Category Archives: edwardsnowden

NSA Using Cyberattack for Defense

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These days, it’s rare that we learn something new from the Snowden documents. But Ben Buchanan found something interesting. The NSA penetrates enemy networks in order to enhance our defensive capabilities. The data the NSA collected by penetrating BYZANTINE CANDOR’s networks had concrete forward-looking defensive value. It included information on the adversary’s "future targets," including "bios of senior White House… Continue reading NSA Using Cyberattack for Defense→

The NSA Is Hoarding Vulnerabilities

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The National Security Agency is lying to us. We know that because of data stolen from an NSA server was dumped on the Internet. The agency is hoarding information about security vulnerabilities in the products you use, because it wants to use it to hack others’ computers. Those vulnerabilities aren’t being reported, and aren’t getting fixed, making your computers and… Continue reading The NSA Is Hoarding Vulnerabilities→

More NSA Documents from the Snowden Archive

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The Intercept is starting to publish a lot more documents. Yesterday they published the first year of an internal newsletter called SIDtoday, along with several articles based on the documents. The Intercept’s first SIDtoday release comprises 166 articles, including all articles published between March 31, 2003, when SIDtoday began, and June 30, 2003, plus installments of all article series begun… Continue reading More NSA Documents from the Snowden Archive→

Documenting the Chilling Effects of NSA Surveillance

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In Data and Goliath, I talk about the self-censorship that comes along with broad surveillance. This interesting research documents this phenomenon in Wikipedia: "Chilling Effects: Online Surveillance and Wikipedia Use," by Jon Penney, Berkeley Technology Law Journal, 2016. Abstract: This article discusses the results of the first empirical study providing evidence of regulatory "chilling effects" of Wikipedia users associated with… Continue reading Documenting the Chilling Effects of NSA Surveillance→