US spy chief Clapper defends Prism and phone surveillance

[Peter Presland]

.... As I understand it, if you want to use Tor, you can NOT use the Firefox web browser ever - only Vidalia, at this point. They have an exploit for Firefox they ONLY use if you use Tor [which they can't read - or so they say], so they break into your computer and compromise it [because you use Tor] via your Firefox browser and can read your keystrokes and likely 'look around' at your computer files and internet browsing.

Peter

This is a horrendously complex subject but, in simple terms, you have misunderstood the Firefox browser references in that series of articles.

Firefox is the core of ALL open-source browsers.

NSA/GCHQ concentrate on FF users with browser profiling techniques, simply because cryptographic and Privacy savvy users do not use anything else. The reason is quite simple; the others, lead by MS IE and Google Chrome are proprietary with black-box code known only to the companies who supply them. Anyone who seriously believes that that NSA/GCHQ have not secured the full co-operation of both is living in cloud cuckoo land. By co-operation I mean working to agreed secret protocols that provide the SIS's exactly what they want in terms of back-doors etc. Mozilla FF OTOH uses publicly available code. Any back-door or other code-based compromise in the code repository would be quickly spotted by developers and the shit would hit the fan big time. So far that hasn't happened so its fairly safe to assume FF remains OK.

Vidalia is the Tor client/server graphical control panel, not a browser. The safest way to use Tor right now is by way of the Tor Browser bundle which includes Vidalia and a tightly secured Firefox browser - and by tightly secured I simply mean with Scripting turned off and various other options that can leak identity through browser profiling techniques, being turned off. You can easily turn them back on again but become less and less secure as you do so.

NSA/GCHQ concentration on FF users involves mainly traffic analysis to identify the Tor nodes, relays and hidden services that carry Tor encrypted traffic. That, together with the nodes, relays and HS's that the SIS's undoubtedly operate themselves because they're such generous, kind-hearted bandwidth-donating altruists :hock::, gives them a LOT of useful info. If/when they identify a POI from all that - or other activity - they may then get back-door access to an MS or Android OS machine and pinch the encryption keys off of it. That then allows them to read encrypted emails and PM's etc. But it does not break the Tor encryption itself - other than - maybe ..... see the following...

There is also another level - and this is the really dark stuff. It postulates that ALL the major CPU manufacturers now include code such that any encryption key generated by these CPU's, is automatically compromised to the SIS's that have forced co-operation protocols on the manufacturers. My guess is that, by now that includes ALL US CPU chips designers and manufacturers with Intel being number one. That's why Germany and other countries are stealthily removing all internet connectivity from critical State comms systems and having a major re-think about the whole comms security issue - and NSA/GCHQ are apoplectic about it. Rumour is that the foregoing only scratches the surface of what Snowden lifted. Problem is it now seems to be in the hands of those who profess concern to 'leak responsibly' and other such absurdities - IOW the gatekeepers are in place. It will be interesting to see if Glenn Greenwald cracks under what is undoubtedly being thrown at him right now.

As for the Guardian itself - it is a treacherous, dishonest pile of shite so far as I am concerned. It made millions of Assange before turning its attention to defaming him in order to make more money and ingratiate itself with its Establishment masters - and it now looks like it's shaping up for a repeat performance on Snowden - Bastards!

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After post edit

Oops - I missed Apple off the above listed companies. It is as bad - or worse - as Microsoft and Google. Proprietory browser and OS software and dominating the hand-held, mobile market. Could never get that big if it had declined one of those SIS offers that 'cannot be refused' PP