

Has the NSA weakened cybersecurity and made life easier for cybercriminals? - zmanian
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/mar/07/nsa-spying-harmed-digital-crime-fight

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Zigurd
This article brings out many salient points:

1\. NSA has put far more effort in subverting security and privacy than
supporting it.

2\. Using corrupt practices like bribes to get back doors destroys the
government's credibility. For example, DHS's cyber-security head is quoted in
this article "We all have to make sure we get this right and we will, with
full privacy and full civil rights...” Is there any doubt she would have to
stand aside if DHS discovered an NSA exploit?

3\. Until we know how the NSA collaborates with the US high tech firms on the
PRISM list, we can't trust Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL,
Skype, YouTube, or Apple. These companies have made denials without supporting
evidence, and have made no effort to uncover the reasons behind why they
appear on the PRISM slides.

4\. By raising expectations on the sophistication and audacity of attacks, and
by breaking down any limits on using private companies to enable attacks, NSA
has substantially worsened the outlook for cyber security, and has done
nothing to mitigate this problem.

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zmanian
I've been trying to pivot the discussion around the NSA towards these greater
harms and away from the gross illegality of the metadata program.

