Hints suggest an insider helped the NSA “Equation Group” hacking tools leak

Structure of leaked files, other factors suggest someone inside "air gap" snuck them out.

Read the whole story

 

[TurboPower]

Clearly it is a Donald Trump supporting Russian Berniebro Hacker trying to meddle with the American elections by leaking the tools necessary for recovering Hillary's deleted emails being held by the FBI in an air-gapped bunker built to prevent their release until after the election.

 

[ars diavoli]

Humans are almost always the weakest point of a security system.

 

[potato44819]

So it is possible we have another Snowden in the making.

 

[Faanchou]

The naming convention used for the directories and files, as well as some of the scripts included in the dump, suggested the documents were copied from an internal system at the NSA that would have never been in contact with external networks. As Motherboard's source told reporters Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai and Joseph Cox, "My colleagues and I are fairly certain that this was no hack, or group for that matter...This ‘Shadow Brokers’ character is one guy, an insider employee.”

Well, that's a relief then. After Snowden and the server move, NSA is bound to have detailed access logs to each and every file contained within the dump so it will be trivial to point out the culprit. It's not like they just made a copy and let a new batch of contractors loose, right?

 

[andrewsc0]

I can't believe how far Hollywood will go to market the new Jason Bourne movie.

 

[Faanchou]

ars diavoli[/url]":2msl0815]Humans are almost always the weakest point of a security system.

It's all right, humans are always also the only point of a security system.

 

[Death_wish01]

well this is interesting. I feel like I'm watching a movie/tv show.

 

[BajaPaul]

The leak may be bad for the NSA but is nothing compared to the turmoil that will be caused by another massive insider mole hunt....

 

[Velma Velvet]

ars diavoli[/url]":1l3kxdxj]Humans are almost always the weakest point of a security system.

Humans are always the weakest link.

 

[12mnkeys]

Faanchou[/url]":ugo43dcm]

The naming convention used for the directories and files, as well as some of the scripts included in the dump, suggested the documents were copied from an internal system at the NSA that would have never been in contact with external networks. As Motherboard's source told reporters Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai and Joseph Cox, "My colleagues and I are fairly certain that this was no hack, or group for that matter...This ‘Shadow Brokers’ character is one guy, an insider employee.”

Well, that's a relief then. After Snowden and the server move, NSA is bound to have detailed access logs to each and every file contained within the dump so it will be trivial to point out the culprit. It's not like they just made a copy and let a new batch of contractors loose, right?

Unless our lad was smart enough to do some social engineering and got a hold of someone else's pw. if this is the case, the poor innocent bastard is going to have a hard time trying to tell the CIA enhanced interrogation method guy that he got the wrong person all while having his knee caps pealed with a potato pealer. poor innocent bastard.

 

[viscious+ars2]

truthyboy15[/url]":1ummw30t]

TurboPower[/url]":1ummw30t]Clearly it is a Donald Trump supporting Russian Berniebro Hacker trying to meddle with the American elections by leaking the tools necessary for recovering Hillary's deleted emails being held by the FBI in an air-gapped bunker built to prevent their release until after the election.

i still dont know why clinton just didn't retire herself from the election and let sanders have the nomination except that the dnc dont want sanders anywhere near the whitehouse.

Guessing, but maybe because she wants to be president more than she wants Bernie Sanders to be president?

 

[azrolator]

truthyboy15[/url]":1zghm6ip]

talan123[/url]":1zghm6ip]

Faanchou[/url]":1zghm6ip]

talan123[/url]":1zghm6ip]

truthyboy15[/url]":1zghm6ip]

TurboPower[/url]":1zghm6ip]Clearly it is a Donald Trump supporting Russian Berniebro Hacker trying to meddle with the American elections by leaking the tools necessary for recovering Hillary's deleted emails being held by the FBI in an air-gapped bunker built to prevent their release until after the election.

i still dont know why clinton just didn't retire herself from the election and let sanders have the nomination except that the dnc dont want sanders anywhere near the whitehouse.

Considering he lost every metric of the nomination process and then quit the party after said loss, the DNC would be crazy to let him anywhere near the such discussions if they ever happened.

Given that, I really don't see why GOP didn't go after Sanders just to have someone sane to offer instead of the Donald.

Because he is diametrically opposed to their entire ideology and, unlike his SOME of his supporters knows when to stop after losing.

Seriously, he is not going to be the President of the United States. Ever.

the chance of a drumpf presidency is 85%

12 percent according to polls.

 

[Man o' War]

1. whoever's responsibility it is at the NSA to keep people from stealing their secrets is not up to the task.

2. there needs to be a public accounting of what the NSA is up to wrt USA citizens. i would like to know whether their intent or incompetence is more dangerous.

3. i have little hope of either being addressed.

 

[AnchorClanker]

After 9/11 Congress freaked out and started throwing shit-tons of money at agencies like the NSA. Understandable, though the leadership of those agencies was/is run by the same US security establishment that was blindsided by the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Arab Spring, ISIS, and the recent coup attempt in Turkey.
Money doesn't go begging in D.C. The agencies started hiring contractors right and left. The contractors rushed to hire employees right and left. It was a Gold Rush. In light of that, and of the fact that government agencies never, ever, grow smaller, occasional leaks and document dumps are going to be part of the scene for the foreseeable future. They've cobbled together a Brobdingnagian apparatus with what seems to be minimal oversight. Me, I'd rather see them become smaller and smarter than to continue to gather more data than they can effectively deal with.

 

[Deleted member 192806]

ars diavoli[/url]":2omnc9xy]Humans are almost always the weakest point of a security system.

Heaven help us when AI starts using cryptography.

 

[Deleted member 192806]

Velma Velvet[/url]":axq9deos]

ars diavoli[/url]":axq9deos]Humans are almost always the weakest point of a security system.

Humans are always the weakest link.

Made for a good show though.

 

[carcharoth]

Clearly the system is so unethical that people feel the need to step in

and whaddya know, the leaks prove their fear to be reasonable

if politicians, agency leaders and potential presidents can break the law, i see no reason to condemn someone who breaks the law while actually trying to help the people

 

[coolsoundingme]

Shadow Brokers

I'm Commander Shepherd and this is my favorite hacking group on the Citadel.

 

[SmokeTest]

truthyboy15[/url]":1ee5749h]

TurboPower[/url]":1ee5749h]Clearly it is a Donald Trump supporting Russian Berniebro Hacker trying to meddle with the American elections by leaking the tools necessary for recovering Hillary's deleted emails being held by the FBI in an air-gapped bunker built to prevent their release until after the election.

i still dont know why clinton just didn't retire herself from the election and let sanders have the nomination except that the dnc dont want sanders anywhere near the whitehouse.

Probably because she won? People don't usually concede as a result of winning. At least, not in the world I live in.

Where are you from that the winner traditionally concedes?

For the overly sensitive Sanders supporters out there, you should not take this as me attacking Sanders. I supported Sanders. I donated to his campaign. Twice. I even went to the primary, as a Sanders supporter, in my Sanders shirt drinking coffee out of my Feel the Bern mug.

But Sanders lost, and it's time to get the fuck over it. If you're not mature enough to handle your preferred candidate losing without throwing a hissy fit, then what makes you think you're mature enough to take part in the political process?

 

[MrTom]

Velma Velvet[/url]":3qd6ymmx]

ars diavoli[/url]":3qd6ymmx]Humans are almost always the weakest point of a security system.

Humans are always the weakest link.

One human makes the lock, and another human picks the lock.

 

[IGoBoom]

Curse you Pokemon Go!!!!

 

[wangstramedeous]

Ah finally, a more plausible explanation is put forward. Only two weeks ago right here in Ars, I pointed out that no one has come out so far and said, 'yes, we have actual evidence that confirms that Russia was involved in the hacks so far'. It's all being attribution and speculation but thankful the media has repeated it enough its taken the aura of truth.

I know a some people really want to believe that foreign 'actors' want to influence the election so it feels like a good explanation. However to me, it seems a bit colorful to not simply assume that people who actually have a big stake in the elections won't happen to be closer to home. Why go overseas looking for a boogeyman if not as a diversion? Why would Russia get their hands on some of the most sophisticated hacking tools then release it to everyone...

Hopefully this continues to bear fruit.

 

[ExPatCA]

What does this article have to do with Clinton or Trump? Yet the comments are filled with this stuff.

Can the posting guides be updated to prohibit this kind of stuff and some way to report this to a mod.

I come to ARS to escape this crap.

 

[0bliv!on]

BaritoneGuy[/url]":me2dy9nf]What does this article have to do with Clinton or Trump? Yet the comments are filled with this stuff.

Can the posting guides be updated to prohibit this kind of stuff and some way to report this to a mod.

I come to ARS to escape this crap.

Yup. Been downvoting and moving on.

On topic - leakers like this one shouldn't be condemned, they should be celebrated because they're acting according to their conscience, instead of blindly following orders, including lawful ones because God knows laws are not a good enough substitute for actual morals and ethics.

 

[rdeforest]

BaritoneGuy[/url]":sit57yun]What does this article have to do with Clinton or Trump? Yet the comments are filled with this stuff.

Can the posting guides be updated to prohibit this kind of stuff and some way to report this to a mod.

I come to ARS to escape this crap.

I prefer that Ars allow any kind of post that doesn't violate a law or undermine the security of the site.

"Off-topic" is not a binary or objective trait of a post. It's a spectrum and it varies by reader, as does the degree to which they care. I up-voted several of the election posts before reading your post.

If Ars decides to devote resources to this issue I hope they develop amd deploy a more flexible moderation system.

 

[Deleted member 192806]

rdeforest[/url]":3jo7k3i5]

If Ars decides to devote resources to this issue I hope they develop amd deploy a more flexible moderation system.

Good luck with that. Many sites have tried. Some have come to the conclusion no comments is better.

 

[Ralf The Dog]

Ostracus[/url]":30eh4u2m]

ars diavoli[/url]":30eh4u2m]Humans are almost always the weakest point of a security system.

Heaven help us when AI starts using cryptography.

We already do.