Cops hate encryption but the NSA loves it when you use PGP

The Register ^ | Jan 27, 2016 | Iain Thomson

[dayglored]

A slightly different take on privacy and encryption. Personally I LOVE PGP, so if the NSA likes it too, well okay then, fair's fair.

[dayglored]

NSA loves encryption, eh? Okay, then ... PING!

You can find all the Windows Ping list threads with FR search: just search on keyword "windowspinglist".

[dayglored]

Ya gotta love it. Or something like that....

[ctdonath2]

Hence the importance of deeply embedding strong encryption in all communications, as Apple is doing. Normalize the usage such that simply using it isn’t sufficient grounds for inferring anything about the user.

[proxy_user]

There are some who use Mixmaster or Cyberpunk. The NSA may know where the mail originates, but they don’t know where it is going or who reads it.

[dayglored]

Precisely. The ongoing mantra with PGP has always been... the more people use it, the more normal it becomes, the less notable you are for using it.

I believe Apple is doing the same, correct, thing in that regard.

[Still Thinking]

Thus the need to put it everywhere by default or at least widespread. Not that I’m hoping terrorists should be able to hide (except that the Feral goobermint considers anyone normal a terrorist), but privacy is a basic human right, Robert Bork be damned.

[Darksheare]

Article awhile back mentioned something about Tor having been taken over by the feds?

[dayglored]

> Article awhile back mentioned something about Tor having been taken over by the feds?

Poetic justice -- after all, they invented it. No, they didn't "take it over", they just figured ways to make it less than perfectly secure.

But yeah, they set up a few false exit nodes and played games.

TOR is still pretty solid for most uses people put it to.

[Darksheare]

Ah.

[Utilizer]

Not the feds, and just a Tor node. Previous thread here:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3219311/posts

[dayglored]

> Not the feds, and just a Tor node.

I thought that was a different compromise. I think I recall reading that our spooks had set up one or more false exit nodes; don't recall if they were injecting malware for spying or not.

But I've been confused before... :-)

[Utilizer]

The feds have been using fake Tor nodes (and fake cellphone towers) for some time now, thanks for the reminder.

[Utilizer]

Two different themes. One was a site deliberately injecting malware through a fake Tor node, the other a history of fedgov-controlled fake Tor nodes over the years for the purposes of spying and trackin. Neither validates any claims that Tor itself is compromised.

[Scrambler Bob]

M4L TOR

[Svartalfiar]

Even just knowing your contacts can be incredibly useful to them in picking out individual people for further spying-on.

Using Metadata to find Paul Revere

[RockyTx]

what exactly is wrong with PGP?
please e specific.

don’t just say it sucks, or has a backdoor.

my understanding is that the
PGP sourcecode was open,
or maybe that was a long time ago.

[No.6]

The theory, if my memory of 20 years ago is still good, was that encryption use should be universally adopted specifically to keep use of encryption from flagging someone as suspicious.

As it is, it’s the digital equivalent of driving a candy-apple red Ferrari; whether you speed or not, every cop’s eyes are on you. (BTW green Ninjas work the same way at a somewhat lesser cost).

[GOPJ]

Even better is the Mujahedeen Secrets encryption system, which was released by the Global Islamic Media Front to allow Al Qaeda supporters to communicate in private. Weaver said that not only was it even harder to use than PGP, but it was a boon for metadata - since almost anyone using it identified themselves as a potential terrorist. "It's brilliant!" enthused Weaver. "Whoever it was at the NSA or GCHQ who invented it give them a big Christmas bonus."

I'm assuming if this is being made public that the bad guys already know... Shame... it's a great system allowing people to self identify as terrorists - or people with 'something to hide'...

[TChad]

PGP is the NSA's friend.

It's odd then that Edward Snowden insisted on communicating with the Guardian's Glenn Greenwald using PGP. Link goes to Huffington Post.