Here's the security software Snowden is using to evade the NSA

Justin Kahn

Posts: 752   +6

Most of the focus surrounding former NSA analyst Edward Snowden has been regarding the actual information he leaked to the media, not on how these folks are actually doing that. Snowden, as you likely imagined, takes precautions in order to ensure his internet communications remain private, one of which is the use of a customized version of Linux known as Tails.

Tails is open source software created by anonymous developers that makes it very easy to use the Tor network and other tools that keep your activities away from prying eyes. After being installed on some form of external media like a USB drive, the user can essentially boot their computer up with Tails, rendering them pretty close to invisible online. Tails doesn't store any data locally, which makes it nearly impossible for malicious software to latch on to the system in any useful manner, either during or after target communications have occurred.

The anonymous developers of Tails say the project began about five years ago, and has since become an amalgamation of their initial prototype called Amnesia and an existing OS known as Incognito.

Reports say this is the set-up Snowden used to communicate with the media and others when leaking his stash of NSA data. While from the sounds of it, Snowden's chats and emails with journalists were likely secure, reports say the system isn't flawless. While the open nature of the software prevents malicious back doors from surfacing, certain internet providers won't play nice with the system and essentially render it useless.

While the core Tails development team is continuing to improve the desktop software, another team is currently working on a mobile version for Android and Ubuntu devices.

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If you have to go to extremes to hide things from people who aren't looking for your things, you indeed have a sad life.
 
We know what Snowden is using. it's called Russia. I can't imagine it's hard to hide from authorities when you have the resources of one the biggest spying and oppressive governments at your back. Russia now has in it's pocket a guy who's intimately familiar with US intelligence practices. I wouldn't worry though, it's not like Russia would take advantage of this and actually invade another country. Right?
 
If you have to go to extremes to hide things from people who aren't looking for your things, you indeed have a sad life.

Knowledge is power, any type of knowledge a criminal has about you can be used against you. If you aren't concerned about keeping private things in your life private please give the public name of your Facebook page so I can learn everything about you that is none of my business. If your married, please author some videos of you having sex with her and send me a link in the cloud.

And tear out all the interior doors in your house because I am sure there is nothing you have to hide from your wife or your children. And when your in-laws come to visit I am sure you have nothing to hide from them either.

Your statements are absurd because your assumption is that privacy is only valuable to criminals. Only criminals care about privacy.

I find it very puzzling that you think booting up a specialized version of Linux off a bootable flash drive is 'going to great lengths' to keep things private. Edward Snowden is no longer just another brick in the wall. He has justifiable reasons, even more so than the average person, for wanting to remain anonymous online.
 
If you have to go to extremes to hide things from people who aren't looking for your things, you indeed have a sad life.

I agreed with this for a split second. Then I looked at all the hits I got on Disconnect, Ghostery and Collusion.
 
We know what Snowden is using. it's called Russia. I can't imagine it's hard to hide from authorities when you have the resources of one the biggest spying and oppressive governments at your back. Russia now has in it's pocket a guy who's intimately familiar with US intelligence practices. I wouldn't worry though, it's not like Russia would take advantage of this and actually invade another country. Right?

Does anyone else see the irony of calling Russia one of the biggest spying countries, and labelling them oppressive, given the police state that the United States has devolved into?! Wow... just... wow...
 
^Irony yes, surprise no. Russia has long been the top of the spy food chain , just recently surpassed by our Chinese creditors. It's so sad to see what this country is becoming after what it has been.
 
Does anyone else see the irony of calling Russia one of the biggest spying countries, and labelling them oppressive, given the police state that the United States has devolved into?! Wow... just... wow...

You obviously have never spoken with anyone who grew up in Russia. Here's a fun read about growing up in a communist country.
http://www.cracked.com/article_21045_5-things-you-only-know-if-you-grew-up-in-communist-regime.html

And if you want more ironic history about Russia, read about the countries who were 'liberated' by Russia after WWII. Russia kicked out the Germans and the citizens soon found they greatly preferred the Germans.
 
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I agree with MilwaukeeMike.

Having leaked serious amounts of state secrets and now hiding in Russia (and they wouldn't keep him unless he were feeding them even more, aka working for them now), Snowden is probably the biggest traitor in recent times.

It saddens me that someone can shoot the country that raised and protected him RIGHT IN THE FACE.
 
Does anyone else see the irony of calling Russia one of the biggest spying countries, and labelling them oppressive, given the police state that the United States has devolved into?! Wow... just... wow...

You obviously have never spoken with anyone who grew up in Russia. Here's a fun read about growing up in a communist country.
http://www.cracked.com/article_21045_5-things-you-only-know-if-you-grew-up-in-communist-regime.html

And if you want more ironic history about Russia, read about the countries who were 'liberated' by Russia after WWII. Russia kicked out the Germans and the citizens soon found they greatly preferred the Germans.

While I weight the history of a nation as much as anyone, I'm more than a little dubious over the relevance of 25+ year old information concerning Eastern Europe. From what I've heard from people who work and have worked over there over the past 5 years, the general population is singing a different tune from what's being sold here in the States.

My point, which is general, is that unless any of us have any substantial personal experience in the regions in question, all this discussion over Russia vs America is little more than poorly-informed speculation. It will generate a lot of page hits if someone can fan the flames, though...
 
If you have to go to extremes to hide things from people who aren't looking for your things, you indeed have a sad life.

You remind me of someone who believes anything the government says. You're a pet for the feds to roll over on command.
 
Snowden is probably the biggest traitor in recent times.

It saddens me that someone can shoot the country that raised and protected him RIGHT IN THE FACE.

Protected him? Do you not realize the U.S government are the biggest bullies on Earth? Do you not realize how many thousands of innocent lives they've destroyed in the name of fighting an invisible foe called "terrorism"? Politicians, corporations and lobbyists don't give a single **** about you or anyone else. It's merely a game of gaining power to control you.
 
Do you not realize how many thousands of innocent lives they've destroyed in the name of fighting an invisible foe called "terrorism"?

It's not even a "war on terrorism", it's a "war on terror". That'll never end though. How can you have a war against the consequences of the actions you're carrying out? I can't wait until they realise that people have become desensitised to "the war on terror" and they decide to move on to tackling Horror.

OT: Interesting to see that Snowden's not using some esoteric method that's impossible for average Joe to use, this actually seems really straightforward.
 
Protected him? Do you not realize the U.S government are the biggest bullies on Earth? Do you not realize how many thousands of innocent lives they've destroyed in the name of fighting an invisible foe called "terrorism"? Politicians, corporations and lobbyists don't give a single **** about you or anyone else. It's merely a game of gaining power to control you.

Biggest Bullies on Earth?! Maybe you haven't read the news... we've got this new president now.. he's kinda like a wet noodle with foreign policy. He does things like say 'that's a red line, don't cross it or there will be consequences' and then he does nothing because he has no idea what he's doing. (this happened with Syria AND Russia) Obama is only a bully within our borders and to people who don't agree with him. Globally, he's a kitten. If you're looking for a bully, I'd start with Putin, given that he's the one occupying his neighbor right now.

As for that 'invisible foe' called terrorism; it's probably a bad time to be calling terrorism 'invisible' being that this week is the anniversary of the Boston Bombing. Maybe wait until terrorism isn't in the news before you tell us it's not real.
 
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Russian food aint so good.

Who are you to make such a statement?

For all we know you are using a fake Id for some dubious purpose, which in itself should be a reason enough to have your profile banned here.

And Russian food is one of the best in the world. That's me saying, who lived in Russia for 24 years.
 
If Snowden was a true whistleblower he would have stayed in the United States rather than fleeing to Hong Kong and then to Russia. It doesn't take an ***** to figure out that contrary to what Snowden claims he had help.
People this whole mess, though some of you might not believe it actually began at the end of World War 2 with a classified operation called Operation Paperclip that brought captured Nazi Scientists and Gestapo agents back to the United States to get NASA, the CIA and other governement agencies up and running all in the name of combating the big bad wolf called communnism just as the Cold War was starting up. Now the Nazis, their descendents, Neo Nazi's and the like are all embedded all over the U.S., in the government, running agencies such as the CIA, the NSA and so on and spying anybody and everybody all in the name of combatting terrorism and controlling the population.

I ask when are people going to wake up and realize that this whole mess actually started at the end of World War 2.
 
You obviously have never spoken with anyone who grew up in Russia. Here's a fun read about growing up in a communist country.
http://www.cracked.com/article_21045_5-things-you-only-know-if-you-grew-up-in-communist-regime.html

I was born and grew up in communistic Russia, in Siberia, left it in 2000, when I was 24. It was never anything as bad as many articles like that are trying to make it. It was very peaceful, and seemed quite sufficient in every meaning. The education and medical systems were really good and 100% free. It takes to grow up and to live in a different environment to start looking at it otherwise, while on the surface it was perfect, and at least in the eyes of any child that grew up there.

Also, it is not good to be judging Russia based on an article about Romania. That's not the same thing.

And if you want more ironic history about Russia, read about the countries who were 'liberated' by Russia after WWII. Russia kicked out the Germans and the citizens soon found they greatly preferred the Germans.

Excuse me, but this is an utter crap that you picked up in some nonsense media bend on badmouthing Russia. In fact, I know that it could have only come from one of the Baltic countries, they are the ones who has been hating Russia way before WWII, and even supported Germans out of nationalistic spite. The way they treat Russians living there today, they are the new Nazi.
 
I don't know if the ID is fake or not. But banning over the possibility an account is fake. Damn, how many here doesn't use their true identity?

It is quite immoral to impersonate a famous figure in any media, except in the context of a joke, which is clearly not the case here. As such it is subject for a legal action in the course of either defamation or for the purpose of a fraud. And just because the person here is in exile, this doesn't make it any less immoral.
 
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