Mediaboss Marketing

December 8, 2014

Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

US National Security Agency (NSA) employees spent years monitoring domestic and international companies to find security vulnerabilities that could be exploited for surveillance purposes, according to new reports originating from documents obtained by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

Ryan Gallagher of The Intercept, who first broke the story, said that the program was codenamed Auroragold and also detailed how the agency planned to secretly introduce new flaws into communication systems that it could tap into but which experts said would also have made the general public more susceptible to hackers in the process.

The covert operation has monitored the content of messages sent and received by more than 1,200 email accounts associated with major cellphone network operators, intercepting confidential company planning papers that help the NSA hack into phone networks, Gallagher said.

One high-profile surveillance target is the GSM Association (GSMA), an influential UK-headquartered trade group that works closely with large US-based firms including Microsoft, Facebook, AT&T, and Cisco, and is currently being funded by the U.S. government to develop privacy-enhancing technologies, he added.

CNET technology columnist Don Reisinger said the NSA targeted IR.21 documents, which highlight new technologies and encryption methods used by mobile carriers, and Chris Johnston of The Guardian said that the documents reveal that the agency targeted meetings held by the trade association.

Cryptographer and cellphone security expert Karsten Nohl told Gallagher that information contained in the Auroragold documents provide hints that the volume and broad scope of data collected as part of the operation suggests the intent was to make sure that the overwhelming majority of mobile networks worldwide were NSA accessible.

Collecting an inventory [like this] on world networks has big ramifications, Nohl said, because it allows the agency to monitor and work around improvements in encryption technology cell providers utilize to protect calls and text messages from eavesdropping.

He added that evidence suggesting the NSA was deliberately attempting to weaken mobile communication infrastructure was especially alarming, since those vulnerabilities could be exploited by anyone, not just the NSA. The files also reveal that the NSA basically had unfettered access to the infrastructure of roughly 700 global wireless carriers as of May 2012, Engadgets Chris Velazco added.

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A panel of federal appeals judges in Seattle is considering an Idaho woman's challenge to the National Security Agency's bulk collection of cellphone information.

U.S. District Court Judge Lynn Winmill ruled in Boise, Idaho, last June that the NSA's collection of such data doesn't violate the Fourth Amendment prohibition on unreasonable searches. But the judge also said the issue does raise privacy concerns and that the case could wind up before the Supreme Court.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation have joined nurse Anna Smith's case for the appeal. Arguments at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals were scheduled for Monday morning.

The NSA has said it collects the phone numbers of calls made and received and how long a call lasts, but the agency contends it does not monitor the contents of a call. Smith said her cellphone is her primary means of communication with family, friends, doctors and others, and that her phone calls are none of the government's business.

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Judges to Hear Arguments Over NSA Surveillance

JC Torres

When your job involves spying on other people's conversations, it is in your best interest that such lines of communications remain open to your snooping. That is pretty much the principle used in one of NSA's operations, codenamed AURORAGOLD, that virtually aimed to weaken the world's networks so that it will always have a backdoor to use, no matter the country. This is just one of the latest revelations unearthed from the documents provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden regarding the NSA's almost godlike power and reach.

By now, many of the NSA's activities and methods have been brought to light, but this more recent analysis has an even bigger and potentially more dangerous side effect. The NSA has been revealed to not only have spied on communications, both abroad and in the country, but it also specifically targeted communications between companies and organizations that are charged with actually securing phone networks against such activities.

The principle is simple really. Spy on networks and their employees in order to remain abreast of the latest developments in security and encryption. If possible, covertly work to actually introduce vulnerabilities or at least keep vulnerabilities from being patched up. This way, the NSA will always be in the loop and won't be caught unaware of the latest developments and technologies that would curtail its powers. AURORAGOLD is carried out by still undisclosed NSA units, like the Target Technology Trends Center, whose motto is ominously "Predict, Plan, Prevent".

According to leaked materials, one of the prime targets of AURORAGOLD is the GSM Association, a UK-based global trade group made up of more than 800 companies spread out in 220 countries, including the US. The GSMA takes it upon itself to develop technologies and policies to protect consumers, as well as businesses, and is therefore ripe for AURORAGOLD's purposes. The organization has yet to make a formal statement or any legal action, pending analysis of the leaked documents.

Thanks to AURORAGOLD, the NSA, as well as other members of the "Five Eyes" surveillance alliance (UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand), have been able to break the most commonly used cellphone encryption algorithm, the A5/1. The more recent and stronger version, the A5/3, is now the target of their efforts. But no matter how the NSA claims its purpose is to actually protect the country and its allies, AURORAGOLD actually exposes the country to danger even more. Any backdoor that the NSA creates or keeps open is practically available for terrorists or other governments to use.

Without openly admitting the existence of AURORAGOLD, President Obama directed the NSA not to take action, or inaction, that would weaken software and to even disclose such vulnerabilities to companies. Of course, there's a "but", when clear national security is involved, one that could probably be used and abused as a loophole in the future. The NSA naturally remains silent on the existence or continued existence of operation AURORAGOLD.

SOURCE: The Intercept

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