Researcher describes ease to detect, derail and exploit NSA’s Lawful Interception by Violet Blue.
From the post:
While headlines from European hacking conference 30c3 featured speakers vying for U.S. National Security Agency revelation sensationalism, one notorious hacker delivered an explosive talk that dismantled one thing the NSA, law enforcement, and global intelligence agencies depend on: “Lawful Interception” systems.
And German researcher Felix “FX” Lindner did exactly that, in what was stealthily 30c3’s most controversial bombshell of the conference.
In a talk titled CounterStrike: Lawful Interception, Lindner explained to a standing-room-only theater of 3,000 hackers how easy it is to find out if you’re under legally imposed surveillance, detailing how easily a user can jam the shoddy legacy systems running Lawful Interception (LI).
In explaining how LI works, Lindner revealed the shocking lack of accountability in its implementation and the “perverted incentive situation of all parties involved” that makes it easy to perform interception of communications without any record left behind.
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When you get past all the hype, “notorious,” “controversial bombshell,” “shocking,” “perverted,” etc. it is a good article and worth reading.
For your reading/viewing pleasure:
CounterStrike: Lawful Interception: Complete slide deck
YouTube: CounterStrike – Lawful Interception [30c3]
When debating NSA disclosures or ineffectual plans to curb the NSA, remember the security community’s “I’ve got a secret” game enabled the NSA and others.
I can’t say that was its intention but it certainly was the result.