Us Goverment?

[DanielZing]

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if the US goverment have access to firewall, and all kinds of security. I mean, do they need to hack it to get through the security or do they just ask all the companys to give them a code or something, so that they get through easyly?

Daniel

[Aimless6]

You can be fairly sure that the NSA has a backdoor to all "made in USA" security software. And that they at least know how to hack/crack everything else.
One example is PGP. You (used to?) only get the 128 bit version abroad, because it would take to long to crack a 256+ bit encoded mail.

Why do you ask? Do You have something that is worth the processortime on the supercomputers in Fort Meade?

European and Asian multi-nationals already know that the only way to keep a secret is to work on a stand alone in a guarded copper mesh room. Otherwise the Eshelon network will pick it up and your American and British competitors will know about your innovations even before you do.

[DanielZing]

Well i have Kazaa Lite and eDonkey2000 and me and my dad had a discussion about this...

Thanks for clearing things up

BTW what is the safest way the be online? I have heard about "IP-Bounce"? Software and hardware firewall, do you need both?

Thanks again Daniel.

[Mik3ll]

I dont think people that make firewalls would just let them go through, I would think you would be able to sue them because you pay for your firewall, and you pay to have them protect you.

[DasScoot]

You know what the odds are of you being tapped by the FBI/etc are? Unless you're sharing kiddie porn, zero. The US government doesn't give a shit about Kazaa.

[Switeck]

The holes in most web browsers are enough for the US government to almost do whatever they want.

Beyond that, even the REST of M$ Windows isn't exactly secure either...

[Supernatural]

You watch too much TV if you think the government is spying on you.

Switeck... what vulnerability gives complete control to an attacker? I think you exaggerated there a bit.

[internet.news]

Originally posted by DasScoot@26 November 2003 - 08:05
You know what the odds are of you being tapped by the FBI/etc are? Unless you're sharing kiddie porn, zero. The US government doesn't give a shit about Kazaa.

only probably if you share big SECRETS of US Government - e.g.
new weapons, secrets of Bush (no, just joke&#33 - they would go after you.

[Switeck]

Originally posted by Supernatural@26 November 2003 - 14:08
Switeck... what vulnerability gives complete control to an attacker? I think you exaggerated there a bit. 

I dunno, but I do know that you can get auto-infected by a virus just by visiting an INFECTED website.

It'd even presumeably be possible to have a virus find a vulnerable computer just by attempting random ip addresses.

If the virus has an irc-bot component, it can offer a remote attacker near-total control over a computer.

[VB]

You don't have to worry about government agencies (or the RIAA or whatever) hacking into your computer. First of all you are of absolutely no interest to them. Secondly it's illegal, so can never sue you with anything they find.