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NSA classifies Linux Journal readers, Tor and Tails Linux users as "extremists"

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posted on Jul, 7 2014 @ 06:45 PM
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It seems the NSA are targeting anyone interested in online anonymity ad especially *nix users



Are you a Linux Journal reader or use software such as Tor and Tails Linux? If so, you've probably been flagged as an "extremist" by the NSA. Leaked documents related to the XKeyscore snooping program reveal that the agency is targeting anyone who is interested in online privacy, specifically those who use the aforementioned software and visit the Linux user community website.

www.techspot.com...

Linux users are always trying to get people to convert to their operating system citing how safe it is against virus's and how good it is for anonymity but like i always tell them, if they want to keep it that way then stop trying to get everyone using the same system. As soon as something become popular it gets attention.


The program marks and tracks the IP addresses of those who search for 'tails' or 'Amnesiac Incognito Live System' along with 'linux', ' USB ',' CD ', 'secure desktop', ' IRC ', 'truecrypt' or ' tor '. It also refers to the Tails Linux distribution as "a comsec mechanism advocated by extremists on extremist forums".

Aside from the Linux Journal, other monitored websites include privacy.li, FreeProxies.org, HotSpotShield, MegaProxy, FreeNet, Centurian, and an anonymous email service called MixMinion.


It would seem anyone who is trying to use some prepackaged method or software to stay anonymous on the net is fooling themselves. Or is it just a bluff by the NSA?


edit on 7-7-2014 by PhoenixOD because: (no reason given)



posted on Jul, 7 2014 @ 06:57 PM
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Or is it just a bluff by the NSA?

Thats exactly what it is! Why else would they be TELLING us?



posted on Jul, 7 2014 @ 07:04 PM
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The US government uses Linux in many areas and the Navy created Tor ... so what does that tell you?



posted on Jul, 7 2014 @ 07:08 PM
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a reply to: LadySkadi

Im not sure what you are getting at



posted on Jul, 7 2014 @ 07:12 PM
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originally posted by: LadySkadi
The US government uses Linux in many areas and the Navy created Tor ... so what does that tell you?


Yep, I've seen an increase in government agencies in the uk using Linux. Tor and such systems may not be 100% secure but they do make it difficult for...those people who dont like people using it



posted on Jul, 7 2014 @ 07:14 PM
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a reply to: PhoenixOD

I'm just still pissed lavabit shut down... don't mind me.


Isn't it interesting that these named/targeted programs/distros Snowden favored?

Why now?



posted on Jul, 7 2014 @ 07:16 PM
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I classify the nsa as extremists ....really... I think if I was in a restaurant and someone told me they worked for the nsa i would throw a pie in their face because...hey man free pie...but they would understand how upset I was...then maybe wed all laugh afterwards and smoke cigars.

Edit* by the way ive tried linux like 4 times and I just cant get into it but I so badly want to love it....

edit on 7-7-2014 by rockpaperhammock because: (no reason given)



posted on Jul, 7 2014 @ 07:24 PM
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a reply to: PhoenixOD

Well, I am hardly surprised at that.

I do not use Linux, because I am told that to use it effectively, one needs to understand more about the nitty gritty of computing. Personally speaking, I am a broadswords and axes kind of a guy, so deep computing does not interest me, and nor do the problems of having to maintain a system without having any idea what the bloody hell I am doing.

However, what I do find interesting about the article, is not the fact that users of the services described in the article are under surveillance of some sort (which is, of course, bloody ghastly), but that this information did NOT come from files leaked by Mr Snowden, which would be the obvious thing to assume, but allegedly from a totally different source, indicating that there are more holes in the NSA than we had been previously made aware of.

That said, this could all be a reaction from the German intelligence services, to the news that a German double agent had been leaking data to the NSA, among others, for money. Apparently the same fellow had also been talking to the Russians about doing a bit of espionage on their behalf also, although it is not certain at this stage, whether or not any actual data exchanges took place between this fellow and any Russian organisation at this time.

What I would say however, is that the timing of this suggests to me, that the German intelligence services might have put this out there by back channels, to remind the US agencies that they are not all powerful, and can be exposed at the drop of a hat, the whisper of a word, or the televising of any one of an uncountable number of sensitive data points, which the Germans have access to.

It's just a possibility.



posted on Jul, 7 2014 @ 09:16 PM
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I'm a Linux user from way back. I have not owned a Windows computer in 10 years. If you go a mainstream version like mint, it's very user friendly nowadays.

I love the fact that all the software you'll ever need is free and often comes prepackaged in the distro download. I use the Linux version of office all the time and its perfectly compatible with MS documents, spreadsheets etc that come from my work.

*Edit*

I should also point out to all of you Android users that it is a version of Linux. Depending on the make and model of device one has, you may actually be able get software that will allow Linux programs to run on it.

edit on 7-7-2014 by markosity1973 because: (no reason given)



posted on Jul, 7 2014 @ 10:12 PM
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originally posted by: markosity1973
I'm a Linux user from way back. I have not owned a Windows computer in 10 years. If you go a mainstream version like mint, it's very user friendly nowadays.

I love the fact that all the software you'll ever need is free and often comes prepackaged in the distro download. I use the Linux version of office all the time and its perfectly compatible with MS documents, spreadsheets etc that come from my work.

*Edit*

I should also point out to all of you Android users that it is a version of Linux. Depending on the make and model of device one has, you may actually be able get software that will allow Linux programs to run on it.


lol..this is what i was talking about.



posted on Jul, 8 2014 @ 12:25 AM
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Good god. I have made at least two of those exact searches word for word. Tried Tor out before when it was new. Good to know I am being monitored on just one more 'list.'

Freakin' Outrageous. Just wait one day all of us ATSers will find we are on the no-fly list.



posted on Jul, 8 2014 @ 02:51 AM
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originally posted by: lightedhype
Good god. I have made at least two of those exact searches word for word. Tried Tor out before when it was new. Good to know I am being monitored on just one more 'list.'

Freakin' Outrageous. Just wait one day all of us ATSers will find we are on the no-fly list.


A goal of mine is to get put on the no fly list for nothing more than harmless things I've read/written. Linux, TOR, Tails, I'm well versed with all of that and even write guides on them for others. This is good news for me.



posted on Jul, 8 2014 @ 03:08 AM
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a reply to: PhoenixOD

To quickly touch the topic of security through obscurity/keeping linux a hipster thing, the reason Windows is such a failure in terms of security and the like is about 50% because of popularity. Microsoft (who makes Windows) has cut many deals with government officials, and has been found to put backdoors into their OS. Yes, popularity does increase the number of people who wish to break in, but the big enabler of unwanted entries is their centralized and limited number development. Microsoft will sometimes take years to release kernel updates, relying instead on haphazard security patches that don't seem to do much. Even Apple realized the importance of decentralized development, relying on Darwin Unix, the open source release of OSX, and their developers to quickly produce effective patches for their system. Linux is the biggest of them all. Linux kernels update frequently, patches are submitted in the thousands, and the more users Linux gets, the more people will develop for Linux, the more quickly threats are fixed, and the more secure it will get.



posted on Jul, 8 2014 @ 03:23 AM
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a reply to: PhoenixOD

This kind of goes hand in hand with the scandal (for want of a better word) surrounding truecrypt. To be honest, I don't suppose I doubt this... more to the point, tracking people who prefer Linux has probably been going on for quite a long time.

But are they being just a bit too open about what they are doing just trying to scare people away from it and toward something much less private and much less secure? This is the most likely scenario.

I don't need to fly anywhere anyway...
I'm afraid of heights.
edit on 8-7-2014 by OpinionatedB because: (no reason given)



posted on Jul, 12 2014 @ 06:44 AM
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I use a free VPN and Google never bans the connection so it makes me wonder if they have come to a deal.

Tor on the other hand is always being blocked by Google and that is why i trust it more than anything else.

It was also ilegal for the jews or queers to fight back in Nazi germany and if using Tor makes me a Terrorist then I am glad to have joined the masses who are just starting to wake up to big brother.

Tails on a pen stick is the best tool in the world for fixing windows when it goes bang as it often does and you are a braver man than me if you dare try to restore an ond copy of the windows registery, you see they don't want you doing that, too much NSA data gets lost.






edit on 12-7-2014 by VirusGuard because: (no reason given)



posted on Jul, 12 2014 @ 07:04 AM
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Running a LAMP stack does not count as being a Linux user, nor embedded systems. The numbers that show an increase in Linux use would be a lot less if you took out their web and embedded systems.

If a company or government agency invested $$$ in MOSS2013, they arent going to consider Linux desktops any time soon. Well knowing IT, I dont expect logic to be the driving factor.




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