Category: NSA
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Possible US Government iPhone Hacking Tool Leaked
Possible US Government iPhone Hacking Tool Leaked Wired writes (alternate source): Security researchers at Google on Tuesday released a report describing what they’re calling “Coruna,” a highly sophisticated iPhone hacking toolkit that includes five complete hacking techniques capable of bypassing all the defenses of an iPhone to silently install malware on a device when it…
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Sen. Wyden Warns of Another Section 702 Abuse
Sen. Wyden Warns of Another Section 702 Abuse Sen. Ron Wyden is warning us of an abuse of Section 702: Wyden took to the Senate floor to deliver a lengthy speech, ostensibly about the since approved (with support of many Democrats) nomination of Joshua Rudd to lead the NSA. Wyden was protesting that nomination, but…
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Smashing Security podcast #442: The hack that messed with time, and rogue ransom where negotiators
Smashing Security podcast #442: The hack that messed with time, and rogue ransom where negotiators Time itself comes under attack as a state-backed hacking gang spends two years tunnelling toward a nation’s master clock — with chaos potentially only a tick away. Plus when ransomware negotiators turn to the dark side, what could possibly go…
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1965 Cryptanalysis Training Workbook Released by the NSA
1965 Cryptanalysis Training Workbook Released by the NSA In the early 1960s, National Security Agency cryptanalyst and cryptanalysis instructor Lambros D. Callimahos coined the term “Stethoscope” to describe a diagnostic computer program used to unravel the internal structure of pre-computer ciphertexts. The term appears in the newly declassified September 1965 document Cryptanalytic Diagnosis with the…
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SIGINT During World War II
SIGINT During World War II The NSA and GCHQ have jointly published a history of World War II SIGINT: “Secret Messengers: Disseminating SIGINT in the Second World War.” This is the story of the British SLUs (Special Liaison Units) and the American SSOs (Special Security Officers). Bruce Schneier Go to bruce schneier
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That Time Tom Lehrer Pranked the NSA
That Time Tom Lehrer Pranked the NSA Bluesky thread. Here’s the paper, from 1957. Note reference 3. Bruce Schneier Go to bruce schneier
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“Encryption Backdoors and the Fourth Amendment”
“Encryption Backdoors and the Fourth Amendment” Law journal article that looks at the Dual_EC_PRNG backdoor from a US constitutional perspective: Abstract: The National Security Agency (NSA) reportedly paid and pressured technology companies to trick their customers into using vulnerable encryption products. This Article examines whether any of three theories removed the Fourth Amendment’s requirement that…
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The NSA’s “Fifty Years of Mathematical Cryptanalysis (1937–1987)”
The NSA’s “Fifty Years of Mathematical Cryptanalysis (1937–1987)” In response to a FOIA request, the NSA released “Fifty Years of Mathematical Cryptanalysis (1937-1987),” by Glenn F. Stahly, with a lot of redactions. Weirdly, this is the second time the NSA has declassified the document. John Young got a copy in 2019. This one has a…
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DIRNSA Fired
DIRNSA Fired In “Secrets and Lies” (2000), I wrote: It is poor civic hygiene to install technologies that could someday facilitate a police state. It’s something a bunch of us were saying at the time, in reference to the vast NSA’s surveillance capabilities. I have been thinking of that quote a lot as I read…
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RIP Mark Klein
RIP Mark Klein 2006 AT&T whistleblower Mark Klein has died. Bruce Schneier Go to bruce schneier