6 ms·

Very strange article. It only re-does what all other news sources already stated.. plus, i think that commonly a backdoor is understood as something in the soft

by buster 13y ago

Very strange article. It only re-does what all other news sources already stated.. plus, i think that commonly a backdoor is understood as something in the software itself that let's someone get access from the outside, which doesn't appear to be the case. Plus, to think that skype would be exempt from the governments claim to get access to all communications and messaging data is very simple-minded. The guy does realize that today governments can access all his mails, right? SSL/TLS or not.

claudius 13y ago
I have reason to believe that the government cannot access all my mails. But if it could, I’d be even happier, as it would either prove a fault in GPG (unlikely) or a working quantum computer implementing e.g. Shor’s algorithm. And who wouldn’t want to hear of the latter?
- buster 13y ago
  I have reason to believe that you're wrong, because if you're under surveillance by the FBI or whatever, they will be able to read your mail. Unless you're the ultra-paranoid guy there are ways to get to your password physically :( (so, since you're coming up with GPG which i obviously was not referring to i can also come up with some unlikely scenario, ok?)
  - GhotiFish 13y ago
    I can't really think of how one gets around that link. I'm not sure what you mean.
    - buster 13y ago
      The point is that noone should act surprised because the laws already demand that communications can be intercepted and read. Of course that excludes GPG (or pasting encrypted text into your skype chat). And that is only true as long as your law enforcement doesn't have you on surveillance. Or unless you can be 100% sure that the NSA really really really can't crack your encryption. And even Bruce Schneier isn't sure about that: https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2012/03/can_the_nsa_bre.html https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2012/03/can_the_nsa_b...
      - pyre 13y ago
        It really depends on what you're doing. The NSA doing something like breaking GPG/PGP encryption would be like breaking the Enigma during WW2. You don't want to tip your hand to your opponents that you can read their communications. IIRC, the Allies sometimes had to not act on information that could save lives because those actions would reveal how much they knew to the Axis powers. So basically you only end up acting on really valuable information.
  - aurelianito 13y ago
    Obligatory xkcd comic. http://xkcd.com/538/ http://xkcd.com/538/
    - claudius 13y ago
      If they use this method, I at the very least know that they’re using it and that my data is compromised.
      - buster 13y ago
        If you wouldn't be drugged :(
        jlgreco 13y ago
        Enough alcohol will leave me unable to recall several of my longer passwords. I find it hard to believe that they have a drug that will 1) not trigger that, 2) not leave a hangover of any sorts, 3) render me entirely unable to remember the incident, 4) make me inclined to tell them the password. That would basically be a wonder drug, the ultimate truth serum.
        chalst 13y ago
        There are drugs for some of those things... 1) Barbiturates induce a hypnotic state that has widely been reported to improve subjects ability to recall details. Published work on human subjects more or less dried up in the early 70s for ethical grounds (cf. http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~kihlstrm/exhumed.htm http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~kihlstrm/exhumed.htm "There is, unfortunately, a virtual lack of controlled clinical studies on the accuracy of hypnotically refreshed memories."), but I bet the military have classified knowledge. Also, there's been quite a bit of published work on recall under barbiturates in dogs and rats. 2) So, you wake up with a hangover, a blackout, some bruises, and an attractive stranger in your bed. What do you assume? 3) There are drugs to suppress memories. Barbiturates, again, make it hard to recall details of the trance. Also, see http://mbldownloads.com/0205CNS_Pitman.pdf http://mbldownloads.com/0205CNS_Pitman.pdf 4) Barbiturates, yet again, are well-documented to improve compliance, though at the expense of an apparent willingness to cause you to believe what you think will please the interrogator rather than what you would normally believe to be true.
  - betterunix 13y ago
    It doesn't take all that much effort: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartcard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartcard
  - rsync 13y ago
    All of our intra-company email is accessed via terminal, with pine - and since it is intra-company, it doesn't generate network traffic - it is just an append operation on different files (mail spools). So I have reason to believe, even if we were being surveilled[1] by the (insert TLA), that they would not be able to read our email. [1] Network only. If they're videotaping our screens, all bets are off.

by buster 13y ago

claudius 13y ago

I have reason to believe that the government cannot access all my mails. But if it could, I’d be even happier, as it would either prove a fault in GPG (unlikely) or a working quantum computer implementing e.g. Shor’s algorithm. And who wouldn’t want to hear of the latter?

buster 13y ago
I have reason to believe that you're wrong, because if you're under surveillance by the FBI or whatever, they will be able to read your mail. Unless you're the ultra-paranoid guy there are ways to get to your password physically :( (so, since you're coming up with GPG which i obviously was not referring to i can also come up with some unlikely scenario, ok?)
- GhotiFish 13y ago
  I can't really think of how one gets around that link. I'm not sure what you mean.
  - buster 13y ago
    The point is that noone should act surprised because the laws already demand that communications can be intercepted and read. Of course that excludes GPG (or pasting encrypted text into your skype chat). And that is only true as long as your law enforcement doesn't have you on surveillance. Or unless you can be 100% sure that the NSA really really really can't crack your encryption. And even Bruce Schneier isn't sure about that: https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2012/03/can_the_nsa_bre.html https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2012/03/can_the_nsa_b...
    - pyre 13y ago
      It really depends on what you're doing. The NSA doing something like breaking GPG/PGP encryption would be like breaking the Enigma during WW2. You don't want to tip your hand to your opponents that you can read their communications. IIRC, the Allies sometimes had to not act on information that could save lives because those actions would reveal how much they knew to the Axis powers. So basically you only end up acting on really valuable information.
- aurelianito 13y ago
  Obligatory xkcd comic. http://xkcd.com/538/ http://xkcd.com/538/
  - claudius 13y ago
    If they use this method, I at the very least know that they’re using it and that my data is compromised.
    - buster 13y ago
      If you wouldn't be drugged :(
      - jlgreco 13y ago
        Enough alcohol will leave me unable to recall several of my longer passwords. I find it hard to believe that they have a drug that will 1) not trigger that, 2) not leave a hangover of any sorts, 3) render me entirely unable to remember the incident, 4) make me inclined to tell them the password. That would basically be a wonder drug, the ultimate truth serum.
        chalst 13y ago
        There are drugs for some of those things... 1) Barbiturates induce a hypnotic state that has widely been reported to improve subjects ability to recall details. Published work on human subjects more or less dried up in the early 70s for ethical grounds (cf. http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~kihlstrm/exhumed.htm http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~kihlstrm/exhumed.htm "There is, unfortunately, a virtual lack of controlled clinical studies on the accuracy of hypnotically refreshed memories."), but I bet the military have classified knowledge. Also, there's been quite a bit of published work on recall under barbiturates in dogs and rats. 2) So, you wake up with a hangover, a blackout, some bruises, and an attractive stranger in your bed. What do you assume? 3) There are drugs to suppress memories. Barbiturates, again, make it hard to recall details of the trance. Also, see http://mbldownloads.com/0205CNS_Pitman.pdf http://mbldownloads.com/0205CNS_Pitman.pdf 4) Barbiturates, yet again, are well-documented to improve compliance, though at the expense of an apparent willingness to cause you to believe what you think will please the interrogator rather than what you would normally believe to be true.
- betterunix 13y ago
  It doesn't take all that much effort: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartcard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartcard
- rsync 13y ago
  All of our intra-company email is accessed via terminal, with pine - and since it is intra-company, it doesn't generate network traffic - it is just an append operation on different files (mail spools). So I have reason to believe, even if we were being surveilled[1] by the (insert TLA), that they would not be able to read our email. [1] Network only. If they're videotaping our screens, all bets are off.