5 ms·

If I am paying so much money for our awesome military industrial complex, I would AT LEAST expect them to know how to stage the house to make it look like a rob

by vinhboy 13y ago

If I am paying so much money for our awesome military industrial complex, I would AT LEAST expect them to know how to stage the house to make it look like a robbery. Or copy the hard drive and then bug the machine & router to intercept all future communications. If the government really did break in and just stole his laptop, this is like the least cool spy thriller ever.

fnordfnordfnord 13y ago
The polite, gentlemanly global surveillance state. They only take what they need. They don't make a mess. How nice. "We would be happy to replace the laptop too, but we didn't think you'd want to use the new one."
- anigbrowl 13y ago
  Doesn't make sense. Implication: USG was listening to GG's Skype conversations, heard him say he would send big encrypted file, USG stole laptop. But GG says he never did send the big encrypted file. So they're supposedly spying on him, but not well enough to notice the non-transmission of the encrypted material.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
  - lccarrasco 13y ago
    Maybe there was a transmission of encrypted material (from a third party, something completely unrelated) and since it'd be difficult to determine if it was Snowden's they chose to take it anyways. (this is all, of course, presuming that the USG was responsible)
  - kiiski 13y ago
    Perhaps they didn't want to take the risk that the file somehow got past them (they failed to detect/recognize it, or it was sent another way (courier, etc.)).
  - cheald 13y ago
    You assume that they have full access to all comms in and out of the system; it's entirely possible that a transmission could have happened outside of a monitorable band (for example, mega.com). To those without the key, an HTTPS download of a porn video is entirely indistinguishable from a tarball of state secrets.
    - VladRussian2 13y ago
      state secrets steganographically embedded into porn videos. Poor NSA analysts forced to sit through hours of it trying to discover the hidden message.
jlgreco 13y ago
> If I am paying so much money for our awesome military industrial complex, I would AT LEAST expect them to know how to stage the house to make it look like a robbery. On the other hand, if this wasn't done by a government then it really is what a robbery looks like!
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- throwaway10001 13y ago
  Yeah, because jewelry, cash or electronics have no (resale) value so thieves don't touch them ;)
  - dspillett 13y ago
    They may have heard a sound, assume they may be about to be discovered, and just scarpered with what the already had in their hands (which just happened to be the laptop).
    - PavlovsCat 13y ago
      I would still consider that more of a freak occurrence than dishonest journalists, and much more than spooks being dumb.
      - fnordfnordfnord 13y ago
        Could've been another journalist, someone working for a news-agency, or someone hoping to sell it to a news-agency / a gov't.
  - russgray 13y ago
    To be fair, exactly this happened to a friend of mine living in Fulham, London. His laptop (a very pricey MacBook) was visible through the window from the street. Someone was in through the (old, poorly-secured) window and back out with the laptop within a couple of minutes whilst my friend was in the shop across the street. Didn't check the bedroom for jewelry, didn't take his expensive decks or TV - just grabbed the laptop and left. It seems some thieves do specialise - either that, or my mate is into some other stuff I don't know about and had just been told he was going to receive an encrypted file...hmmm.
_pmf_ 13y ago
> If I am paying so much money for our awesome military industrial complex, I would AT LEAST expect them to know how to stage the house to make it look like a robbery. Or copy the hard drive and then bug the machine & router to intercept all future communications. You forget the fact that the majority of operative work abroad is done by minimum wage hired thugs who don't give a single fuck about the intricacies of the execution of the task at hand; they probably even like the fact that they can help make the US look like a bunch of morons.

by vinhboy 13y ago

fnordfnordfnord 13y ago

The polite, gentlemanly global surveillance state. They only take what they need. They don't make a mess. How nice. "We would be happy to replace the laptop too, but we didn't think you'd want to use the new one."

anigbrowl 13y ago
Doesn't make sense. Implication: USG was listening to GG's Skype conversations, heard him say he would send big encrypted file, USG stole laptop. But GG says he never did send the big encrypted file. So they're supposedly spying on him, but not well enough to notice the non-transmission of the encrypted material.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- lccarrasco 13y ago
  Maybe there was a transmission of encrypted material (from a third party, something completely unrelated) and since it'd be difficult to determine if it was Snowden's they chose to take it anyways. (this is all, of course, presuming that the USG was responsible)
- kiiski 13y ago
  Perhaps they didn't want to take the risk that the file somehow got past them (they failed to detect/recognize it, or it was sent another way (courier, etc.)).
- cheald 13y ago
  You assume that they have full access to all comms in and out of the system; it's entirely possible that a transmission could have happened outside of a monitorable band (for example, mega.com). To those without the key, an HTTPS download of a porn video is entirely indistinguishable from a tarball of state secrets.
  - VladRussian2 13y ago
    state secrets steganographically embedded into porn videos. Poor NSA analysts forced to sit through hours of it trying to discover the hidden message.

jlgreco 13y ago

> If I am paying so much money for our awesome military industrial complex, I would AT LEAST expect them to know how to stage the house to make it look like a robbery. On the other hand, if this wasn't done by a government then it really is what a robbery looks like!

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
throwaway10001 13y ago
Yeah, because jewelry, cash or electronics have no (resale) value so thieves don't touch them ;)
- dspillett 13y ago
  They may have heard a sound, assume they may be about to be discovered, and just scarpered with what the already had in their hands (which just happened to be the laptop).
  - PavlovsCat 13y ago
    I would still consider that more of a freak occurrence than dishonest journalists, and much more than spooks being dumb.
    - fnordfnordfnord 13y ago
      Could've been another journalist, someone working for a news-agency, or someone hoping to sell it to a news-agency / a gov't.
- russgray 13y ago
  To be fair, exactly this happened to a friend of mine living in Fulham, London. His laptop (a very pricey MacBook) was visible through the window from the street. Someone was in through the (old, poorly-secured) window and back out with the laptop within a couple of minutes whilst my friend was in the shop across the street. Didn't check the bedroom for jewelry, didn't take his expensive decks or TV - just grabbed the laptop and left. It seems some thieves do specialise - either that, or my mate is into some other stuff I don't know about and had just been told he was going to receive an encrypted file...hmmm.

_pmf_ 13y ago

> If I am paying so much money for our awesome military industrial complex, I would AT LEAST expect them to know how to stage the house to make it look like a robbery. Or copy the hard drive and then bug the machine & router to intercept all future communications. You forget the fact that the majority of operative work abroad is done by minimum wage hired thugs who don't give a single fuck about the intricacies of the execution of the task at hand; they probably even like the fact that they can help make the US look like a bunch of morons.