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NSA Hacked? 'Shadow Brokers' Crew Claims Compromise Of Surveillance Op
Forbes ^ | 8/15/16 | Thomas Fox-Brewster

Posted on 08/15/2016 7:55:13 PM PDT by Mozilla

Has the NSA just been hacked? Security experts speaking with FORBES think it’s possible, after a group published malware and attack code allegedly belonging to the Equation Group, a crew linked to the US intelligence agency. But while many believe the leak looks legitimate, the hackers could have pulled off a very clever ruse. ---

Two days ago, on August 13, a group calling themselves The Shadow Brokers released files on Github, claiming they came from the Equation Group. The files included code allegedly designed to exploit firewalls from American manufacturers Cisco, Juniper and Fortinet . One Chinese company, Topsec, was also an Equation target, according to the leaks. None of the manufacturers had responded to requests for comment at the time of publication.

The hackers released 60 per cent of the files they claimed to have taken from the Equation Group. The Shadow Brokers said they would release the remaining data to the highest bidder in a Bitcoin auction (they’ve received two bids so far). If they received an extraordinary 1,000,000 Bitcoins, worth roughly $560 million, they would release all the files.

(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 201608; 20160813; bitcoin; bitcoins; china; equationgroup; github; hacking; nsa; securitybreach; shadowbrokers; theshadowbrokers; topsec
Archive of the GritHub repository
1 posted on 08/15/2016 7:55:13 PM PDT by Mozilla
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To: Mozilla

I meant GitHub.


2 posted on 08/15/2016 7:56:15 PM PDT by Mozilla (Truth Is Stranger than Fiction.)
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To: Mozilla

Funny. I want them out of my private life.


3 posted on 08/15/2016 7:57:28 PM PDT by WENDLE (hillary took bribes through bill and foundation!!MILLIONS!!!)
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To: Mozilla

So if nsa is hacked, everybody’s everything is up for grabs.


4 posted on 08/15/2016 7:57:34 PM PDT by 867V309 (It's over. It's over now.)
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To: Mozilla

Yep, lower friction....


5 posted on 08/15/2016 7:57:52 PM PDT by Paladin2 (auto spelchk? BWAhaha2haaa.....I aint't likely fixin' nuttin'. Blame it on the Bossa Nova...)
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To: 867V309

Go, Galt, GO!


6 posted on 08/15/2016 7:59:14 PM PDT by Paladin2 (auto spelchk? BWAhaha2haaa.....I aint't likely fixin' nuttin'. Blame it on the Bossa Nova...)
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To: 867V309

The TSA agrees.


7 posted on 08/15/2016 7:59:51 PM PDT by Paladin2 (auto spelchk? BWAhaha2haaa.....I aint't likely fixin' nuttin'. Blame it on the Bossa Nova...)
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To: Mozilla

I believe this is the 2nd if not third posting of this.


8 posted on 08/15/2016 8:03:09 PM PDT by irishMN
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To: irishMN; Mozilla
I believe this is the 2nd if not third posting of this.

Excellent, thanks Mozilla! Otherwise I'd have missed it!


9 posted on 08/15/2016 8:07:14 PM PDT by 867V309 (It's over. It's over now.)
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To: Mozilla

>> I meant GitHub.

The politically correct GitHub is anything but gritty.


10 posted on 08/15/2016 8:09:49 PM PDT by Gene Eric (Don't be a statist!)
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To: Mozilla

Have they located ILLary’s 30,000 emails?


11 posted on 08/15/2016 8:15:25 PM PDT by hoosiermama (Trump makes me smile!)
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To: 867V309
I believe this is the 2nd if not third posting of this. Excellent, thanks Mozilla! Otherwise I'd have missed it!

True that the original post may have gotten buried by subsequent posts and that it may have been buried by govt agents intending to bury it, but I believe this site requests that you search before posting so there aren't 10 posts in a row about Hillary falling down(assuming they aren't unrelated incidents). I wasn't being offensive as many are and outright telling the poster to search first. Thanks for your input. In the future I'll just tell them to search rather than pointing out nicely that I believe this might be a duplicate.
12 posted on 08/15/2016 8:30:57 PM PDT by irishMN
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To: irishMN

The best thing may be to put links in all the versions, to one another.

Sometimes multiple posts really DO help with notoriety.


13 posted on 08/15/2016 8:36:17 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: irishMN; Mozilla
Thanks for your input.

You're welcome!

And, once again thanks to Mozilla for reposting an article I would otherwise have missed!


14 posted on 08/15/2016 8:44:54 PM PDT by 867V309 (It's over. It's over now.)
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To: 867V309

Are you media? You are taking my comments out of context. Whatever, enjoy the feeling. Have a good night.


15 posted on 08/15/2016 8:49:31 PM PDT by irishMN
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To: Mozilla
The NSA and other US government electronic security agencies are now significantly behind the leading edge of electronic security due to Congressional corruption, in a fashion very similar to a major cause of the World War Two failure of American torpedo detonators. Do a Google search for:

torpedo scandal

Those rarely mention how the dearth of 1920's - 1930's funding for military R&D also led to Congressional micromanagement of, and corruption in, funding of military R&D. Basically the US Navy's civilian manufacturing staff for torpedoes were heavily Congressional patronage appointees who were undisciplined and didn't give a hoot for quality control.

American defense procurement is getting that bad or worse, and this particularly applies to "black" budget procurement when the consequences of failure are so indirect as to be impossible to attribute to a given item. I.e., the hardware and software procurement for electronic security is very subject to Congressional meddling and mandates, and getting worse all the time. The contracts are micromanaged by Congress based on campaign contributions, aka kickbacks, by generous contractors to deserving Senators and Congressmen.

Who share with each other. Congressional committee chairs and even appointments are determined based on bribery. There are even on-line pricelists. See the photographs in Peter Schweizer's _Extortion_ here:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0544103343/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This will only get worse until we lose a city to terrorist nukes or lose a war, etc.

In the meantime the best electronic security in the US is found in the financial industry and very wealthy individuals. One of latter is Donald Trump, who is very aware of this issue.

16 posted on 08/15/2016 8:50:16 PM PDT by Thud
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To: irishMN
You are taking my comments out of context.

You thanked me, I acknowledged that. WTF?


17 posted on 08/15/2016 8:51:43 PM PDT by 867V309 (It's over. It's over now.)
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To: irishMN

You ought to go find an issue.


18 posted on 08/15/2016 8:53:24 PM PDT by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: Mozilla
The files included code allegedly designed to exploit firewalls from American manufacturers Cisco, Juniper and Fortinet.

I have no direct knowledge of the inner workings at NSA but... Seems to me they are such a big and obvious target, and such a massive and well funded target, and a group who has INFOSEC as one of their primary missions... Do you really think they rely on regular old commercial grade firewalls that anyone and everyone has access to, and could explore and exploit vulnerabilities in?

If it were me, the commercial firewalls would just be the outer layer. Just there to keep the common riff-raff out. I'd use them to identify the good hackers that could get through them. The guys I wanted to backtrace. Inside I'd use another layer of custom, home-made firewalls that no-one had ever seen before and thus had little or no idea how to hack through. But all the while they tried, I'd be watching and learning about them. If I were really mean, I'd make these look like a second line of commercial firewalls. Just a little bait and misdirection.

The hackers released 60 per cent of the files they claimed to have taken from the Equation Group.

ie. 60% of the honeypot that was left for them. Now here's the real conundrum for anyone interested in those files. Are they the real thing? Or are they part of an elaborate trap. If you get them, and in any way use or act on the information within, will that send up a red flag that you're the one with the files? Kind of blows your anonymity. But if you don't act on the information, then what good is having it? Paying for it? Taking the risks of getting it? Release them to the Internet, that way your interest is lost in the noise of a zillion other people. But if it is common knowledge, where's your advantage in having it too?

It's a good thing I'm just a simple engineer. I'd hate to have to make those kinds of calls.

19 posted on 08/15/2016 9:06:20 PM PDT by ThunderSleeps (Stop obarma now! Stop the hussein - insane agenda!)
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To: Mozilla

Didn’t Snowden release a communication a week or so ago, something about “it’s time?”


20 posted on 08/15/2016 9:22:06 PM PDT by Enterprise ("Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." Voltaire)
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