anonymous Networks
The Director of National Intelligence defends the NSA's attacks against anonymous networks. From Allthingsd:
The National Security Agency may have attempted to penetrate and compromise a widely used network designed to protect the anonymity of its users, but it was only because terrorists and criminals use it, too.Perhaps that may sound reasonable, until you realize that by "our adversaries" the NSA basically means EVERYONE, including all US citizens. Recall this piece from the Guardian:
That’s the explanation from Director of National Intelligence James Clapper about the recently disclosed attacks by the NSA and its companion agency in the U.K. against The Onion Router, or Tor, a network that uses a constantly changing list of specially configured servers to relay and anonymize the Internet traffic of its users.
In a statement posted to the DNI’s blog, Clapper acknowledged NSA’s “interest in tools used to facilitate anonymous online communication.” However, media coverage of the work fails to point out that “the Intelligence Community’s interest in online anonymity services and other online communication and networking tools is based on the undeniable fact that these are the tools our adversaries use to communicate and coordinate attacks against the United States and our allies.”
Since 2011, the total spending on Sigint enabling has topped $800m. The program "actively engages US and foreign IT industries to covertly influence and/or overtly leverage their commercial products' designs", the document states. None of the companies involved in such partnerships are named; these details are guarded by still higher levels of classification.
Among other things, the program is designed to "insert vulnerabilities into commercial encryption systems". These would be known to the NSA, but to no one else, including ordinary customers, who are tellingly referred to in the document as "adversaries".The NSA is the man in the middle . . .
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