The Age of Internet Censorship? by Connorflynn

REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

The Age of Internet Censorship?

POSTED BY: CONNORFLYNN
UPDATED: Saturday, July 20, 2024 04:54
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Friday, December 3, 2004 2:49 AM

By Shaun Waterman
UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL
Published December 2, 2004

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Former CIA Director George J. Tenet yesterday called for new security measures to guard against attacks on the United States that use the Internet, which he called "a potential Achilles' heel."
"I know that these actions will be controversial in this age when we still think the Internet is a free and open society with no control or accountability," he told an information-technology security conference in Washington, "but ultimately the Wild West must give way to governance and control."
The former CIA director said telecommunications -- and specifically the Internet -- are a back door through which terrorists and other enemies of the United States could attack the country, even though great strides have been made in securing the physical infrastructure.
The Internet "represents a potential Achilles' heel for our financial stability and physical security if the networks we are creating are not protected," Mr. Tenet said.
He said known adversaries, including "intelligence services, military organizations and non-state actors," are researching information attacks against the United States.
Within the federal government, the Department of Homeland Security has the lead role in protecting the Internet from terrorism. But the department's head of cyber-security recently quit amid reports that he had clashed with his superiors.
Mr. Tenet, who retired in July as director of the CIA after seven years, warned that al Qaeda remains a sophisticated group, even though its first-tier leadership largely has been destroyed.
It is "undoubtedly mapping vulnerabilities and weaknesses in our telecommunications networks," he said.
Mr. Tenet pointed out that the modernization of key industries in the United States is making them more vulnerable by connecting them with an Internet that is open to attack.
The way the Internet was built might be part of the problem, he said. Its open architecture allows Web surfing, but that openness makes the system vulnerable, Mr. Tenet said.
Access to networks like the World Wide Web might need to be limited to those who can show they take security seriously, he said.
Mr. Tenet called for industry to lead the way by "establishing and enforcing" security standards. Products need to be delivered to government and private-sector customers "with a new level of security and risk management already built in."
The national press, including United Press International (UPI), were excluded from yesterday's event, at Mr. Tenet's request, organizers said.
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I have a bunch of friends who have lamented such things already. Most are happy computer enthusiasts as am I. This scares the hell outta me, because they are starting to become more open about it. I don't think the US is the only country considering this. It's going to make getting reliable information even more difficult then it is now.

As I understand it (And I'm not one for conspiracy theories), Microsoft is already working with the DHS and the intelligence wing of several governments (Not just the US, but several European Countries) in terms of stealth surveillance. A friend of mine claims that about 3 years ago there was a stealth patch for Windows that allows the government to freely surveill your computer. They have the ability to look for key words in e-mails as well as view cookies (firm advocate for cleaning out cookies after each internet usage) to determine what sites folks view and which might be considered a threat to National Security, without you ever knowing it. I'll see if I can find some links on some techie boards that actually describe this patch.

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Friday, December 3, 2004 4:32 AM

BOJESPHOB

Don't worry about it too much. If they start regulating the internet, we computer geeks will build something else outside of regulation. That's the nice thing about this technology, it can be changed when the government interferes. Yeah, Microsquash might be developing some stuff like that, and if it's true, I can see people migrating to Linux so that Microshit is irrelevant. The more they tighten their grip, the more computer users will slip through their fingers......

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Friday, December 3, 2004 10:24 AM

GHOULMAN

The Internet was, and was designed to be, "open".

Quote:
Originally posted by Connorflynn:
By Shaun Waterman
UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL
Published December 2, 2004

--------------------------
Former CIA Director George J. Tenet SNIP!

Quote:
I have a bunch of friends who have lamented such things already. Most are happy computer enthusiasts as am I. This scares the hell outta me, because they are starting to become more open about it. I don't think the US is the only country considering this. It's going to make getting reliable information even more difficult then it is now.

As I understand it (And I'm not one for conspiracy theories), Microsoft is already working with the DHS and the intelligence wing of several governments (Not just the US, but several European Countries) in terms of stealth surveillance. A friend of mine claims that about 3 years ago there was a stealth patch for Windows that allows the government to freely surveill your computer. They have the ability to look for key words in e-mails as well as view cookies (firm advocate for cleaning out cookies after each internet usage) to determine what sites folks view and which might be considered a threat to National Security, without you ever knowing it. I'll see if I can find some links on some techie boards that actually describe this patch.

And here we are with the fall guy for 9/11, George "slam dunk" Tenet getting the jobs every fascist dreams of... making the last source of un-censored information illegal. If George can't figure out how to block the Net I'm sure he can ask his pals in CHINA! Grr!

Thanks for this post Connerflynn, good choice. I gotta say that only the USA uses Windows, which is stupid (Homeland Gestapo uses Windows, the most insecure software ever and forever). The wise, and the rest of the world, uses LINUX. Ask China.

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Friday, December 3, 2004 10:33 AM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

So many governments (China being one) and agencies have standardized on Linux, so many ppl are using free software (FREE AS IN FREEDOM NOT BEER) that I can't imagine the tide being turned worldwide. Bush and friends tho can certainly turn the USA into a nice IP Gulag if they want.

So donate to the Electronic Frontier Foundation- they are protecting your on-line and IP rights.

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Friday, December 3, 2004 5:15 PM

EBONEZER

...wow. Real life is becoming more like a Tom Clancy novel every day.

Blech.

-----------------------------------

Four out of five gynecologists recommend calling Ebo a girl.

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Saturday, December 4, 2004 5:50 AM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Ghoulman... that was the "NSA key" story. It was discovered in service pack that went out, noticed because some programmer accidentally (?) left a debugging "label" on the function, and that label was called "NSA KEY". It's been so long ('99) I had to look up the particulars, but here they are:

There is no doubt that the NSA key exists and is part of every copy of Win95, Win98, NT4, and Win2000. Even Microsoft admits that the key is there. The controversy is what ther NSA key is supposed to do. According to MS speaker Scott Culp, the NSAKEY is a backup to the KEY (which was discovered at the same time) which allows Microsoft access to your PC in case the "public encryption service" fails.

Now, the first question that should leap to anyone's mind is....Why should Microsoft be allowed unfettered access to your PC in the first place? There have been reports since at least '99 that when you are hooked up to the inet, MS scans the your hard drive and reports back to Redmond on whether the software that you have loaded is registered or not. This sounds far-fetched, but is too widely reported by credible publications not to have some merit. www.aaxnet.com/topics/slicense.html

The next step in the MS license scam is a provision that used to be called "self help" in Orwellian terms- not that you could help yourself, but that MS would help ITSELF by turning off your PC remotely if they THOUGHT you had a licensing problem. Hence, the "need" for a back door.

Back to the NSA key: Programmers who have attempted to trace out what this NSA KEY does say that it allows NSA to load unauthorized software on to your PC, similar to MS being able to take over your PC remotely.

We no longer worry about all that. My SO- the computer expert in the family- simply doesn't run MS products and never has (Not even in the DOS days.) Right now, we're running the Debian distro of Linux. I highly recommend it.

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Saturday, December 4, 2004 12:23 PM

SIGMANUNKI

Janet Reno tried to do some stuff a little while back, like make all security tools illegal, etc. The world at large said no.

The Canadian government looked into such things a few years back and said it wouldn't be going that route (read: It can't be done so we're not going to try.).

Fact of the matter is that these people are trying to do sooo much that can't be done. ie The Missle Defense Sheild. It won't work. Numerous groups of scientists have come out and stated that.

When will they learn

Quote:
Originally posted by SignyM:

We no longer worry about all that. My SO- the computer expert in the family- simply doesn't run MS products and never has (Not even in the DOS days.) Right now, we're running the Debian distro of Linux. I highly recommend it.

Same with me... kinda. I still use Winblows because my Radeon has TV out and X doesn't support that feature of the card. But, then again, my workstation is behind my NAT so I'm rather safe from attack. Especially considering my NAT and the main OS of my workstation is OpenBSD and the wife has a PowerBook G4 running Mac OSX and regularly patches it.

Debian *is* one of the better distros of Linux, but some don't like its structure, etc. For those that wish to do a little exploring, check out the BSD's, specifically, FreeBSD. It's a desktop OS along the same lines as Linux.

But it must be mentioned that the difference between the two, to the end user, isn't significant. If you wish for an easier install go with Debian Linux. For those that want a minimal learning curve, install KDE as your desktop enviornment. It's *very* similar to M$. And for gods sake, let your techie friend setup a firewall for you.

As a last question, why are people all of a sudden talking about computer security now? I've been, among *many* others, talking about this for some time now.

The need to secure the net is very necessary. But what the people don't seem to understand is that for the most part it's misconfiguration and negleting to patch security holes that creates the insecurity that we see today. Another *HUGE* problem is vendors ignoring security reports sent to them

Again, when will people learn?

----
"Canada being mad at you is like Mr. Rogers throwing a brick through your window." -Jon Stewart, The Daily Show

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Saturday, December 4, 2004 4:43 PM

DANFAN

My wife's and kid's computers are Windows machines (because the wife's quilting SW only works on Windows as does the kids' games). But I'm an OS X kinda guy. I've been a died in the wool Mac user since 1989. I have taken measures to secure the PCs (firewall, NAT).

I've not seen anything in the news feed that looks like Steverino authorizing back doors into OS X. I know that doesn't mean it hasn't happened. But it is certainly more reassuring than running an operating system that the creator has ADMITTED to hacking prior to release.

This just reaffirms my long standing belief that Bill Gates is the spawn of Satan come to earth to steal our souls. But I'm not biased or anything...

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Wednesday, December 8, 2004 1:05 PM

MRSKBORG

Both my Pc and my other half - the resident computer genius are running Windows, that said we are getting a third machine for a certain 12 year old whom I have to fight with just to get on the net - we are going to be running a lunix system on that - resident genius says it's safer. Having already looked at it on the new machine I'm considering switching over myself, not so difficult to get to grips with and apparently theres plenty of open source material which is just as good if not better than MS. Apparently a few local authorities in England (Bristol council shifted 5000 users and it will save them £1.4million over 5 years) and several schools have already switched over to lunix based systems with great success and a whole lot less cost.

www.theregister.co.uk/2004/10/19/oss_school_switch

This is a very interesting article on Felixstowe Orwell High School - it's now a specialist school for technology, and all without MS help. Yep resident genius really dislikes, no I think despises would be a better word, MS.

"This movie may be a beautiful butterfly, but I loved that damn caterpillar." Joss Whedon.

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Tuesday, April 12, 2016 6:56 PM

JEWELSTAITEFAN

This thread shows the mindset of the time, and now retrospect can shed a different light on it.

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Wednesday, April 13, 2016 5:42 PM

6IXSTRINGJACK

Quote:
A friend of mine claims that about 3 years ago there was a stealth patch for Windows that allows the government to freely surveill your computer. They have the ability to look for key words in e-mails as well as view cookies (firm advocate for cleaning out cookies after each internet usage) to determine what sites folks view and which might be considered a threat to National Security, without you ever knowing it. I'll see if I can find some links on some techie boards that actually describe this patch.

When I first read 1984 and Brave New World, I was about 22 years old. Instead of being "enlightened", I was scared as shit because super old predictions had already come to pass.

What's changed since then....? 2 things....

1. I don't give a shit about anybody outside of my very small circle of influence anymore.... (I'm not speaking for "The People" anymore).

2. The more I REALLY get to know people online, the more I realize that I'm Far more "Normal" than I would have suspected.

Although I'm not of the group that would mindlessly say "I'm not doing anything wrong so go ahead and search me", I am of the group that laughs at the how little people they have playing "Vice Acadamy" against the millions of people who didn't even know what a computer was 7 years ago...

I don't need a censor. I don't lie about myself either. DO NOT FOLLOW ME.

But just be aware that there are a lot of men and women like myself who find a lot of pleasure in controlling the minds of weaker men and women who stray too far down the rabbit hole.

I am not a role model.

At least, that's what they'd make me say in a PSA. ;)

Do Right, Be Right. :)

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Friday, September 17, 2021 4:59 PM

JAYNEZTOWN

Trump is still banned from most of the internet

Facebook, YouTube and Twitter will fight Texas crackdown on 'censorship' of Trump, conservative speech
https://news.yahoo.com/facebook-youtube-twitter-fight-texas-205618135.
html

Trump says Mark Zuckerberg ‘used to come to the White House to kiss my ass’ and calls the Facebook CEO ‘sick’ for deplatforming him
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/trump-says-mark-zuckerberg-came-to-
the-white-house-to-kiss-my-ass-2021-9

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Friday, September 17, 2021 8:54 PM

6IXSTRINGJACK

Social Media is cancer.

--------------------------------------------------

Vaccinated People: "You need to get muh vaccination shots that don't work because I got muh vaccination shots that don't work and I'm afraid of people that didn't get muh vaccination shots that don't work because muh vaccination shots that don't work don't work."

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Saturday, July 20, 2024 4:54 AM

JAYNEZTOWN

Surfshark vs NordVPN: Which VPN Is Better and Why?
https://gizmodo.com/best-vpn/surfshark-vs-nordvpn

There is 'Teen Vogue'?

filling kids heads with nonsense or facts??

The Section 230 Sunset Act Would Cut Off Young People’s Access to Online Communities
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/section-230-sunset-act-young-people

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