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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNSA Revelations Cast Doubt on the Entire Tech Industry
Six years ago, two Microsoft cryptography researchers discovered some weirdness in an obscure cryptography standard authored by the National Security Agency. There was a bug in a government-standard random number generator that could be used to encrypt data.
The researchers, Dan Shumow and Niels Ferguson, found that the number generator appeared to have been built with a backdoor it came with a secret numeric key that could allow a third party to decrypt code that it helped generate.
According to Thursdays reports by the ProPublica, the Guardian, and The New York Times, classified documents leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowdon appear to confirm what everyone suspected: that the backdoor was engineered by the NSA. Worse still, a top-secret NSA document published with the reports says that the NSA has worked with industry partners to covertly influence technology products.
That sounds bad, but so far, theres not much hard evidence about what exactly has been compromised. No company is named in the new allegations. The details of the reported modifications are murky. So while much of the internets security systems appear to be broken, its unclear where the problems lie.
The result is that the trustworthiness of the systems we used to communicate on the internet is in doubt. I think all companies have a little bit of taint after this, says Christopher Soghoian, a technologist with the American Civil Liberties Union.
Much more at: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/09/tech-industry-tainted/
The researchers, Dan Shumow and Niels Ferguson, found that the number generator appeared to have been built with a backdoor it came with a secret numeric key that could allow a third party to decrypt code that it helped generate.
According to Thursdays reports by the ProPublica, the Guardian, and The New York Times, classified documents leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowdon appear to confirm what everyone suspected: that the backdoor was engineered by the NSA. Worse still, a top-secret NSA document published with the reports says that the NSA has worked with industry partners to covertly influence technology products.
That sounds bad, but so far, theres not much hard evidence about what exactly has been compromised. No company is named in the new allegations. The details of the reported modifications are murky. So while much of the internets security systems appear to be broken, its unclear where the problems lie.
The result is that the trustworthiness of the systems we used to communicate on the internet is in doubt. I think all companies have a little bit of taint after this, says Christopher Soghoian, a technologist with the American Civil Liberties Union.
Much more at: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/09/tech-industry-tainted/
The NSA asking companies to put in backdoors for their access is the worst part of this whole story. Anyone that thinks the Snowden release was not a good thing is missing the big picture! The NSA is out of control.
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NSA Revelations Cast Doubt on the Entire Tech Industry (Original Post)
Logical
Sep 2013
OP
it's time the tech industry stood up for their consumers and their products
nashville_brook
Sep 2013
#3
jsr
(7,712 posts)1. Silicon Valley is not your friend
FreakinDJ
(17,644 posts)2. The NSA is out of control - EXACTLY
nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)3. it's time the tech industry stood up for their consumers and their products
Logical
(22,457 posts)4. I 100% agree. They could get some great PR over this. n-t
nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)8. had not even thought of that -- but yes, big "halo effect"
starroute
(12,977 posts)5. Between this and the sequester, technology is being driven out of the US
The US is throwing away its lead in technological innovation for no reason except that a few people at the top are too blinded by money and power to see the consequences. And that is going to make life a lot harder and less fulfilling for all of us.
Logical
(22,457 posts)6. That is true. The tech companies need to step up and resist the pressure. n-t
bemildred
(90,061 posts)7. The entire tech industry deserves to be in doubt. nt