us intel thread

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > C-SPAM > us intel thread

cargo cult: Aug 28, 2008; by Reene

quote:

China has reportedly killed or imprisoned at least 20 US intelligence assets in the country since 2010, destroying years worth of intelligence efforts in the country

American officials, current and former FBI officials told The New York Times that one operative was allegedly shot and killed in front of his colleagues as a warning against spying. Several other were imprisoned.

US officials described the losses as �one of the worst� intelligence breaches in decades, comparing it to the number of assets lost in the Soviet Union in the 1980s and 90s, when two prominent US assets worked as double agents for the Soviets. Officials said the breach has destroyed years of network-building within the country.

In 2010, American intelligence-gathering in China was said to be the best it had been in years. But by 2011, US officials realised their sources in the country were slowing drying up. As a result the CIA and FBI launched a joint investigation into almost every operation in Beijing in an attempt to determine the cause.

The investigation is said to have honed in on one man, a former CIA operative living in China, who intelligence officials believe could have been leaking to the Chinese government. However, the US agencies never uncovered enough evidence to convict him.

Another suspect, a Chinese-American who left the CIA several years ago, has denied any wrongdoing. The CIA�s top spy hunter, Mark Kelton, is said to be resistant to accusing anyone of espionage without �iron clad evidence�.

Some members of the investigation, however, are convinced that the breach is the result not of a mole, but of a compromised communications system. They believe the US�s encrypted method of communicating with operatives abroad has been hacked by the Chinese.

The news of the breach comes as the US investigates several intelligence breaches, including one allegedly stemming from China in 2015. That year, hackers accessed the personal data of at least four million current and former government employees, including social security numbers.

Much of the discussion in the US, however, has centred around Russian intelligence breaches. In 2014, suspected Russian hackers compromised the White House and State Department email systems. During the 2016 presidential election, US intelligence agencies believe Russian hackers accessed � and published � emails from the Democratic National Committee.

But officials say China has been �particularly aggressive� in its espionage efforts in recent years, both before and after 2015. In 2016, for example, a longtime FBI employee with top-secret clearances plead guilty to providing the Chinese government with information. Just this March, longtime State Department employee Candace Marie Claiborne was arrested for �concealing extensive contacts� with Chinese officials.

The FBI has previously warned of Chinese officials attempting to recruit American college students as spies.

US President Donald Trump has recently softened his stance on China, reneging on a promise to label the country a �currency manipulator� and inviting the Chinese President to a weekend retreat at his Palm Beach estate. Mr Trump has called the country a key ally in containing the threat posed by North Korea.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/china-killed-or-imprisoned-20-us-spies-fbi-cia-a7747686.html

post about american intelligence or domestic counter intelligence getting brutally cucked

# ? Oct 21, 2018 14:14

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# ? May 8, 2024 16:02

cargo cult: Aug 28, 2008; by Reene

here's another one you probably heard of

quote:

In 2015, Amazon.com Inc. began quietly evaluating a startup called Elemental Technologies, a potential acquisition to help with a major expansion of its streaming video service, known today as Amazon Prime Video. Based in Portland, Ore., Elemental made software for compressing massive video files and formatting them for different devices. Its technology had helped stream the Olympic Games online, communicate with the International Space Station, and funnel drone footage to the Central Intelligence Agency. Elemental�s national security contracts weren�t the main reason for the proposed acquisition, but they fit nicely with Amazon�s government businesses, such as the highly secure cloud that Amazon Web Services (AWS) was building for the CIA.

To help with due diligence, AWS, which was overseeing the prospective acquisition, hired a third-party company to scrutinize Elemental�s security, according to one person familiar with the process. The first pass uncovered troubling issues, prompting AWS to take a closer look at Elemental�s main product: the expensive servers that customers installed in their networks to handle the video compression. These servers were assembled for Elemental by Super Micro Computer Inc., a San Jose-based company (commonly known as Supermicro) that�s also one of the world�s biggest suppliers of server motherboards, the fiberglass-mounted clusters of chips and capacitors that act as the neurons of data centers large and small. In late spring of 2015, Elemental�s staff boxed up several servers and sent them to Ontario, Canada, for the third-party security company to test, the person says.

Nested on the servers� motherboards, the testers found a tiny microchip, not much bigger than a grain of rice, that wasn�t part of the boards� original design. Amazon reported the discovery to U.S. authorities, sending a shudder through the intelligence community. Elemental�s servers could be found in Department of Defense data centers, the CIA�s drone operations, and the onboard networks of Navy warships. And Elemental was just one of hundreds of Supermicro customers.

During the ensuing top-secret probe, which remains open more than three years later, investigators determined that the chips allowed the attackers to create a stealth doorway into any network that included the altered machines. Multiple people familiar with the matter say investigators found that the chips had been inserted at factories run by manufacturing subcontractors in China.
...

One country in particular has an advantage executing this kind of attack: China, which by some estimates makes 75 percent of the world�s mobile phones and 90 percent of its PCs. Still, to actually accomplish a seeding attack would mean developing a deep understanding of a product�s design, manipulating components at the factory, and ensuring that the doctored devices made it through the global logistics chain to the desired location�a feat akin to throwing a stick in the Yangtze River upstream from Shanghai and ensuring that it washes ashore in Seattle. �Having a well-done, nation-state-level hardware implant surface would be like witnessing a unicorn jumping over a rainbow,� says Joe Grand, a hardware hacker and the founder of Grand Idea Studio Inc. �Hardware is just so far off the radar, it�s almost treated like black magic.�

But that�s just what U.S. investigators found: The chips had been inserted during the manufacturing process, two officials say, by operatives from a unit of the People�s Liberation Army. In Supermicro, China�s spies appear to have found a perfect conduit for what U.S. officials now describe as the most significant supply chain attack known to have been carried out against American companies.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-10-04/the-big-hack-how-china-used-a-tiny-chip-to-infiltrate-america-s-top-companies

amazon, apple and the DoD are all denying but yknow lol

cargo cult has issued a correction as of 14:22 on Oct 21, 2018

# ? Oct 21, 2018 14:18

Bip Roberts: Mar 29, 2005

Hell yeah sounds like a good start

# ? Oct 21, 2018 14:18

cargo cult: Aug 28, 2008; by Reene

quote:

WASHINGTON � Jake Williams awoke last April in an Orlando, Fla., hotel where he was leading a training session. Checking Twitter, Mr. Williams, a cybersecurity expert, was dismayed to discover that he had been thrust into the middle of one of the worst security debacles ever to befall American intelligence.

Mr. Williams had written on his company blog about the Shadow Brokers, a mysterious group that had somehow obtained many of the hacking tools the United States used to spy on other countries. Now the group had replied in an angry screed on Twitter. It identified him � correctly � as a former member of the National Security Agency�s hacking group, Tailored Access Operations, or T.A.O., a job he had not publicly disclosed. Then the Shadow Brokers astonished him by dropping technical details that made clear they knew about highly classified hacking operations that he had conducted.

America�s largest and most secretive intelligence agency had been deeply infiltrated.

�They had operational insight that even most of my fellow operators at T.A.O. did not have,� said Mr. Williams, now with Rendition Infosec, a cybersecurity firm he founded. �I felt like I�d been kicked in the gut. Whoever wrote this either was a well-placed insider or had stolen a lot of operational data.�

The jolt to Mr. Williams from the Shadow Brokers� riposte was part of a much broader earthquake that has shaken the N.S.A. to its core. Current and former agency officials say the Shadow Brokers disclosures, which began in August 2016, have been catastrophic for the N.S.A., calling into question its ability to protect potent cyberweapons and its very value to national security. The agency regarded as the world�s leader in breaking into adversaries� computer networks failed to protect its own.

�These leaks have been incredibly damaging to our intelligence and cyber capabilities,� said Leon E. Panetta, the former defense secretary and director of the Central Intelligence Agency. �The fundamental purpose of intelligence is to be able to effectively penetrate our adversaries in order to gather vital intelligence. By its very nature, that only works if secrecy is maintained and our codes are protected.�

With a leak of intelligence methods like the N.S.A. tools, Mr. Panetta said, �Every time it happens, you essentially have to start over.�

Fifteen months into a wide-ranging investigation by the agency�s counterintelligence arm, known as Q Group, and the F.B.I., officials still do not know whether the N.S.A. is the victim of a brilliantly executed hack, with Russia as the most likely perpetrator, an insider�s leak, or both. Three employees have been arrested since 2015 for taking classified files, but there is fear that one or more leakers may still be in place. And there is broad agreement that the damage from the Shadow Brokers already far exceeds the harm to American intelligence done by Edward J. Snowden, the former N.S.A. contractor who fled with four laptops of classified material in 2013.

Inside the agency�s Maryland headquarters and its campuses around the country, N.S.A. employees have been subjected to polygraphs and suspended from their jobs in a hunt for turncoats allied with the Shadow Brokers. Much of the agency�s arsenal is still being replaced, curtailing operations. Morale has plunged, and experienced specialists are leaving the agency for better-paying jobs � including with firms defending computer networks from intrusions that use the N.S.A.�s leaked tools.

�It�s a disaster on multiple levels,� Mr. Williams said. �It�s embarrassing that the people responsible for this have not been brought to justice.�

owned bitch

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/12/us/nsa-shadow-brokers.html

# ? Oct 21, 2018 14:27

The Puppet Master: Apr 9, 2005; Would you fuck me? I'd fuck me. I'd fuck me hard.

cargo cult posted:

here's another one you probably heard of

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-10-04/the-big-hack-how-china-used-a-tiny-chip-to-infiltrate-america-s-top-companies

amazon, apple and the DoD are all denying but yknow lol

this is probably not exactly as how bloomberg reported it

quote:

Most of the claims made by Bloomberg�s intelligence sources appear to come from a lack of understanding of embedded systems. While it is still possible that some sort of compromise may have been found, though the rationality and application would be more narrow than reported, a Chinese manufacturer is not the likely source of attack.

The main issue with their claims, and a general rule I hope people take away from this:

If a hardware modification targeting memory storage can result in a compromise then the software in that memory can be modified at the manufacturer without need for any hardware modification.

https://deadhacker.com/2018/10/07/the-chinese-backdoor-that-isnt/

# ? Oct 21, 2018 22:36

an actual dog: Nov 18, 2014

cargo cult posted:

here's another one you probably heard of

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-10-04/the-big-hack-how-china-used-a-tiny-chip-to-infiltrate-america-s-top-companies

amazon, apple and the DoD are all denying but yknow lol

this probably didn't happen but everything else did lmao thank you for making a thread

# ? Oct 22, 2018 02:54

an actual dog: Nov 18, 2014

imagine thinking you need to embed a chip onto something to hack it lmao

# ? Oct 22, 2018 02:56

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

cargo cult posted:

here's another one you probably heard of

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-10-04/the-big-hack-how-china-used-a-tiny-chip-to-infiltrate-america-s-top-companies

amazon, apple and the DoD are all denying but yknow lol

Outsourcing has done it again.

# ? Oct 22, 2018 02:57

an actual dog: Nov 18, 2014

I wonder how much of the CIA's systems are using default passwords

# ? Oct 22, 2018 02:59

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

I liked the story how the CIA creating a custom database software to allow their foreign spies and informants to stay in contact.

Of course the centralized convenience of the system made it easy for the Chinese to break into the system and led probably to hundreds of Chinese contacts being executed.

Main reason why the CIA didn't think of this vulnerability was because the system was developed during the whole invasion of Iraq and worked alright when the opposition wasn't as technically sophisticated.

# ? Oct 22, 2018 03:02

ur in my world now: Jun 5, 2006; ^{Same as it ever was}
^{Same as it ever was}
^{Same as it ever was}
^{Same as it ever was}; Smellrose

i have intel on the us: it sux

# ? Oct 22, 2018 03:27

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

Free Reality Winner

# ? Oct 22, 2018 03:27

Slutitution: Jun 26, 2018; by Nyc_Tattoo

Is anyone surprised by the ineptness of the CIA/NSA in the OP given the fact they apparently can't do anything about Kremlin shitposters on the twitter ? These loving idiots have been self-owning themselves since 2016 with this bullshit.

And China literally killing CIA assets so casually like that means they already own us. They might be the leakers of Vault 7 after reading that, too.

# ? Oct 22, 2018 03:42

cargo cult: Aug 28, 2008; by Reene

I dont have remotely the expertise to comment on that elemental technologies thing but rest assured there us intelligence is going to fail epicly and publicly many more times as the empire crumbels due to hubris and negligence and i encourage you to post them so this thread can serve to as to record itb when it happens

# ? Oct 22, 2018 03:44

Cinnamon Bear: Aug 29, 2016; by FactsAreUseless

Slutitution posted:

Is anyone surprised by the ineptness of the CIA/NSA

The CIA is literally up their own rear end huffing their own farts.

Cinnamon Bear has issued a correction as of 04:15 on Oct 22, 2018

# ? Oct 22, 2018 03:45

an actual dog: Nov 18, 2014

cargo cult posted:

I dont have remotely the expertise to comment on that elemental technologies thing but rest assured there us intelligence is going to fail epicly and publicly many more times as the empire crumbels due to hubris and negligence and i encourage you to post them so this thread can serve to as to record itb when it happens

yea this

# ? Oct 22, 2018 04:14

logikv9: Mar 5, 2009; Ham Wrangler

etalian posted:

Free Reality Winner

# ? Oct 22, 2018 04:21

Blast of Confetti: Apr 21, 2008; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

etalian posted:

I liked the story how the CIA creating a custom database software to allow their foreign spies and informants to stay in contact.

Of course the centralized convenience of the system made it easy for the Chinese to break into the system and led probably to hundreds of Chinese contacts being executed.

Main reason why the CIA didn't think of this vulnerability was because the system was developed during the whole invasion of Iraq and worked alright when the opposition wasn't as technically sophisticated.

reminder that members of the taliban would hack US drones because nobody thought to add decent password and encryption to the wifi stuff. us intelligence is so good at loving up jobs and underestimating the enemy that it's like a leslie nielsen movie

# ? Oct 22, 2018 10:41

Farm Frenzy: Jan 3, 2007

Blast of Confetti posted:

reminder that members of the taliban would hack US drones because nobody thought to add decent password and encryption to the wifi stuff. us intelligence is so good at loving up jobs and underestimating the enemy that it's like a leslie nielsen movie

that was a good one. they did it with commercially available satellite dishes running software you use to pirate cable

# ? Oct 22, 2018 11:36

Mariana Horchata: Jun 30, 2008; College Slice

Blast of Confetti posted:

reminder that members of the taliban would hack US drones because nobody thought to add decent password and encryption to the wifi stuff. us intelligence is so good at loving up jobs and underestimating the enemy that it's like a leslie nielsen movie

leslie nielsen was canadian

more like chris farley

# ? Oct 22, 2018 11:52

Metal Cat: Dec 25, 2017

etalian posted:

Free Reality Winner

# ? Oct 22, 2018 12:14

Jose: Jul 24, 2007; Adrian Chiles is a broadcaster and writer

https://twitter.com/CIA/status/1025051443970093056?s=19

# ? Oct 22, 2018 12:26

Willie Tomg: Feb 2, 2006

the leaked CIA torture memos got memory-holed by google (this is a cool thing that has started happening with increasing frequency in the last year btw) but my "favorite" was in october of 2001 the CIA tortured a guy who turned himself in only to find after three loving days of it, that actually yes his story checked out: he was a CIA asset who had been furiously trying to get in touch with the CIA for months because of things he'd been hearing.

# ? Oct 22, 2018 18:57

Jose: Jul 24, 2007; Adrian Chiles is a broadcaster and writer

Willie Tomg posted:

the leaked CIA torture memos got memory-holed by google (this is a cool thing that has started happening with increasing frequency in the last year btw) but my "favorite" was in october of 2001 the CIA tortured a guy who turned himself in only to find after three loving days of it, that actually yes his story checked out: he was a CIA asset who had been furiously trying to get in touch with the CIA for months because of things he'd been hearing.

lol owned thats what he gets for being a CIA asset

# ? Oct 22, 2018 18:58

Willie Tomg: Feb 2, 2006

the spaghetti enema, or "The Langley Hello" as its also known,

# ? Oct 22, 2018 19:02

Moridin920: Nov 15, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

Joseance posted:

lol owned thats what he gets for being a CIA asset

# ? Oct 22, 2018 19:58

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

Vintage US Intelligence (I'm having trouble finding a source, but I swear I read this in a compilation of stupid government plots in Cuba): among all the harebrained plots to kill Castro, there were plans to undermine him as well. One proposed option was to spread a rumor that nuclear fallout collected in human hair, particularly the more coarse hair of men's beards. The rationale? this would convince the men of Cuba to shave, and without bearded men, there could be no revolution.

# ? Oct 22, 2018 20:06

Slutitution: Jun 26, 2018; by Nyc_Tattoo

cargo cult posted:

I dont have remotely the expertise to comment on that elemental technologies thing but rest assured there us intelligence is going to fail epicly and publicly many more times as the empire crumbels due to hubris and negligence and i encourage you to post them so this thread can serve to as to record itb when it happens

I agree all of this will and continue to happen, but :lol:

if you think corporate media/MSM will accurately report on US intel gently caress-ups, ineptness, partisanship, and mismanagement altogether. CNN and MSNBC openly hire these motherfuckers now, for instance.

Also, friendly public service reminder about the US intel's history of relentlessly destroying domestic leftist movements in the country: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO#Post-COINTELPRO_operations

# ? Oct 22, 2018 21:09

Peanut President: Nov 5, 2008; by Athanatos

CIA/NSA/whoever kept a folder of observations on Gary Gygax (the Dungeons & Dragons guy), but didn't know about/stop Timothy McVeigh.

# ? Oct 23, 2018 02:20

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# ? May 8, 2024 16:02

cargo cult: Aug 28, 2008; by Reene

Slutitution posted:

I agree all of this will and continue to happen, but if you think corporate media/MSM will accurately report on US intel gently caress-ups, ineptness, partisanship, and mismanagement altogether. CNN and MSNBC openly hire these motherfuckers now, for instance.

Also, friendly public service reminder about the US intel's history of relentlessly destroying domestic leftist movements in the country: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO#Post-COINTELPRO_operations

every link i posted was from the MSM and none of them are remotely flattering :shrug:

# ? Oct 23, 2018 04:53

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