They’re always in the news for this stuff. Supposedly they only collect “metadata”. O-Okay, I call bullshit! To be honest most of their tracking techniques in my theory go like this.
[list=1]
[] Intel on the backbone of your isps network re-routing your information to the dst/dns and their spying networks
[] your isp / cellular providers route traffic through their network
[] Software/hardware updates/installations injection containing spyware
[] Filtering meta data and tags by keywords that are a potential threat for further investigation adding you to a blacklist
[] Bribing ISPS and Websites money or threatening them to allow sniffing on their networks
[] Profile building between all of this data, criminal records, personality leading to who’s the biggest threat
[*] All the above
[/list]
A lot of TOR users get rude calls from either their ISP or the FBI about their exit node. Also, a majority of the encrypted chats you see out their do encrypt your messages and send them, but their are people on their servers receiving the dialogue between you and your peers. True story, my friend and I are currently banned from Cryptocat for disguising a potential sql injection threat I stumbled across that released sensitive financial data in plain text which was available to the public through ftp using google dorks. I was simply asking him if he saw this as a threat or anything and who I should contact about this information. It turned out to be nothing but the point is that we both got banned. Therefore, somebody had to have been monitoring us.
Everyone says that creating your own encryption may be faulty or easy to break. Yes this is very true but unless you practice at and use your own stuff you are also screwed. Same goes for hardware…
I mean I’m all for catching the bad guys but I think it should be done in a fair matter. If not done in a fair matter that causes wars and trust issues between countries. I really doubt this petition will do anything for these reasons.
People don’t really have a say due to population. About 100,000 emails and 50,000 calls have been made in the past 5 hours this thing has been up. That’s estimating approximately 750,000 petitions per day, 5,250,000 petitions in a week, and 157,500,000 petitions in a month. The Uk and US populations added together US=319,510,848 + UK=63,742,976 = 383,253,824-157,500,000 = 225,753,824 petitions left to be signed. So, that is about ½ of the US/UK population. If the petition continues at a steady pace, in about 2 months the petition would be fulfilled. You also have many obstacles though. People, like my teacher, who agree with the NSA spying programs as long as it’s in the name of safety, how many of these are proven identities, and the actual validity of this petition. So who knows? We’ll have to just wait and see.
It has been proven throughout the history of the world that when events like these occur, they never end well. You really have to understand the, give someone an inch and they’ll take a mile, mentality to prevent these situations. It may paint a pretty picture now, but once you say, “Hey governments all over the world! Go ahead take control of my life!” You’re screwed! It’s not just the US, it’s governing bodies all over the world. I think it’s great to have governing bodies but I really think that people need to pay better attention, choose good, and take a strong stance against who they put in power. Only a true, honest, strong, wise, and person with good morals and strong values should have power. If we didn’t have government we would all run crazy and kill, rape, and pillage the people and places we don’t like. All hell would break loose.
Also people need to realize when their powers are taking over. People who take government classes in Secondary or High School tend to not give a shit half of the time. They pass the class and are like, “Oh, well doesn’t apply to me… YOLO!” and become puppets to the system. In times of growing tyranny, the media and governing bodies all over do effect the standards, music, fashions, and education that is released. To develop the mentality in people in order to take control and satisfy their lust for power. Like in the middle ages. What did kings and nobles do to take power? They took advantage of social hierarchy at the time and limited education to the rich. If you look throughout history those two things apply to all dictatorship. Now apply that today and you will see that it is slowly starting to happen. Yeah you can argue that we’re more free than we ever have been in our life but who fought for those freedoms? People around the world have and need to continue to fight, just as the world leaders fight for their power, before it’s too late and we lose everything we have ever gained. Yes that includes the internet. One of the top sources of media these days.
As far as technology goes a petition may or may not help, but we do in a way have a Cyber War going on. It is up to us to take control of our systems, deny access to unauthorized personnel, break the use of mainstream exploits, encryptions, chats, software, and operating systems. Keep mindful of our surroundings, write strict firewalls, keep a strong network, and stay knowledgeable about your systems and how the technology you use, works and what it’s doing every second of the day. Keep all information fresh, open, and free. Your system is your headquarters, your networks are your fortress, and now you need to develop alliances (mutual allies in ideas and beliefs), arms (offensive and defensive networking/computing tools), gear (technology), as well as keeping strong systems and wise tactics. The last two are to you.
I have a thread made specifically for sharing these ideas and information right here and on how to clean your tracks and be a smart hacker right here
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