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posted by on Tuesday February 07 2017, @03:47PM   Printer-friendly
from the just-borrowed-for-a-while dept.

On Monday, The Washington Post reported one of the most stunning breaches of security ever. A former NSA contractor, the paper said, stole more than 50 terabytes of highly sensitive data. According to one source, that includes more than 75 percent of the hacking tools belonging to the Tailored Access Operations. TAO is an elite hacking unit that develops and deploys some of the world's most sophisticated software exploits.

Attorneys representing Harold T. Martin III have previously portrayed the former NSA contractor as a patriot who took NSA materials home so that he could become better at his job. Meanwhile, investigators who have combed through his home in Glen Burnie, Maryland, remain concerned that he passed the weaponized hacking tools to enemies. The theft came to light during the investigation of a series of NSA-developed exploits that were mysteriously published online by a group calling itself Shadow Brokers.

[...] An unnamed US official told the paper that Martin allegedly hoarded more than 75 percent of the TAO's library of hacking tools. It's hard to envision a scenario under which a theft of that much classified material by a single individual would be possible.

Source:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/02/former-nsa-contractor-may-have-stolen-75-of-taos-elite-hacking-tools/


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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 07 2017, @04:04PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 07 2017, @04:04PM (#464112)

    This is a real life example of why backdoored encryption is VERY bad idea.
    Imagine they had mandated by law that everyone had to use backdoored encryption. The NSA would likely be one of the parties with the master key. Imagine this guy had sold that master key. Now anyone can use the government access to decrypt anything encrypted by law abiding citizens.

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  • (Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Tuesday February 07 2017, @04:15PM

    by dyingtolive (952) on Tuesday February 07 2017, @04:15PM (#464122)

    The teenage-nihilist-in-his-thirties part of me that just wants to watch the world burn would be okay with that, actually.

    The slightly more mature part of me cringes at the idea though.

    --
    Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
    • (Score: 2) by istartedi on Tuesday February 07 2017, @08:35PM

      by istartedi (123) on Tuesday February 07 2017, @08:35PM (#464265) Journal

      That's because teenage nihilists usually have a negative net worth. Mature adults
      usually have some assets.

      --
      Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
      • (Score: 3, Interesting) by bob_super on Tuesday February 07 2017, @09:44PM

        by bob_super (1357) on Tuesday February 07 2017, @09:44PM (#464305)

        Isn't it wonderful how people are tamed by the idea that they have something to lose (tangible or not)?

      • (Score: 3, Interesting) by edIII on Tuesday February 07 2017, @09:49PM

        by edIII (791) on Tuesday February 07 2017, @09:49PM (#464311)

        Assets are not what make you beholding and slaved to those above.

        You were speaking about DEBT.

        --
        Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
        • (Score: 1) by istartedi on Wednesday February 08 2017, @12:43AM

          by istartedi (123) on Wednesday February 08 2017, @12:43AM (#464379) Journal

          Huh? First, I didn't mean to imply that assets make you "beholding
          and slaved to those above". I see how you might infer that though--people
          who have something to lose are "invested in the system". If the country
          "goes sour" they may look at what the alternatives are and feel trapped.

          Debt is literally the exact opposite of what I said; but I think I can see
          how you might have made that inference also--some people have illusory
          assets like a house that they actually owe a lot of money on. I think it's hyperbolic
          and diminishing the problem of real slaves to use the word "slavery" outright;
          but the phrase "debt slave" and "wage slave" is what you're talking about
          and it's a real thing.

          That's not what I was talking about though. If you have no assets recorded
          in a database, if you're living paycheck-to-paycheck or heavily in debt then "watching
          it all burn" is appealing. Your debts would be wiped out. OTOH, if you have assets
          recorded in databases, then you want those databases to be secure. I wasn't speaking
          so much to the social issues of how we feel about the economic system, more to
          the consequences of losing data integrity to those at different positions within that system.

          --
          Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 08 2017, @03:57AM

            by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 08 2017, @03:57AM (#464428)

            ediii doesn't care what you meant
            your words triggered him
            so he had to get his generic rant out

  • (Score: 2) by sgleysti on Tuesday February 07 2017, @06:28PM

    by sgleysti (56) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday February 07 2017, @06:28PM (#464191)

    This sounds like the plot for a science fiction novel. Does anyone know if such a novel has been written? I would gladly buy a (used) copy.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 07 2017, @06:29PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 07 2017, @06:29PM (#464194)

    That is why physical access to the backdoor is requiered. (Device in hand)
    Backdoooring thru the internet is bad ... unless the "internet" is proprietary network
    extending into your bedroom, toilet ... like maybe those dead-end networks with a
    gazillion users (your big enduser serving isps) ... then you are using
    "their" device anway ... or rather renting it