Now Surveillance 'aggressive-invasive': Snowden

Edward Snowden - CitizenFour documentary still

Former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analyst Edward Snowden, known for revealing the extent of surveillance by US intelligence, has said that this form of surveillance is "more aggressive and invasive today than it was before".

Edward Snowden spoke via video feed from Russia, March 11, 2016 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. He, and the director and journalist, Laura Poitras were interviewed by journalist Brian Lehrer.

Snowden made the statement in Moscow, where he has been granted asylum after being accused of espionage for revealing secret surveillance programmes of the US government.

The Snowden interview spanned a range of topics, including the current dispute between the FBI and Apple, which has refused to comply with a court order requiring it to help unlock an iPhone used by one of the shooters in the San Bernardino terror attack. Mr. Snowden said he was convinced that the FBI could unlock the phone on its own by “attacking” the hardware, and that it didn’t need Apple’s software.

Snowden said that not only the US has used these methods of mass surveillance, but also the Spanish, French, German and British governments because "it is cheap, easy and useful", Efe news agency reported.

“We have these programs of mass surveillance, that are monitoring everybody, everywhere, regardless of whether they have done anything wrong,” Mr. Snowden said.

“The government says this is just billing records, you shouldn’t really worry about it. But when you have a perfect record of all private lives, in aggregate, this permits intelligence agents to create what is called a pattern of life. This is when you got up … this is what you did when you got up. This is where you went to work. And how. And where you traveled. This metadata is largely the equivalent of what a private eye would know about if they were following you around and writing everything you did down.

“They couldn’t sit close enough to you at every cafe to hear everything you said. But if they hang back just a little bit, they will be able to see you without you noticing. And create a perfect record of all your associations.

“This is important … a violation of our constitution. An argument can be made for that … But the founders of this nation were concerned exactly about this kind of power.”

If that is what the country wants, Mr. Snowden said, it “should amend constitution, not do it in secret.”

According to Snowden, terrorism has been used to provide a justification for the use of this mass surveillance. "It was diplomatic manipulation, economic spying and social control. It was about power, and there is no doubt that mass surveillance increases the power of the government," he said.

He recalled that the result of an investigation ordered by US President Barack Obama on this type of surveillance found that it had not been effective in the fight against terrorism.

When asked about the possibility of returning to his country, Snowden said that he tried to reach an agreement by requesting a fair trial but the government responded with a letter promising not to torture him.

Snowden said he doubted that the Spanish government and the Spanish intelligence services (CNI) did not know about or were not involved in the mass surveillance, which he believes took place in Spain.
Yahoo: http://bit.ly/21xfatu

WSJ: http://on.wsj.com/1R1ej1p

« 'Brexit' Could Put Data Sharing in Jeopardy
Ukraine Blackout – The Future Of War »

CyberSecurity Jobsite
Perimeter 81

Directory of Suppliers

DigitalStakeout

DigitalStakeout

DigitalStakeout enables cyber security professionals to reduce cyber risk to their organization with proactive security solutions, providing immediate improvement in security posture and ROI.

Authentic8

Authentic8

Authentic8 transforms how organizations secure and control the use of the web with Silo, its patented cloud browser.

BackupVault

BackupVault

BackupVault is a leading provider of automatic cloud backup and critical data protection against ransomware, insider attacks and hackers for businesses and organisations worldwide.

CYRIN

CYRIN

CYRIN® Cyber Range. Real Tools, Real Attacks, Real Scenarios. See why leading educational institutions and companies in the U.S. have begun to adopt the CYRIN® system.

Resecurity, Inc.

Resecurity, Inc.

Resecurity is a cybersecurity company that delivers a unified platform for endpoint protection, risk management, and cyber threat intelligence.

Arista Networks

Arista Networks

Arista Networks is an industry leader in data-driven, client to cloud networking for large data center, campus and routing environments.

ClickDatos

ClickDatos

ClickDatos specializes in consulting, auditing, data protection training, accredited by ISO/IEC 27001 certification.

TruSTAR Technology

TruSTAR Technology

TruSTAR is a threat intelligence exchange platform built to protect and incentivize information sharing.

Padlock

Padlock

Padlock is a trusted platform with an intimate knowledge of the cybersecurity industry that connects businesses with freelance professionals

Scantist

Scantist

Scantist is a cyber-security spin-off from Nanyang Technological Universiy (Singapore) which leverages its expertise to provide vulnerability management solutions to enterprise clients.

Mosaic 451

Mosaic 451

Mosaic451 is a bespoke IT managed services provider and consultancy specializing in information security, operations and design.

Dcode

Dcode

Dcode connects the tech industry and government to drive commercial innovation in the federal market.

InfoLock

InfoLock

Infolock are experts in data governance, providing consulting and advisory services that help organizations effectively secure, manage, and optimize their data.

Epiphany Systems

Epiphany Systems

Epiphany enhances your defensive security controls by providing you with an offensive perspective. We expose the most likely attack paths to your most critical IT assets and users.

East Midlands Cyber Resilience Centre (EMCRC)

East Midlands Cyber Resilience Centre (EMCRC)

The East Midlands Cyber Resilience Centre is set up to support and help protect businesses across the region against cyber crime.

Com Olho

Com Olho

Com Olho provides the measurement, analytics, quality assurance, and fraud protection technologies brands need for their business and customers.

Nuts Technologies

Nuts Technologies

Nuts Technologies are simplifying data privacy and encryption with our innovative and novel data containers we call nuts based on our Zero Trust Data framework.

Ostrich Cyber-Risk

Ostrich Cyber-Risk

Ostrich Cyber-Risk is a risk management company that helps organizations reduce the complexity of identifying financial and operational risks related to your cybersecurity posture.

Transatlantic Cyber Security Business Network

Transatlantic Cyber Security Business Network

The Transatlantic Cyber Security Business Network is a coalition of UK and US cyber security companies which facilitates collaboration to help address critical cyber security challenges.

Contextal

Contextal

Contextal develops cutting-edge open-source cybersecurity solutions, designed to connect the dots and detect complex threats, which slip through the existing protections.