NSA (apparently) hacks hard drive firmware

[ThePythonicCow]

A Russian security firm, Kaspersky Labs, announced at a conference Monday, 16 Feb 2015, that they have identified a highly sophisticated hack of hard drive firmware in the wild. The hack is invisible to all ordinary software tools. The hack survives the disk being entirely erased and the operating system being reinstalled. The hack hooks into the computer booting sequence to ensure that it is loaded into the operating system during system boot (so long as one is booting one of the common versions of Windows or Mac OS X that the hack knows about.)

Here are some of the articles that came out this week, describing this hack:

Indestructible malware by Equation cyberspies is out there – but don’t panic (yet) (Kaspersky Labs) (https://blog.kaspersky.com/equation-hdd-malware/)
How “omnipotent” hackers tied to NSA hid for 14 years—and were found at last -- "Equation Group" ran the most advanced hacking operation ever uncovered. (ArsTechnica - detailed 4 page report) (http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/02/how-omnipotent-hackers-tied-to-the-nsa-hid-for-14-years-and-were-found-at-last/)
Breaking: Kaspersky Exposes NSA’s Worldwide, Backdoor Hacking of Virtually All Hard-Drive Firmware (Daily Kos - has the entire entire Kaspersky Lab report on this, embedded inline in the post) (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/02/17/1364910/-Breaking-Kaspersky-Exposes-NSA-s-Worldwide-Backdoor-Hacking-of-Virtually-All-Hard-Drive-Firmware)
Russian researchers expose breakthrough U.S. spying program (Reuters) (http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/16/us-usa-cyberspying-idUSKBN0LK1QV20150216)
Your hard drives were RIDDLED with NSA SPYWARE for YEARS (The Register) (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/02/17/kaspersky_labs_equation_group/)
NSA planted surveillance software on hard drives, report says (CNet) (http://www.cnet.com/news/nsa-planted-surveillance-software-on-hard-drives-report/)
Kaspersky Lab uncovers a suite of surveillance platforms that hide in hard drive firmware (TechSpot) (http://www.techspot.com/news/59768-kaspersky-lab-uncovers-suite-surveillance-platforms-hide-hard.html)

Steve Gibson has one of the best technical explanations I've read or heard of this, from 29 min 48 sec to 47 min 15 sec into in his 495-th (yes 495 weeks now) Security Now video chat with Leo Laporte:
5EyROG4N3r4

[ThePythonicCow]

Notice that it was a Russian security firm, Kaspersky, that announced the above disk drive firmware hack.

This will provide yet more impetus to the substantial efforts by Russia and China in particular to stop using suspect Western technology and rely on their own instead.

[Alekahn2]

28988



"Be the Future"

[Cjay]

There are backdoors in the BIOS. Every operating system must go through the BIOS.

[Deega]

Unreal but true - the Industrial Military Complex (US particularly) needs to further their pursuit (power, domination) of Wars, and to do it, they need to spy on other Nations capabilities. Unfortunately, wealthy Nations would do just that.

And their Leaders will say that Wars create jobs, create innovations, create opportunities, they have all the rationale (so it seems they don't have any notion of suffering, pain, death - is it a bunch of psychopaths?) you want!

IMHO, this attitude (Leaders of Industrial Military Complex - spying to do war) is inherently present in their DNA, and it was put there by their creators, the ET!

I was thinking, is there a way to change this attitude of spying for dominance? A paradigm shift is needed!, but who will bring it?, chaos, continuous wars on people...!

The best to everyone!

[Tesla_WTC_Solution]

Dear Paul,

teehee, I hate to grasp at straws, but a week or so ago,
there was the article in MSM about how Microsoft "just found lol" a 15 YEAR OLD backdoor into all its stuff.

like a BIG BACK DOOR,
i.e. treasonous back door.


fyi.

thanks for the heads up,

<3 Kaspersky, I've heard good things about them from people out in NWC



p.s. what if this is not NSA's fault but larger? i.e corporate?


http://www.idigitaltimes.com/google-project-zero-relaxes-vulnerability-patch-deadlines-wake-apple-microsoft-414908

Mon, 02/16/2015 - 17:03 GADGETS
Google Project Zero Relaxes Vulnerability Patch Deadlines In Wake Of Apple, Microsoft Controversies

By Cammy Harbison


Google’s Project Zero announced a change to its 90-day vulnerability patch deadline Friday. It will now grant a 14-day grace period for companies at work on patches for reported vulnerabilities.

In a blog posted Monday morning, Google’s elite hacker team -- Project Zero -- shared that, while they intended to remain stalwart in its crusade to hold software companies accountable for fixing vulnerabilities in a timely manner, it has seen some room for change in the current policy.

“We’ve chosen a middle-of-the-road deadline timeline and feel it’s reasonably calibrated for the current state of the industry,” project Zero said in the post. “Public disclosure of an unpatched issue now only occurs if a deadline will be significantly missed (2 weeks+).”



http://threatpost.com/microsoft-group-policy-vulnerability-affects-all-windows-computers/110990


Enterprises that support remote workers need to prioritize a Microsoft security bulletin released yesterday that addresses a critical vulnerability in Group Policy.

The vulnerability exposes Windows machines, all the way back to Windows Server 2003, to man-in-the-middle attacks and remote code execution. Setting off more alarm bells was news that Microsoft was required to do some re-engineering of Windows components in order to rectify the situation, which was reported to Redmond 13 months ago.

- See more at: http://threatpost.com/microsoft-group-policy-vulnerability-affects-all-windows-computers/110990#sthash.UepCRbDa.dpuf





___________


industrial espionage :Cry:

[WhiteLove]

A little glimpse into the world of global corruption. When the world finally wakes up to the fact that everything is rigged by an unknown foreign force beyond the NSA and this world, then everything will change...

This is very serious stuff though, imagine when we the people start running Kaspersky's detection software for these NSA hacks and realize we have all been targets during the last 20 years or so. Not so strange NSA needs so enormous data centers, when they are basically ramping up for collecting all data in the world.

What a threat to this world...

[Cidersomerset]

You probably have this info but I'll post it as I'm going thru articles...


Russian researchers expose ‘NSA’s secret weapon’: Outrage at program that
enables America to spy on EVERY home computer in the world is uncovered

Wednesday 18th February 2015 at 08:58 By David Icke


http://www.davidicke.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/25C0E22F00000578-2956058-image-a-43_1424154642456.jpg


http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/sitelogos/logo_mol.gif

Russian researchers expose 'NSA's secret weapon': Outrage at program that
enables America to spy on EVERY home computer in the world is uncovered

The NSA has figured out how to hide spying and sabotage software deep
within hard drives, according to cyber researchers and former operatives

The group said it found personal computers in 30 countries infected with
one or more of the spying programs

The most infections were seen in Iran, followed by Russia, Pakistan,
Afghanistan, China, Mali, Syria, Yemen and Algeria

The infections started in 2001, but increased drastically in 2008, the year
President Barack Obama was elected

The tools are designed to run on computers even when they are not
connected to the Internet, and even the makers of some of the hard
drives are unaware that these programs have been embedded

The spies made a technological breakthrough by figuring out how to
lodge malicious software in the obscure code called firmware that
launches every time a computer is turned on

By Reuters Reporter and Chris Spargo For Dailymail.com

Published: 02:49, 17 February 2015 | Updated: 15:57, 17 February 2015


‘The National Security Agency has figured out how to hide spying
software deep within hard drives, allowing them to monitor and
eavesdrop on the majority of the world’s computers – even when
they are not connected to the internet.

The Moscow-based security software maker Kaspersky Lab said it has
found personal computers in 30 countries infected with one or more of
the spying programs, with the most infections seen in Iran, followed by
Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, Mali, Syria, Yemen and Algeria.

The targets included government and military institutions, telecommunication
companies, banks, energy companies, nuclear researchers, media, and
Islamic activists.’

Read more: Russian researchers expose 'NSA's secret weapon': Outrage
at program that enables America to spy on EVERY home computer in the
world is uncovered

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2956058/Russian-researchers-expose-breakthrough-U-S-spying-program.html#ixzz3S8wBzbqY
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

[Carmody]

I knew someone who was a project manager for a major telecom.

From that corporation...All large scale communication chips since the mid 90's were built with back door imbedded control and access systems.

Since the telecom and data handing chips are now (2015) far larger and far more complex than that of the 1990's, imbedded hardware snooping, well outside of software, has been the norm.... for about 20 years, as of now.

This was originally done as a matter of course, for secondary control systems/avenues, in the same way that a software designer, almost to a person, builds backdoors into their software creations. As chips increased in complexity, and computers became mainstream....the same thing began to appear in those arenas outside of telecom. Now, it's the 'norm'.

Then the security services began to demand that the systems of control and access codes/methods be given to them, and it snowballed from there into security services demanding it be done on new creations..and here we are today, with our big programmable arrays, like that of imbedded systems, ie, hard drive controller chips, what you find in a Cisco router, and so on.

I first learned of this genesis and building issue around..oh..1993-1994.

Large scale IC's or huge computer chips, are basically a black box, and just about anything of that sort of nature... can be inside them.


For me, this news story .....is 20 years late.

I mentioned it a few times here, and earlier, in other ways, to other people, etc... but it was, at the time (1990's) a good way to be seen as a kook, a conspiracy nutbar, and to get one's self in a heap of trouble, all at the same time. Dead and ineffective -was what it was, so I rarely mentioned it.


I guess the revelation is..in this post...it was no accident and no 'successful try' by sneaky spies.... it was a collaboration and forced collaboration, from the beginning.

If this snowballs, which it will.... that is the next thing they will find out. It was only a matter of time.

I'm surprised it took so long (to go public). The use of these backdoor systems, the ubiquitous nature of the systems and the people involved, all ballooning to such a large group..and then some of them moving around...all this virtually guaranteed that loss of control of access and the spreading of knowing of the access itself ..was a forgone conclusion. But it seems to have taken just over 20 years.

Next question: what else is out there that we don't know about?

The conclusion is that one may be able to detect an overwrite, and end it, but not ever be able to prevent it in the future.... as they probably don't know the nature of the imbedded access system.

Or that there is, in some systems... probably more than one imbedded access system. What I'm saying, is that people are now becoming aware of a system that has had over 20 years to flesh itself out, so to speak, and it very likely has more than the just discovered single 'move'... as anything else, would be foolish and inept.

That one can fix the malware, but not be able to plug the hole.

[Cidersomerset]

Another article related to the spying issue ....'Control'....

Coming Soon: The Department of the Internet

new Thursday 19th February 2015 at 09:52 By David Icke


‘Who opposes a free and open Internet? Answer: government.
Who do activists beg to protect Internet freedom? Government.

Trusting the government to run the Internet is like trusting the
NSA to never spy on Americans.’

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Coming Soon: The Department of the Internet

Activist Post

Who opposes a free and open Internet? Answer: government.
Who do activists beg to protect Internet freedom? Government.

Trusting the government to run the Internet is like trusting the
NSA to never spy on Americans.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YNGCniiAisI/VOS46532jlI/AAAAAAAAEkI/98t1I-OnTAA/s1600/net%2Bneutrality.png


If the FCC's plan to regulate the Internet is so wonderful,
why can't the American people read it before it goes into effect?

A new video by Project Internet Freedom highlights the absurd "solution" to a problem that doesn't exist.


m2mzMcRPO2I


http://www.activistpost.com/2015/02/coming-soon-department-of-internet.html

[Carmody]

I knew someone who was a project manager for a major telecom.

From that corporation...All large scale communication chips since the mid 90's were built with back door imbedded control and access systems.

Since the telecom and data handing chips are now (2015) far larger and far more complex than that of the 1990's, imbedded hardware snooping, well outside of software, has been the norm.... for about 20 years, as of now.

This was originally done as a matter of course, for secondary control systems/avenues, in the same way that a software designer, almost to a person, builds backdoors into their software creations. As chips increased in complexity, and computers became mainstream....the same thing began to appear in those arenas outside of telecom. Now, it's the 'norm'.

Then the security services began to demand that the systems of control and access codes/methods be given to them, and it snowballed from there into security services demanding it be done on new creations..and here we are today, with our big programmable arrays, like that of imbedded systems, ie, hard drive controller chips, what you find in a Cisco router, and so on.

I first learned of this genesis and building issue around..oh..1993-1994.

Large scale IC's or huge computer chips, are basically a black box, and just about anything of that sort of nature... can be inside them.


For me, this news story .....is 20 years late.

I mentioned it a few times here, and earlier, in other ways, to other people, etc... but it was, at the time (1990's) a good way to be seen as a kook, a conspiracy nutbar, and to get one's self in a heap of trouble, all at the same time. Dead and ineffective -was what it was, so I rarely mentioned it.


I guess the revelation is..in this post...it was no accident and no 'successful try' by sneaky spies.... it was a collaboration and forced collaboration, from the beginning.

If this snowballs, which it will.... that is the next thing they will find out. It was only a matter of time.

I'm surprised it took so long (to go public). The use of these backdoor systems, the ubiquitous nature of the systems and the people involved, all ballooning to such a large group..and then some of them moving around...all this virtually guaranteed that loss of control of access and the spreading of knowing of the access itself ..was a forgone conclusion. But it seems to have taken just over 20 years.

Next question: what else is out there that we don't know about?

The conclusion is that one may be able to detect an overwrite, and end it, but not ever be able to prevent it in the future.... as they probably don't know the nature of the imbedded access system.

Or that there is, in some systems... probably more than one imbedded access system. What I'm saying, is that people are now becoming aware of a system that has had over 20 years to flesh itself out, so to speak, and it very likely has more than the just discovered single 'move'... as anything else, would be foolish and inept.

That one can fix the malware, but not be able to plug the hole.


From the daily mail article, to clarify exactly what I'm saying above, is true:

"Getting the source code

Raiu said the authors of the spying programs must have had access to the proprietary source code that directs the actions of the hard drives. That code can serve as a roadmap to vulnerabilities, allowing those who study it to launch attacks much more easily.

'There is zero chance that someone could rewrite the [hard drive] operating system using public information,' Raiu said.

Concerns about access to source code flared after a series of high-profile cyberattacks on Google Inc and other U.S. companies in 2009 that were blamed on China. Investigators have said they found evidence that the hackers gained access to source code from several big U.S. tech and defense companies.

It is not clear how the NSA may have obtained the hard drives' source code. Western Digital spokesman Steve Shattuck said the company 'has not provided its source code to government agencies.' The other hard drive makers would not say if they had shared their source code with the NSA."


It's not that they wanted to share the source code in most cases, but they or their project managers or their actual coders (hard and soft coders), were forced into it, or spied on until it was found/given. And then, subsequently, over time...the given security services demanded a seat at the table for new chip designs..then..it has become, over time, "business as usual".

Folks, please realize I'm stepping into a +trillion dollar multi-economy, multi-military, multi-political, milti-continental, multi-etc minefield when I talk about this stuff.

That tens of thousands know about the systems of access as they use them all the time.... but few realize or know of the steps of the path that it took to get there.

They have and had a pathway to gaining clandestine access.... and they took it, they 'went for it', they made it happen. It really is as simple as that.

It is simply that the 'public' did not know. Everybody else knew about it, either vaguely or specifically.

Most importantly, it is not just the code imbedded in the chip, it is software controlled, 'non-pin latching associated code triggering of internal hardware functions', sub-hardware, that is enabled via specific input code sequences. For example, HDMI video connections are done that way, billions of times, each day. In your house, when you turned your computer on, today.

That is why the malware may be removed .....but in some cases, the hole cannot be plugged, as the chip is permanently accessible, the chip is permanently open to compromise....as long as that chip is in use in the given system.

It is specifically that aspect, which came about in the 1990's. Chips that are permanently compromised if one has the code triggering access of internal imbedded hardwired secondary systems, in hand.

Remember, that is was moving toward being the norm, in telecom chips, back in the mid 90's. Such systems have probably moved to being nearly 'the norm' in many a case or given systems build app/project.

This is what the daily mail article is sort of saying but I'm clarifying it, refining it, and telling you that there is probably no way of plugging the hole, as long as those chips are in use.

To me, this is not exactly news. I could get in my car, with a phone book, and probably visit a dozen or so local tech development firms, and talk to a dozen different tech project folks, who would well understand that imbedded back doors are probably in some of the chips they use in a design of a given piece of hardware. and we could look at some chip catalogs...and come up with some likely suspects. the companies who are big enough to make their OWN chips from the ground up, specifically in the telecom or data transfer businesses, they are, in all potential, likely the most compromised with imbedded back doors, as that is where it started over 20 years ago.

Since it is all, in these modern times, 'big data transfer', good luck finding clean chip designs that have no back doors, as back doors have been the norm for those +20 years, and have also evolved and changed and grown, for those +20 years.

[Carmody]

The next domino falling tells you that massive and near ubiquitous wide range internet and hardware 'kill switches' (ie freeze basic data transfer in general internet terms and in internal hardware terms), already exist, and that far too many folks have access to such systems for anyone's comfort.

[Limor Wolf]

JACOB APPELBAUM EXPOSES NSA TOOLS HACKING YOUR COMPUTER-BACK DOORS & MALWARE

NSA AGENTS who specialize in SECRET BACK DOORS FOR SPYING ON YOU are able to keep an eye on all levels of our digital lives. THE NSA ILLEGAL GOVT HACKERS SPY ON computing centers to individual computers, and from laptops to mobile phones. UNLOCKING ANY AND ALL PHONES AND COMPUTERS AND LABTOPS. FOR EVERY SECURED COMPUTER OR NETWORK the ANT seems to have a key in its toolbox TO OPEN AND GAIN INSTANT ACCESS TO EVERYONE. And no matter what walls companies erect, the NSA's specialists seem already to have gotten past them.
THE NSA 50-page CATAOLOG HAS A list that reads like a mail-order catalog. ALL NSA employees can order technologies from the ANT division for tapping their targets' data. The catalog even lists the prices for these electronic break-in tools, with costs ranging from free to $250,000. In the case of Juniper, the name of this particular digital lock pick is "FEEDTROUGH." This NSA MALWARE burrows into Juniper firewalls and makes it possible to smuggle other NSA programs into mainframe computers. Thanks to FEEDTROUGH, these implants can, by design, even survive "across reboots and software upgrades." In this way, US GOVERNMENT SPIES can SECURE and PLANT themselves a permanent presence in ANY computer networks. The catalog states that FEEDTROUGH "has been deployed on many target platforms."
NSA SPECIALISTS at ANT which stands for Advanced or Access Network Technology, ARE GOVT EMPLOYED MASTER HACKERS for the NSA's department for Tailored Access Operations (TAO). In cases where TAO's usual hacking and data-skimming methods don't suffice, ANT workers step in with their special tools, penetrating networking equipment, monitoring mobile phones and computers and diverting or even modifying data. Such "IMPLANTS," as they are referred to in NSA parlance, have played a considerable role in the intelligence agency's ability to establish a global covert network that operates alongside the Internet


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy3-QZLTpbQ

[Flash]

Yes, I was aware of it in the nineties too. And i was not even in the computer field, yet, you cannot imagine how much information I could gather, if i wanted, on individual finances and credit and home environment as well as on corporate information, yet, i was not in the computer side of the business. Just with phone bills and company credit ratings questions and computorised access to my company's customers. But I knew about the backdoors, the industrial spying, etc. in the early to mid nineties.

And the general population still think it is safe lol. Government employees still think our information with them is safe (they are so backward in technology that they cannot even imagine what a normal large business uses as software - so they cannot understand our worries of identity theft for example).

[Camilo]

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN0LK1QV20150217?irpc=932

Tue Feb 17, 2015 4:32am EST

By Joseph Menn

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The U.S. National Security Agency has figured out how to hide spying software deep within hard drives made by Western Digital, Seagate, Toshiba and other top manufacturers, giving the agency the means to eavesdrop on the majority of the world's computers, according to cyber researchers and former operatives.

That long-sought and closely guarded ability was part of a cluster of spying programs discovered by Kaspersky Lab, the Moscow-based security software maker that has exposed a series of Western cyberespionage operations.

Kaspersky said it found personal computers in 30 countries infected with one or more of the spying programs, with the most infections seen in Iran, followed by Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, Mali, Syria, Yemen and Algeria. The targets included government and military institutions, telecommunication companies, banks, energy companies, nuclear researchers, media, and Islamic activists, Kaspersky said. (http://reut.rs/1L5knm0)

The firm declined to publicly name the country behind the spying campaign, but said it was closely linked to Stuxnet, the NSA-led cyberweapon that was used to attack Iran's uranium enrichment facility. The NSA is the U.S. agency responsible for gathering electronic intelligence.

A former NSA employee told Reuters that Kaspersky's analysis was correct, and that people still in the spy agency valued these espionage programs as highly as Stuxnet. Another former intelligence operative confirmed that the NSA had developed the prized technique of concealing spyware in hard drives, but said he did not know which spy efforts relied on it.

NSA spokeswoman Vanee Vines said the agency was aware of the Kaspersky report but would not comment on it publicly.

Kaspersky on Monday published the technical details of its research on Monday, a move that could help infected institutions detect the spying programs, some of which trace back as far as 2001. (http://bit.ly/17bPUUe)

The disclosure could hurt the NSA's surveillance abilities, already damaged by massive leaks by former contractor Edward Snowden. Snowden's revelations have upset some U.S. allies and slowed the sales of U.S. technology products abroad.

The exposure of these new spying tools could lead to greater backlash against Western technology, particularly in countries such as China, which is already drafting regulations that would require most bank technology suppliers to proffer copies of their software code for inspection.

Peter Swire, one of five members of U.S. President Barack Obama's Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technology, said the Kaspersky report showed that it is essential for the country to consider the possible impact on trade and diplomatic relations before deciding to use its knowledge of software flaws for intelligence gathering.

"There can be serious negative effects on other U.S. interests," Swire said.

TECHNOLOGICAL BREAKTHROUGH

According to Kaspersky, the spies made a technological breakthrough by figuring out how to lodge malicious software in the obscure code called firmware that launches every time a computer is turned on.

Disk drive firmware is viewed by spies and cybersecurity experts as the second-most valuable real estate on a PC for a hacker, second only to the BIOS code invoked automatically as a computer boots up.

"The hardware will be able to infect the computer over and over," lead Kaspersky researcher Costin Raiu said in an interview.

Though the leaders of the still-active espionage campaign could have taken control of thousands of PCs, giving them the ability to steal files or eavesdrop on anything they wanted, the spies were selective and only established full remote control over machines belonging to the most desirable foreign targets, according to Raiu. He said Kaspersky found only a few especially high-value computers with the hard-drive infections.

Kaspersky's reconstructions of the spying programs show that they could work in disk drives sold by more than a dozen companies, comprising essentially the entire market. They include Western Digital Corp, Seagate Technology Plc, Toshiba Corp, IBM, Micron Technology Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.

Western Digital, Seagate and Micron said they had no knowledge of these spying programs. Toshiba and Samsung declined to comment. IBM did not respond to requests for comment.

GETTING THE SOURCE CODE

Raiu said the authors of the spying programs must have had access to the proprietary source code that directs the actions of the hard drives. That code can serve as a roadmap to vulnerabilities, allowing those who study it to launch attacks much more easily.

"There is zero chance that someone could rewrite the [hard drive] operating system using public information," Raiu said.

Concerns about access to source code flared after a series of high-profile cyberattacks on Google Inc and other U.S. companies in 2009 that were blamed on China. Investigators have said they found evidence that the hackers gained access to source code from several big U.S. tech and defense companies.

It is not clear how the NSA may have obtained the hard drives' source code. Western Digital spokesman Steve Shattuck said the company "has not provided its source code to government agencies." The other hard drive makers would not say if they had shared their source code with the NSA.

Seagate spokesman Clive Over said it has "secure measures to prevent tampering or reverse engineering of its firmware and other technologies." Micron spokesman Daniel Francisco said the company took the security of its products seriously and "we are not aware of any instances of foreign code."

According to former intelligence operatives, the NSA has multiple ways of obtaining source code from tech companies, including asking directly and posing as a software developer. If a company wants to sell products to the Pentagon or another sensitive U.S. agency, the government can request a security audit to make sure the source code is safe.

"They don't admit it, but they do say, 'We're going to do an evaluation, we need the source code,'" said Vincent Liu, a partner at security consulting firm Bishop Fox and former NSA analyst. "It's usually the NSA doing the evaluation, and it's a pretty small leap to say they're going to keep that source code."

The NSA declined to comment on any allegations in the Kaspersky report. Vines said the agency complies with the law and White House directives to protect the United States and its allies "from a wide array of serious threats."

Kaspersky called the authors of the spying program "the Equation group," named after their embrace of complex encryption formulas.

The group used a variety of means to spread other spying programs, such as by compromising jihadist websites, infecting USB sticks and CDs, and developing a self-spreading computer worm called Fanny, Kaspersky said.

Fanny was like Stuxnet in that it exploited two of the same undisclosed software flaws, known as "zero days," which strongly suggested collaboration by the authors, Raiu said. He added that it was "quite possible" that the Equation group used Fanny to scout out targets for Stuxnet in Iran and spread the virus.

[lucidity]

excellent post! :-)

[sigma6]

Doesn't surprise me in the least... I suspected as much when I noticed that Disk Management in Computer Management in Windows 7 (I skipped Vista altogether...) No longer has the ability to format an entire disk as a logical disk...O.o? (you need XP if you want to still do this!) It forces the user to create the first 3 partitions on any HD as Primary Partitions... Why wouldn't Microsoft allow you to create a 100% logical disk? (for simple storage for example) and why "force" 3 potentially bootable primary partitions? Why remove that choice from the user? Technically, this provides a location to install boot management software, and makes the those partitions potentially bootable... This could be used to bypass the operating system with a slick enough boot loader program, then you could create a virtual drive in memory and install a small OS and ultimately access the drive... (similar to what W98 boot disk used to do)

I turn off all the remote functionality, and go through the Services list periodically, to see what I can uninstall, run behind two hardwire routers and occasionally use VPN and Tor browser, and now looking at PGP email... but nothing is 100%...

ewww.... boot virus' are the worst... ;P

[ThePythonicCow]

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The U.S. National Security Agency has figured out how to hide spying software deep within hard drives made by Western Digital, Seagate, Toshiba and other top manufacturers, giving the agency the means to eavesdrop on the majority of the world's computers, according to cyber researchers and former operatives.
I merged your thread in with the existing thread on this story.

[Carmody]

This is why, for the last 30+ years, I've trained myself (since the teen years), to never write anything down, never use computers for critical decision making data and data sorting...and keep all essential data in my head. Not even a notepad - Those are for groceries and organizing your day.

In grade 10 English class, the teacher had us reading 'The Space Merchants', 'Brave New World', and '1984'. (at Age 15) Before that...I'd already read one of them 2-3 times and the other two, at least once or twice.

[Cidersomerset]

US and UK spies hacked SIM card manufacturer to steal codes that allowed them to eavesdrop on mobile phones worldwide, according to bombshell documents leaked by Ed Snowden

new Saturday 21st February 2015 at 09:41 By David Icke

http://www.davidicke.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/get-attachment-915-587x330.jpg


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/sitelogos/logo_mol.gif

US and UK spies hacked SIM card manufacturer to steal codes that allowed
them to eavesdrop on mobile phones worldwide, according to bombshell
documents leaked by Ed Snowden
America's NSA allegedly worked with British intelligence agency GCHQ
The agencies stole encryption keys to hack into mobile communications
The hacks took place between 2010 and 2011 - with 300,000 keys stolen
Company being targeted was Gemalto who produce billions of SIM cards
NSA whistleblower Ed Snowden gave leaked documents to The Intercept
GCHQ planted 'malicious software' on Gemalto's computers, files reveal

By Jay Akbar For Mailonline

Published: 09:47, 20 February 2015 | Updated: 11:15, 20 February 2015


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2961314/US-UK-hacked-SIM-card-manufacturer-steal-codes-allowed-eavesdrop-mobile-phones-worldwide-according-bombshell-documents-leaked-Ed-Snowden.html#ixzz3SNnPM5pI
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook



‘British and American spies reportedly stole confidential codes from Dutch
SIM card manufacturer to eavesdrop on mobile phones around the world,
an intelligence leak has revealed.

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden gave leaked files to The Intercept
detailing how the American agency and its British counterparts GCHQ
stole encryption keys that keep mobile communications private.

The company targeted was Gemalto who produce billions of electronic
chips for mobile phones and next generation credit cards.

It operates in 85 countries and its SIM cards cover more than 1.5 billion
mobile users globally for clients such as AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon and Sprint.’

The hacks are thought to have taken place in 2010 and 2011 and led to
the theft of 300,000 keys from Somalia, Iran, Afghanistan, Yemen, India,
Serbia, Iceland and Tajikistan.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/02/20/25DCCF4300000578-2961314-image-a-7_1424429276196.jpg

SIM heist: GCHQ slides revealed the spy agency wanted to steal encryption
keys which help keep mobile communications private

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/02/20/25DCD71600000578-2961314-image-a-8_1424429279450.jpg

Security breech: GCHQ also planted 'malicious software' on Gemalto's
computers to obtain encryption keys and boasted in a slide: 'Successfully
implanted several machines and believe we have their entire network'


http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/02/20/2402DD2A00000578-2961314-image-a-2_1424425291283.jpg

hone intercepts: Leaked documents given to The Intercept by NSA
whistleblower Edward Snowden (pictured) revealed how the American
agency and British-based GCHQ hacked into a Dutch company


With these encryption keys, the intelligence agencies would have the
ability to collect both voice and data information - such as text
messages - from a large portion of the world's communications.

The keys are used to decipher the communications between mobile
phones and their network providers which would otherwise be
received as a 'garbled mess'.

Stealing them also sidesteps the need to get permission from telecom
companies or a warrant for a wire-tap - and it leaves no trace on the
wireless provider's network that communications have been hacked into.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2961314/US-UK-hacked-SIM-card-manufacturer-steal-codes-allowed-eavesdrop-mobile-phones-worldwide-according-bombshell-documents-leaked-Ed-Snowden.html#ixzz3SNo1ng00
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

[Cidersomerset]

Spies Can Track You Just by Watching Your Phone’s Power Use

Saturday 21st February 2015 at 07:56 By David Icke


http://www.wired.com/wp-content/themes/wired/assets/images/post_wired_logo_150x60.gif

Spies Can Track You Just by Watching Your Phone’s Power Use
By Andy Greenberg
02.19.15 |
8:45 pm |
Permalink




http://www.davidicke.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/479978729-bw-660x440-587x391.jpg


‘Smartphone users might balk at letting a random app like Candy Crush
or Shazam track their every move via GPS. But researchers have found
that Android phones reveal information about your location to every app
on your device through a different, unlikely data leak: the phone’s power
consumption.

Researchers at Stanford University and Israel’s defense research group
Rafael have created a technique they call PowerSpy, which they say can
gather information about an Android phone’s geolocation merely by
tracking its power use over time. That data, unlike GPS or Wi-Fi location
tracking, is freely available to any installed app without a requirement to
ask the user’s permission.

That means it could represent a new method of stealthily determining a
user’s movements with as much as 90 percent accuracy—though for now
the method only really works when trying to differentiate between a
certain number of pre-measured routes.’

Read more: Spies Can Track You Just by Watching Your Phone’s Power Use

http://www.wired.com/2015/02/powerspy-phone-tracking/

==================================================
==================================================

I must admit I'm not sure that Russian intelligence will be to pleased with this article...LOL

http://static.fjcdn.com/pictures/Russian+intelligence+agency+s+emblem+looks+like+the+batman+symbol_87fbc8_4074569.jpeg

Vladimim admires Russian intel agency emblem , looks a bit like Batman cymbol..




" What do you mean Barak ? We are the good guys in this scandal ?
https://timedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/putin-cell-phone.jpg?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Good job they do not know what I do in my spare time.....Hilary is up to
no good again !!


Russian spy agency targeting western diplomats FSB using psychological
techniques developed by KGB to intimidate and demoralise diplomatic staff,
activists and journalists

http://i.guim.co.uk/static/w-620/h--/q-95/sys-images/Admin/BkFill/Default_image_group/2011/9/23/1316789853359/Vladimir-Putin-007.jpg

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/sep/23/russia-targeting-western-diplomats


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------




http://rt.com/static/img/static/logo.png

‘Unhackable’: Russian firm develops totally surveillance-proof smartphone

Saturday 21st February 2015 at 07:03 By David Icke


http://www.davidicke.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/phones.si_-587x330.jpg


‘Russia is entering the post-Snowden world with style. Its own anti-surveillance
smartphone prototype, equipped with the latest in cutting-edge cybersecurity
and intended for corporate users, is currently being tested.

This is not Russia’s first foray into smartphones, with the dual-screen YotaPhone
making headlines recently with its second incarnation. However, the new project
will offer unparalleled, corporate-level security, when ready. The current version
is a prototype and any photos are kept in strict secret.’


Called the TaigaPhone, the phone will be manufactured by Taiga Systems, 99 percent
of which belongs to Natalya Kasperskaya, owner of the InfoWatch group. The device
will synergize with other tools provided by the company to its high-profile clients.

According to Izvestia daily, things like photos and work-related files, as well as phone
conversations and metadata will not “leak” without the user’s consent, according to
Taiga Systems co-owner Aleksey Nagorny.

“The device is entirely our own – the design, the schematics and circuitry. The phone
will be manufactured in China,” he said.

The company used Android’s base for the creation of its own Taiga operating system.
Inventing one from scratch was too costly and cumbersome.

But the system will also contain several levels of cyber defense, chief among them the
ability to completely disable or enable select parts of the system. Nagorny mentioned
the camera, as well as location services.


http://rt.com/files/news/39/0f/b0/00/yota.jpg
New YotaPhone 2 smartphone. (RIA Novosti / Ramil Sitdikov)


The phone can also be fashioned into a traditional “slab,” to allow only phone calls.
The most extreme version of this setting will enable the user to only see incoming
calls. And of course, no secure device would be complete without the ability to
switch off your microphone.

All of these settings will require one or two buttons maximum to operate.

What’s more, a signal will alert the user if anyone is trying to hack the microphone
or any other key features.

Symantec will cooperate with Taiga Systems on some of the more key security
capabilities. Many now know that switching off your phone does not disable the
GPS – that’s where Symantec comes in.

Other phones exist with similar capabilities, with the BlackPhone – an Android-based
solution from Europe - released four months ago. It boasts information encryption,
something the likes of whistleblowers Edward Snowden and Julian Assange have
been very vocal about.

READ MORE: 'Secret Santa for post-Snowden era': New app uses Tor-like encryption

Despite the obvious advantages of encryption, high-security devices still aren’t the
mainstream even in the corporate sector, for which the TaigaPhone was developed.
The situation today is such that standard phones are bought in most cases, with the
company installing various add-ons for its employees.

The price and arrival date are being kept under wraps.

According to Nagorny, the company is in talks to equip other makes with the Taiga system soon.


Read more: ‘Unhackable’: Russian firm develops totally surveillance-proof smartphone

http://www.wired.com/2015/02/powerspy-phone-tracking/

[apokalypse]

There are backdoors in the BIOS. Every operating system must go through the BIOS.

i do believe that...just obtain Samsung high end expensive phone from cousin, after go thought i saw so many bloatware and services running which you don't need got me thinking these stuff have to be backdoors or Spyware for NSA. looking at windows right now over 20+ GB while Linux no where near that size and Linux only have 1GB.

last year i have heard from people on some forums discussing about using Mobile Phone without needed Sim Card and all of the stuff that people on non-mainstream talked about is true, first time come to mind is they release this technology on mainstream?

[Cidersomerset]

The SIM Card Saga. The NSA and Britain’s GCHQ’s Agenda:
Establishing Total Control Over Internet and Mobile Phone Users

new Tuesday 24th February 2015 at 06:50 By David Icke

http://www.davidicke.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/get-attachment-1003-587x390.jpg



On February 16, researchers at the Moscow-based security group
Kaspersky Lab announced the discovery of the ultimate virus which
has virtually infected all spheres of military and civilian computing
in more than 40 countries around the world.

They’ve managed to discover a piece of malware that must have
been installed on hard disks while they were still being manufactured,
and due to its complexity and a certain number of features that it
shares with Stuxnet, it’s safe to assume that it was created by
US secret services.

On February 18, The Guardian confirmed that for the last 7 years
Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) had been sharing
personal intelligence data en masse with America’s national security
agencies, regardless of the fact that it had interceptedmillions of
foreign citizens’ conversations. The ruling of a UK court clearly
suggests that these actions were illegal on top of being carried out
in violation of the the European Convention on Human Rights.’

Read more: The SIM Card Saga. The NSA and Britain’s GCHQ’s
Agenda: Establishing Total Control Over Internet and Mobile Phone Users

http://journal-neo.org/2015/02/22/nsa-and-gchq-big-brother-would-have-never-believed/

[Cidersomerset]

http://static.bbci.co.uk/frameworks/barlesque/2.83.4/desktop/3.5/img/blq-blocks_grey_alpha.png

20 February 2015 Last updated at 14:32

US and UK accused of hacking Sim card firm to steal codes Sim card

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/68880000/jpg/_68880814_sim2.jpg

The stolen encryption keys allowed agencies to decode data that passes between
mobile phones and cell towers US and British intelligence agencies hacked into a
major manufacturer of Sim cards in order to steal codes that facilitate
eavesdropping on mobiles, a US news website says.

The Intercept says the revelations came from US intelligence contractor turned
whistleblower Edward Snowden.

The Dutch company allegedly targeted - Gemalto - says it is taking the
allegations "very seriously".

It operates in 85 countries and has more than 40 manufacturing facilities.

The Intercept says that "the great Sim heist" gave US and British surveillance
agencies "the potential to secretly monitor a large portion of the world's cellular
communications, including both voice and data".

It says that among the clients of the Netherlands-based company are AT&T,
T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint and "some 450 wireless network providers around the
world".

Full investigation

The Intercept alleges that the hack organised by Britain's GCHQ and the US
National Security Agency (NSA) began in 2010, and was organised by operatives in
the "Mobile Handset Exploitation Team". Neither agency has commented directly on
the allegations.

However GCHQ reiterated that all its activities were "carried out in accordance with
a strict legal and policy framework which ensures that our activities are authorised,
necessary and proportionate".


http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/81122000/jpg/_81122384_62ecc2dc-a1fb-4181-9e02-f867cb73c396.jpg
Mobile phone users in the Philippines (January 2015) Experts say that the alleged
hack is a major compromise of worldwide mobile phone security

How does the hack work?

Each Sim card has an individual encryption key, installed by the chip manufacturer,
that secures communications between the handset in which it inserted and mobile
phone masts.This means that if anyone were to snoop on conversations or text
messages, they would receive garbled, unintelligible data.

That is, of course, unless those carrying out the surveillance get hold of the
encryption key. With that information, they can even decrypt previously intercepted
communications.

However, this tactic only works for phone conversations and text messages.
Communications through mobile applications such as Whatsapp, iMessage and
many email services have separate encryption systems.


The stolen encryption allowed the agencies to decode data that passes between
mobile phones and cell towers. They were able to decrypt calls, texts or emails
intercepted out of the air.

A Gemalto spokeswoman said the company was unable to verify whether there had
indeed been a breach, and highlighted that other Sim manufacturers could also
have been targeted.

She added: "We take this publication very seriously and will devote all resources
necessary to fully investigate and understand the scope of such highly sophisticated
techniques to try to obtain Sim card data".

Global ripples

Reacting to The Intercept's revelations, Eric King, deputy director of the campaign
group Privacy International, said the NSA and GCHQ had "lost sight of what the rule
of law means and how to weigh what is necessary and proportionate".

He said trust in the security of our communications systems is "essential for our
society and for businesses to operate with confidence". And the impact of these
latest revelations will have "ripples all over the world."


http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/81130000/jpg/_81130619_8f9faa74-db86-4fbe-b887-86d57c04c1d8.jpg
Passport Gemalto also manufactures ID chips for passports, among other
technologies Privacy International is currently engaged in legal action against GCHQ
over its alleged hacking practices.

Gemalto makes Sim cards for mobile phones and furnishes service providers with
encryption codes to keep the data on each phone private.

The Intercept claims that by first cyber-stalking employees at Gemalto and then
penetrating their emails, the spy agencies were able to steal thousands of
encryption keys at source.

This would allow them to eavesdrop easily on phone calls and texts without seeking
permission from telecoms companies or foreign governments, and without leaving a trace.

The Intercept cites as its source documents leaked by Edward Snowden, the former
NSA contractor who is currently living in Russia.

'Weakest link'

Karsten Nohl, a security researcher who has exposed previous Sim card
vulnerabilities, told the BBC the leak showed that "it is still not terribly difficult" to
circumvent encryptions on mobile phone communications.

He added that since it was Gemalto, and not the mobile providers, which sets Sim
encryption codes, this makes the Dutch firm the "weakest link of the security chain".

Other Gemalto clients, such as passport agencies, buy blank chips and set the
codes themselves.

"A lot of telecom companies will be scrambling to find out what went wrong," said Mr Nohl.


http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/81130000/jpg/_81130621_12ee268d-79ce-4b7e-914b-930984b83722.jpg
Analysis: Joe Miller, BBC technology reporter

Lock
If The Intercept's report is to be believed, the most striking discovery is how easily
those wanting to engage in mass surveillance can eavesdrop on our mobile
communications.

Gemalto, the company which was allegedly targeted, manufactures an estimated
30% of all Sim cards worldwide. And crucially, it creates the security key for each
item. All security agencies needed to do was obtain (by hacking, allegedly) the list
of security keys from the firm. Then, as security expert Karsten Nohl says, they
could snoop on phone calls with a "few hundred dollars worth of radio equipment in
strategically important locations".

This contrasts with security procedures used, for example, for chips in passports.
Many are are also manufactured by Gemalto. These are delivered to the relevant
authorities as a blank chip, and the Passport Office - not the company - creates the
security key.

Many of Edward Snowden's allegations have shone a light on complex surveillance
tactics by the NSA. But perhaps this latest leak has done more to highlight how a
single company is in control of millions of people's private data.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-31545050

====================================================
====================================================

http://static.bbci.co.uk/frameworks/barlesque/2.83.4/desktop/3.5/img/blq-blocks_grey_alpha.png

24 February 2015 Last updated at 13:16

Yahoo executive challenges NSA over encryption demandsAlex Stamos
Yahoo's security chief Alex Stamos clashed with Adm Mike Rogers, the
director of the US National Security Agency

Continue reading the main story
Related Stories
Tech firms urged to share data with US
US and UK 'hacked Sim card firm'
NSA 'developing quantum computer'

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/81203000/jpg/_81203085_490832273.jpg

A Yahoo executive has publicly challenged the National Security Agency
(NSA) over encryption "backdoors".

Alex Stamos pressed NSA director Adm Mike Rogers on whether the access to encrypted
data requested by the US authorities should also be granted to the Russian and Chinese
governments.

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/81204000/jpg/_81204704_477827947.jpg
Adm Rogers insisted an agreement could be reached "within a framework".

The tense exchange came after many top tech figures refused to attend a White House c
ybersecurity summit this month.

"If we're going to build defects, backdoors or golden master keys for the US government,
do you believe we should do so... for the Chinese government, the Russian government,
the Saudi Arabian government, the Israeli government, the French government?" asked
Mr Stamos, Yahoo's chief information security officer.

After initially dodging the question, Adm Rogers - who took over as director of the
NSA last year - responded: "I think that we're lying that this isn't technically feasible.

"Now, it needs to be done within a framework. I'm the first to acknowledge that."

Mike Rogers Adm Mike Rogers testifying before a Senate committee while a vice-admiral
According to a transcript provided by the Just Security website, he argued that he
did not want the FBI and NSA to unilaterally decide what access they should have, but
insisted an agreement was achievable.

Pressed on whether he thought that access should also be granted to other nations'
governments, Adm Rogers said: "I think we can work our way through this."

Mr Stamos responded: "I'm sure the Chinese and Russians are going to have the same opinion."

The exchange took place before delegates at a cybersecurity conference hosted by the
New America Foundation on Monday.


http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/81204000/jpg/_81204703_56667803.jpg
NSA The US authorities want to ensure they have access to encrypted data in order to investigate crime
There has been an increasingly tense relationship between the US authorities and Silicon
Valley since information was leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Encryption of user data has subsequently become increasingly popular and, in some cases,
the companies hand over the keys to users, making it difficult to break.

But the White House has asked tech firms to share more data with law enforcement agencies.
And the US authorities want them to build in vulnerabilities that they would be able to exploit.

The rift was illustrated when, earlier this month, senior Google, Yahoo and Facebook executives
turned down invitations to a White House cybersecurity summit at Stanford University.

Tim Cook, of Apple, was one of the few top tech bosses to appear.

Adm Rogers told the conference on Monday that the NSA needed a way to access data if it was
believed that a device was "being used for criminal, or in my case, foreign intelligence or
national security issues".

But he acknowledged that there were legitimate concerns to be addressed before a
"legal framework" could be established.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-31604503

[Carmody]

First rule of hacking. Hack the people in the system, not the system. The hacked people will give/open the system to you.