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> COTTONMOUTH-1, a USB cable manufactured by the NSA that looks like a normal USB cable It is a shame the article doesn't bother to cite nor link to its source

by xpe 5y ago

> COTTONMOUTH-1, a USB cable manufactured by the NSA that looks like a normal USB cable It is a shame the article doesn't bother to cite nor link to its source.

wongarsu 5y ago
That's probably a case of assuming that it's well known, the ANT Catalog leak was a pretty big thing around the time of the Snowden leaks [1]. If you're deep in a topic it's easy to lose sight of what's common knowledge and what isn't. Of course by now you can just buy similar devices on the free market, what used to be expensive high-tech in 2008 is now possible with commodity hardware. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSA_ANT_catalog https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSA_ANT_catalog
- xpe 5y ago
  Yes, and when you take the time to write an article to promote your company, you probably have the time and inclination to cite your reference. In this case, the author posted here on Hacker News, which provides a wonderful opportunity to accept feedback. And it looks like the author added some text giving more context explaining where it came from: "COTTONMOUTH-1, a USB cable manufactured by the NSA that looks like a normal USB cable, but has a hidden implant that allows an attacker to inspect data on the cable wirelessly, modify data as it travels over the cable and install malicious software on connected computers - US National Security Agency, Advanced Network Technology (ANT) Division" It is nice to see authors being responsive to comments here.
sodality2 5y ago
Probably because it was top secret.
- xpe 5y ago
  Yes, it was classified. But that isn't the point. You can cite just about anything -- ranging from phone conversations to in-person interviews, from cookbooks to journal articles. Yes, even documents from WikiLeaks or other data dumps. It isn't hard. Citing your sources shows that you are careful and you respect your readers. Make it easier for them follow the trails where they lead. It also saves time, energy, and electrons. Write out the reference once, help N people later.
shaicoleman 5y ago
You can now buy similar things, e.g. the O.MG Cable, https://shop.hak5.org/products/o-mg-cable-usb-a https://shop.hak5.org/products/o-mg-cable-usb-a https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28394035 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28394035
xpe 5y ago
A belated comment for the author: The flow of the text is broken by the Cottonmouth cable and caption. I'm not suggesting removing the image; it is interesting and serves as a good example.[1] I'm suggesting another round of editing to improve the reading flow. Additionally, since so many people scan text rapidly, some visual changes are needed too. The caption looks too much like a follow-up paragraph. To fix, consider: A. Include the caption in the bounding box used for the image (which has white space on both the left and the right). B. use a different font, font-size, or style for the caption C. using a different background color for the (image + caption) D. separate the (image + caption) from the surrounding text with vertical lines I'm inclined to think that in this case, A with B would be sufficient and would work well. You could also pair that with C and/or D, being mindful that the latter two could be overdone. [1] Why stop at one example? I think a carousel of examples would be even more interesting!

by xpe 5y ago

> COTTONMOUTH-1, a USB cable manufactured by the NSA that looks like a normal USB cable It is a shame the article doesn't bother to cite nor link to its source.

wongarsu 5y ago

That's probably a case of assuming that it's well known, the ANT Catalog leak was a pretty big thing around the time of the Snowden leaks [1]. If you're deep in a topic it's easy to lose sight of what's common knowledge and what isn't. Of course by now you can just buy similar devices on the free market, what used to be expensive high-tech in 2008 is now possible with commodity hardware. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSA_ANT_catalog https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSA_ANT_catalog

xpe 5y ago
Yes, and when you take the time to write an article to promote your company, you probably have the time and inclination to cite your reference. In this case, the author posted here on Hacker News, which provides a wonderful opportunity to accept feedback. And it looks like the author added some text giving more context explaining where it came from: "COTTONMOUTH-1, a USB cable manufactured by the NSA that looks like a normal USB cable, but has a hidden implant that allows an attacker to inspect data on the cable wirelessly, modify data as it travels over the cable and install malicious software on connected computers - US National Security Agency, Advanced Network Technology (ANT) Division" It is nice to see authors being responsive to comments here.

sodality2 5y ago

Probably because it was top secret.

xpe 5y ago
Yes, it was classified. But that isn't the point. You can cite just about anything -- ranging from phone conversations to in-person interviews, from cookbooks to journal articles. Yes, even documents from WikiLeaks or other data dumps. It isn't hard. Citing your sources shows that you are careful and you respect your readers. Make it easier for them follow the trails where they lead. It also saves time, energy, and electrons. Write out the reference once, help N people later.

shaicoleman 5y ago

You can now buy similar things, e.g. the O.MG Cable, https://shop.hak5.org/products/o-mg-cable-usb-a https://shop.hak5.org/products/o-mg-cable-usb-a https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28394035 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28394035

xpe 5y ago

A belated comment for the author: The flow of the text is broken by the Cottonmouth cable and caption. I'm not suggesting removing the image; it is interesting and serves as a good example.[1] I'm suggesting another round of editing to improve the reading flow. Additionally, since so many people scan text rapidly, some visual changes are needed too. The caption looks too much like a follow-up paragraph. To fix, consider: A. Include the caption in the bounding box used for the image (which has white space on both the left and the right). B. use a different font, font-size, or style for the caption C. using a different background color for the (image + caption) D. separate the (image + caption) from the surrounding text with vertical lines I'm inclined to think that in this case, A with B would be sufficient and would work well. You could also pair that with C and/or D, being mindful that the latter two could be overdone. [1] Why stop at one example? I think a carousel of examples would be even more interesting!