Exposing the Dark Forces Behind the Snowden Smears

[Peter Lemkin]

Journalists who broke NSA story in Guardian dedicate award to Snowden

Greenwald, Poitras and MacAskill accept George Polk award
Barton Gellman of the Washington Post also honoured

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• theguardian.com, Friday 11 April 2014 21.28 BST
  
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Glenn Greenwald is surrounded by the media as he arrives for the Polk Awards luncheon in New York. Photograph: Bebeto Matthews/AP

The journalists who first revealed the extent of the National Security Agency's surveillance activities dedicated a prestigious award on Friday to their source, Edward Snowden.
Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras had earlier cleared immigration at John F Kennedy airport in New York without a hitch as they arrived to share a George Polk Award for national security reporting with Ewen MacAskill of the Guardian and Barton Gellman of the Washington Post. The Polk awards are administered by Long Island University.
"This award is really for Edward Snowden," said Poitras, who first met the former NSA analyst in Hong Kong with Greenwald and MacAskill last year, as she accepted the award in the ballroom of the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan.
"Each one of these awards provides perfect vindication, that what he [Snowden] did, coming forward, was absolutely the right thing to do and merits gratitude and not indictments and decades of imprisonment," Greenwald said in his acceptance speech.
MacAskill thanked Snowden for his courage and expressed a hope that he would be able to travel freely to the US.

Greenwald and Poitras arrived in the US on Friday for the first time since reporting the NSA story. They travelled from Berlin, where Poitras lives, on Friday morning; Greenwald's partner, David Miranda, who was last year detained for nine hours as he passed through Heathrow airport in London, arrived on Thursday morning.
Investigative reporter Laura Poitras accepts the George Polk Award alongside Barton Gellman, far left, and Ewen MacAskill. Photograph: Andrew Burton/Getty Images Federal prosecutors have charged Snowden, who leaked thousands of classified documents to the reporters, with violating the Espionage Act. Greenwald said he and Poitras had been seeking information from the US government about whether they were also the subject of an indictment that was under seal.
"They wanted us to have that kind of uncertainty about whether or not they would take action upon our return to the US," Greenwald said, at a press conference following the awards ceremony. "It's easy to say it doesn't seem like that would happen, but when those threats are directed at you, you take them seriously."
He said he and Poitras did not know how long they would stay in the US. "We haven't been doing a lot of long-term thinking because we didn't know what was going to happen upon de-planing," Greenwald said.
Greenwald, a US citizen, lives in Rio de Janeiro with Miranda, who had been carrying heavily encrypted documents from Berlin to Rio when he was detained by UK authorities.
Poitras said she had been stopped at the US border "close to 40 or more times" over the past six years because of reporting unrelated to the Snowden documents, but had had no problem on Friday.
"This time there are a lot more people paying attention and I don't think that means we shouldn't be concerned," she said.
In his acceptance speech, MacAskill noted that the Guardian's national-security reporting had faced greater threats in the UK than in the US.
The UK touts its history of a free press and claims to support free speech, he said, "Yet when a story like Snowden comes along, you realise how superficial it all is."

[Peter Lemkin]

Former NSA deputy director: Snowden leaks caused 'significant disservice' to the Internet

Summary: Edward Snowden caused more damage to the Internet than the U.S. intelligence community did, according to a former deputy director of the NSA. But of course, he would say that. So, now what?

By Zack Whittaker for Between the Lines | April 24, 2014 -- 19:50 GMT (12:50 PDT)


(Image via CBS News)NEW YORK Edward Snowden sure has caused a lot of headaches in the IT security community.
His reported leaks have led the industry going into overdrive mode over the past ten months in order to counter some of the previously unthinkable tactics used by the U.S. National Security Agency and the wider intelligence community.


In spite of blowing the whistle on some of the encryption-cracking efforts, the fiber-cable tapping, and the zero-day flaw exploitation, Snowden was the one who caused damage to the Internet, according to one former senior NSA official.
Former NSA deputy director of training Col. Cedric Leighton said in remarks at the Bloomberg Enterprise Technology Summit in New York City on Thursday that Snowden's leaks had performed a "significant disservice" to the worldwide health of the Internet.
He was talking about the recent moves by Brazil and other countries to reconsider the decentralized nature of the foundation of the Internet.
Quick to respond, Trend Micro chief technology officer Raimund Genes said Europe's efforts to strengthen policy within its 28 member state border was "going over the top."
He added that policy was not always the answer, and that the security industry should also find solutions to benefit customers the most.
Undermining the fabric of the Internet

The panel pitted the U.S. intelligence agency's actions against the rest of the world the Snowden leaks have touched almost every nation and led with the discussion on nation states' efforts to create their own versions of the Internet, including keeping citizen data within their own respective borders.
"The Internet was created to be global, and it should stay global," Genes added.

"If Snowden is able to get millions of documents from the NSA, what does that say about the security industry designed to protect customer interests?" Raimund Genes

"When you have a situation where all of a sudden, everyone goes into 'tribal' mode a German cloud, a Swiss cloud, or any other separate internet, they are significant nationalistic attempts. What happened with Snowden, it's more of an excuse than a policy, it's more of an excuse to re-nationalize the Internet," Leighton said.
This, he suggested, was the beginning of the end for the Internet as we know it.
But Genes was quick to turn the tables on the former NSA deputy director.
"It made us more aware that nothing is really safe," Genes remarked. "If Snowden is able to get millions of documents from the NSA, what does that say about the security industry designed to protect customer interests?"
Leighton defended the NSA's actions, calling some of the reporting of the disclosures "sensational" and "haphazard," and warned that only part of the story was being told.
The NSA has, arguably, responded in its own haphazard and unpredictable way often issuing vague comments or the rare denial, but mostly a "no comment."
Exploiting the Internet's weaknesses

While the NSA has always said that it's "doing its job," the question is now how does that mission change, or should it change, in a post-Snowden world? The White House has already adopted a recommendation to limit which zero-day attacks and other cyberweapons it uses.
Another panel member, Palo Alto Networks chief security officer Rick Howard, said following the mild-mannered dispute that nobody in the security industry understands what the boundaries are for intelligence services pointing to the intelligence agency's stockpile of zero-day exploits.

Howard admitted his company was "having a hard time dealing with it."
Genes asked the former NSA deputy director: "Isn't the job of the government to also protect the Internet?"
Last week, the NSA denied that it knew of the Heartbleed bug in advance of its disclosure. This law in the commonly used OpenSSL affected millions of websites and servers around the world.
The White House issued a statement saying it would report zero-day flaws if it discovered them, so long as it doesn't interfere with national security objectives. As The New York Times put it, the Obama administration will "let [the] NSA exploit some Internet flaws."
While Leighton acknowledged that "the NSA can do its job without exploiting zero-day flaws or using its vulnerability stockpile," he added that it would make its job "far more difficult."
Cybersecurity data sharing: CISPA revisited?
Leighton's trail of thought suggested how the U.S. government works together with private industry partners particularly those in the security fields in order to share data and information on cyberthreats, before they become a major issue.
"The government and the private sector need a common sense of agreement. You give security clearances on a need-to-know basis to the right companies, and you tell those companies that we are working together to minimize zero-day vulnerabilities. It would be a concerted effort to go after the bad guys."
He was talking about CISPA, or the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act.
Leighton's comments come just a few weeks after the new NSA director Vice Admiral Michael Rogers testified to a Congressional committee about the importance of cyberthreat data sharing.
Under previous incarnations of CISPA, this meant a company like Facebook, Twitter, Google, or any other technology or telecoms company, including cell service providers, would be allowed to hand over vast amounts of data to the U.S. government and its law enforcement agencies for whatever purpose the feds deem necessary and face no legal reprisals.

CISPA was highly opposed by privacy advocates and civil liberties groups, which described the bill as a "privacy killer" and "dangerously vague," yet it was supported widely by Silicon Valley and other technology firms.
The bill eventually crumbled on the Senate floor after a failed vote, with Sen. Jay Rockefeller (DWV), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, citing "insufficient" privacy protections. The White House previously said the President would veto the bill should it pass to his desk.
Rogers said in mid-March that while cybersecurity legislation was a "step in the right direction," he highlighted that information sharing between private companies such as Silicon Valley giants would be, "in the long run… probably the right answer."
Rogers was confirmed as the joint NSA and United States Cyber Command chief on April 1.

[Peter Lemkin]

German Lawmakers to Interview Snowden

Added by Scott Gaudinier on May 10, 2014.




German lawmakers are in the middle of deciding when and where to interview former United States intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, who leaked information last year about the U.S. National Security Agency's (NSA) spying program to the rest of the world. While his grant of asylum in Russia expires next year, he has written to other U.S. allied European countries that have rejected his requests for asylum.
German parliament's conservative head of an eight member inquiry panel, Roderich Kiesewetter, stated that most lawmakers in parliament have agreed that they want to hear what Snowden has to say regarding NSA spying activities on German citizens. Chancellor Angela Merkel had already met with President Barack Obama previously regarding NSA spying activities in Germany, upon hearing that her personal cell phone was being wiretapped. In response, Obama stated that the program would discontinue its spying on her and other allied leaders.
However, German lawmakers have yet to decide whether or not Snowden should be brought to Berlin to testify in person about NSA spying activities. Since Germany is an ally to the U.S. Snowden possibly risks being detained if he sets foot on German soil. Another suggested option would be to interview him through an online connection, but other members disagree, saying the connection would not be secure.
Many German lawmakers who want to interview Snowden say that the best option for him to freely testify would be in person, right in front of German parliament in Berlin. Yet, Angela Merkel's conservative coalition is strongly opposed to the idea of bringing Snowden to Berlin, due to fears that his presence would greatly strain relations with Washington. Relations between the two nations have already been damaged ever since it was revealed that the NSA had tapped Merkel's personal phone.
Supporting the chancellor's views, Germany's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has disagreed with letting Snowden fly to Germany for the interview. The party cites again its fears that ties between Germany and the United States would become even more strained.
As a part of Merkel's conservative coalition, the center-leftwing Social Democrat Party (SPD) shares power within the coalition. They have stated that they also support the idea of interviewing Snowden. According to the party, it is irrelevant whether they have to travel to Russia or bring Snowden to Berlin for the interview. However, SPD's opposition within the party is in favor of having Snowden come to Germany to testify openly.
Despite certain governmental pressures from Merkel and the conservative coalition, the majority of German lawmakers have agreed to interview Snowden. According to Martina Renner, head of the German Left Party and member of the special panel, the party voted unanimously in favor of the interview.
Simone Peter, chairperson of Germany's Green Party, accused chancellor Merkel of bowing to Washington, stating that she has displayed cowardly behavior towards Germany's ally. She went on to state that the country owes the U.S. nothing in this matter. Her party also states that the German government needs to make a conscious effort to provide a safe passage to Berlin for Snowden so that he can present his evidence to the parliament. However, Merkel stands opposed to his physical presence in the country.
In a report released by the German newspaper Der Spiegel, members of the Committee of Inquiry were warned that legal issues may arise if they choose to interview Snowden, no matter where this occurs. A law firm in Washington states that questioning Snowden could become a chargeable offense if he was asked to disclose confidential information. German lawmakers may also be charged with "conspiracy" or "theft of state property," if they ever decided to enter the U.S., despite diplomatic immunity.
Even though the German parliament has proposed a meeting to interview Snowden, Merkel and the rest of the government stated that they will not cooperate with the panel, and that they would only be given little access to an ensuing "bilateral no-spy agreement" being negotiated in the U.S. capital.
Snowden's release of information that revealed that the NSA had tracked enormous amounts of phone data from ordinary German citizens, for at least a decade, has angered the German public. This has heavily damaged diplomatic ties between Germany and the United States. Future ties between the two nations are likely to become even edgier, as German lawmakers aim to interview Snowden.
By Scott Gaudinier

[David Guyatt]

There's a simple solution to the US threat that German MPs who meet with Snowden may be arrested if they visit the US: don't go to the US. But they should also be prepared to arrest any US politicians who come to Germany for allowing the US to spy on Germany.

Merkel is scared of this, she's scared of that. I just don't get this low-towing to the US all the time. Grow a pair, and make the US aware that what it does to "friends" comes at a real cost. After all the US does't give a toss what it does to its supposed friends does it.