Category Archives: edward snowden

Snowden agrees to forfeit $5 million from ‘Permanent Record’ and speeches

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Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden has agreed to give up the proceeds from his book “Permanent Record” and the speeches he gave after leaking secret documents in 2013, under a deal reached with U.S. prosecutors. The Sept. 18 filing in a Virginia federal court would result in the forfeiture of more than $4 million that Snowden earned from the book, as well as $1 million from public appearances made from 2014 onward. A judge had ruled in late 2019 that in publishing the book and speaking about his leaks without pre-approval from the U.S. government, Snowden had violated his secrecy agreements with the CIA and NSA. The government has pursued the civil suit against Snowden as part of broader efforts to hold him to account for his unlawful disclosure of classified NSA surveillance programs in 2013. The government’s criminal case against him includes allegations that he violated the Espionage Act. […]

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NSA Data Collection Ruling, Browsing History Identification, Ambulance Chasing

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In episode 137 for September 7th 2020: A federal appeals court finds the NSA’s bulk collection of phone data was unlawful, new research shows that browsing histories are unique enough to reliably identify users, and my personal story about a car accide… Continue reading NSA Data Collection Ruling, Browsing History Identification, Ambulance Chasing→

NSA Mass Surveillance Program Illegal, U.S. Court Rules

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The NSA argued its mass surveillance program stopped terrorist attacks – but a new U.S. court ruling found that this is not, and may have even been unconstitutional. Continue reading NSA Mass Surveillance Program Illegal, U.S. Court Rules→

How one security researcher used radio signals to hop an air gap

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For years, researchers and spies have devised ways of getting malware to computers that are “air-gapped,” or physically isolated from external network connections. Attacks like Stuxnet, the computer worm deployed against an Iranian nuclear facility a decade ago, shattered the myth that air-gapped systems are impenetrable fortresses. In that case, suspected U.S. and Israeli intelligence operatives crossed an air gap with malware that ultimately sabotaged centrifuges at a uranium enrichment plant. They also planted an idea in the head of Mikhail Davidov, an ethical hacker: Getting malicious code into an air-gapped computer is one thing, but how do you retrieve data from the network? One possibility, it turns out, is in the radio spectrum. With a radio, antenna, and his own computer script, Davidov figured out how to use a signal emitted by an air-gapped computer’s graphics processing unit (GPU) to exfiltrate data. Davidov, the lead security researcher at Duo […]

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Judge rules proceeds from Snowden memoir belong to U.S. government

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A federal judge ruled Tuesday that any money former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden makes from his memoir or paid speeches must be given to the U.S. government because he did not receive approvals before the book was published. The judge notes in his decision that Snowden’s nondisclosure agreements with the government were unambiguous and required him to submit any writings for prepublication review. The book, “Permanent Record,” went on sale Sept. 17 from Metropolitan Books. “Snowden’s publication of Permanent Record without prior submission for prepublication review breached the CIA and NSA Secrecy agreement and the attendant fiduciary duties set forth in those agreements,” Judge Liam O’Grady writes. The civil suit against Snowden is the latest effort the U.S. government has undertaken to hold Snowden to account for his unlawful disclosure of classified NSA surveillance programs in 2013. Snowden also faces assorted criminal charges, including alleged violation the Espionage Act, which were […]

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Messaging app Wire confirms $8.2M raise, responds to privacy concerns after moving holding company to the US

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Big changes are afoot for Wire, an enterprise-focused end-to-end encrypted messaging app and service that advertises itself as “the most secure collaboration platform”. In February, Wire quietly raised $8.2 million from Morpheus Ventures and others, we’ve confirmed — the first funding amount it has ever disclosed — and alongside that external financing, it moved its […] Continue reading Messaging app Wire confirms $8.2M raise, responds to privacy concerns after moving holding company to the US→

Federal Court: Suspicionless Search of Traveler Devices by Border Agents Is Unconstitutional

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U.S. Customs agents now must have reasonable cause and suspicion to search traveler devices at points of entry. Continue reading Federal Court: Suspicionless Search of Traveler Devices by Border Agents Is Unconstitutional→

Mistrust lingers between government, industry on cyber information sharing

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Sharing cybersecurity information between the government and private sector won’t do much good if neither side trusts the other. “Information sharing” for a generation has been proposed as a solution by executives in corporate America and agency leaders in Washington as a necessary step in helping both sides keep ahead of hackers. The quick, reliable transmission of threat data, attacker objectives and the latest techniques for stealing U.S. secrets should be a key component of how security teams in the public and private sectors protect their systems. In order for that to work, decision-makers need to understand the incentives that make sharing their own threat information worth the effort. More than six years after former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden started leaking documents detailing government espionage on U.S.-built technology, there’s still a lingering sense of unease between Washington and Silicon Valley, Matt Olsen, chief trust and security officer at […]

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Podcast: Insider Attacks May Soon Cost Less Than Malware-based Equivalent

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At what point will infiltrating companies via the “insider threat model” become less costly and difficult than using malware? Threatpost discusses with a SolarWind expert. Continue reading Podcast: Insider Attacks May Soon Cost Less Than Malware-based Equivalent→