4 ms·

I appreciate the effort but 1) If the NSA really wants the data they will pull the cable up and put a tap on it like they are doing now. 2) Even if not "buying

by us0r 12y ago

I appreciate the effort but 1) If the NSA really wants the data they will pull the cable up and put a tap on it like they are doing now. 2) Even if not "buying American" on the hardware, they will at some point end up on an American network[0] and the NSA will get the data anyways. What we really need is another Snowden to grab recorded private phone calls of Congress. I'd imagine we would see their funding dry up rather quickly (then again they didn't seem to mind the CIA's adventures). [0] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tier_1_network http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tier_1_network

adventured 12y ago
The more powerful politicians that run Congress cut off limbs to maintain the system, when necessary. That's exactly what they did to Frank Church.
- moioci 12y ago
  I'm confused by this. Frank Church was a pretty powerful politician, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I believe. Who did what to Frank Church?
  - adventured 12y ago
    From what I understand, there were political consequences to challenging the espionage state, in which Church was marginalized his last term and pushed out. Most of Church's outspoken efforts against the espionage system took place after his 1974 re-election. It's not quite as bad as Otis Pike, but then Church was more powerful - http://pando.com/2014/02/04/the-first-congressman-to-battle-the-nsa-is-dead-no-one-noticed-no-one-cares/ http://pando.com/2014/02/04/the-first-congressman-to-battle-...
Blahah 12y ago
As an undergrad I had a job working as a ecologist for the Highways Agency in the UK. My job was to perform endangered species surveys and supervise roadworks sites to make sure they didn't cause (too much) ecological damage. One job I worked on was resurfacing 12 miles of road in Somerset. At one stage I was supervising a crew as they dug out a trench beside the road overnight. After a couple of hours, a blacked-out 4x4 rolled up to the site and out get three guys in suits demanding to see the site manager. It turned out the JCB bucket had damaged the tunnel housing a major national fibre-optic link and they had detected the damage. We uncovered the damaged concrete housing and they had a crew come out to repair it. Moral of the story: at least in the UK, the integrity of cable networks is remotely monitored. I wouldn't assume the NSA can easily tap into a major fibre-optic cable without being detected.
- junto 12y ago
  Interesting story. Maybe those guys in the dark glasses and suits weren't the cable provider, but the NSA! The fibre provider hadn't noticed.
  - Blahah 12y ago
    Hah, I didn't consider that! I expect that GCHQ happily share the data with the NSA so they don't need to get it from direct taps. So I think it's more likely they were who they claimed to be.
- us0r 12y ago
  http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/jun/21/gchq-cables-secret-world-communications-nsa http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/jun/21/gchq-cables-secret... Google and Yahoo did not notice (or at least pretended not to know): http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-infiltrates-links-to-yahoo-google-data-centers-worldwide-snowden-documents-say/2013/10/30/e51d661e-4166-11e3-8b74-d89d714ca4dd_story.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-in... I'm sure many more exist.

by us0r 12y ago

adventured 12y ago

The more powerful politicians that run Congress cut off limbs to maintain the system, when necessary. That's exactly what they did to Frank Church.

moioci 12y ago
I'm confused by this. Frank Church was a pretty powerful politician, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I believe. Who did what to Frank Church?
- adventured 12y ago
  From what I understand, there were political consequences to challenging the espionage state, in which Church was marginalized his last term and pushed out. Most of Church's outspoken efforts against the espionage system took place after his 1974 re-election. It's not quite as bad as Otis Pike, but then Church was more powerful - http://pando.com/2014/02/04/the-first-congressman-to-battle-the-nsa-is-dead-no-one-noticed-no-one-cares/ http://pando.com/2014/02/04/the-first-congressman-to-battle-...

Blahah 12y ago

As an undergrad I had a job working as a ecologist for the Highways Agency in the UK. My job was to perform endangered species surveys and supervise roadworks sites to make sure they didn't cause (too much) ecological damage. One job I worked on was resurfacing 12 miles of road in Somerset. At one stage I was supervising a crew as they dug out a trench beside the road overnight. After a couple of hours, a blacked-out 4x4 rolled up to the site and out get three guys in suits demanding to see the site manager. It turned out the JCB bucket had damaged the tunnel housing a major national fibre-optic link and they had detected the damage. We uncovered the damaged concrete housing and they had a crew come out to repair it. Moral of the story: at least in the UK, the integrity of cable networks is remotely monitored. I wouldn't assume the NSA can easily tap into a major fibre-optic cable without being detected.

junto 12y ago
Interesting story. Maybe those guys in the dark glasses and suits weren't the cable provider, but the NSA! The fibre provider hadn't noticed.
- Blahah 12y ago
  Hah, I didn't consider that! I expect that GCHQ happily share the data with the NSA so they don't need to get it from direct taps. So I think it's more likely they were who they claimed to be.
us0r 12y ago
http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/jun/21/gchq-cables-secret-world-communications-nsa http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/jun/21/gchq-cables-secret... Google and Yahoo did not notice (or at least pretended not to know): http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-infiltrates-links-to-yahoo-google-data-centers-worldwide-snowden-documents-say/2013/10/30/e51d661e-4166-11e3-8b74-d89d714ca4dd_story.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-in... I'm sure many more exist.