
Snowden says Israel, U.S. created Stuxnet virus that attacked Iran - wslh
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/snowden-says-israel-u-s-created-stuxnet-virus-that-attacked-iran-1.534728
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ars
Does he know this himself independently, or is he answering based on the
common knowledge of this?

I suspect it's the latter because he would have no reason to have anything to
do with stuxnet, and I doubt the security is that bad that any employee
anywhere can find out everything about every program.

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tptacek
This would be more newsworthy if the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs hadn't
leaked it himself. But he did, so this isn't.

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angersock
Quite right.

One wonders why he'd choose to mention this instead of some other bit of
information--in his position, perhaps he'd want to leak something that is
already verified but with sufficient detail to show he isn't bluffing.

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glurgh
It was in response to a direct question in an interview so the choice was that
of the interviewer, Jacob Applebaum.

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jusben1369
I wonder if Snowden really has the ability to definitely answer this question.
Someone should get fired if a guy like him, coming along after the fact, could
really access definitive proof.

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s_q_b
As a sysadmin he probably had root access to a ton of systems. Own the
infrastructure, own the organization.

~~~
mjolk
You can still tier access, even to users with root access by encrypting files
at rest.

I find it highly concerning that a not-particularly-high-level employee was
able to gain access to so much data. The amount of access and permission
controls at Booz seem amateur from a distance.

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revelation
People tend to imagine the wildest things with things as secretive as the NSA.

But remember this is just another $20B agency. Odds are their computer systems
are as terrible as any other agency.

A random analyst was able to download millions of state embassy cables and
they would still be looking for him today if he didn't trip up in private
chats. Testimony in the Manning case indicates that _mIRC_ is mission critical
software. The blunt face of reality quickly deflates all the sci-fi.

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tzs
That's not an apt comparison, because Manning had access to the cables by
design. He exceeded his authority by releasing the information, not by
accessing it.

After 9/11, which the US had enough information to stop if not for that
information being held by different agencies that did not share with each
other, an effort was made to make sure analysts in different agencies and
branches all had access to anything that might be relevant.

~~~
revelation
He had access to millions of cables in just a few days. Every porn site has
better tracking and mass download detection.

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Seeless
Didn't we already know this?

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graedus
Yeah, I thought so too. It looks like nytimes and wired ran the story on June
1, 2012 [0][1]. I think the only new piece of information is that the NSA
specifically co-wrote it with Israel, according to Snowden.

[0] [http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/01/world/middleeast/obama-
ord...](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/01/world/middleeast/obama-ordered-wave-
of-cyberattacks-against-iran.html?pagewanted=all)

[1]
[http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/?p=42451](http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/?p=42451)

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mikhailt
The problem I have is that media is going to basically make anything Snowden
says as the truth, even if he doesn't have any proofs of this.

He could cause a lot of serious problems if he shares his thoughts and
opinions as _facts_.

He should've stopped after the initial NSA leaks but now, he should just be
quiet because the longer he does this, the more irrelevant and pointless the
whole thing become. The moment he's proven as a liar because most of his
statements can't be proven, the entire thing he was trying to do becomes moot.

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icedchai
I'll be impressed with Snowden tells me something I didn't already assume to
be true.

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dmishe
Why can't he just dump everything at once, instead of a new revelation every
other day?

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mjolk
Either because he thinks that the media cycle will make his whistle-blowing
irrelevant, because he's worthless after he discloses everything, or because
then he'll no longer be a celebrity. Take your pick depending on your opinion.

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qw
Right now he has been noticed by almost every politician in the world. Prime
ministers and presidents mention him and everyone is wondering what will
happen to him. Perhaps he wants to keep the focus on him until he is granted
asylum.

It makes sense to produce a slow stream of information so that he doesn't
become old news. If the media starts ignoring him the politicians may not care
as much.

