
CIA’s Latest Layer: An Onion Site - dosy
https://www.cia.gov/news-information/press-releases-statements/2019-press-releases-statements/ciagov-over-tor.html
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peteretep
> ciadotgov4sjwlzihbbgxnqg3xiyrg7so2r2o3lt5wz5ypk4sxyjstad.onion

How does one store links like this? You'd need a bookmark file, which would
sort of give the game away, I'd have thought. How do you make sure you notice
when you visit a URL with the same readable prefix?

~~~
GordonS
Password safe seems like a good idea, especially since you'll quote likely
want to store credentials for the site anyway.

~~~
dredmorbius
Rubber hose.

~~~
GordonS
Surely that's pretty much valid regardless of how you store them?

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dredmorbius
Consider the case of carrying electronics (or storage) vs. shipping them,
crossing borders, and implications for inspection.

If it's not on you, they can't beat it out of you.

Of course, they might decide to beat you anyway. Which raises the question of
whether it's strong crypto or rule of law that matters more. I'm not sure
which way I come dwn on that myself, though could argue for bits of both.

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xeeeeeeeeeeenu
It's interesting that US government is embracing Tor, while Germany is
cracking down on it[1].

[1] -
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19399576](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19399576)

~~~
danesparza
To be fair, "embracing Tor" is an interesting phrase, considering the FBI was
actively breaking it 5 years ago:
[https://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2014/11/07/how-
did-...](https://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2014/11/07/how-did-law-
enforcement-break-tor/#74586a9a4bf7)

~~~
microcolonel
Local and state LEOs and the CIA use it though, even if the FBI has done some
attacks on it.

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vowelless
I have a question for the HN audience. Many here have gone to top schools and
studied crypto, ML, etc with the best. And are probably the best in their
field.

Do you currently work for any three letter agencies? Did your smartest
colleagues go to work at three letter agencies?

I am trying to gauge the quality of talent at CIA, NSA, FBI, etc. All of my
best colleagues went to the private sector, usually tech or security
companies. I know some of these companies contract for the departments /
agencies (and many colleagues have clearances). However, they are not actually
working at the agencies themselves.

So what is the talent pool at the CIA et al. like?

~~~
chrisseaton
Do you realise that almost nobody working in this kind of job can disclose
that?

~~~
wil421
Unless your an actual spy you could probably say you work at the NSA as an SE,
linguist or something more mundane. I doubt you could talk about your actual
work.

I’ve known people with clearances at Govt contractors. They could say what
they do, EE/ME for X project but not many details beside that.

~~~
bsamuels
When you work at the NSA, you are not allowed to say that you work for the
NSA. Full stop. (Contractors are a different story for some complex reasons,
but are still at risk)

It's like this for many gov agencies working with intelligence because
labeling yourself as an intelligence worker makes you a target for foreign
intelligence agents.

That may sound a little strange if you aren't part of that industry, but it is
the truth.

~~~
wil421
Where do you say you work? I’ve met a few linguist who said they work for the
FBI or whoever but they were contractors on an as needed basis.

What do the folks in Virginia say to their neighbors? “Oh I work for the DOD.
So your a spy right haha?”

~~~
acct1771
"The State Department."

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SuperNinjaCat
I do have an interesting story about going through the beginning of the
recuitment process for a multi-letter agency within the 5 eye sphere
(Australia), but I'm not sure I want to post it. It involved asking me point
blank at the beginning of a face to face interview at their HQ saying to me
"soo...what have you hacked?" along with other weirdness.

The year before I completed an aptitude test which predominantly focused on
abstract reasoning. It was a strange experience and part of me wants to
discuss it in a responsible/de-identified sort of way, but on the other hand,
the take-away I got from the experience itself is kind of holding me back from
following through with that desire to discuss it....I'm not sure if what I
just wrote makes any sense to me now that I just typed it out.

It was still an interesting experience though which did have a positive impact
on my life.

EDIT: Sorry, edited for a spelling mistake

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cheschire
Some previous discussions:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19852989](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19852989)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19853931](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19853931)

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DC-3
I don't know how onion links work but would they have had to brute force that
URL?

~~~
jasonhansel
Yep.

~~~
pontifier
13 letters too... do you think they also have another site for people who
aren't social justice warriors?

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sdinsn
?

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__HYde
> ciadotgov4sjw...

cia.gov for Social Justice Warriors. Pretty sure he was just making a joke and
only the first 9 characters were actually being tried for.

~~~
dosy
Could it not be 4 "super-judicial wars"? haw haw haw

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flatiron
not sure why it's not a single onion site...its not like they want to stay
anonymous too.

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onion2k
It's a trap.

~~~
taneq
Paging #notacop

