Silk Road forums
Discussion => Security => Topic started by: astor on June 09, 2013, 07:46 pm
-
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/09/edward-snowden-nsa-whistleblower-surveillance
Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind revelations of NSA surveillance
The individual responsible for one of the most significant leaks in US political history is Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old former technical assistant for the CIA and current employee of the defence contractor Booz Allen Hamilton. Snowden has been working at the National Security Agency for the last four years as an employee of various outside contractors, including Booz Allen and Dell.
The Guardian, after several days of interviews, is revealing his identity at his request. From the moment he decided to disclose numerous top-secret documents to the public, he was determined not to opt for the protection of anonymity. "I have no intention of hiding who I am because I know I have done nothing wrong," he said.
Snowden will go down in history as one of America's most consequential whistleblowers, alongside Daniel Ellsberg and Bradley Manning. He is responsible for handing over material from one of the world's most secretive organisations – the NSA.
In a note accompanying the first set of documents he provided, he wrote: "I understand that I will be made to suffer for my actions," but "I will be satisfied if the federation of secret law, unequal pardon and irresistible executive powers that rule the world that I love are revealed even for an instant."
Despite his determination to be publicly unveiled, he repeatedly insisted that he wants to avoid the media spotlight. "I don't want public attention because I don't want the story to be about me. I want it to be about what the US government is doing."
He does not fear the consequences of going public, he said, only that doing so will distract attention from the issues raised by his disclosures. "I know the media likes to personalise political debates, and I know the government will demonise me."
Despite these fears, he remained hopeful his outing will not divert attention from the substance of his disclosures. "I really want the focus to be on these documents and the debate which I hope this will trigger among citizens around the globe about what kind of world we want to live in." He added: "My sole motive is to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them."
He has had "a very comfortable life" that included a salary of roughly $200,000, a girlfriend with whom he shared a home in Hawaii, a stable career, and a family he loves. "I'm willing to sacrifice all of that because I can't in good conscience allow the US government to destroy privacy, internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they're secretly building."
'I am not afraid, because this is the choice I've made'
Three weeks ago, Snowden made final preparations that resulted in last week's series of blockbuster news stories. At the NSA office in Hawaii where he was working, he copied the last set of documents he intended to disclose.
He then advised his NSA supervisor that he needed to be away from work for "a couple of weeks" in order to receive treatment for epilepsy, a condition he learned he suffers from after a series of seizures last year.
As he packed his bags, he told his girlfriend that he had to be away for a few weeks, though he said he was vague about the reason. "That is not an uncommon occurrence for someone who has spent the last decade working in the intelligence world."
On May 20, he boarded a flight to Hong Kong, where he has remained ever since. He chose the city because "they have a spirited commitment to free speech and the right of political dissent", and because he believed that it was one of the few places in the world that both could and would resist the dictates of the US government.
In the three weeks since he arrived, he has been ensconced in a hotel room. "I've left the room maybe a total of three times during my entire stay," he said. It is a plush hotel and, what with eating meals in his room too, he has run up big bills.
He is deeply worried about being spied on. He lines the door of his hotel room with pillows to prevent eavesdropping. He puts a large red hood over his head and laptop when entering his passwords to prevent any hidden cameras from detecting them.
Though that may sound like paranoia to some, Snowden has good reason for such fears. He worked in the US intelligence world for almost a decade. He knows that the biggest and most secretive surveillance organisation in America, the NSA, along with the most powerful government on the planet, is looking for him.
Since the disclosures began to emerge, he has watched television and monitored the internet, hearing all the threats and vows of prosecution emanating from Washington.
And he knows only too well the sophisticated technology available to them and how easy it will be for them to find him. The NSA police and other law enforcement officers have twice visited his home in Hawaii and already contacted his girlfriend, though he believes that may have been prompted by his absence from work, and not because of suspicions of any connection to the leaks.
"All my options are bad," he said. The US could begin extradition proceedings against him, a potentially problematic, lengthy and unpredictable course for Washington. Or the Chinese government might whisk him away for questioning, viewing him as a useful source of information. Or he might end up being grabbed and bundled into a plane bound for US territory.
"Yes, I could be rendered by the CIA. I could have people come after me. Or any of the third-party partners. They work closely with a number of other nations. Or they could pay off the Triads. Any of their agents or assets," he said.
"We have got a CIA station just up the road – the consulate here in Hong Kong – and I am sure they are going to be busy for the next week. And that is a concern I will live with for the rest of my life, however long that happens to be."
Having watched the Obama administration prosecute whistleblowers at a historically unprecedented rate, he fully expects the US government to attempt to use all its weight to punish him. "I am not afraid," he said calmly, "because this is the choice I've made."
He predicts the government will launch an investigation and "say I have broken the Espionage Act and helped our enemies, but that can be used against anyone who points out how massive and invasive the system has become".
The only time he became emotional during the many hours of interviews was when he pondered the impact his choices would have on his family, many of whom work for the US government. "The only thing I fear is the harmful effects on my family, who I won't be able to help any more. That's what keeps me up at night," he said, his eyes welling up with tears.
'You can't wait around for someone else to act'
Snowden did not always believe the US government posed a threat to his political values. He was brought up originally in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. His family moved later to Maryland, near the NSA headquarters in Fort Meade.
By his own admission, he was not a stellar student. In order to get the credits necessary to obtain a high school diploma, he attended a community college in Maryland, studying computing, but never completed the coursework.
In 2003, he enlisted in the US army and began a training program to join the Special Forces. Invoking the same principles that he now cites to justify his leaks, he said: "I wanted to fight in the Iraq war because I felt like I had an obligation as a human being to help free people from oppression".
He recounted how his beliefs about the war's purpose were quickly dispelled. "Most of the people training us seemed pumped up about killing Arabs, not helping anyone," he said. After he broke both his legs in a training accident, he was discharged.
After that, he got his first job in an NSA facility, working as a security guard for one of the agency's covert facilities at the University of Maryland. From there, he went to the CIA, where he worked on IT security. His understanding of the internet and his talent for computer programming enabled him to rise fairly quickly for someone who lacked even a high school diploma.
By 2007, the CIA stationed him with diplomatic cover in Geneva, Switzerland. His responsibility for maintaining computer network security meant he had clearance to access a wide array of classified documents.
That access, along with the almost three years he spent around CIA officers, led him to begin seriously questioning the rightness of what he saw.
He described as formative an incident in which he claimed CIA operatives were attempting to recruit a Swiss banker to obtain secret banking information. Snowden said they achieved this by purposely getting the banker drunk and encouraging him to drive home in his car. When the banker was arrested for drunk driving, the undercover agent seeking to befriend him offered to help, and a bond was formed that led to successful recruitment.
"Much of what I saw in Geneva really disillusioned me about how my government functions and what its impact is in the world," he says. "I realised that I was part of something that was doing far more harm than good."
He said it was during his CIA stint in Geneva that he thought for the first time about exposing government secrets. But, at the time, he chose not to for two reasons.
First, he said: "Most of the secrets the CIA has are about people, not machines and systems, so I didn't feel comfortable with disclosures that I thought could endanger anyone". Secondly, the election of Barack Obama in 2008 gave him hope that there would be real reforms, rendering disclosures unnecessary.
He left the CIA in 2009 in order to take his first job working for a private contractor that assigned him to a functioning NSA facility, stationed on a military base in Japan. It was then, he said, that he "watched as Obama advanced the very policies that I thought would be reined in", and as a result, "I got hardened."
The primary lesson from this experience was that "you can't wait around for someone else to act. I had been looking for leaders, but I realised that leadership is about being the first to act."
Over the next three years, he learned just how all-consuming the NSA's surveillance activities were, claiming "they are intent on making every conversation and every form of behaviour in the world known to them".
He described how he once viewed the internet as "the most important invention in all of human history". As an adolescent, he spent days at a time "speaking to people with all sorts of views that I would never have encountered on my own".
But he believed that the value of the internet, along with basic privacy, is being rapidly destroyed by ubiquitous surveillance. "I don't see myself as a hero," he said, "because what I'm doing is self-interested: I don't want to live in a world where there's no privacy and therefore no room for intellectual exploration and creativity."
Once he reached the conclusion that the NSA's surveillance net would soon be irrevocable, he said it was just a matter of time before he chose to act. "What they're doing" poses "an existential threat to democracy", he said.
A matter of principle
As strong as those beliefs are, there still remains the question: why did he do it? Giving up his freedom and a privileged lifestyle? "There are more important things than money. If I were motivated by money, I could have sold these documents to any number of countries and gotten very rich."
For him, it is a matter of principle. "The government has granted itself power it is not entitled to. There is no public oversight. The result is people like myself have the latitude to go further than they are allowed to," he said.
His allegiance to internet freedom is reflected in the stickers on his laptop: "I support Online Rights: Electronic Frontier Foundation," reads one. Another hails the online organisation offering anonymity, the Tor Project.
Asked by reporters to establish his authenticity to ensure he is not some fantasist, he laid bare, without hesitation, his personal details, from his social security number to his CIA ID and his expired diplomatic passport. There is no shiftiness. Ask him about anything in his personal life and he will answer.
He is quiet, smart, easy-going and self-effacing. A master on computers, he seemed happiest when talking about the technical side of surveillance, at a level of detail comprehensible probably only to fellow communication specialists. But he showed intense passion when talking about the value of privacy and how he felt it was being steadily eroded by the behaviour of the intelligence services.
His manner was calm and relaxed but he has been understandably twitchy since he went into hiding, waiting for the knock on the hotel door. A fire alarm goes off. "That has not happened before," he said, betraying anxiety wondering if was real, a test or a CIA ploy to get him out onto the street.
Strewn about the side of his bed are his suitcase, a plate with the remains of room-service breakfast, and a copy of Angler, the biography of former vice-president Dick Cheney.
Ever since last week's news stories began to appear in the Guardian, Snowden has vigilantly watched TV and read the internet to see the effects of his choices. He seemed satisfied that the debate he longed to provoke was finally taking place.
He lay, propped up against pillows, watching CNN's Wolf Blitzer ask a discussion panel about government intrusion if they had any idea who the leaker was. From 8,000 miles away, the leaker looked on impassively, not even indulging in a wry smile.
Snowden said that he admires both Ellsberg and Manning, but argues that there is one important distinction between himself and the army private, whose trial coincidentally began the week Snowden's leaks began to make news.
"I carefully evaluated every single document I disclosed to ensure that each was legitimately in the public interest," he said. "There are all sorts of documents that would have made a big impact that I didn't turn over, because harming people isn't my goal. Transparency is."
He purposely chose, he said, to give the documents to journalists whose judgment he trusted about what should be public and what should remain concealed.
As for his future, he is vague. He hoped the publicity the leaks have generated will offer him some protection, making it "harder for them to get dirty".
He views his best hope as the possibility of asylum, with Iceland – with its reputation of a champion of internet freedom – at the top of his list. He knows that may prove a wish unfulfilled.
But after the intense political controversy he has already created with just the first week's haul of stories, "I feel satisfied that this was all worth it. I have no regrets."
-
Double, no triple nigger.
-
The internet needs to diversity. Too much of the infrastructure is hosted in the United States and subject to American government overreach. *This* is a market ripe for disruption. We need a useful Google alternative in Germany, Sweden or Iceland. We need email and file storage services there. Build it and we will come, because the world is tired of your shit, American government.
-
I'm totally shocked that more Americans don't know about, or take action on this.
Their argument tends to go something like this: "I'm not doing anything wrong, so why should I worry about it."
I saw the SOPA bill get shot down partly due to political reasons, and many Americans voicing their concerns to their constituents. I think the best real solution to the email problem with the new CISPA legislation is to get an off-shore email account.
I agree with Astor that the fate of the internet should not be at the mercy or championed by the USA. The internet is just too important for one country to monopolize.
How could this be stopped? I think people need to know how this will effect their daily lives and the lives of future generations. The fact that the NSA has given these projects the green light will make them harder to shut down, because of their secret budgets and lack of oversight. When average Americans start getting prosecuted for minor issues via emails or what have you, then you will see them come out in full force against it. Until this issue hits critical mass, we will need counter measures like Tor, and the things that evolve beyond Tor.
Does anyone know where to go to actually see the documents? I would just assume they would be on wiki-leaks.
I'm sure just like everyone else on here if this guy released any information the NSA had about Tor and what they are planning on doing about it.
-
We're only just getting confirmation from the feds that this is for real. There was a moment there where some wondered whether the slide presentation could have just been about an unfunded, defunct program (it's not). Meanwhile, responses from the impugned companies are... bizarre, leading some to wonder whether they're obliged by the law to deny knowledge of PRISM, or if their systems have been compromised without their knowledge.
Wish there was something that could be done for Snowden. As much as I respect his decision to come forward and reveal that he's the source, he's a rat in a cage in HK and I just don't know where there is to go for him now.
-
I'm totally shocked that more Americans don't know about, or take action on this.
Their argument tends to go something like this: "I'm not doing anything wrong, so why should I worry about it."
Here's Snowden's argument why they should care:
"Because even if you're not doing anything wrong you're being watched and recorded. The storage capability of the systems increases every year consistently by orders of magnitude where it's getting to the point you don't have to have done anything wrong. You simply have to eventually fall under suspicion by somebody - even by a wrong call. Then they can use the system to go back in time and scrutinise every decision you've ever made, every friend you've ever discussed something with and attack you on that basis to sort of derive suspision from an innocent life and paint anyone into context of a wrongdoer."
How could this be stopped? I think people need to know how this will effect their daily lives and the lives of future generations. The fact that the NSA has given these projects the green light will make them harder to shut down, because of their secret budgets and lack of oversight. When average Americans start getting prosecuted for minor issues via emails or what have you, then you will see them come out in full force against it. Until this issue hits critical mass, we will need counter measures like Tor, and the things that evolve beyond Tor.
Rand Paul wants to file a class action law suit against the government. Don't know if that will accomplish anything, since they could scuttle it on the grounds of national security (ie, state secrets). The most effective thing may be for people to vote with their wallets and not use American companies. Make "Not subject to US law" your new marketing strategy and build alternatives outside the US.
Does anyone know where to go to actually see the documents? I would just assume they would be on wiki-leaks.
The Guardian has a portal dedicated to this issue:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/the-nsa-files
There's a section called "Read the Documents".
-
how is the nsa gonna know which ip leads to which person? Unless you're using something thats directly tied to your id i dont see how this info is of any value.
-
The NSA has been accessing fiber optic cables since the 1970's....
-
how is the nsa gonna know which ip leads to which person? Unless you're using something thats directly tied to your id i dont see how this info is of any value.
ISP's keep records of which IP belongs to which person, the NSA can almost certainly access such records at will.
-
Meanwhile, responses from the impugned companies are... bizarre, leading some to wonder whether they're obliged by the law to deny knowledge of PRISM, or if their systems have been compromised without their knowledge.
More than likely they've all been issued NSL's. This institutes a gag order on the companies involved. So yes, they cannot talk about the program without facing legal ramifications.
-
yet another stepping stone to the 2nd revolution
-
I hope he get asylum on Iceland. After all, that is were all the cool people are going to be located according to "A Brave New World".
-
I found it interesting that all the world's electronic communications are routed based on the cheapest, not the most expiditious, route at any given moment. So the NSA can re-direct data from anywhere into the US (and their systems) through subtle adjustments in price - very subtle.
-
this has been talked about before, that it was possible to record everything-conversations, emails, texts, GPS locations from GPS phones, and location information from cell towers of where you are at all times (except when you pull your battery from your phone) Now it turns out that this permanent recording of ALL information has AlREADY been going on for some time. Every email you write, every comment you make, everything will be able to be looked up in the immediate future.
I despise people who don't care about our bill of rights because they figure a change won't effect THEM. 'I'm doing nothing wrong, so I don't care' Obviously here we have fewer people of this ilk. We have to 'hang together' or hang 'seperately' as Franklin said. \
EVERYTHING
-
This means that you will have to constantly periodically change ALL of your log ons and passwords, etc. and probably periodically format/partition overwrite your computer. The fourth amendment has already been so 'watered down' that they can almost get you for a traffic ticket (actually they do this already, they just don't 'collect' you at home, just when you are pulled over next time after a warrant for a ticket is issued) and then search your house, your computer, all digital medium and use that for prosecution of crime. There are no exceptions, even when LEO are in 'error' if the error is in 'good faith'.
This changes (Snowdens testimony) everything. And it also introduces the possibility to stop this over reach now, but I wonder if it will get the attention of enough people who care enough-although they PROBABLY will care in the future when this system is perfected, and it's too late.
-
I've definitely had my mind changed on attitudes about terrorists, pedophiles, drugs (well the first two anyway) No longer can we allow everything to be done to eliminate all instances of terrorists and a pedophiles JUST so we MIGHT get a few of them. And just look at the latest terrorists attacks lately-they weren't solved by any advance information. Nassan (work place violence incident with 15 dead and Allah Akbar being yelled while doing it) had been giving out signals for YEARS that he was a radical, and even told a group of people in a conference what 'believers' should do to 'unbelievers', and people there remember what he said (outrageous violence). And the two guys in Boston who blew up the marathon, Amer government was tipped by the Russians, the guy had a Facebook page detailing radicalism, etc. and that didn't seem to help stop the crime.
Shit, you even have to keep your possible involvement in TEA PARTY groups (or LEAP or anything construed to be of one political party) secret, else you can get audited. Some of these people were 'visited' buy the ATF, the FBI for political leanings.
Interesting times.
Funny that computers were generally construed to be not cool in the '50's and 1960's because they were a symbol of 'The Man' and because there were so few computers out there that were able to be used for fun stuff. 1984 was written in 1948, Orwell just switched the last 2 numbers of that year to get the books title. All of this possible future 'society' in 1984 was basically written coming up to 65 years ago.
We can blame both parties for this (in the US) both have been taking us down this road for a long time.
What can be done to involve large groups of people, in stopping this? Especially if years from now they are deemed to need 'special treatment'.
But they have no problems shutting down lemonade stands. And I daresay no problems in locking up drug abusers (maybe in 10 years after they analyze enough info to 'recreate' all the crime being done now)
-
It would be cool if he could get a bitcoin address and people could mail him small (or whatever) amounts of money. Might also be used as a fraud thing too, people sending BTC to somebody they 'think' is Snowden, and it's a scammer.
-
Ideally if money was no issue I'd say since the NSA are planning on monitoring and capturing data(which they do already) would be to have a set of computers or networks that would send off random data. This is just off the top of my head and I'm just throwing it out there. Obviously said network would have to be have huge capablities to be able to send out the amount of data to skew the results at all. I think as time progresses things such as ToR will become more important to maintain our rights and civil liberties.
-
To put this in perspective this guy had a $200k job, house, GL, a job that prolly all of us here will never have and he threw it all away on his belief. As I watched the news and media the past few days it makes me very upset and troubled that politicians are calling Edward Snowden 'Dangerous and a defactor'. In his interview Edward Snowden stated that he did this because he didn't want to live in a world where everything we say and do is recorded and can be used against under suspicion. That's exactly where we are headed. This guys life is over. If he does manage to flee from Hong Kong which I think he will for the rest of his life he will have to watch his back and never be able to see his family again.
Republican Peter King had this to say:
'Number one, this man is a liar. He took an oath to keep the secrets that were shared with him so he could do his job.'
So Mr Peter Shithead King just cause he took an oath to violate the rights of all Americans and shit all over the constitution that makes him somehow the bad guy? Oh ya I forgot we have to monitor everyone in our police state cause we need to watch for terrorists. Right!
'Number two, he lied because he thinks he's smarter and has a higher morality than the rest of us... that he can see clearer than other 299-million 999-thousand 999 of us, and therefore he can do what he wants. I say that is the worst form of treason.'
I didn't vote for it and the other 299-million 999-thousand 999 of us didn't either.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2338534/Edward-Snowden-speaks-NSA-contractor-leaked-details-surveillance-scheme-reveals-himself.html#ixzz2VrcCSC8x
What world do we live in where the citizens of a country are treated like criminals and watched in case they do something?
-
To put this in perspective this guy had a $200k job, house, GL, a job that prolly all of us here will never have and he threw it all away on his belief. As I watched the news and media the past few days it makes me very upset and troubled that politicians are calling Edward Snowden 'Dangerous and a defactor'.
It's the same story every time - focus on breaking secrecy laws when the secrets themselves are heinous.
Worse than usual here, though, because the guy noted what differentiated him from some other whistleblowers (arguably Manning) is that he vetted every disclosure carefully, not wanting to put people in jeopardy, so to spin him as a mere criminal is smear campaigning of the worst sort. And I wonder (and hope) if this is a spin too far for people to buy.
But it's only just begun. Pretty soon you'll hear nothing but "high school dropout" and "disgruntled" and "traitor".
-
Ideally if money was no issue I'd say since the NSA are planning on monitoring and capturing data(which they do already) would be to have a set of computers or networks that would send off random data. This is just off the top of my head and I'm just throwing it out there. Obviously said network would have to be have huge capablities to be able to send out the amount of data to skew the results at all. I think as time progresses things such as ToR will become more important to maintain our rights and civil liberties.
The NSA Data Center in Utah? The electric bill for the place is estimated to be $40million a year.
-
The NSA Data Center in Utah? The electric bill for the place is estimated to be $40million a year.
I was actually replying to a different thread but posted here by accident. The thread was talking about the NSA and ways to get around their data mining and my solution was purely hypothetically if the solution allowed am unlimited budget. I don't think people understand the full scope of the implications of that new data center in Utah. By collection all that data for years and years the implications are terrible and are such that I can't even imagine but that's off topic atm.
It's the same story every time - focus on breaking secrecy laws when the secrets themselves are heinous.
Worse than usual here, though, because the guy noted what differentiated him from some other whistleblowers (arguably Manning) is that he vetted every disclosure carefully, not wanting to put people in jeopardy, so to spin him as a mere criminal is smear campaigning of the worst sort. And I wonder (and hope) if this is a spin too far for people to buy.
But it's only just begun. Pretty soon you'll hear nothing but "high school dropout" and "disgruntled" and "traitor".
Here we have your typical smokescreen from the Government. There reaction to this whole situation speaks volumes. See the thing your average American doesn't understand that data is power. What made Google a multi-billionare dollar company? If I collect all your phone calls, your emails, and all other electronic data in your life I'm positive there's going to be some comment or evidence that I can then make you into a potential threat to the country. In essence with that kind of power America becomes a utilitarian and police state. It's amazing when I talk to people in r/l about this story how oblivious they are to it saying some comments such as 'I have nothing to hide they can monitor me.' That's not the point. The whole picture has to be taken into account. Slowly and surely everyone of our constitutionally given rights are being stripped away by amendements and new bills. With that being said the biggest threat to America is not terrorists but itself. America will be it's own undoing.
-
Bigups to Snowden, a true hero!
And bigups to you, Astor, for posting this. +1!
-
The NSA Data Center in Utah? The electric bill for the place is estimated to be $40million a year.
should'nt be too hard for an enterprising sysadmin to "grow copious amounts of ganja" in a few empty server boxes...
To the disgruntled NSA agents reading this: It could be you! Who would know? Nobody would notice a few extra kWh...
Also about Snowden... anybody remember somebody else named Snowden? Sounds like our friend Edward might have a gruesome death in his future... Some clearnet help for the literature-challenged among us: http://www.deathdyinggriefandmourning.com/Death-Dying-Grief-Mourning/100-Joseph-Heller-Catch-22-Death-of-Snowden.htm
-
This may be interesting for you guys...
Enemies of the State: What Happens When Telling the Truth about Secret US Government Power Becomes a Crime
Blowing the Whistle on Spying, Lying & Illegalities in the Digital Era
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDM3MqHln8U
Jacob Appelbaum's keynote at 29C3 (29th Chaos Communication Congress), 27 December 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNsePZj_Yks
Also try ixquick or duckduckgo instead of google or bing!
-
The NSA Data Center in Utah? The electric bill for the place is estimated to be $40million a year.
should'nt be too hard for an enterprising sysadmin to "grow copious amounts of ganja" in a few empty server boxes...
To the disgruntled NSA agents reading this: It could be you! Who would know? Nobody would notice a few extra kWh...
Also about Snowden... anybody remember somebody else named Snowden? Sounds like our friend Edward might have a gruesome death in his future... Some clearnet help for the literature-challenged among us: http://www.deathdyinggriefandmourning.com/Death-Dying-Grief-Mourning/100-Joseph-Heller-Catch-22-Death-of-Snowden.htm
+1 for the NSA grow op and Catch 22 ref. I like your mind.
-
The NSA Data Center in Utah? The electric bill for the place is estimated to be $40million a year.
should'nt be too hard for an enterprising sysadmin to "grow copious amounts of ganja" in a few empty server boxes...
To the disgruntled NSA agents reading this: It could be you! Who would know? Nobody would notice a few extra kWh...
Also about Snowden... anybody remember somebody else named Snowden? Sounds like our friend Edward might have a gruesome death in his future... Some clearnet help for the literature-challenged among us: http://www.deathdyinggriefandmourning.com/Death-Dying-Grief-Mourning/100-Joseph-Heller-Catch-22-Death-of-Snowden.htm
+1 for the NSA grow op and Catch 22 ref. I like your mind.
+2 Fuck yeah! What a great idea!
Also try ixquick or duckduckgo instead of google or bing!
I use Startpage (https://startpage.com/) myself, which makes use of ixquick for proxied connections to the search results.
-
+1 for the NSA grow op and Catch 22 ref. I like your mind.
+2 Fuck yeah! What a great idea!
Thank you and thank you too, but what about the Lock Stock reference?
Also try ixquick or duckduckgo instead of google or bing!
I use Startpage (https://startpage.com/) myself, which makes use of ixquick for proxied connections to the search results.
Those are already used when you're on TBB, although it's a good idea to use them outside of it also.
-
Also try ixquick or duckduckgo instead of google or bing!
I recommend using DuckDuckGo's Hidden Service. No sense in searching on the clearnet when there's a Hidden Service available IMO.
-
I recommend using DuckDuckGo's Hidden Service. No sense in searching on the clearnet when there's a Hidden Service available IMO.
If you trust DDG's SSH (don't know of a reason not to) then use their clearnet, it'll be faster and you'll put less stress on the Tor network then using the hidden service. They still won't be able to track you.
-
Wow what a story, A man who had so much and left it all so others can have more freedom and privacy. What a hero.
-
If you trust DDG's SSH (don't know of a reason not to) then use their clearnet, it'll be faster and you'll put less stress on the Tor network then using the hidden service. They still won't be able to track you.
I highly doubt my infrequent searches put much of a strain on the network. I wouldn't say they wouldn't be able to track me. By leaving the Tor network I'm exposing myself at the exit node as with all clearnet sites. As a general rule of thumb if I don't have to leave the Tor network, I don't.
-
I don't know how many Snowden threads are going or how seriously they're being followed, but recent updates:
- Equador said comments about possible asylum were a "mistake"
- Russia says he's not going anywhere - but asks that he stop embarrassing their allies (which sounds like the most honest thing I've heard anyone but Snowden say during this whole affair - if they're moving to protect their own relations with the West, they may seriously be thinking of keeping him safe for the long term).
-
Other update: Sexy former Russian spy asked Snowden to marry her. She's hot as fuck too, i'd do her even lol
-
I have said it before, This guy is a modern day hero, He deserves a fucking medal. he sacrificed his job and his life basically to go on the run, Have the media spread bullshit about him and have superpowers like the US after him, All for our freedom and so we knew what was going on. If he hadnt released it and they knew he was going to, I have no doubts the CIA would have assasinated him.
Ed, If your reading this , You can always sleep on my couch mate, Your always welcome here.
Heres to edward snowden, The Legend himself. May the wind be at your back and the United states getting dust in the face.
Statement from snowden on july 1st.
Monday July 1, 21:40 UTC
One week ago I left Hong Kong after it became clear that my freedom and safety were under threat for revealing the truth. My continued liberty has been owed to the efforts of friends new and old, family, and others who I have never met and probably never will. I trusted them with my life and they returned that trust with a faith in me for which I will always be thankful.
On Thursday, President Obama declared before the world that he would not permit any diplomatic "wheeling and dealing" over my case. Yet now it is being reported that after promising not to do so, the President ordered his Vice President to pressure the leaders of nations from which I have requested protection to deny my asylum petitions.
This kind of deception from a world leader is not justice, and neither is the extralegal penalty of exile. These are the old, bad tools of political aggression. Their purpose is to frighten, not me, but those who would come after me.
For decades the United States of America has been one of the strongest defenders of the human right to seek asylum. Sadly, this right, laid out and voted for by the U.S. in Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is now being rejected by the current government of my country. The Obama administration has now adopted the strategy of using citizenship as a weapon. Although I am convicted of nothing, it has unilaterally revoked my passport, leaving me a stateless person. Without any judicial order, the administration now seeks to stop me exercising a basic right. A right that belongs to everybody. The right to seek asylum.
In the end the Obama administration is not afraid of whistleblowers like me, Bradley Manning or Thomas Drake. We are stateless, imprisoned, or powerless. No, the Obama administration is afraid of you. It is afraid of an informed, angry public demanding the constitutional government it was promised — and it should be.
I am unbowed in my convictions and impressed at the efforts taken by so many.
Edward Joseph Snowden
Monday 1st July 2013