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NSA can hack WiFi devices from eight miles away (video)
The NSA may have the ability to intercept data from around the world, but we now know that it has some impressive (and intimidating) equipment for snooping on nearby targets. Security guru Jacob Appelbaum told those at the Chaos Communications Congress this weekend that the NSA's big box of tools includes Nightstand, a custom device that can compromise WiFi networks for the sake of inserting spy software. The Linux-powered device can exploit Windows systems from up to eight miles away; it's unlikely that you'll catch agents wardriving in the parking lot. Nightstand may not see significant use today given that it dates back to 2008, but its existence suggests that the NSA also has newer, more advanced WiFi surveillance gear at its disposal.
The biggest stories of 2013: Console wars, Bitcoin's boom and the NSA's very bad year
2013 was a bust! Or so we've been told. Whether you follow that line of thinking or reflect on the last 363 days in a more optimistic light, it's clear the year wasn't all big breakthroughs and great triumphs. This was the year of government surveillance revelations, fallen giants and lackluster product releases. But it was also the year Netflix took on the studios, patent reform became a real priority in DC and two new game consoles hit the scene. No, we won't be riding our hoverboards into the sunset at the close of 2013, but the stories that rocked the industry had a profound impact not only on technology, but also on society as a whole. So let's raise those half-empty glasses and make a toast as we recap the year that was: Here's to the glassholes!
Tech's biggest misfires of 2013
You can't win 'em all. The adage certainly holds in the fast-paced world of technology, where one small slip can put a damper on your entire year. Every year, among all of the celebrations of top gadgets and big news stories, we like to take a moment to acknowledge the other side of things. This time out, it's a pretty diverse list, from flubbed Kickstarter launches to massive governmental privacy breaches and yet another really lousy year for one smartphone manufacturer. But don't worry everyone; the year 2013 is nearly over.
Weekly Roundup: 2013 Mac Pro review, judge okays NSA spying and more!
You might say the week is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workweek, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Weekly Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past seven days -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
NSA can reportedly bug computer equipment before it reaches buyers
Don't think that the NSA always has to wait until people are using technology to start snooping on it. Spiegel has obtained documents which claim that the agency's Tailored Access Operations (TAO) group can intercept computer equipment orders and install tracking hardware or software before the shipments even reach their buyers. The division can target a wide array of hardware, too. Another NSA section, ANT, reportedly has a catalog of tools that can install back doors in everything from Cisco and Huawei network systems through to hard drives from most major manufacturers, including Seagate and Western Digital. Some of these bugs can give the NSA "permanent" access, since they're designed to persist if the owner wipes a device's storage or upgrades its firmware. The leak suggests that the targeted manufacturers aren't aware of what's happening; Cisco and other firms tell Spiegel they don't coordinate with the NSA. These hardware interceptions are also limited in scope next to remote surveillance programs. The agency isn't confirming any specifics, but it maintains that TAO is focused on exploiting foreign networks. Whether or not that's true, the discoveries show that the NSA's surveillance can reach the deepest levels of many networks.
Daily Roundup: Snapchat security exploit, judge okays NSA spying and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Judge rejects ACLU challenge, says NSA telephone data collection is legal (update)
We don't expect this back and forth to flame out any time soon, of course, but a US District judge in Manhattan certainly issued a blow to an American Civil Liberties Union challenge of the National Security Agency's massive telephone data collection. The judge acknowledged that the agency has, indeed, been "vacuum[ing] up information about virtually every telephone call to, from, or within the United States," but said he saw no evidence that it was being used for anything beyond attempting to foil terrorist plots, denying the ACLU's motion for preliminary injunction. The ACLU hasn't issued a statement on the matter yet, but we imagine it's not giving up the fight any time soon.Update: You can now read the full ruling here in PDF form.
Edward Snowden looks back at NSA leaks, considers his personal mission accomplished
2013 is almost over, but revelations delivered this year about the amount of communications data the NSA has access to, and how it has acquired that data, will reverberate for much longer. The man at the center of the leaks, Edward Snowden, has spoken once again to The Washington Post in an interview stretching over 14 hours about what he did and why, saying "For me, in terms of personal satisfaction, the mission's already accomplished...I already won." The meaning behind his mission was, in his words, to give the public a chance to look over what the government agency had decided -- behind the closed doors of Congress the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court -- is legal in order to track terrorists after 9-11. Naturally, NSA leaders disagree, and dispute assertions that he brought his concerns about the agency's work to his supervisors. According to Snowden, he asked coworkers about how they thought the public would react if information about initiatives like PRISM and Boundless Informant appeared on newspaper frontpages, confronting them with data showing the programs collected more information in the US about Americans than Russians in Russia. Now, the information has been exposed for the public. Many companies are scrambling to lock down their systems both as a practical measure and a PR move, the NSA's policies are under review, and Snowden remains in Russia where he has been granted temporary asylum, and says he's "still working for the NSA right now...they just don't realize it."
NSA review group tells Obama to ditch bulk phone surveillance
2013 has been a hard year for the White House. It's been working overtime to try and manage the PR nightmare sparked by Edward Snowden's NSA whistleblowing -- fighting the outcry of angry citizens, CEOs and major tech firms. President Barack Obama eventually created a panel to review the government's surveillance programs and propose changes that will help restore public's trust. Today, the group's recommendations are in, and in summary, they aren't too surprising: don't spy on your citizens.The report's most public facing suggestion mandates ending the NSA's habit of collecting US phone call metadata. The agency would still be allowed to collect some records, of course, but the panel suggests that this data be maintained by a private third party, or the phone companies themselves. More importantly, this data would only be accessible with an order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. That's hardly the panel's only critique, either: the 308 page document actually makes a total of 46 recommendations. It suggests putting international spy operations under heavier scrutiny, for instance, and says that decisions to monitor such communications need to be made by the Commander in Chief -- not the nation's intelligence agencies. It even suggests major tweak to the NSA's structure, asking the president to consider making the next Director of the NSA a civilian.
Colbert cracks ancient Second Life joke, picks on NSA
I guess we'll forgive Stephen Colbert for not realizing that the Second-Life-users-don't-have-a-first-life joke is older than he is. Mainly because the rest of his segment on Linden Labs' virtual world and its NSA-powered avatars is pretty funny. Colbert follows up Comedy Central colleague Jon Stewart's riff on the NSA in World of Warcraft with a segment heavy on Second Life secret agents. Kotaku has the full story as well as a video embed.
Tech sector CEOs meet with Obama and Biden to demand NSA reform
It's not been a particularly good year for the National Security Agency, what with Edward Snowden revealing how pervasive its domestic surveillance is, and the outrage and concern those revelations engendered in US citizens. Naturally, many tech companies were also upset, upon learning that the NSA was snooping their systems too. Today, many of the tech industry's heavy hitters had a two and a half hour sit-down with President Obama and VP Biden, and used that time to demand that the White House take steps to reform the NSA's policies (Read: limit its power and provide independent oversight and greater transparency about its actions). Among the scheduled attendees were Apple's Tim Cook, Twitter's Dick Costolo, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, and AT&T CEO and Chairman Randall Stephenson. The contents of the discussion remain a mystery, though the Guardian did acquire a statement issued by the group regarding the meeting: "We appreciated the opportunity to share directly with the president our principles on government surveillance that we released last week and we urge him to move aggressively on reform." The ball's in your court, Mr.President. Lets see if you give the people and the tech center what they really want for Christmas: freedom from Uncle Sam's prying eyes.
Colbert tackles NSA spying in Second Life
Last week John Stewart had a chance to slam the NSA for trawling for terror suspects in World of Warcraft, and now it's Stephen Colbert's turn to poke fun at national law enforcement's new fixation on Second Life. The issue here stems from recent NSA documents which paint the organization as keen to infiltrate massively multiplayer online games. It believes that the relatively free, open chat systems in these games are rife with potential terrorist activity, though so far they've found nothing concrete (or at least nothing the public is allowed to know about). You'll find footage of Colbert's episode beyond the jump, but the best bits start at the 1:00 mark. Whether or not the NSA is collecting valuable information is questionable, but at least they look like they're having fun in that virtual club. Unlike the earlier Daily Show report which was rife with factual errors about the millennia-old Dwarven civilization that effectively shaped modern Azeroth, Colbert's discussion of Second Life is pretty spot on, even if he fails to mention the millionaire-hunting, flying penis drones.
Edward Snowden reminds the world that he's still homeless
While the US justice system slowly begins to digest everything Edward Snowden revealed about the NSA, the whistleblower himself remains stateless and living under temporary asylum in Russia. In an open letter to the people of Brazil, following revelations of widespread NSA "data collection" in that country, Snowden has made it clear that he's not happy with his current situation and won't be content until an appropriate government grants him permanent political asylum. He says he's willing to help the Brazilian authorities to understand the extent of the NSA's surveillance of their citizens, which allegedly covered over two million mobile calls and text messages in a single month, including calls made by Brazil's president, but insists he can't do anything while the US limits his "ability to speak" from Russia -- with the obvious hint being that he'd quite like to move to Latin America. You'll find the full text of Snowden's letter at the source link below.
Federal court ruling against NSA phone surveillance isn't quite what it seems
A federal district court judge in Washington DC issued a preliminary injunction today in a case regarding the NSA's practice of collecting phone call metadata. In doing so, Judge Richard Leon essentially prohibited the NSA from recording the metadata of the folks who filed the lawsuit, holding that the NSA's actions likely violate the fourth amendment of the US Constitution -- the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. The case was originally filed in June by five people who are customers of either Verizon, AT&T or Sprint in the wake of Edward Snowden's NSA spying revelations. And today's ruling has been hailed by some as a huge blow against the NSA in its fight to continue the surveillance practices it claims are authorized under the Patriot Act and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).There's a problem with that narrative, however. It's misleading, and the ruling's importance has been overstated. In reality, the ruling just tells us Judge Leon's view of the case given the information he currently has. (A view that is, admittedly, overwhelmingly skeptical of the legality of the NSA's practices and current case law regarding fourth amendment violations.) It does not change the law, the ruling is not final in nature. In fact, in issuing the ruling, Judge Leon removed any immediate legal force of his decision when he stayed the injunction (meaning that the NSA can go about its business as usual if it so chooses) pending appeal. So, not only does the injunction not yet take effect, it might not ever take effect if the appellate court disagrees with Judge Leon's reasoning. Furthermore, the effect of a preliminary injunction only lasts as long as the case does -- so should the trial result in a verdict that the NSA did not violate the constitution, any reasoning given to the contrary in a preliminary injunction ruling is essentially rendered moot.So, while it seems clear that Judge Leon will be looking upon the NSA's data collection policies with great interest and some scorn, his decision is not a major blow against the government. That blow may be coming, and Judge Leon may be the among those to deal it. He just didn't do so today.
WoW Moviewatch: Operation MMORPG
The World (of Warcraft) was riveted when we found out that the NSA lurked in the hidden spaces of Azeroth watching us kill internet dragons. (I fully expect an official document that says, "repeatedly stood in fire: no threat.") But can you imagine what it must have been like behind the scenes? Did they use game cards? What was it called? Slightly Impressive tackled the shocking news with the new video Operation MMORPG. While the subject of privacy is obviously controversial, I think you'll find SI handled it with all the grace and composure you could expect.
NSA can decode many GSM cellphone calls
The NSA may say that its phone surveillance efforts focus on metadata rather than the associated calls, but we now know that the agency can listen to many of those conversations whenever it wants. Documents leaked to the Washington Post by Edward Snowden confirm that the NSA can decode GSM-based cellphone calls without obtaining the encryption keys. The ability isn't surprising when GSM has known weaknesses, but the document suggests that the NSA (and potentially other US agencies) can easily process cellphone calls worldwide. Not surprisingly, the intelligence branch argues that such cracking is necessary -- folks on both sides of the law use encryption to hide information, after all. The NSA may not have such an easy time in the future, however. AT&T, T-Mobile Germany and other carriers worldwide are moving to tougher encryption methods for their GSM service, and 3G calls are typically more secure as a matter of course. These measures don't prevent eavesdropping, but they do complicate any attempts to snoop on cellular chats.
NSA overhaul could see an end to PRISM-style surveillance
Edward Snowden might have missed out on becoming Person of the Year, but that's not to say he's not been a big influence on America's government this year. According to deep-throated persons familiar with the matter, the presidential task force is proposing a huge overhaul to the NSA in the wake of the PRISM scandal. Proposed changes include giving bulk collection duties to phone companies or an independent third party, imposing tighter standards before NSA staffers can access your personal data and appointing a civilian head, rather than recruiting from the military. The report is due in full on Sunday, but there's no word on when the White House will make the proposals public -- unless, you know, someone else feels compelled to "do a Snowden."
The Think Tank: Do government spies scare you away from your favorite MMO?
The NSA is listening to our MMO chat logs, and I feel fine. Monday's news has sparked outrage among some gamers, while others yawn and carry on, knowing that they have nothing to fear. So I polled the Massively staff members to gather everyone's thoughts on the topic. Would any of us stop playing our MMOs of choice, knowing that there are government spies all around watching our every move? Or does that just mean more noobs to bash in PvP?
NSA reportedly leveraging Google cookies and leaked mobile location data to identify hacking targets
You know those cookies web services use to track your history and serve up personalized ads? It appears that the government is using them too. The National Security Agency is apparently leveraging a Google-specific cookie to tap into the computers of suspicious users, according to presentation slides Edward Snowden leaked to The Washington Post. With an assist from Mountain View's "PREF" file, the NSA can track a target's web visits, then identify the computer and send a remote exploit in. What's more, the documents also show that the outfit has used a program called "HAPPYFOOT" to map internet addresses to precise physical locations leaked by mobile apps when generating locally-germane ads. Perhaps the key takeaway here is this newest revelation's scope: The government could gain alarmingly precise information about individuals using data already spread throughout the internet, seeded under the not-quite-as-threatening guise of marketing and/or social media. Consider this a friendly reminder to clear your browser history, courtesy of Uncle Sam. [Image source: Everyspoon/Flickr]
Jon Stewart slams the NSA with World of Warcraft
... And yes, he kind of slams World of Warcraft with the NSA. Following reports that the US National Security Agency was monitoring potential terrorist activity in Second Life and WoW, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart hosted a real-life, in-game interview with Aasif Mandvi as Greychalk the dwarf paladin. The joke focuses on Mandvi not realizing that some people lie about their identities online: "This place is all about trust," Mandvi says. "If we thought that people might not be who they say they are, the whole world would fall apart." But hey, Jon Stewart, joke's on you – as a few viewers point out, Mandvi is in an impossible starting area for a dwarf, he has priest spells instead of paladin ones and he's dressed as a night elf rather than a dwarf. Take that. Watch the entire episode here and the WoW clip after the break.
