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Nothing in that piece to suggest Snowden was a "A Genius Among Geniuses"...on what basis does his genius rest? AFAIK there is no record of Snowden doing any kin

by Edmond 13y ago

Nothing in that piece to suggest Snowden was a "A Genius Among Geniuses"...on what basis does his genius rest? AFAIK there is no record of Snowden doing any kind of work out there that'll suggest he knew anything about computing security. It seems people have forgotten that there are a ton of freely available computer security tools out there that any body can take and do a lot of damage with.

sp332 13y ago
It doesn't mention anything about security. There's a backup system, and a web front-end. Whatever his work was, it was impressive enough to get him an invite to the Tailored Access Operations. Not all work at the NSA was cutting-edge encryption.
- Edmond 13y ago
  How did you miss that? the whole article speaks to his supposed security prowess: * Snowden had been brought to Hawaii as a cybersecurity expert working for Dell’s services division but due to a problem with the contract was reassigned to become an administrator for the Microsoft intranet management system known as Sharepoint.
  - sp332 13y ago
    And the next sentence starts Impressed with his technical abilities, Snowden’s managers decided that he was the most qualified candidate to build a new web front-end So whatever he did that was impressive, it wasn't security-related.
    - ZoF 13y ago
      How can you tell from that statement that his impressive act was 100% not security related.... All you can really say is that it wasn't necessarily security related.
    - chris_mahan 13y ago
      Anyone building a web front-end needs to have a lot of security-related knowledge (implement https correctly, cross site scripting and other js vulnerabilities, sql injection, buffer overflows in your apps, etc.)
astine 13y ago
That quote is apparently the opinion of one of the NSA staffers that worked with him. Apparently he was more talented than most of the other employees and contractors.
- Cthulhu_ 13y ago
  Indeed; a statement like that is either reflective of Snowden's skill level, or the average skill level of his co-workers. I haven't personally seen anything out of the ordinary yet for a generic sysadmin/developer/hacker/internet freedom fighter character.
- jere 13y ago
  In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
pessimizer 13y ago
>...on what basis does his genius rest? It rests on some of his co-workers thinking he was very smart. Is there anything wrong with that? >AFAIK there is no record of Snowden doing any kind of work out there that'll suggest he knew anything about computing security. But how far do you know, exactly, about the work that Snowden was doing, or how good he was at it?
Zikes 13y ago
The basis for his genius appears to be the opinion of his colleague, which you're free to accept or reject. If his colleague's claims are to be believed, his activities and accolades within the NSA would be sufficient record of his computing security experience. Not everyone has to publish a white paper or open a GitHub account in order to be taken seriously.
- Edmond 13y ago
  When people are labeled geniuses, independent evidence is important, especially when they've become a cause célèbre. Geniuses generally have a body of work to stand on, not just a friend/family/colleague opinion.
  - geetee 13y ago
    Body of work? Perhaps you may have heard about his NSA leaks?
  - louthy 13y ago
    Independent evidence is clearly going to be thin on the ground if he was doing work for the NSA. As mentioned before, it's the opinion of his co-worker. Now that co-worker may have been an incompetent and saw everything that Snowden did as 'genius'. Or, it may be the case that he really was one. Who knows, but at least it's a slightly different viewpoint on the thing.
  - jonknee 13y ago
    I would say being a self-taught computer expert who out-smarted the most technically advanced intelligence agency in the history of the world at their own game would lend itself to being a body of work. He also outmaneuvered the State Department and as a lone actor has been able to thumb his nose at the most powerful people in the world while his data has been front page news in dozens of countries around the world for months. It's all quite surreal and I would not underestimate the man.
    - chris_mahan 13y ago
fnordfnordfnord 13y ago
It's a character reference from a co-worker, not a declaration of objective fact. >It seems people have forgotten that there are a ton of freely available computer security tools out there that any body can take and do a lot of damage with. I used to think that sort of thing would be noticed pretty quickly at the NSA. Nowadays, I am not so sure.
podperson 13y ago
He could configure sharepoint AND backup systems. May not seem like much but in a federal government department that's like being Jesus and, I don't know, Buddha at the same time.
- vidarh 13y ago
  Frankly, someone who knows how to wield Sharepoint qualifies more as a Marquis de Sade to me.
Pengu 13y ago
adds more to the hollywood story

by Edmond 13y ago

sp332 13y ago

It doesn't mention anything about security. There's a backup system, and a web front-end. Whatever his work was, it was impressive enough to get him an invite to the Tailored Access Operations. Not all work at the NSA was cutting-edge encryption.

Edmond 13y ago
How did you miss that? the whole article speaks to his supposed security prowess: * Snowden had been brought to Hawaii as a cybersecurity expert working for Dell’s services division but due to a problem with the contract was reassigned to become an administrator for the Microsoft intranet management system known as Sharepoint.
- sp332 13y ago
  And the next sentence starts Impressed with his technical abilities, Snowden’s managers decided that he was the most qualified candidate to build a new web front-end So whatever he did that was impressive, it wasn't security-related.
  - ZoF 13y ago
    How can you tell from that statement that his impressive act was 100% not security related.... All you can really say is that it wasn't necessarily security related.
  - chris_mahan 13y ago
    Anyone building a web front-end needs to have a lot of security-related knowledge (implement https correctly, cross site scripting and other js vulnerabilities, sql injection, buffer overflows in your apps, etc.)

astine 13y ago

That quote is apparently the opinion of one of the NSA staffers that worked with him. Apparently he was more talented than most of the other employees and contractors.

Cthulhu_ 13y ago
Indeed; a statement like that is either reflective of Snowden's skill level, or the average skill level of his co-workers. I haven't personally seen anything out of the ordinary yet for a generic sysadmin/developer/hacker/internet freedom fighter character.
jere 13y ago
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

pessimizer 13y ago

>...on what basis does his genius rest? It rests on some of his co-workers thinking he was very smart. Is there anything wrong with that? >AFAIK there is no record of Snowden doing any kind of work out there that'll suggest he knew anything about computing security. But how far do you know, exactly, about the work that Snowden was doing, or how good he was at it?

Zikes 13y ago

The basis for his genius appears to be the opinion of his colleague, which you're free to accept or reject. If his colleague's claims are to be believed, his activities and accolades within the NSA would be sufficient record of his computing security experience. Not everyone has to publish a white paper or open a GitHub account in order to be taken seriously.

Edmond 13y ago
When people are labeled geniuses, independent evidence is important, especially when they've become a cause célèbre. Geniuses generally have a body of work to stand on, not just a friend/family/colleague opinion.
- geetee 13y ago
  Body of work? Perhaps you may have heard about his NSA leaks?
- louthy 13y ago
  Independent evidence is clearly going to be thin on the ground if he was doing work for the NSA. As mentioned before, it's the opinion of his co-worker. Now that co-worker may have been an incompetent and saw everything that Snowden did as 'genius'. Or, it may be the case that he really was one. Who knows, but at least it's a slightly different viewpoint on the thing.
- jonknee 13y ago
  I would say being a self-taught computer expert who out-smarted the most technically advanced intelligence agency in the history of the world at their own game would lend itself to being a body of work. He also outmaneuvered the State Department and as a lone actor has been able to thumb his nose at the most powerful people in the world while his data has been front page news in dozens of countries around the world for months. It's all quite surreal and I would not underestimate the man.
  - chris_mahan 13y ago

fnordfnordfnord 13y ago

It's a character reference from a co-worker, not a declaration of objective fact. >It seems people have forgotten that there are a ton of freely available computer security tools out there that any body can take and do a lot of damage with. I used to think that sort of thing would be noticed pretty quickly at the NSA. Nowadays, I am not so sure.

podperson 13y ago

He could configure sharepoint AND backup systems. May not seem like much but in a federal government department that's like being Jesus and, I don't know, Buddha at the same time.

vidarh 13y ago
Frankly, someone who knows how to wield Sharepoint qualifies more as a Marquis de Sade to me.

Pengu 13y ago

adds more to the hollywood story