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Spyware: therein lies the rub. As a civilian I suppose I'm not a target. But if I ever expected to handle classified, sensitive or even just politically comprom

Spyware: therein lies the rub. As a civilian I suppose I'm not a target. But if I ever expected to handle classified, sensitive or even just politically compromising material with my device I would never go for a Chinese brand. Sure, the NSA gets its grubby fingers in where it wants.. But China's surveillance engine has the heft, sophistication and motivation to collect all the data it can. Every piece of silicone could be compromised. It's also much more likely to come back and bite you in the form of stolen IP, a visa ban, or online harassment and censorship than US and European surveillance operations.

alexktz 8y ago
What modern tech product can you buy that isn't a potato which hasn't, at some stage in manufacture, been through China?
- bilbo0s 8y ago
  Or, indeed, what modern tech product has not been compromised by the NSA? People are being a little naive. The US gets its "grubby" hands on every little thing you do, as does China. The question is not, "Which 'grubby' hands do I wish to allow to do my deep body cavity search?" But rather, "Why, exactly, do I need to submit to deep body cavity searches by 'grubby' hands at all?"
  - your-nanny 8y ago
    I think this claim about the NSA requires actual evidence.
    - swebs 8y ago
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRISM_(surveillance_program) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRISM_(surveillance_program)
    - your-nanny 8y ago
      on HN you get down voted for asking for evidence. two clains were made: * that the NSA as compromised all major tech * the us gets it's grubby hands on all your data in support of which no evidence was presented. a user kindly linked me to a Wikipedia page on PRISM. However, that program is only ISP data, requires a warrant for domestic purposes.
- Arn_Thor 8y ago
  That's true, but different companies have different standards of manufacturing. Apple, for example, exert extreme control over their products, right down to the silicone. Short of a potato, they offer the highest degree of certainty and protection. Meanwhile, Qualcomm has several programs running below the OS level that track users "anonymously" in various ways. Such systems can much more easily be co-opted by other parties such as governments.
gmiller123456 8y ago
>As a civilian I suppose I'm not a target That's a very poor assumption. One very common method is to get some dirt on someone, then blackmail them into getting a job with access to data they want. That doesn't have to be classified data, they're also interested (probably more so) in corporate espionage so they can make products better and cheaper. Then there's economic disruption. Where you're not a target as an individual, but as a group. E.g. everyone using their device with Verizon's service might have their service go funky, people think it's Verizon and switch. Or certain websites appear slow/unavailable so you buy something from a different one. Of course there's lots of other ways they could use it to their advantage, but the point is, civilians are very likely to be targets too, for a multitude of reasons.

alexktz 8y ago

What modern tech product can you buy that isn't a potato which hasn't, at some stage in manufacture, been through China?

bilbo0s 8y ago
Or, indeed, what modern tech product has not been compromised by the NSA? People are being a little naive. The US gets its "grubby" hands on every little thing you do, as does China. The question is not, "Which 'grubby' hands do I wish to allow to do my deep body cavity search?" But rather, "Why, exactly, do I need to submit to deep body cavity searches by 'grubby' hands at all?"
- your-nanny 8y ago
  I think this claim about the NSA requires actual evidence.
  - swebs 8y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRISM_(surveillance_program) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRISM_(surveillance_program)
  - your-nanny 8y ago
    on HN you get down voted for asking for evidence. two clains were made: * that the NSA as compromised all major tech * the us gets it's grubby hands on all your data in support of which no evidence was presented. a user kindly linked me to a Wikipedia page on PRISM. However, that program is only ISP data, requires a warrant for domestic purposes.
Arn_Thor 8y ago
That's true, but different companies have different standards of manufacturing. Apple, for example, exert extreme control over their products, right down to the silicone. Short of a potato, they offer the highest degree of certainty and protection. Meanwhile, Qualcomm has several programs running below the OS level that track users "anonymously" in various ways. Such systems can much more easily be co-opted by other parties such as governments.

gmiller123456 8y ago

>As a civilian I suppose I'm not a target That's a very poor assumption. One very common method is to get some dirt on someone, then blackmail them into getting a job with access to data they want. That doesn't have to be classified data, they're also interested (probably more so) in corporate espionage so they can make products better and cheaper. Then there's economic disruption. Where you're not a target as an individual, but as a group. E.g. everyone using their device with Verizon's service might have their service go funky, people think it's Verizon and switch. Or certain websites appear slow/unavailable so you buy something from a different one. Of course there's lots of other ways they could use it to their advantage, but the point is, civilians are very likely to be targets too, for a multitude of reasons.