NSA was collecting voice calls, photos, passwords, documents, and much more

[jos]

NSA documents leaked to the Guardian in 2013 described a covert program called XKeyscore, which involved a searchable database for intelligence analysts to scan intercepted data. Now, new documents show the breadth of this program and just what sort of data XKeyscore catalogs.

 

The XKeyescore database is "fed a constant flow of Internet traffic from fiber optic cables that make up the back of the world's communication network, among other sources, for processing," the new report writes. Its servers collect all of this data for up to five days, and store the metadata of this traffic for up to 45 days.

Web traffic wasn't XKeyscore's only target. In fact, according to the documents posted by The Intercept, it was able to gather data like voice recordings. A list of the intercepted data included "pictures, documents, voice calls, webcam photos, web searches, advertising analytics traffic, social media traffic, botnet traffic, logged keystrokes, computer network exploitation (CNE) targeting, intercepted username and password pairs, file uploads to online services, Skype sessions and more."

How the search works is very advanced. The new documents detail ways that analysts can query the database for information on people based on location, nationality, and previous web traffic.

XKeyscore was also used to help hack into computer networks for both the US and its spying allies. One document dated in 2009 claims that the program could be used to gain access into unencrypted networks.

Using XKeyscore was reportedly insanely easy. "The amount of work an analyst has to perform to actually break into remote computers over the Internet seems ridiculously reduced - we are talking minutes, if not seconds," security researcher Jonathan Brossard told The Intercept. "Simple. As easy as typing a few words in Google."

The NSA, in a statement to The Intercept, claims that all of its intelligence operations are "authorized by law." It added, "NSA goes to great lengths to narrowly tailor and focus its signals intelligence operations on the collection of communications that are most likely to contain foreign intelligence or counterintelligence information."

 

 

I give up...No use in trying to become private..

 

Source: https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/07/01/nsas-google-worlds-private-communications/

 

 

[imthewalrus]

And this is news because?

[Atmos]

Honestly, if people are that concerned with a computer sucking up data that a real person will likely NEVER look at, then you should never log into any website, never go into any shop and buy anything with a debit/credit card, or use any internet or mobile service period. In any of those cases sites automatically collect all inbound data and store it, and it's far easier for a person working the shop to steal your card info, or a web admin to steal passwords and email accounts.

 

Metadata is meaningless, and it's been collected by the service companies since it's creation, the government having access to it makes no difference, it's already NOT private to begin with.

Collecting actual full voice calls on the other hand isn't ok, though I doubt that's what was actually happening.

 

I don't support the NSA or it's methods. But let's be honest guys... It's not like 3/4ths of the stuff they collect was private to begin with, somewhere, somehow another company whether it's the service provider, or the recipient can see, and collect that data, and most likely is already.

[Tech_Dreamer]

NSA = Illuminati

[Dabombinable]

@jos

You really need to work on your news posting skills.

[,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,]

@jos

You really need to work on your news posting skills.

 

I thought he did fine.

[mr moose]

Honestly, if people are that concerned with a computer sucking up data that a real person will likely NEVER look at, then you should never log into any website, never go into any shop and buy anything with a debit/credit card, or use any internet or mobile service period. In any of those cases sites automatically collect all inbound data and store it, and it's far easier for a person working the shop to steal your card info, or a web admin to steal passwords and email accounts.

 

Metadata is meaningless, and it's been collected by the service companies since it's creation, the government having access to it makes no difference, it's already NOT private to begin with.

Collecting actual full voice calls on the other hand isn't ok, though I doubt that's what was actually happening.

 

I don't support the NSA or it's methods. But let's be honest guys... It's not like 3/4ths of the stuff they collect was private to begin with, somewhere, somehow another company whether it's the service provider, or the recipient can see, and collect that data, and most likely is already.

 

The problem most people have is not that real people are unlikely to look at what they are doing, but that it's not supposed to be that easy for them to look in the first place and that they are supposed to require a court order to obtain certain levels of information, especially passwords.

 

The internet is becoming an irrevocable part of  modern day functioning. When people are not offered an alternative to the internet then their privacy on the internet should be guaranteed.

[blackadder]

So Google and the NSA now have all the information needed to fill anything out better than myself,job applications, college applications, e harmony ect.

I feel sorry for the botnet that has to filter my life.

[CommandMan7]

We either need quantum encryption devices (http://www.idquantique.com/) or to create a peer-to-peer decentralized internet (http://project-maelstrom.bittorrent.com/).

 

The current internet was literally born out of a US military project (ARPANET and DARPA), what kind of security do you expect from a network that has been and always will be run by the US government.

[Admiral Naismith]

The issue is that the NSA and other intelligence agencies have little to no accountability, not just that they have these tools. We don't know who or what they go after, easily allowing for a lot of bad stuff. Even if this doesn't happen, these agencies get into a lot of bad sh*t that they shouldn't be doing and wouldn't be doing if they could be properly held accountable. Like causing major tensions between Germany, Europe, and the U.S. due to sketchy spying. XKeyscore is useful, but it is an incredibly dangerous tool for people who are unlikely to be held accountable.

 

Lets say I ran for president. Lets say I won the election. Now, I was going to help increase transparency in the military and law enforcement, but, all of the sudden, I'm getting told that the public would be made aware of all those 'Aloha Snackbar' parodies I liked and my porn history from when I was 14 and bored would 'accidentally' get leaked. This may seem like a minor thing but, don't you remember that rising presidential candidate that lost all forward movement after a rather enthusiastic Yea! Small things can become major issues if it's a slow news day and some one has a bone to pick.

 

 

It was just a insignificant thing that should only have resulted in a few giggles. He had to yell to be heard over the crowd but, the microphone didn't pick up the crowd as well so it made him seem a little over enthusiastic. The news media however thought this was the biggest deal and played it over several hundred times.