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This is a normal post I'm all for "contemporary mass surveillance" if it goes some way to preventing the tube carriage i'm in being blown to pieces by a bomb
at the simplest level
 (I helped save b3ta! Jahled Three shades of black, Thu 2 Jan 2014, 11:23, , Reply)
This is a normal post Well it does not
No operative with a brain would use internet, emails or the phone to pass information.
It would be akin to Osama bin Laden asking the CIA to give a letter to Ayman al-Zawahiri and "promising not read it". And hoping they would not put a 1000 pound bunker buster from a B2 through each letter box.

So , normally it's disposable couriers with heavily encrypted USB sticks...
So you need people on the ground doing human intelligence, not dorks reading emails to your mom. And then not bloody ignoring said intelligence.
The only notable exception is money, following transfers and a accounts. But banks are in noooooo way linked to making money off drug cartel and worse. And they are also the only ones with the funds to be able with NSA toe to toe.

So, if NSA and it's peers are hoarding all this info that is useless against terrorism, why is it being hoarded? I can only see economic reasons, not safety.
 (smellysamlyingcable Seaman on, Thu 2 Jan 2014, 11:37, , Reply)
This is a normal post that all depends on what type of encryption you are using
we are pioneering a new identity based cryptographic algorithm with a tonne of extra security features. Like distributed key servers, no one server knows the master key and it's never stored on disk, you would have to hack 3 individual servers and dump the memory from all of them then try and work out how to combine the parts. Even then the parts only make a valid key when combined by the user, in their browser using true end to end 2 factor authentication.

Security online is more that possible, it's big companies and the government that are fucking it up for everyone else. Microsofts phone factor acquisition is a joke, it took me half an hour to get a code sent to my phone and it's not even true 2 factor. That could easily be intercepted.

Edit: It's hard times in the security industry unless you are google, then you just make some stupid gimmick like face recognition to unlock your phone, everyone buys it, even though it sucks.
 (I helped save b3ta! Firkinfedup last shat on your wife's tits at, Thu 2 Jan 2014, 11:51, , Reply)
This is a normal post Even if you can't read the message
you know where it came from and where it'ss going.
And there's an app to load that into a Predator's Hellfire.

Even with "crackable" 128 encryption, if you layer it, like 3 deep, good luck breaking it before our first space ship gets to Proxima Centauri.

So, the only ones getting hit are normal people working for normal companies.

Edit; you are right about Microsoft... Back in 2009ish, I thought that with my 15 letter password my PC was safe.
So I got into an argument with our resident hacker/IT dude over lunch.
We got back to the office, he stuck a hard drive in as a master, and booted it in DOS (!), rummaged around a bit, found the file, copied it, removed hard drive.
Done. 5 minutes. He then beat windows encryption in less than 5 minutes with a little program he had written because he was "fucking tired of salespeople losing their passwords".
A few months later, we had our own tailor made encryption...
The passwords were stuff you could remember but long. Like: "My mum has a 350z with a blower and a lift"... Made up stuff, the longer the funnier the better, but never "real" stuff. My mum does not have a 350z. Etc.
Made me respect our IT dudes more.
 (smellysamlyingcable Seaman on, Thu 2 Jan 2014, 11:56, , Reply)
This is a normal post Sounds totally reasonable.
Although why he used a harddrive rather than a bootable USB drive (I've got one on my key ring for exactly this purpose totally unrelated reasons) perhaps with a nice linux/dos boot choice menu, I have no idea.
 (I helped save b3ta! DinivanX Has stinging piss after drinking Pact Coffee, Thu 2 Jan 2014, 12:32, , Reply)
This is a normal post This was with Windows 2000
I think they used bootable USB with XP onwards.
But I could be wrong.
 (smellysamlyingcable Seaman on, Thu 2 Jan 2014, 12:35, , Reply)
This is a normal post hahaha thats how most genius things are made
People having enough with stupid people.

i like affirming statements as they serve 2 purposes, subliminal and passphrase complexity. Like "I'm at my happiest when sober". Which is a lie but still lol.
 (I helped save b3ta! Firkinfedup last shat on your wife's tits at, Thu 2 Jan 2014, 12:34, , Reply)
This is a normal post
N'importe quoi.
 (itilliterate, Thu 2 Jan 2014, 11:52, , Reply)
This is a normal post Becuase the information is very useful to catch low level crime
The assumption being is that "everyone is at it", so collect everything and eventually everyone will prove themselves guilty of a small infraction and you already have the proof to hand.
 (I helped save b3ta! DinivanX Has stinging piss after drinking Pact Coffee, Thu 2 Jan 2014, 11:59, , Reply)
This is a normal post Then target low level criminals
Not the whole bloody country.
The cops have a good idea who they are.
Spend the freed up resources to hire more real coppers to actually walk these mean streets.
 (smellysamlyingcable Seaman on, Thu 2 Jan 2014, 12:34, , Reply)
This is a normal post This is going to sound horribly leftie but the police think everyone is a criminal
With the possible exception of a minority of other cops.
 (I helped save b3ta! DinivanX Has stinging piss after drinking Pact Coffee, Thu 2 Jan 2014, 13:01, , Reply)
This is a normal post But everyone IS a criminal
I have never met anyone who hasn't done something illegal/immoral in their lives, but 99% of these misdemeanors are not a problem.
Why do we fine people for spitting when we allow cats to crap everywhere and anywhere they want to?

The more people are surveiled the more people are criminalised for nothing
 (I helped save b3ta! CanonCaliber A big bore, Thu 2 Jan 2014, 14:12, , Reply)
This is a normal post It's about "profiling"
Already people are being prosecuted for fitting the "profile" of an offender even though they havent done anything.
The more info they have on people, the more people they can fit into their "profiles" and spy on/prosecute.
 (I helped save b3ta! CanonCaliber A big bore, Thu 2 Jan 2014, 12:39, , Reply)
This is a normal post Well, someone's got to catch the stupid terrorists, too.
But I think your last point is in line with what Eddie Snowy was telling people, that the surveillance is mostly for economic purposes. Just like pretty much everything else then.
 (I helped save b3ta! Extinct Jesus Dossier "...I think it counteracts Hitler's magic...", Thu 2 Jan 2014, 12:00, , Reply)
This is a normal post Me too
Any objections I might have had to CCTV ended when the faces of the failed London bombers were all over the media within hours of their escape.

The level of fiendish mastermind that we're talking about is of the calibre of the criminal genius who crashed a car into Glasgow Airport terminal building and then set fire to himself. Or the two eggheads who killed a soldier and then hung about for the police to show up. They're properly rubbish. And I doubt they have the intelligence to use elaborate covert communication methods.
 (I helped save b3ta! After you my dear Alfonse No. After you., Thu 2 Jan 2014, 11:58, , Reply)
This is a normal post I totally agree with CCTV
Or targeted surveillance.
I object to STASI like dragnet approach.
It's a massive waste of money, resources at the cost of our liberty.

I only object to some aspects, not to everything.
 (smellysamlyingcable Seaman on, Thu 2 Jan 2014, 12:19, , Reply)
This is a normal post I don't feel that my liberty's compromised
In the unlikely event that some spook is poring over my emails. The only emotion I would feel would be compassion. The poor fucker would be bored shitless.
 (I helped save b3ta! After you my dear Alfonse No. After you., Thu 2 Jan 2014, 12:26, , Reply)
This is a normal post My company was on the receiving end of "attention" a few years back...
And it made me re-evaluate my position. It was not fun at all.

But if your work does not include proprietary info, then why care?
 (smellysamlyingcable Seaman on, Thu 2 Jan 2014, 12:31, , Reply)