NSA monitored calls of 35 world leaders

[dawiw]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/o ... ders-calls

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2 ... s/3183277/

This makes US Govt. the enemy of the world.

[Shiranu]

Knew I forgot to post something.

And we wonder why the rest of the world treats us like we are a bunch of assholes...

[aileron]

I find this whole thing hilarious.  What are these "world leaders" doing, going to the local mobile phone store and signing up for a two year contract?  They have state resources behind them to secure their communications.  The fact that they're even worried another state may be able to intercept their comms should be such a national embarrassment for them to admit that they should never have gone public with the concern.  It's not like they'd pass up the opportunity to intercept Obama's communications if they could; this kind of thing has been going on for centuries.  What a bunch or rubes.

[Shiranu]

They didn't report this, Snowden leaked it.

And yeah, it happens, but it shouldn't and if you are caught you are suppose to blush and say, "oops, you got me!".

Finally, this is the same NSA that would "never" spy on anyone it wasn't suppose to.

[aileron]

They didn't report this, Snowden leaked it.

They reported their concern.  If they had any sense, they would have reported no concerns (even if they had them) because their state resources ensure the security of their communications (even if they secretly suspect they may not).  What citizen wants to be informed that his national leadership is so inept that they don't even know if their comms are secure?  

And yeah, it happens, but it shouldn't...

Why shouldn't it?  It's a classic social trap.  A conspiracy to abstain from eavesdropping won't work.  The reward for defection is too strong.  All governments know that.  It's part of the game.

...and if you are caught you are suppose to blush and say, "oops, you got me!".

Obama made a statement a while back to that effect, while stating the patently obvious that even friendly governments spy on each other routinely.

Finally, this is the same NSA that would "never" spy on anyone it wasn't suppose to.

The NSA isn't magic.  It can't defy the laws of physics and mathematics.  If you have something you want to keep the NSA from learning, it's easy enough to accomplish for a private citizen let alone someone with state resources backing him or her.

[Plu]

As soon as you start communicating really long distance, it becomes really hard to have secure comms.

Especially when a trusted contact gives them the contact. How are you going to secure a connection where the receiver is handing over all the information to the NSA? That's pretty much what seems to have happened here.

(Also good chance some of these are just personal phone numbers that the world leaders use to talk to their family or something. State secrets are hopefully not shared by telephone.)

[aileron]

As soon as you start communicating really long distance, it becomes really hard to have secure comms.

I could instruct a college intern how to secure comms that pass right through the headquarters of the NSA.  The NSA hasn't yet found a way to change mathematics.  

Especially when a trusted contact gives them the contact. How are you going to secure a connection where the receiver is handing over all the information to the NSA? That's pretty much what seems to have happened here.

The highlighted part is what's relevant.  The Vernam cipher is mathematically impossible to break without obtaining the keys physically (which presumably the US government isn't doing).  The comm sec people working for world leaders should make sure they're using it.      

State secrets are hopefully not shared by telephone.)

Why not?  State secrets are broadcast through radio waves from Air Force One all the time.  Anyone on the ground can collect the signal.  Good luck deciphering it though.

[Poison Tree]

35? The NSA should be ashamed. That's an abysmal performance.
Assuming "world leaders" only counts heads of states (probably and unwarranted assumption), that leaves more that 150 not being monitored; I suppose the CIA could be picking up some of the slack.

In all honesty, I don't know why people are shocked by this. Don't we expect our government to spy on foreign powers? We know that the US has spied on its allies and that they have spied on the US--off the top of my head it seems like Israel and France were the most successful--America's just managed to do it with out enlisting [s:3864sj98]Natasha Fatale[/s:3864sj98] Anna Chapman

[Plu]

The Vernam cipher is mathematically impossible to break without obtaining the keys physically (which presumably the US government isn't doing).

I read "contacts given to them by a US official" as "he gave them the access keys".

If anything important is going through an unsecured line, shame on these countries indeed. But I think that "anything important" or "unsecured" aren't in it together. Either it's a secure line but someone gave the NSA access to it, or they're just monitoring a personal line.

[aileron]

The Vernam cipher is mathematically impossible to break without obtaining the keys physically (which presumably the US government isn't doing).

I read "contacts given to them by a US official" as "he gave them the access keys".

No way.  All nations that know what they're doing have domestic and allied keys, and never the two shall meet.  It's pretty clear all the US diplomats gave the NSA were the phone numbers.  If these leaders are genuinely concerned rather than using manufactured outrage for domestic consumption, the Europeans appear to have just been careless.  

A regular old smartphone can become an unbreakable secure phone (assuming they maintain custody of the phone) with only minor modification (they did this so Obama could keep his Blackberry back in 2008 when people still used them).  Anyone a state leader contacts from time to time should have one so intercepted traffic can't pick up unintentional disclosures in passing conversation.

[Jason78]

This makes US Govt. the enemy of the world.

The US were already xenophobic and untrustworthy before they started spying on us.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

Hmm..and who taught the US all about spycraft during WWII? Now it's far more widespread, but hardly anything new.

[Plu]

Hehe, a Dutch satire site just posted a hilarious article called "Dutch government wants to know why prime minister's phone was not tapped".

[AllPurposeAtheist]

Hehe, a Dutch satire site just posted a hilarious article called "Dutch government wants to know why prime minister's phone was not tapped".

Just not popular I guess.. :-k