New ask Hacker News story: My government is surveilling all its citizens via ISPs. How do they do that?
My government is surveilling all its citizens via ISPs. How do they do that?
7 by rrandy | 1 comments on Hacker News.
I live in Switzerland and, a few days ago, a journalistic investigation uncovered the fact that the government's secret services are collecting, analyzing and storing "e-mails, chat messages, and search queries" of all Swiss people. They basically forced all major ISPs to collaborate with them to do it. There are no details about what and how they do that, except that they tap directly into internet cables. Also, the CEO of a minor ISP said that the Secret services contacted him asking technical details about his infrastructure. The secret services also said to him that they might want to install some spying equipment in the ISP's server rooms. Here's a relevant passage (translated from German): "Internet providers (...) must explain how some of their signals are decoupled (in german: ausgekoppelt). And they must answer the question of whether the data packets on their routers can be copied in real time. The Secret service bureau also wants to know how access to the data and computer centers is regulated and whether it can set up its tapping devices in the rooms where these are located, for which it requires server cabinets and electricity. "The information about the network infrastructure is needed in order to determine the best possible tap point and thus route the right signals to the right place," explains a Secret Services spokeswoman." Soooo can you help me understand what's happening here? What device could that be, and what could it do? Decrypt https traffic? Could they "hack" certificates? How can Swiss people protect themselves? Any hypothesis is welcome here. If you want to read the whole report, you can find it here (in German): https://ift.tt/Pr96gqa
7 by rrandy | 1 comments on Hacker News.
I live in Switzerland and, a few days ago, a journalistic investigation uncovered the fact that the government's secret services are collecting, analyzing and storing "e-mails, chat messages, and search queries" of all Swiss people. They basically forced all major ISPs to collaborate with them to do it. There are no details about what and how they do that, except that they tap directly into internet cables. Also, the CEO of a minor ISP said that the Secret services contacted him asking technical details about his infrastructure. The secret services also said to him that they might want to install some spying equipment in the ISP's server rooms. Here's a relevant passage (translated from German): "Internet providers (...) must explain how some of their signals are decoupled (in german: ausgekoppelt). And they must answer the question of whether the data packets on their routers can be copied in real time. The Secret service bureau also wants to know how access to the data and computer centers is regulated and whether it can set up its tapping devices in the rooms where these are located, for which it requires server cabinets and electricity. "The information about the network infrastructure is needed in order to determine the best possible tap point and thus route the right signals to the right place," explains a Secret Services spokeswoman." Soooo can you help me understand what's happening here? What device could that be, and what could it do? Decrypt https traffic? Could they "hack" certificates? How can Swiss people protect themselves? Any hypothesis is welcome here. If you want to read the whole report, you can find it here (in German): https://ift.tt/Pr96gqa
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