Mon Aug 26, 2013, 12:21 PM

Greenwald interview: NSA cannot break the code on Miranda's thumb drives.

JF: [ed. note: Miranda was apparently carrying large amounts of encrypted documents and communications when stopped in Heathrow.] Why are you so confidant the world’s best code breakers can’t break the encryption in [Miranda’s] seized computers?

GG: Because I have read the documents of the world’s best code breakers, and they have talked about their inability to crack certain types of encryption.

JF: How do you think history will remember this whole affair? It is still unfolding but nonetheless, a lot has already gone down. What is Glenn Greenwald’s prediction on the historic legacy of all this?

GG: I think this will be the time the world realizes that the US and its closest allies are trying to build a surveillance system that has as its primary objective the elimination of privacy globally, by which I mean that everyone’s communications electronically will be collected, stored, analyzed and monitored by the US government.
I think it will be seen as the moment that the United States showed its true face to the world in terms of attacks on journalism and their desire to punish anyone who brings transparency.

JF: What precautions would you give to the average internet user vis-a-vis encryption?

GG: I think encryption is vital; I hope that people will use encryption in every way possible. It helps prevent intervening in their private communications, and they should definitely start using encryption.

http://truth-out.org/news/item/18402-i-wont-be-kept-out-of-my-country-for-doing-journalism-exclusive-glenn-greenwald-truthout-interview

203 replies, 38842 views

Thread info Bookmark this thread Trash this thread

Reply to this thread

Always highlight: 10 newest replies | Replies posted after I mark a forum

Replies to this discussion thread

203 replies	Author	Time	Post
Greenwald interview: NSA cannot break the code on Miranda's thumb drives. (Original post)	Luminous Animal	Aug 2013	OP
Hahahahaha, that is funny.	riqster	Aug 2013	#1
Even if the NSA is able to break Strong Encryption	formercia	Aug 2013	#3
Anybody can break any encryption given time and resources.	riqster	Aug 2013	#4
Well, he's such a computer expert. He knows everything Laura taught him. nt	pnwmom	Aug 2013	#9
In cryptography, we usually don't call exhaustive key searching "breaking"	Recursion	Aug 2013	#10
Just using a common term	formercia	Aug 2013	#42
They aren't impervious to quantum decryption	Shivering Jemmy	Aug 2013	#96
#1 reason to think that they don't?	Aerows	Aug 2013	#99
Sure. Get back to us after the few millenia it takes to crack AES-256.	EOTE	Aug 2013	#14
sorry but never say never...	VanillaRhapsody	Aug 2013	#40
Unless there is a math breakthrough	Paulie	Aug 2013	#51
Math processing is the issue...not math	VanillaRhapsody	Aug 2013	#64
Let's assume that Moore's law remains constant another 20 years (it most likely won't).	EOTE	Aug 2013	#82
still not good enough....	VanillaRhapsody	Aug 2013	#85
You're right, Moore's Law IS no judge.	EOTE	Aug 2013	#95
there will be.....believe that!	VanillaRhapsody	Aug 2013	#97
There will be	Aerows	Aug 2013	#100
IRC has been around since I started...long before the WWW even existed!	VanillaRhapsody	Aug 2013	#103
I've been here on the WWW for nearly 25 years.	Aerows	Aug 2013	#105
LOL, me too. I miss the old modem noise. It seemed so cool. When I got a cable modem I thought I....	Logical	Aug 2013	#153
I will never ever take it for granted	Aerows	Aug 2013	#188
I bet. n-t	Logical	Aug 2013	#192
I think I've griped and moaned	Aerows	Aug 2013	#193
I know how much I take for granted.....	Logical	Aug 2013	#194
I will never take running water	Aerows	Aug 2013	#195
So have I....	VanillaRhapsody	Aug 2013	#164
Well, you are really wrong on this. But I love the confidence. n-t	Logical	Aug 2013	#154
" Just ask the folks that sold the framework for Windows to Bill Gates"? What the hell....	Logical	Aug 2013	#152
I wondered.	Aerows	Aug 2013	#187
I'm going to wave, too	Aerows	Aug 2013	#120
"...given time and resources..." - Not exactly a true statement.	Gravitycollapse	Aug 2013	#160
"The full actual computation - checking each key to see if you have found a solution"	Aerows	Aug 2013	#175
Cool that you thought about it and explained it like I did.	Aerows	Aug 2013	#177
What information do you have that some of the world's smartest security experts don't?	EOTE	Aug 2013	#5
Assign a key to every atom in the universe	Recursion	Aug 2013	#8
I guess we'd need to use more than one universe. nt	EOTE	Aug 2013	#16
Quantum Shmantum	Recursion	Aug 2013	#19
Well there's a bs claim	Egnever	Aug 2013	#128
"We discovered	Aerows	Aug 2013	#136
We've got some pretty good upper and lower bounds	Recursion	Aug 2013	#156
Nothing is "crack proof". As you yourself say,	riqster	Aug 2013	#11
It IS currently crackproof.	EOTE	Aug 2013	#13
A "matter of time"	Aerows	Aug 2013	#25
No back door to public key encryption.	longship	Aug 2013	#45
Every mathematician and every CS geek	Aerows	Aug 2013	#47
Correct.	longship	Aug 2013	#61
We're on the same page	Aerows	Aug 2013	#65
Minor correction.	DanTex	Aug 2013	#123
Granted.	longship	Aug 2013	#125
I wouldn't be much of a math nerd if I didn't nitpick about technicalities...	DanTex	Aug 2013	#129
Me neither.	longship	Aug 2013	#132
None of us would be	Aerows	Aug 2013	#134
This message was self-deleted by its author	Aerows	Aug 2013	#170
Try this one	Aerows	Aug 2013	#88
As of 2011, the top 10 uncrakced codes and/or cyphers are;	greiner3	Aug 2013	#89
Interesting, thanks for posting. n-t	Logical	Aug 2013	#155
Nobody's even sure if the Voynich manuscript is actually a code	Recursion	Aug 2013	#157
And it isn't like that hasn't happened before	Aerows	Aug 2013	#173
You rarely need to brute force the entire keyspace to crack AES-256	Xithras	Aug 2013	#54
Rainbow tables and arrays	Aerows	Aug 2013	#57
Yes, salting can be an effective countermeasure.	Xithras	Aug 2013	#70
We aren't talking about average users in this case, though	Aerows	Aug 2013	#71
Most strong passwords WOULD look like that.	EOTE	Aug 2013	#59
Put in a key within the password	Aerows	Aug 2013	#69
Doesn't include gibberish words that only the encryptor remembers.	Leopolds Ghost	Aug 2013	#130
Except often the passcode you type in just unlocks the actual key	Recursion	Aug 2013	#161
In the weeds	Aerows	Aug 2013	#167
If it's a big enough keyspace, he's right	Recursion	Aug 2013	#6
But one does not have to try an infinite number of combinations	riqster	Aug 2013	#15
Model it as a Bernoulli process	Recursion	Aug 2013	#18
I believe he is thinking intelligent algorithms	Aerows	Aug 2013	#26
Thats supposing you don't hit it on the 1,210th try thru dumb luck, lol.	Erose999	Aug 2013	#31
Sure, you could even hit it on the first try.	EOTE	Aug 2013	#34
I appreciate your input on this	hueymahl	Aug 2013	#38
Sure thing, any time.	EOTE	Aug 2013	#83
Do the odds change	creeksneakers2	Aug 2013	#67
That relies on the random element of the human beings doing encryption	Aerows	Aug 2013	#117
No	Recursion	Aug 2013	#158
And if you pad it, too	Aerows	Aug 2013	#171
Greenwald is seriously ate up	railsback	Aug 2013	#2
I'm not sure about your definition of "ate up" but if you believe	Aerows	Aug 2013	#178
Do you really think those massive buildings going up are to house hard drives?	railsback	Aug 2013	#179
I think there is amateur hour, and then there is	Aerows	Aug 2013	#180
Ah, so you have no idea what a D-Wave is	railsback	Aug 2013	#181
I have no need to prove myself.	Aerows	Aug 2013	#182
Good Gawd	railsback	Aug 2013	#184
So, Tim Tebow, are you?	Aerows	Aug 2013	#185
toot!	railsback	Aug 2013	#189
Get him to write the encryption codes beneath...	Aerows	Aug 2013	#191
If it's encrypted with 256-bit AES, they can't	Spider Jerusalem	Aug 2013	#7
And twofish and blowfish take even longer	Recursion	Aug 2013	#12
The Trusted Platform Module handles Keys up to 2048 bits.	formercia	Aug 2013	#48
Yada Yada Yada, what the hell, since the files was stolen from NSA who would they think would not be	Thinkingabout	Aug 2013	#17
No, he probably just used openssl	Recursion	Aug 2013	#20
You mistake encryption after the fact	Aerows	Aug 2013	#27
Are you kidding me? They know every key stroke Snowden made while her husband as at NSA, they	Thinkingabout	Aug 2013	#72
I believed that up until the 3rd press conference.	Aerows	Aug 2013	#77
Since i have not seen frequent news reports out of the NSA in the years they have been in operation	Thinkingabout	Aug 2013	#94
You mistake me	Aerows	Aug 2013	#98
Yes I know about the mountain out of a mole hill but an ant hill but a regular ant hill is smaller	Thinkingabout	Aug 2013	#102
I guess you aren't familiar with fire-ant hills	Aerows	Aug 2013	#109
Guess I am familiar with fire ant hills, are you familiar with common red a t hills. Which is	Thinkingabout	Aug 2013	#110
Where are you from with red ants that don't sting?	Aerows	Aug 2013	#112
I was referring to the size of the ant hills, the common red ant hill is small and shallow,	Thinkingabout	Aug 2013	#113
Like this?	Aerows	Aug 2013	#114
would you say the common ant hill is larger or smaller than fire ant hill?	Thinkingabout	Aug 2013	#118
I'm asking if that is a common ant hill	Aerows	Aug 2013	#119
Not in my area but this is a classic example of making a mountain out of an ant hill.	Thinkingabout	Aug 2013	#124
What is your area, which Indian province do you hale from, sir?	Aerows	Aug 2013	#126
That doesn't look like a red imported fire ant hill.	Jamastiene	Aug 2013	#145
Imported	Aerows	Aug 2013	#146
North Carolina	Jamastiene	Aug 2013	#147
I'm in the Deep South	Aerows	Aug 2013	#148
Ouch!	Jamastiene	Aug 2013	#149
It's either sand or dark earth where I am on the coast	Aerows	Aug 2013	#150
I see.	Jamastiene	Aug 2013	#159
I'd show you pictures of what it looked like after Katrina	Aerows	Aug 2013	#183
And wait a second... here	Aerows	Aug 2013	#104
That would be an autocorrect not intended, you know sorta like a typo.	Thinkingabout	Aug 2013	#107
Where did the "husband" come in?	Aerows	Aug 2013	#108
It was changed by auto correct, i did not type husband.	Thinkingabout	Aug 2013	#111
Memo to NSA: Snowden copied the files. You already have them. You don't need to break a code.	Tierra_y_Libertad	Aug 2013	#21
Broken code to be used in the future.	Thinkingabout	Aug 2013	#22
Actually if they want to know which ones are on the disk, they do. n/t	hootinholler	Aug 2013	#23
So they can run a spellcheck on them before some whistle blower relaeases them?	Tierra_y_Libertad	Aug 2013	#24
No, for reverse engineering	Aerows	Aug 2013	#35
I'm sure he got as much as possible and has the non-relevant stuff safely stashed away somewhere	Leopolds Ghost	Aug 2013	#138
Me too, but I was trying to make it	Aerows	Aug 2013	#140
I don't claim to know much	Leopolds Ghost	Aug 2013	#142
Hey, you!	NYC_SKP	Aug 2013	#166
Hi NYC SKP!	Leopolds Ghost	Aug 2013	#176
If I were Snowden et. al	Aerows	Aug 2013	#29
We need more whistle blowers and hackers to help the NSA check and edit their files.	Tierra_y_Libertad	Aug 2013	#36
That's kind of the beauty of doing it that way	Aerows	Aug 2013	#37
Which they desperately want to know	Aerows	Aug 2013	#39
You mean the thread I started Friday was castigated by the usual suspects	hootinholler	Aug 2013	#46
Precisely :)	Aerows	Aug 2013	#49
Like!	Vanje	Aug 2013	#141
Thank you for all your input on this thread.	Luminous Animal	Aug 2013	#116
shhh... they are having fun.	Warren Stupidity	Aug 2013	#106
The NSA is thumbscrewed	Blue Owl	Aug 2013	#28
I am surprised they would be trying to break any codes.	Rex	Aug 2013	#30
Sure, someone out there has the encryption key	Rstrstx	Aug 2013	#41
So is Davey Jones locker.	Rex	Aug 2013	#43
According to the encryption experts on here	Rstrstx	Aug 2013	#50
There is always the easiest brute-force method	Aerows	Aug 2013	#53
Well if the NSA knows exactly what was stolen	Rex	Aug 2013	#56
They don't	Aerows	Aug 2013	#186
I can't help but wonder...	Ohio Joe	Aug 2013	#32
Thank you king-clown of FUD.	tridim	Aug 2013	#33
If I were the NSA	Aerows	Aug 2013	#44
Ubiquitous crypto is the NSA 's greatest fear.	backscatter712	Aug 2013	#52
That's pretty cool	Puzzledtraveller	Aug 2013	#174
Rubber-hose Cryptanalysis	Aerows	Aug 2013	#55
When rubber hose cryptanalysis becomes common, the NSA will truly be the American Gestapo. n/t	backscatter712	Aug 2013	#66
I am curious, these Snowden/Greenwald haters here seem upset that they came out with this!	Dustlawyer	Aug 2013	#58
Thank you, Dustlawyer. Who are these people who are trying to smear GG	truth2power	Aug 2013	#75
I hope they're not NSA	Vanje	Aug 2013	#143
"Most all of them seem to be playing the part of Dim-wits."	NealK	Aug 2013	#165
This warms my heart!!...	truth2power	Aug 2013	#60
Gonna be real pissed off when he finds out Snowden's key is QWERTY	AngryAmish	Aug 2013	#62
He's not dumb, you know. I'll bet he used DVORAK instead. :)	DisgustipatedinCA	Aug 2013	#92
Teh password is always SWORDFISH.	Leopolds Ghost	Aug 2013	#133
Why does GG say stuff like this:	War Horse	Aug 2013	#63
why?	madrchsod	Aug 2013	#79
"Because greenwald is in it for the fame and fortune."	War Horse	Aug 2013	#84
Uh, I'm here to debate you for the "fame" and "fortune" and I'm related to neither.	Aerows	Aug 2013	#137
"by which I mean that everyone’s communications electronically will be collected, stored, analyzed	deurbano	Aug 2013	#90
Those kinds of words are perfect chum for the gullible.	Whisp	Aug 2013	#93
Because this s such hyperbole	nadinbrzezinski	Aug 2013	#101
now that`s the funniest thing i`ve read in a long time	madrchsod	Aug 2013	#68
I disagree with Mr. Greenwald re:encryption	saidsimplesimon	Aug 2013	#73
I disagree with Mr. Greenwald re:encryption	saidsimplesimon	Aug 2013	#74
Why are these files encrypted anyway? Aren't they supposed to be leaked and released?	arcane1	Aug 2013	#76
They don't want the particular spy agencies and politicians	Aerows	Aug 2013	#80
Then what's the point of taking the info in the first place? That's what I don't get...	arcane1	Aug 2013	#86
Some of it probably has to be parsed through	Aerows	Aug 2013	#87
In that case, it sounds like Greenwald and Snowden also don't know what they have.	arcane1	Aug 2013	#151
Why does that give you "kicks"?	Recursion	Aug 2013	#163
When my elected government lies to me	Aerows	Aug 2013	#190
But the claim was the purpose of the gradual releases was to get them to lie	Recursion	Aug 2013	#196
So you agree they lied?	Aerows	Aug 2013	#197
Who? When?	Recursion	Aug 2013	#198
I'll just leave this post to stand by itself.	Aerows	Aug 2013	#199
The Guardian, the Washington Post, Der Spiegal, and the NY Times are not done with	Luminous Animal	Aug 2013	#115
Yes there is	Aerows	Aug 2013	#131
So the point is "feeling more powerful than politicians" rather than "the truth"?	Recursion	Aug 2013	#162
I disagree with Mr. Greenwald re:encryption	saidsimplesimon	Aug 2013	#78
No one	Aerows	Aug 2013	#121
If they do break it....	blackspade	Aug 2013	#81
This message was self-deleted by its author	DevonRex	Aug 2013	#91
Wouldn't it just be a total hoot if the only thing on the thumb drives was	Zorra	Aug 2013	#122
I would think it was extraneous data.	Aerows	Aug 2013	#127
I'm a bit unclear why Greenwald is relying on thumb drives in the first place to get data to point B	Leopolds Ghost	Aug 2013	#135
There's a simpler way, and the NSA knows it...	jmowreader	Aug 2013	#139
In 2013...	Leopolds Ghost	Aug 2013	#144
Which is why they are so desperate to get their hands on him.	Aerows	Aug 2013	#168
One thing to remember	Aerows	Aug 2013	#169
FBI, NSA, et al could'nt even crack this	Puzzledtraveller	Aug 2013	#172
Kick...	SidDithers	Aug 2013	#200
Ain't that the truth! nt	Andy823	Aug 2013	#201
Nope. The UK is pulling your strings.	dkf	Aug 2013	#202
Well...unless your husband is such a dumbass he carries the password on paper	jmowreader	Aug 2013	#203

Response to Luminous Animal (Original post)

Mon Aug 26, 2013, 12:23 PM

riqster (13,986 posts)

1. Hahahahaha, that is funny.

Dream on, Greenwald.

Greenwald interview: NSA cannot break the code on Miranda's thumb drives.

1. Hahahahaha, that is funny.

3. Even if the NSA is able to break Strong Encryption

4. Anybody can break any encryption given time and resources.

9. Well, he's such a computer expert. He knows everything Laura taught him. nt

10. In cryptography, we usually don't call exhaustive key searching "breaking"

42. Just using a common term

96. They aren't impervious to quantum decryption

99. #1 reason to think that they don't?

14. Sure. Get back to us after the few millenia it takes to crack AES-256.

40. sorry but never say never...

51. Unless there is a math breakthrough

64. Math processing is the issue...not math

82. Let's assume that Moore's law remains constant another 20 years (it most likely won't).

85. still not good enough....

95. You're right, Moore's Law IS no judge.

97. there will be.....believe that!

100. There will be

103. IRC has been around since I started...long before the WWW even existed!

105. I've been here on the WWW for nearly 25 years.

153. LOL, me too. I miss the old modem noise. It seemed so cool. When I got a cable modem I thought I....

188. I will never ever take it for granted

192. I bet. n-t

193. I think I've griped and moaned

194. I know how much I take for granted.....

195. I will never take running water

164. So have I....

154. Well, you are really wrong on this. But I love the confidence. n-t

152. " Just ask the folks that sold the framework for Windows to Bill Gates"? What the hell....

187. I wondered.

120. I'm going to wave, too

160. "...given time and resources..." - Not exactly a true statement.

175. "The full actual computation - checking each key to see if you have found a solution"

177. Cool that you thought about it and explained it like I did.

5. What information do you have that some of the world's smartest security experts don't?

8. Assign a key to every atom in the universe

16. I guess we'd need to use more than one universe. nt

19. Quantum Shmantum

128. Well there's a bs claim

136. "We discovered

156. We've got some pretty good upper and lower bounds

11. Nothing is "crack proof". As you yourself say,

13. It IS currently crackproof.

25. A "matter of time"

45. No back door to public key encryption.

47. Every mathematician and every CS geek

61. Correct.

65. We're on the same page

123. Minor correction.

125. Granted.

129. I wouldn't be much of a math nerd if I didn't nitpick about technicalities...

132. Me neither.

134. None of us would be

88. Try this one

89. As of 2011, the top 10 uncrakced codes and/or cyphers are;

155. Interesting, thanks for posting. n-t

157. Nobody's even sure if the Voynich manuscript is actually a code

173. And it isn't like that hasn't happened before

54. You rarely need to brute force the entire keyspace to crack AES-256

57. Rainbow tables and arrays

70. Yes, salting can be an effective countermeasure.

71. We aren't talking about average users in this case, though

59. Most strong passwords WOULD look like that.

69. Put in a key within the password

130. Doesn't include gibberish words that only the encryptor remembers.

161. Except often the passcode you type in just unlocks the actual key

167. In the weeds

6. If it's a big enough keyspace, he's right

15. But one does not have to try an infinite number of combinations

18. Model it as a Bernoulli process

26. I believe he is thinking intelligent algorithms

31. Thats supposing you don't hit it on the 1,210th try thru dumb luck, lol.

34. Sure, you could even hit it on the first try.

38. I appreciate your input on this

83. Sure thing, any time.

67. Do the odds change

117. That relies on the random element of the human beings doing encryption

158. No

171. And if you pad it, too

2. Greenwald is seriously ate up