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Snowden himself talks about this. His comments should be required reading for anyone in this thread: https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/765514347196084224 http

• guelo 10y ago
  People get lazy and upload a bunch of highly prized top secret "keys to the kingdom" at once. Seems like the opposite of "Tailored Access".
  • etjossem 10y ago
    Conjecture: this is done via automated scripts that check for vulnerabilities and then execute the appropriate exploits on them, a la Metasploit. It's a comprehensive binary (or a few of them) that is supposed to be deleted when the work is done. :P
  • tptacek 10y ago
    What do you think "tailored access" is? Look at some of the better known former NSA hacking-division people in industry: they were all at NSA in their early 20s. Then look at the unbelievably shoddy quality of these tools. Are you arguing also that they might themselves not be part of NSA's repertoire? Because I could make the same "opposite of tailored" argument about the tools themselves.
    • guelo 10y ago
      I meant tailored access literally. I assume that the name "Tailored Access" comes from the idea that access is tailored, i.e. custom fit for the specific task at hand.
      • tptacek 10y ago
        It is, in the sense that it's not indiscriminately owning up every vulnerable host on the Internet the way a botnet operator would.