Is there no end to the willingness to undermine the Constitution, and now bribery, the NSA will go to?
As a key part of a campaign to embed encryption software that it could crack into widely used computer products, the U.S. National Security Agency arranged a secret $10 million contract with RSA, one of the most influential firms in the computer security industry, Reuters has learned.
[…]
The RSA deal shows one way the NSA carried out what Snowden’s documents describe as a key strategy for enhancing surveillance: the systematic erosion of security tools. NSA documents released in recent months called for using “commercial relationships” to advance that goal, but did not name any security companies as collaborators.The NSA came under attack this week in a landmark report from a White House panel appointed to review U.S. surveillance policy. The panel noted that “encryption is an essential basis for trust on the Internet,” and called for a halt to any NSA efforts to undermine it.
And RSAcorp is dead.
I say “RSAcorp” because the actual RSA encryption method is still robust.
BTW, I have 40 million credit card numbers for sales. I’m asking for a friend.
Not “how far NSA” will go. They are an arm of the executive branch, fed by laws of Senate/House. This explosion of anti-Constitutional surveillance happened under two of most Progressive Presidents and some of the most Progressive-packed Senate and House. Only close comparable abuse happened during the last Progressive in the White House – FDR (hey, let’s put Americans by racial origins into concentration camps FDR).
There will be no end of this until we put in charge people who are openly for SMALL Government, one which does Constitutionally prescribed duties and nothing else. One that does not “provide”. Because one who “provides” can take it away. And if you really want single payer Government run healthcare, bend over and don’t complain when the consequences of giving such powers to the Government come knocking in NSA style.
Federal healthcare -> NSA
Federal environmental regulations -> NSA
Federal education system -> NSA
Redistribution by unfair IRS taxation -> NSA
Large taxation by IRS -> NSA
Federal meddling with energy free market -> NSA
…
The worse is, not just NSA but may other abuses.
Damn. I never knew George W Bush was a Progressive.
This is an outrage. They would have settled for $5M. I hate when my tax dollars are squandered.
What makes you think it’s the RSA or the NSA who’s allowing for all the snooping – or even really doing it?! Have you taken a good look at Microsoft and their CA’s lately (those “certificates” that your IE browser and Windows OS use to “trust” certain connections/entities)? How about Adobe or even any of the big wig antivirus companies and the shenanigans going on there? How about GOOGLE?!!!
RSA/NSA (as if there’s really any difference) are just following what the corporate spy’s are doing. About the only difference is that the NSA happens to have badges in their pockets and authorization to kill you if you physically resist them.
No, we’re not living in a Nazi Germany paradise.
No, we’re not killing anyone.
IN A PIGS EYE!
Here’s a December 1995 Baltimore Sun article, on how the NSA has done this before. With the Swiss encryption firm Crypto AG.
http://cryptome.org/jya/nsa-sun.htm
And before the NSA was even formed. Post WW2 US-UK military intelligence, conspired to keep the fact that the German Enigma encryption machine had ever been broken. In the hopes that other nations would buy and use them. Never questioning that the machine’s mathematical complexity had been compromised. All the Enigma cracking machines, in England, were destroyed. But many more of them still existed back in the USA, under the Navy Department. Clueless countries went on using the “uncrackable” Enigma machine, until about 1970. When an author revealed the deception, in a book he published.
Used for bank and stock exchange money transfers. Until last week.
I have to wonder if they were ordered to do it by the FISA court and that the $10 million was to cover court ordered expenses. It just seems to me 10 million is too small of an incentive to bribe them into doing it.