Privacy News NSA's Hacking Group Hacked! Bunch of Private Hacking Tools Leaked online

[omidomi]

It seems like the NSA has been HACKED!

An unknown hacker or a group of hackers just claimed to have hacked into "Equation Group" -- a cyber-attack group allegedly associated with the United States intelligence organization NSA -- and dumped a bunch of its hacking tools (malware, private exploits, and hacking tools) online.


I know, it is really hard to believe, but some cybersecurity experts who have been examining the leak data, exploits and hacking tools, believe it to be legitimate.

Hacker Demands $568 Million in Bitcoin to Leak All Tools and Data

Not just this, the hackers, calling themselves "The Shadow Brokers," are also asking for 1 Million Bitcoins (around $568 Million) in an auction to release the 'best' cyber weapons and more files.

Widely believed to be part of the NSA, Equation Group was described as "a threat actor that surpasses anything known in terms of complexity and sophistication of techniques, and that has been active for almost two decades," according to a report published by security firm Kaspersky in 2015.

Equation Group was also linked to the previous infamous Regin and Stuxnet attacks, allegedly the United States sponsored hacks, though the link was never absolutely proven.

Two days back, The Shadow Brokers released some files, which it claimed came from the Equation Group, on Github (deleted) and Tumblr.


Read more: NSA's Hacking Group Hacked! Bunch of Private Hacking Tools Leaked Online

 

[_CyberGhosT_]

Well hows that for carma

 

[Deleted member 178]

tatatatatatata ! 568million $ for netcat and Nmap ?! come on are you kidding me ?!

 

[LASER_oneXM]

.....one question...: these weird ransomware hackers (and also The Shadow Brokers) always want bitcoins...
Is there a risk that this transactions (bitcoins, real money) will be (can be ?) traced to the real persons?
I think this weird sum of $568 Million can be traced by NSA... so it's completly usesless.... i think...
Using bitcoin transactions or real money transactions should be a huge risk ......?

 

[Tony Cole]

May be it's Trump to get more money for his campaign - Kaspersky investigated the Equation Group, but never stated who, or whom they were; but they no. It's just NOT politically correct to put a few cats among the pigeons. We now live in a very scary world, but the NSA and MI5 should have the full backing of the federal or UK Governments to ensure our safety, especially with the constant terror attacks. I would rather that, than see innocent people slaughtered.

 

[_CyberGhosT_]

tatatatatatata ! 568million $ for netcat and Nmap ?! come on are you kidding me ?!

They say there's much more too that they will release. If they are telling the truth the NSA may be scrambling to pay this.
I think it's a good taste of their own medicine imho.

 

[Tony Cole]

I personally believe this all started after September 11th 2001, as the Equation group seemed to have been active since 2001 - George W. Bush told Obama to carry on with cyber warfare against Iran etc., and it would seem he heeded to his advice.

 

[Logethica]

It has long since been the policy of many Governments to subcontract their "Dirty Work" to a 3rd-Party organisation,as it makes it easier do deny knowledge or culpability for its actions..
..It is an open-secret that many Governments hire the services of 3rd-party military contractors,and t3rrori5t organisations to be their boots on the ground overseas..
The existence of the "Equation Group" helps to prevent a repeat of the fallout following the Snowden revelations..
I am very anti the despicable actions of the NSA & GCHQ as I feel that they erode more civil-liberties than they protect..
We already know of various NSA programs such as:
PRISM: The NSAs internet data mining program which began in 2007 to gather information such as Search History,e-mails,live chats,videos,& photos,from companies including Microsoft,Yahoo,& Google.
SQUEAKY DOLPHIN: In 2012,the GCHQ demonstrated this pilot program to the NSA ,in which they could monitor YouTube in real-time & collect user data,as well as monitoring Facebook,& Twitter.
DISHFIRE: The NSA Program that collects almost 200 Million Text Messages a day from around the World.Messages are used to extract location data & Credit Card details.GCHQ also has access to this data.
SMURF / WARRIOR PRIDE: The joint GCHQ & NSA Spyware installed on Android & iPhones.Subfunctions are;
Tracker-Smurf: To get Geo-location
Nosey-Smurf: Switches Mic on
Dreamy-Smurf: Switches device on.
WELLSPRING: An NSA Facial Recognition Program that extracts images from emails and other electronic communication.
and many more....

@Tony Cole makes a good point about Iran..
The Foreign policy of certain Countries, that I will not name, is guided by those who "sit above" the Governments, and the policy is..
If One can control a Country's Bank, then One can control a Country's Debt...
..and If One can control a Country's Debt, then One can control the Country.

In the year of 2000 there were seven countries without a Rothschild owned Central Bank:
Afghanistan / Iraq / Sudan / Libya / Cuba / North Korea / Iran
I wonder if you can spot a few names within those Countries that certain other Countries have "liberated" within the past 15 years!
Today Cuba / North Korea /& Iran are the last 3 on the list,and the easiest to convert next is Iran.
IMO,This is the plan..1) Give Iran the green light to have the Capability to create Nuclear-Power.
2) Wait a year or two & then send a "Stuffed shirt" from the UN to make sure that Iran are not making Nuclear Weapons.
3) The UN then claims that Iran have "the capability to create Nuclear weapons,& are thought to be doing so"
4) The UN Insists that they search all of Iran's Bases for proof of this..Iran refuses,and so the US declares War on them.

 

[DardiM]

It has long since been the policy of many Governments to subcontract their "Dirty Work" to a 3rd-Party organisation,as it makes it easier do deny knowledge or culpability for its actions..
..It is an open-secret that many Governments hire the services of 3rd-party military contractors,and t3rrori5t organisations to be their boots on the ground overseas..
The existence of the "Equation Group" helps to prevent a repeat of the fallout following the Snowden revelations..
I am very anti the despicable actions of the NSA & GCHQ as I feel that they erode more civil-liberties than they protect..
We already know of various NSA programs such as:
PRISM: The NSAs internet data mining program which began in 2007 to gather information such as Search History,e-mails,live chats,videos,& photos,from companies including Microsoft,Yahoo,& Google.
SQUEAKY DOLPHIN: In 2012,the GCHQ demonstrated this pilot program to the NSA ,in which they could monitor YouTube in real-time & collect user data,as well as monitoring Facebook,& Twitter.
DISHFIRE: The NSA Program that collects almost 200 Million Text Messages a day from around the World.Messages are used to extract location data & Credit Card details.GCHQ also has access to this data.
SMURF / WARRIOR PRIDE: The joint GCHQ & NSA Spyware installed on Android & iPhones.Subfunctions are;
Tracker-Smurf: To get Geo-location
Nosey-Smurf: Switches Mic on
Dreamy-Smurf: Switches device on.
WELLSPRING: An NSA Facial Recognition Program that extracts images from emails and other electronic communication.
and many more....

@Tony Cole makes a good point about Iran..
The Foreign policy of certain Countries, that I will not name, is guided by those who "sit above" the Governments, and the policy is..
If One can control a Country's Bank, then One can control a Country's Debt...
..and If One can control a Country's Debt, then One can control the Country.

In the year of 2000 there were seven countries without a Rothschild owned Central Bank:
Afghanistan / Iraq / Sudan / Libya / Cuba / North Korea / Iran
I wonder if you can spot a few names within those Countries that certain other Countries have "liberated" within the past 15 years!
Today Cuba / North Korea /& Iran are the last 3 on the list,and the easiest to convert next is Iran.
IMO,This is the plan..1) Give Iran the green light to have the Capability to create Nuclear-Power.
2) Wait a year or two & then send a "Stuffed shirt" from the UN to make sure that Iran are not making Nuclear Weapons.
3) The UN then claims that Iran have "the capability to create Nuclear weapons,& are thought to be doing so"
4) The UN Insists that they search all of Iran's Bases for proof of this..Iran refuses,and so the US declares War on them.

Very interesting analysis

 

[_CyberGhosT_]

Very interesting analysis

He's basing it off of the US's past actions, so he may not be far off the mark.
Kind of scary isn't it.

 

[DardiM]

He's basing it off of the US's past actions, so he may not be far off the mark.
Kind of scary isn't it.

The Iraq war concerned the France too, I well remember all the steps

 

[Tony Cole]

The problem is - the world (ISIS, Boko Haram, Al-Qaeda etc.,) are now so dangerous, the Paris, Germany attacks show these tools are essential in stopping further disgusting attacks on freedom. The main issue is Edward Snowden, he has highlighted HIS opinion(s), but we have NO prove he is 100% telling the truth, I'd rather they continue protecting US, than have further blood on the streets. I still say there will be another 9/11, I wonder what Snowden will say then??? Plus Kaspersky is Russian, can we really trust them on their analysis of the Equation Group?

 

[NekoHr]

What does Snowden have to do with someone taking truck and driving it through bunch of people? Methods of attack have changed a lot (and are changing) so there are more lone attackers so don't need so much communication.

More interesting is if you check reports after every attack governments are reporting that suspects were known to them before. So something else went wrong not detection.

 

[Aleeyen]

Governments don't want to wipe out terrorism altogether. If terrorism is gone a lot of government organisations will loose significant amount of budget. And a big part from the budgets of these organisations actually end up in he pockets of a few people.

 

[simbelmayne]

.....one question...: these weird ransomware hackers (and also The Shadow Brokers) always want bitcoins...
Is there a risk that this transactions (bitcoins, real money) will be (can be ?) traced to the real persons?
I think this weird sum of $568 Million can be traced by NSA... so it's completly usesless.... i think...
Using bitcoin transactions or real money transactions should be a huge risk ......?

They can trace the transaction if they want, but they can't trace the person who'll receive this transaction. Bitcoin service doesn't require any personal data, so when they will track few hundreds (or thousands) of transactions they will catch the cold chair, covered with dust and spiderweb.

 

[Solarquest]

Security experts: Much to learn from NSA leak

 

[Tony Cole]

Having the ability to spy/surveillance etc., can, and does stop terrorist attacks - people who have gone on to carry out loan wolf attacks go through processes before-hand, which has been identified by MI5, so these networks require extensive monitoring. Snowden has shown these lovely people how to avoid spying by Governments, and that puts the world at risk.

 

[Logethica]

Having the ability to spy/surveillance etc., can, and does stop terrorist attacks - people who have gone on to carry out loan wolf attacks go through processes before-hand, which has been identified by MI5, so these networks require extensive monitoring. Snowden has shown these lovely people how to avoid spying by Governments, and that puts the world at risk.

I completely disagree @Tony Cole...
The mass surveillance by NSA/GCHQ does not stop terrorist attacks!!!

"The nonprofit think tank New America Foundation published a report today after investigating the 227 Al Qaeda-affiliated people or groups that have been charged for committing an act of terrorism in the US since 9/11. It found just 17 of the cases were credited to NSA surveillance, and just one conviction came out of the government's extra-controversial practice of spying on its own citizens. And that charge, against San Diego cab driver Basaaly Moalin, was for sending money to a terrorist group in Somalia. There was no threat of an actual attack."
SOURCE: motherboard.vice.com (ARTICLE DATE: 13th Jan 2014)

In many cases the Terrorist groups were created,trained,and funded by Governments,and made use of whenever those Governments deemed necessary...whether that be for "unofficial" military action overseas,or as fuel for the erosion of freedom/constitution, by using scare tactics to introduce legislation like "The Patriot Act".
Hillary Clinton admits that the US created,trained,and funded Al Qaeda in order to thwart the Russians in Afghanistan in the late 1970s- early 1980s -youtube.com/watch?v=PJLR1LhxiN0

AS for MI5/MI6...
David Shayler is a former MI5 (British Security Service) officer who was prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act after passing documents to the Mail on Sunday newspaper in August 1997...
He revealed that MI6 had been involved in a failed assassination attack on Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi in February 1996 without the permission of the then foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind (required under British and international law). The plot involved paying the Libyan opposition group LIFG with supporters in London and links to Al-Qaeda 100,000 to carry out the attack.

Snowden showed how Immoral the NSA and GCHQ are...
And if there are any genuine terrorist threats out there,then they are most likely the creation of the same Governments who also fund the NSA & GCHQ!!

 

[ForgottenSeer 19494]

May be it's Trump to get more money for his campaign - Kaspersky investigated the Equation Group, but never stated who, or whom they were; but they no. It's just NOT politically correct to put a few cats among the pigeons. We now live in a very scary world, but the NSA and MI5 should have the full backing of the federal or UK Governments to ensure our safety, especially with the constant terror attacks. I would rather that, than see innocent people slaughtered.

Fully support this! I truly believe that there should be a joint intelligence agency for the whole European Union stationed in Brussels that should be like it's USA counterparts. And that it should cooperate not only with the USA, but with any other major player on the scene lie Russia, China etc. This is necessary for the security of the humanity. Because today people become crazy.

 

[Deleted member 178]

" that humanity could not be trusted with its own freedom. What we did not realize was that if you tried to take that freedom, they resist. The war taught us much. Humanity needed to surrender its freedom willingly. "
"... a world so chaotic that humanity is finally ready to sacrifice its freedom to gain its security."