4 ms·

Given his level or paranoia, I'm surprised he wouldn't have set up some sort of security camera that continually uploads to Amazon S3 or something. Video of th

Given his level or paranoia, I'm surprised he wouldn't have set up some sort of security camera that continually uploads to Amazon S3 or something. Video of these thugs would be much more valuable than the single bit of information that an alarm gives.

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
sneak 13y ago
Because S3 is totally out of the reach of these adversaries.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- colanderman 13y ago
  That requires they (a) notice the camera, (b) dissect the software running it to determine to where it's uploading (which might be a more secure intermediary), (c) take action to delete the video, and (d) hope that he doesn't have another service running which backs up the video from S3 in realtime. Yes, the NSA can do that, but it takes time and effort, and given that they couldn't even find/disable one of his mundane alarm systems, it's likely that the wouldn't have disappeared the video evidence.
  - dsl 13y ago
    ...or have a small power outage or internet outage lasting a few hours.
  - sneak 13y ago
    As if every packet in and out isn't already scrutinized.
- Crito 13y ago
  Instead of S3, it may be possible to do "small computer with harddrive hidden inside the house (furniture, walls, ceiling, etc) tapped into a power-line and connected over wifi. Their options for finding that would be limited if they did not bring equipment to triangulate wifi devices with them. Limited to methods that would certainly leave a trace of their presence. If you set the camera up correctly, it might not even be immediately apparent that they had to look for the storage device (give the camera plenty of storage of it's own, so that it seemed likely that the images were being stored on the camera.) Sure, they might come back next week with the equipment they need, but in the meantime you'll have your photographic evidence and a few days to go public with it.
mandelbulb 13y ago
Well, three alarm systems were shut down when he returned. Maybe, one of them was such one. Still, if he noticed the changes right away he should have pressed charges against persons unknown so the police would examine his apartment for clues.
- hondje 13y ago
  What a child like view
- jlgaddis 13y ago
  At this point, I would not be surprised to learn that: 1) all of these incidents are occuring, 2) the U.S. government (NSA/CIA/whatever) is behind them, and 3) the police (local/"federal"/whatever) are aware of the incidents and the USG's involvement and are either actively participating or simply allowing it to happen. If all of the above were true, then all that might be accomplished by going to the police would be that the USG becomes aware of exactly what Appelbaum knows of their actions and, perhaps more importantly, what he doesn't know (assuming there have been additional incidents that he has not discovered). Documenting the incidents as best as he can is possibly (one of) his best course of action(s). I think that I, personally, would also document them publicly in addition to a paper notebook, though.
foobarqux 13y ago
He previously indicated that he had video. But what do you gain from releasing it?
- A_COMPUTER 13y ago
  The KGB painted the people they harassed as mentally ill and paranoid liars. If you have video, it backs up your claim against people who believe you made it all up.
  - foobarqux 13y ago
    You can't prove it was the government. And I don't see too many people claiming Appelbaum is a mentally ill paranoid liar.
    - A_COMPUTER 13y ago
      It doesn't prove it was the government; it proves he didn't make it all up. Nobody will believe a government spokesman who say that, yeah. That's why there are DARPA contracts for Twitter sock puppet armies for propaganda purposes. Get thousands of "people" on Twitter to agree that he's a bit nutty and it becomes a meme.
      - foobarqux 13y ago
        At best, like Greenwald, he can prove someone broke into his apartment. But, like Greenwald, no one really cares about that. The important part, that it was the government, he cannot prove. The part that he can prove, that someone entered his apartment, doesn't matter.
cnvogel 13y ago
It's always harder for an adversary when he doesn't know your countermeasures, and if Jakob Appelbaum publishes Video footage (or microphone recordings, photographs, whatever his fourth or fifth, or sixth alarm system provides) he'd give away this advantage. So currently the Americal agency trying to bug his flat, or probably the german Verfassungsschutz trying to suck up to them, have to guess if they have found and disabled all alarms, or indeed been recorded, or not. That's probably the single thing claimed by the NSA that's true: It helps their opponents (e.g. us Germans) if we know the extent of their wiretrapping and other surveillance. Too bad it was mandatory to publish it to expose their morally wrong (and often illegal) activities.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

sneak 13y ago

Because S3 is totally out of the reach of these adversaries.

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
colanderman 13y ago
That requires they (a) notice the camera, (b) dissect the software running it to determine to where it's uploading (which might be a more secure intermediary), (c) take action to delete the video, and (d) hope that he doesn't have another service running which backs up the video from S3 in realtime. Yes, the NSA can do that, but it takes time and effort, and given that they couldn't even find/disable one of his mundane alarm systems, it's likely that the wouldn't have disappeared the video evidence.
- dsl 13y ago
  ...or have a small power outage or internet outage lasting a few hours.
- sneak 13y ago
  As if every packet in and out isn't already scrutinized.
Crito 13y ago
Instead of S3, it may be possible to do "small computer with harddrive hidden inside the house (furniture, walls, ceiling, etc) tapped into a power-line and connected over wifi. Their options for finding that would be limited if they did not bring equipment to triangulate wifi devices with them. Limited to methods that would certainly leave a trace of their presence. If you set the camera up correctly, it might not even be immediately apparent that they had to look for the storage device (give the camera plenty of storage of it's own, so that it seemed likely that the images were being stored on the camera.) Sure, they might come back next week with the equipment they need, but in the meantime you'll have your photographic evidence and a few days to go public with it.

mandelbulb 13y ago

Well, three alarm systems were shut down when he returned. Maybe, one of them was such one. Still, if he noticed the changes right away he should have pressed charges against persons unknown so the police would examine his apartment for clues.

hondje 13y ago
What a child like view
jlgaddis 13y ago
At this point, I would not be surprised to learn that: 1) all of these incidents are occuring, 2) the U.S. government (NSA/CIA/whatever) is behind them, and 3) the police (local/"federal"/whatever) are aware of the incidents and the USG's involvement and are either actively participating or simply allowing it to happen. If all of the above were true, then all that might be accomplished by going to the police would be that the USG becomes aware of exactly what Appelbaum knows of their actions and, perhaps more importantly, what he doesn't know (assuming there have been additional incidents that he has not discovered). Documenting the incidents as best as he can is possibly (one of) his best course of action(s). I think that I, personally, would also document them publicly in addition to a paper notebook, though.

foobarqux 13y ago

He previously indicated that he had video. But what do you gain from releasing it?

A_COMPUTER 13y ago
The KGB painted the people they harassed as mentally ill and paranoid liars. If you have video, it backs up your claim against people who believe you made it all up.
- foobarqux 13y ago
  You can't prove it was the government. And I don't see too many people claiming Appelbaum is a mentally ill paranoid liar.
  - A_COMPUTER 13y ago
    It doesn't prove it was the government; it proves he didn't make it all up. Nobody will believe a government spokesman who say that, yeah. That's why there are DARPA contracts for Twitter sock puppet armies for propaganda purposes. Get thousands of "people" on Twitter to agree that he's a bit nutty and it becomes a meme.
    - foobarqux 13y ago
      At best, like Greenwald, he can prove someone broke into his apartment. But, like Greenwald, no one really cares about that. The important part, that it was the government, he cannot prove. The part that he can prove, that someone entered his apartment, doesn't matter.

cnvogel 13y ago

It's always harder for an adversary when he doesn't know your countermeasures, and if Jakob Appelbaum publishes Video footage (or microphone recordings, photographs, whatever his fourth or fifth, or sixth alarm system provides) he'd give away this advantage. So currently the Americal agency trying to bug his flat, or probably the german Verfassungsschutz trying to suck up to them, have to guess if they have found and disabled all alarms, or indeed been recorded, or not. That's probably the single thing claimed by the NSA that's true: It helps their opponents (e.g. us Germans) if we know the extent of their wiretrapping and other surveillance. Too bad it was mandatory to publish it to expose their morally wrong (and often illegal) activities.