Edward Snowden has some advice for maintaining online privacy in an age of widespread NSA surveillance. Snowden called Google and Facebook dangerous while praising Apples encryption efforts.

"We're talking about encryption. We're talking about dropping programs that are hostile to privacy, Snowden said inan interview published Saturday by theNew Yorker.For example, Dropbox? Get rid of Dropbox; it doesn't support encryption, it doesn't protect your private files. And use competitors like SpiderOak that do the same exact service, but they protect the content of what you're sharing."

Snowden, the former NSA analyst who revealed the extent of U.S. government surveillance in 2013, did so from a hotel in Hong Kong before leaving for Russia. Having ditched his Hawaii apartment and $122,000 annual salary earlier that summer, he said in the interview he intended only a brief stay in Russia before leaving for Latin America, only to face visa issues that prevented him from leaving. Snowden is now actively sought by the U.S. to face espionage charges.

Dropbox defended itself in a June blog post after Snowden bashed the services security. All of the files its users send and receive are encrypted while traveling between you and our servers and when they are at rest on Dropboxs servers. SpiderOak encrypts data locally on a users computer as well, as opposed to only when it is in transit or in the cloud.

Snowden said Facebook and Google have improved their methods of protecting user privacy but were still dangerous services that should largely be avoided. Ironically, the interview was conducted remotely over Google Hangouts and streamed live on the tech giants YouTube.

Consumers should also be wary of standard text-messaging services from wireless providers, Snowden said. Silent Circle for iPhone and Android and RedPhone, which is currently Android-only, were better replacements because they encrypt texts -- but require that both users install the app to communicate.

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NSA Leaker Edward Snowden Offers Online Privacy Tips

COEUR d'ALENE - Oral arguments before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals are scheduled for Dec. 8 in a North Idaho nurse's legal challenge to the federal government's bulk collection of Americans' phone records.

Coeur d'Alene attorney Peter Smith will be arguing in Seattle in front of the three-judge panel, representing his wife, Anna Smith, a neonatal nurse and Verizon Wireless customer. Verizon was one of the companies ordered to disclose records to the National Security Agency.

The Smiths filed the lawsuit against President Barack Obama and several U.S. intelligence agencies after the government confirmed revelations that the NSA was collecting the data under the Patriot Act.

Peter Smith said Friday the collection and storage of the phone records violates the Fourth Amendment.

"The question comes down to: Should the government be able to get this information and keep it?" he said. "Or should it be left with the private companies?"

Once the government has all the data, that gives it power, he said. It comes down to the possession of the records, he said.

"We don't trust the government," he said.

U.S. District Court Judge Lynn Winmill dismissed Anna Smith's case. Winmill determined the legal precedent from the 1979 U.S. Supreme Court case Smith v. Maryland - about targeted phone surveillance - tied his hands.

"He followed the law as he understood it," Peter Smith said.

The Smiths appealed to the Ninth Circuit.

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Oral arguments set for NSA case

Census Harassment: "They won #39;t take no for an answer"; "the NSA listens to everybody"
This is audio of a real phone call that transpired on October 6, 2014. The Census representative issued veiled threats and promised ongoing harassment if I would not respond to a questionnaire...

By: Census Harassment

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Census Harassment: "They won't take no for an answer"; "the NSA listens to everybody" - Video

galera de nsa
Este vdeo foi enviado de um telefone com o Android.

By: Ernandes Campos

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galera de nsa - Video

Army General Keith Alexander.

DOD/NSA

New financial disclosure documents released this month by the National Security Agency (NSA) show that Keith Alexander, who served as its director from August 2005 until March 2014, had thousands of dollars of investments during his tenure in a handful of technology firms.

Each year disclosed has a checked box next to this statement: "Reported financial interests or affiliations are unrelated to assigned or prospective duties, and no conflicts appear to exist."

Alexander repeatedly made the public case that the American public is at "greater risk" from a terrorist attack in the wake of the Snowden disclosures. Statements such as those could have a positive impact on the companies he was invested in, which could have eventually helped his personal bottom line.

The NSA did not immediately respond to Ars requests for further comment.

The documents were obtained and published Fridayby ViceNews as the result of a Freedom of Information Act request and subsequent lawsuit against the NSA brought by Vice Newsreporter Jason Leopold.

The 60 released pages, which cover a period from 2008 through 2013, document that as of 2008, Alexander had as much as $50,000 invested in Synchronoss, a cloud storage firm. Synchronoss provides services to major mobile phone providers, including AT&T, Verizon and others.

He also had as much as $15,000 invested in Datascension, a "data gathering and research company." Public trades in the firm were suspended by the Securities and Exchange Commission in August 2014 due to "a lack of current and accurate information" about it.

Pericom, a semiconductor company that also has made hardware for "DVR solutions for the CCTV security and surveillance markets," also appears in his portfolio, with investments up to $15,000 appearing as of 2008.

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Former NSA director had thousands personally invested in obscure tech firms

MOSCOW NSA-leaker Edward Snowden was granted a three-year residence permit in Russia today and will be able to apply for a Russian citizenship in five years.

Snowden's lawyer Anatoly Kucherena announced the decision made by the federal migration service (FMS) at a news conference in Moscow on Thursday afternoon.

"Speaking about [Snowden's] subsequent status, he will be now free to travel abroad for a period of up to three months," he said.

According to Kucherena, Snowden did not apply for political asylum in Russia. "We are not talking about political asylum here. We are talking about temporary residence," he said. "Political asylum is a totally different procedure. It is granted by a presidential decree."

Snowden, who raised controversy last summer when he leaked a number of classified documents to the press, arrived at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport in late June 2013 and spent more than five weeks at the airport's transit zone before obtaining temporary asylum, which allowed him to enter Russian territory.

STORYRussia's Biggest Movie Theater to be Inaugurated

As Snowden's story came to public attention, it almost immediately attracted filmmakers. Last September, a parody character based on Snowden was featured in the U.S. cartoon series South Park, bringing the ratings of the episode, Let Go, Let Gov, to a two-year high.

Classified: The Edward Snowden Story, a Canadian independent movie centered on the former NSA contractors story, is slated for release this September.

In June 2014, director Oliver Stone had bought the rights to Kucherena's novel based on Snowden's life and will use it alongside Luke Harding's nonfiction book, The Snowden Files, as a basis for the screenplay of his movie, which is due to begin production later this year.

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NSA Leaker Edward Snowden Gets Three-Year Residence Permit in Russia

Former National Security Agency Director Keith Alexander held multiple personal investments in several technology companies, according to NSA documents obtained by Vice NewsFriday. Alexanders supervisors indicated his financial reports did not reflect any conflicts of interest during his tenure as NSA director, but, before they were released, the agency claimed they could compromise the national interest of the United States.

Among Alexanders personal portfolio companies were Synchronoss Technologies Inc., a firm that provides mobile carriers such as AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. with cloud storage, Ars Technica reported. They also included Datascension Inc., a data-gathering company and several outfits that specialize in different types of surveillance, such as air-traffic control, radar and video, Vice said.

The documents represented Alexanders financial reports from 2009 to 2014. Each report claimed Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper concluded his investments were unrelated to his prospective duties and no conflicts appear to exist, Vice said.

The NSA previously refused Vice journalist Jason Leopolds request for Alexanders financial reports under the Freedom of Information Act. After a lawsuit was filed, the agency released the documents.

Alexander was the head of the NSA during the year when NSA leaker Edward Snowden provided to the media many classified documents revealing embarrassing details about the agencys spying. Alexander resigned in March 2014 and has since opened a cybersecurity company that sells protection to financial institutions, Ars Technica noted.

Alexander charges between $600,000 and $1 million a month for his services, Bloomberg News reported.

U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., criticized Alexanders company in a letter to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, or Sifma, in June. Grayson claimed there is no way Alexander could offer his services without disclosing classified information made available to him through his former position at the NSA.

In his letter, Grayson requested Sifma hand over all information regarding its negotiations with Alexander so that Congress can verify whether or not he is selling military and cybersecurity secrets to the financial services industry for personal gain. He wrote, Without the classified information that he acquired in his former position, he literally would have nothing to offer you.

Alexander denied the implication to the Associated Press in August. Ive been in government for 40 years, he said. I fully understand the importance and sanctity of classified material.

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Former NSA Director Keith Alexander Invested Heavily In Tech Firms, Agency Denies Conflict Of Interest

NSA Chief takes turn at the Ghana-Brazil 2014 WorldCup Commission of Inquiry
The Director General of the National Sports Authority (NSA), Mr.Joe Kpenge, today briefed the three-man Presidential commission of inquiry on some challenges...

By: Ghana Broadcasting Corporation

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NSA Chief takes turn at the Ghana-Brazil 2014 WorldCup Commission of Inquiry - Video

Ex-NSA chief admits govt secrets are cover-ups
Australia #39;s The Canberra Times just ran an article called "Government secrecy cannot disinfect, or hide, dirty laundry." It focuses on how governments keep information secret from the press...

By: RT America

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Ex-NSA chief admits govt secrets are cover-ups - Video

GCSB and The NSA, Dr Katherine Albrecht with Vinny Eastwood 29July2013 1of6

By: Vinny Eastwood

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GCSB and The NSA, Dr Katherine Albrecht with Vinny Eastwood 29July2013 1of6 - Video

As a much-anticipated documentary about NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden premiers in New York this evening, new revelations are being published simultaneously that expose more information about the NSAs work to compromise computer networks and devices.

Newly-brought-to-light documents leaked by Snowden discuss operations by the NSA working inside China, Germany and South Korea to help physically subvert and compromise foreign networks and equipment, according to a report published by The Intercept. They also suggest the NSA may have undercover agents planted inside companies to provide assistance in gaining access to systems in the global communications industry. And they bolster previous reports that the NSA works with U.S. and foreign companies to weaken their encryption systems.

The new report is written by Peter Maass and Laura Poitras. Poitras is the celebrated documentary filmmaker who Snowden contacted in 2013 to provide her with a trove of NSA documents and who has interviewed him in Hong Kong and Moscow for her film CitizenFour.

Among the new documents, which are seen in the film, is a 13-page brief dating from 2004 about Sentry Eagle, a term the NSA used to describe a collection of closely held programs whose details were so tightly controlled that, according to the document, they could be disclosed only to a limited number of people approved by senior intelligence officials.

Unauthorized disclosure . . .will cause exceptionally grave damage to U.S. national security, the document states. The loss of this information could critically compromise highly sensitive cryptologic U.S. and foreign relationships, multi-year past and future NSA investments, and the ability to exploit foreign adversary cyberspace while protecting U.S. cyberspace.

The brief reveals new details about six categories of NSA operations that fall under the Sentry Eagle rubric. These are also known as the NSAs core secrets and are identified as:

Sentry Hawkwhich involves computer network exploitation (aka CNE), the governments term for digital espionage. (For example, programs like Flame would fall into this category.)

Sentry Falconwhich involves computer network defense.

Sentry Ospreywhich appears to involve overseeing NSA clandestine operations conducted in conjunction with the CIA, FBI, the Defense Intelligence Agency and Army intelligence. These operations involve human intelligence assets, or HUMINT assets (Target ExploitationTAREX) to support signals intelligence (SIGINT) operations.

This is one of the biggest reveals of the report. Apparently, under Sentry Osprey, people responsible for target exploitation operations are embedded in operations conducted by the CIA, Defense Intelligence Agency, and FBI to provide technical expertise these agencies lack. This would include covert or clandestine field activities as well as interception, or interdiction of devices in the supply chain to modify equipment or implant bugs or beacons in hardware. The TAREX group specializes in physical subversionthat is, subversion through physical access to a device or facility, rather than by implanting spyware remotely over the internet. The report doesnt indicate if the kinds of modifications made to equipment involve sabotage, but its possible the alterations made could include planting logic bombs in software to destroy data or equipment, as the Stuxnet worm did in Iran.

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NSA May Have Undercover Operatives in Foreign Companies

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MojoKid writes One of the downsides to the news cycle is that no matter how big or hot a story is, something else inevitably comes along. The advent of ISIS and Ebola, combined with the passing of time, have pushed national security concerns out of the limelight until, that is, someone at the NSA helps out by reminding us that yes, the agency still exists and yes, it still has some insane policies and restrictions. Earlier this year, the Federation of American Scientists filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the NSA. The group was seeking information it thought would be relatively low-key what authorized information had been leaked to the media over the past 12 months? The NSA's response reads as follows: "The document responsive to your request has been reviewed by this Agency as required by the FOIA and has been found to be currently and properly classified in accordance with Executive Order 13526. The document is classified because its disclosure could reasonably be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security." The NSA is insisting that it has the right to keep its lawful compliance and public disclosures secret not because the NSA is made of evil people but because the NSA has a knee-jerk preference and demand for secrecy. In a spy organization, that's understandable and admirable but it's precisely the opposite of what's needed to rebuild American's faith in the institution and its judgment.

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NSA To Scientists: We Won't Tell You What We've Told You; That's Classified

Secure remote control for conventional and virtual desktops

If you've been worrying that NSA leaker Edward Snowden has been living a wretched existence in some horrible Moscow flat, shunned and alone, fear not. A new documentary on him claims that, on the contrary, he's happy and healthy as is his live-in girlfriend.

According to the film Citizenfour by documentarian Laura Poitras, Snowden has spent the last few months shacked up with long-term beau Lindsay Mills, who moved to Russia to be with him in June of this year.

Snowden and Mills reportedly met in Japan in 2009 and later moved to the US state of Hawaii together, where Snowden worked as a contractor for the NSA while employed by the consultancy Booz Allen Hamilton.

Mills, meanwhile, worked as an occasional exotic dancer, although at the time she described herself on her own website as a "world-traveling, pole-dancing super hero."

When Snowden fled Hawaii for Hong Kong with his cache of purloined NSA documents, Mills blogged that she was typing on her "tear-streaked keyboard," saying, in characteristically turgid style, "I dont know what will happen from here. I dont know how to feel normal. But I do know that I am loved, by myself and those around me. And no matter where my compass-less vessel will take me, that love will keep me buoyant."

Mills later pulled the plug on her online exhibitionist activities in light of all the unwanted attention she was receiving following Snowden's flight.

But now it seems that her "compass-less vessel" has managed to steer her to Russia, where she has rejoined Snowden in his Moscow love-nest. Whether Snowden and his associates were instrumental in helping her relocate and obtain the requisite visas is not clear.

"But the fact that he is now living in domestic bliss as well, with his long-term girlfriend whom he loves, should forever put to rest the absurd campaign to depict his life as grim and dank," writes longtime Snowden chronicler Glen Greenwald in an article for his publication, The Intercept.

Poitras' documentary on Snowden premiered on Friday at the New York Film Festival.

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To Russia With Love: Edward Snowden's pole-dancer girlfriend is living with him in Moscow

NSA=NAUGHTY SPYING ANIMALS!
WE THE PEOPLE MUST STAND AGAINST TYRANNY AND THE CORRUPT GOVERNMENT! NOW!!! FREEDOM HAS NEVER BEEN FREE!

By: Justin Key

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NSA=NAUGHTY SPYING ANIMALS! - Video

Gen Michael Hayden : The NSA collects all data
Gen Michael Hayden admitting that the NSA sits on fibre even between Google data centers, collecting everything it can.

By: jamie rishaw

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Gen Michael Hayden : The NSA collects all data - Video

Tor Project #39;s Andrew Lewman - NSA and GCHQ agents #39;leaking Tor bugs #39; - Truthloader
Tor Project #39;s Andrew, Executive Director and the guy responsible for all the operation, answers Truthloader #39;s questions on what it #39;s all about, who they #39;re f...

By: Truthloader

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Tor Project's Andrew Lewman - NSA and GCHQ agents 'leaking Tor bugs' - Truthloader - Video

Magnus Olsson: Transhumanist Agenda are mind stealers! Conference to feature NSA whistleblower
Magnus Olsson: Transhumanist Agenda are mind-stealers! Brussels conference to feature NSA whistleblower William Binney ...

By: Alfred Lambremont Webre

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Magnus Olsson: Transhumanist Agenda are mind stealers! Conference to feature NSA whistleblower - Video

Matt Olsen on the NSA and Edward Snowden (Oct. 8, 2014) | Charlie Rose
Matt Olsen, former director of the National Counterterrorism Center, talks to Charlie Rose about the fallout from Edward Snowden #39;s leaks regarding NSA surveillance programs. Watch to find out...

By: The Charlie Rose Show

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Matt Olsen on the NSA and Edward Snowden (Oct. 8, 2014) | Charlie Rose - Video

Beyond Borders - Spies, Whistle Blowers and the NSA - BBIF 2014

By: Beyond Borders Scotland

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Beyond Borders - Spies, Whistle Blowers and the NSA - BBIF 2014 - Video

Longtime reporters who cover the NSA know that any time we ask the obstinate spy agency for information, were probably going to hit a brick wall. But who would have thought that trying to obtain information about information the agency has already given us would lead to the same wall?

Thats what happened when the Federation of American Scientists filed a FOIA request with the Defense Department (of which the NSA is a part) earlier this year seeking information about any authorized leaks of intelligence made to the media during the previous 12 months.

The response they got (.pdf) from the National Security Agency might well have come from Winston Smiths Ministry of Truth.

The document responsive to your request has been reviewed by this Agency as required by the FOIA and has been found to be currently and properly classified in accordance with Executive Order 13526, the letter read. The document is classified because its disclosure could reasonably be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security.

Last year, Congress amended the Intelligence Authorization Act to require government officials to notify lawmakers whenever they disclose national security secrets to the media as part of an authorized leak. Under Section 504 of the statute (.pdf), the government official responsible for authorizing the disclosure has to submit to congressional intelligence committees a timely report about the disclosure, if the information is classified at the time of the leak or was declassified for the purpose of making the leak, and if the information being disclosed was made with the intent or knowledge that such information will be made publicly available.

There have been numerous authorized leaks over the years, including the controversial White House leaks about the killing of Osama bin Laden. There have been even more unauthorized leaks, howeverby government officials and workers. It makes sense for Congress to want to know when classified information has been leaked or declassified in order to distinguish official leaks from unauthorized ones. Lawmakers on the intelligence committees look silly when they tell reporters they cant talk about something, while government officials are freely yapping about the same topic behind their backs. They also look silly when they publicly call for a criminal investigation into a leak that turns out to have been authorized. And, of course, members of both parties in Congress want to know when the party in power in the White House might be authorizing leaks for political gain.

But once those leaks are made to the media and published, why shouldnt the public also be able to know when the information came from an authorized source or an unauthorized one?

Steve Aftergood, director of the Federation of American Scientists Project on Government Secrecy, noted in his letter to the NSA appealing its response (.pdf) that It is well established that information, including classified information, that has been publicly disclosed on an authorized basis loses its exemption from disclosure under FOIA.

He has a theory, however, about why the NSA might not want to disclose what it has disclosed. He says that even though the statute refers to information that the leaker expects will be made public, the NSA might not want the public to know which information was part of an authorized leak because some might have been provided off the record.

I think its more likely that these disclosures were part of a negotiation with news organizations, he told WIRED. In that case, the disclosures in question were not actually published, rather they were part of a dialogue with a reporter perhaps in an effort to dissuade her or him from publication.

Originally posted here:

NSA Mind-Bender: We Wont Tell You What Info We Already Leaked to the Media