Snowden reveals automated NSA cyberwarfare program

computer world ^ | 8-13-2014 | Grant Gross (IDG News Service)

[Citizen Zed]

The NSA cyberwarfare program, called MonsterMind, uses software to look for traffic patterns indicating possible foreign cyberattacks, according to Snowden, quoted in a lengthy profile in Wired.

MonsterMind could automatically block a cyberattack from entering the U.S., then retaliate against the attackers, according to the Wired story.

Snowden, when he was working as an NSA contractor, was concerned that MonsterMind could lead to misdirected counterattacks. "These attacks can be spoofed," he told Wired. "You could have someone sitting in China, for example, making it appear that one of these attacks is originating in Russia. And then we end up shooting back at a Russian hospital. What happens next?"

[Citizen Zed]

Which one is Skynet?

[EternalVigilance]

What happens next?

Dang. They could break the internet.

[Scutter]

The real motives of Snowden are showing through. This has nothing to do with the privacy of US citizens. This is just flat-out treason.

[MeshugeMikey]

or if for example someone spoofed an attack coming from my house.....

[Ezekiel]

Snowden, when he was working as an NSA contractor, was concerned that MonsterMind could lead to misdirected counterattacks. "These attacks can be spoofed," he told Wired. "You could have someone sitting in China, for example, making it appear that one of these attacks is originating in Russia. And then we end up shooting back at a Russian hospital. What happens next?"

[gaijin]

He really needs to keep the focus on how da gummint is spying on Americans.

[GeronL]

lol

good one

[palmer]

MonsterMind also creates privacy problems, because it would have to access nearly all the communications coming into the U.S. in order to work, Snowden told Wired. "If we're analyzing all traffic flows, that means we have to be intercepting all traffic flows," he said. "That means violating the Fourth Amendment, seizing private communications without a warrant, without probable cause or even a suspicion of wrongdoing. For everyone, all the time."

I don't think that reading the content of people's emails is going to stop a cyber attack. OTOH grabbing all the traffic to look for a couple packets that are part of an attack are yet another pointless needle-in-haystack searches. We should not be intercepting traffic, not because it invades privacy, but because needle-in-haystack searches do not work.

[MeshugeMikey]

[Hawthorn]

>> He really needs to keep the focus on how da gummint is spying on Americans <<

Indeed. Otherwise, he might make the Snowden-lovers and Putin-lovers on FR look bad!

[null and void]

Nut-job Conspiracy Theory Ping!

To get onto The Nut-job Conspiracy Theory Ping List you must threaten to report me to the Mods if I don't add you to the list...

[Nifster]

out of control agencies

[Red Badger]

I love that movie!
There should have been a sequel.
There still can be, since Eric Braeden (Forbin) is still living. and working on Young & the Restless.................

[Red Badger]

Will Smith to remake Colossus: The FORBIN PROJECT............

http://screenrant.com/will-smith-colossus-forbin-project-ron-howard-kofi-83916/