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Government-grade spyware hits Mexican advocates of soda tax
- thinkcontext 10y agoUsing the software in a way that reveals its use seems ham-handed, perhaps its not a sophisticated actor using it in this instance. But that is in some ways even more disturbing. It shows the capability is so available that even the unsophisticated are able to use it.
- coldtea 10y ago>Using the software in a way that reveals its use seems ham-handed, perhaps its not a sophisticated actor using it in this instance. Or the message they want to pass is "we're tracking you", and that's more powerful than anything to get from actual tracking.
- jcoffland 10y agoNSO says it sells only to governments and law enforcement. This includes by definition a lot of unsophisticated actors.
- retSava 10y agoYeah, and the alleged hooks sounds obvious. FTA, it's close to Nigerian prince-quality ("your daughter is dead", "your wife is cheating", ...). Doesn't sound very sophisticated, but perhaps they did some profiling and that's the level they thought deemed suitable. I mean, some actually do fall for the prince-thing.
- mi100hael 10y ago> The soda industry has poured over $67 million into defeating state and local efforts to regulate soft drink sales in the United States since 2009, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Why don't these companies just pivot harder towards diet sodas? Seems like a win-win.
- mmastrac 10y agoThey are probably aware of the pending shift in attitudes with diet sodas, ie more people becoming aware of [1] that they realize that regulation of sodas will lead to regulations of diet sodas a few short years later. [1] http://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2016/09/08/the-awful-truth-about-diet-soda-and-weight-gain-according-to-science/#6d86820254d6 http://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2016/09/08/the-awful-truth...
- lukasm 10y ago1. It's not as addictive as sugar 2. Significant number of people don't like diet sodas
- ozi 10y ago3. Can cause gastrointestinal pain 4. Promotes overeating
- ashark 10y ago5. Aftertaste reminiscent of something that would warrant a call to poison control
- mst 10y agoI have that reaction to all USian soda (am UKian) because of HFCS rather than straight up sugar. Honestly, to me, the diet stuff actually tastes slightly less awful. Weirdly, diet Tropical Tango tastes better to me than the sugared version, possibly because its flavourings are so artificial already that the artificial sweetener fits better ... or possibly just because I'm weird.
- ashark 10y agoReal-sugar soda variants in the US (we do have them! And not just imported Mexican coke!) usually come in glass which makes it harder to do a useful side-by-side tasting. I do prefer them, but I'm not sure how much of that's the glass. Meanwhile, I can tell instantly when I've accidentally tasted something with artificial sweetener in it. I've even picked it out from products that have real sugar but are supplemented with a bit of something artificial, waaaaay down the ingredient list, having no idea in advance that it'd be there. [EDIT] I should add that I'd be surprised if the sugared variants typically have no difference to the HFCS sort other than subbing out the sweetener, so that's another wrinkle to attempting straight comparisons of sugar vs. HFCS
- colemannugent 10y ago>[NSO Group] claims to sell its spyware only to law enforcement agencies to track terrorists, criminals and drug lords >An NSO spokesman reiterated those restrictions in a statement Thursday, and said the company had no knowledge of the tracking of health researchers and advocates inside Mexico >NSO executives point to technical safeguards that prevent clients from sharing its spy tools. Of the above only two can be true. My bet is they sell to anyone who can pay.
- hxegon 10y agoUnless someone circumvented the safeguards, but I don't really know enough to say how likely that is.
- colemannugent 10y agoI would imagine that if someone had the ability to defeat their safeguards they would have the ability to recreate the tools themselves. At this level, these tools are more weapons than software. All the client wants is an end, they could care less about the means.
- marcoperaza 10y ago>I would imagine that if someone had the ability to defeat their safeguards they would have the ability to recreate the tools themselves. Why would you imagine that? People circumvent the DRM on Photoshop, Windows, and lots of other complex software all the time. They most certainly don't have the ability--time, money, expertise, and workforce--to recreate those products.
- eecc 10y agoYou're assuming the safeguard is not a startup nag screen asking whether you are a legally authorized user of the app. Something like those idiotic questionnaires you get to fill when flying to the USA
- patsplat 10y agoNot really. The client may not be sharing its spy tools but is very likely lying about how organizations are being classified as terrorists. This is about the law enforcement agency, not the arms dealer.
- ryandrake 10y agoWhat the heck is "government-grade" spyware? 3X the cost but doesn't work?
- smokinjoe 10y agoDon't forget, only runs on IE.
- hxegon 10y agoIE 8 that is
- halestock 10y agoI would assume they're referring to spyware that's sophisticated enough that it was likely state-sponsored, a la stuxnet, as states usually are the only entities with the resources to develop spyware of that level.
- trafficlight 10y agoI don't buy that for a minute. There are so many amazing developers out there who could absolutely do this independently.
- Z1nfandel 10y agoCapable of writing the code, yes I agree there are others out there more than capable. But part of what makes stuxnet and others of its kind limited to Govt. sponsored is the amount of funding required to do the research to write the code. Very few malware developers are going to go purchase a Siemens nuclear refining centrifuge (plus controlling equipment) so they may reverse engineer it and figure out how to break it. Someone had to buy one, then realize if you stop it suddenly enough times it will break.
- shimon_e 10y agoWhat kind of features are included in government sponsored spyware vs the regular kind?
- cantankerous 10y agoI wonder if somebody with a bone to pick with a soda tax works in a bureau that has access to this weaponized malware. Seems like the most plausible case to me.
- a3n 10y agoMore plausible to me is that someone in the Sugar Industrial Complex bribed someone in a bureau that has access to this malware.
- Reason077 10y agoSeems like "Big Sugar" is increasingly behaving like the new "Big Tobacco" as they gear up to fight against regulation and taxation.
- yuhong 10y agoI wonder if the technology to convert sugar to ethanol exists in the 1960s, which would probably involve yeast. Even turning it to charcoal using sulfuric acid would be better. (background: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/13/well/eat/how-the-sugar-industry-shifted-blame-to-fat.html https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/13/well/eat/how-the-sugar-in...)
- gjm11 10y agoThe technology to convert sugar to ethanol probably existed in the 6660s. BC, that is. (And yes, it probably involved yeast.)
- yuhong 10y agoAnd burning the ethanol in say power plants would not be hard even back then and better than burning fossil fuels, right?
- r00fus 10y agoEROEI would have something to say about that - where's the power used in harvesting and refining the sugar vs. refining crude oil? BioFuels, unless you're talking about biodiesel which was generally using waste byproduct, are a losing proposition. Solar, Nuclear, Wind all provide a much higher total output than biofuels. [1] http://www.roperld.com/science/minerals/EROEIFossilFuels.htm http://www.roperld.com/science/minerals/EROEIFossilFuels.htm
- yuhong 10y agoThe point is whether it would be better than eating the sugar, hence why I posted the nytimes link.
- canistr 10y agoHere is the original report from Citizen Lab: https://citizenlab.org/2017/02/bittersweet-nso-mexico-spyware/ https://citizenlab.org/2017/02/bittersweet-nso-mexico-spywar...
- ourmandave 10y ago"Government-grade spyware" reminded me of the deleted scene from Napoleon Dynamite. "Do you want to die Napoleon?" "Yeah right. Whose the only one here who knows illegal ninja moves from the government." https://youtu.be/IdAZJNEYuEs?t=20s https://youtu.be/IdAZJNEYuEs?t=20s