Defense Department Blocks All Web Access To The Guardian In Response To NSA Leaks
from the head-in-sand dept
Once again, the US government appears to be taking an incredible head-in-sand approach to the various leaks about NSA surveillance. The latest is that the Defense Department is now telling everyone in the DoD to block access to The Guardian's website, which was seen very clearly after it was discovered that the US army is blocking access to the Guardian's website from all Army computers. This is not only petty and stupid, but useless. First of all, while the Guardian has been breaking much of the news about the leaks, it's all picked up quickly elsewhere and discussed widely. Pretending that blocking the Guardian has any impact is just pure cluelessness in action. Second, just because the Guardian has broken some news stories, it doesn't mean it makes sense to block the entire site. That is only going to pique more interest from folks in the Army and the wider Defense Department who are now going to be curious why the government is banning access to one of the biggest newspaper websites in the world. The whole thing smacks of stupid desperation: it doesn't stop the leaks from happening, it doesn't stop anyone in the army from finding out about the leaks, it just seems petty and designed to alert more people that the Guardian is the source to follow on these leaks.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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Filed Under: army, blocks, defense department, filters, leaks, nsa, nsa surveillance, the guardian, web access
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They've learned long ago to use proxy servers and VPNs, to bypass the already ludicrous bans the military imposes on its network.
The funniest thing about all this: most of the systems compromised aren't even on their network.
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It's amusing and amazing how they manage to make the situation worse every time they take any action. A political scientist once told me that there's an older, generally rotten generation holding the power right now that doesn't grasp the Intertubes and the new social organization. And that this would hasten their downfall.
Here's hoping they fall fast and painfully.
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So is
I guess with her vast knowledge of Military Intelligence this only makes sense.
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It's kind of like trying to talk about copyright infringement at a reasonable and rational level with the MPAA.
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This accomplishes... what?
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So whats the use?
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But blocking the Guardian doesn't accomplish that.
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How's that working out for ya?
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It's getting old, Mike
It might smack of stupid desperation of the PURPOSE of the block was to;
a) stop leaks
b) stop anyone in the army from finding out about the leaks
The reality of the situation is the point of the block is to keep classified documents off unclassified government systems. This is akin to a credit card company accidentally publishing a massive list of CC #'s, discovering the leak and then just leaving the information up because "it's public anyway" or leaving those files on their servers in plain text because "the accounts were cancelled anyway". When the automated systems, internal auditors, or external auditing partners look at those systems and find the dumps of plain text CC #'s it causes compliance issues. It's unrealistic to expect the auditors in these situations to have to then go search to find out if each occurrence of unencrypted CC #'s is "legitimate" because they are invalid or had already been made public.
I know it's really easy to make an assumption as to why certain directives are made. It's easy to take it down the worst path possible if you so choose. But doing either of the above is only useful if you're trying to push an agenda and not actually a fair assessment of what's going on and why some of these decisions are made.
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Re: It's getting old, Mike
But why just block Guardian? If there is such a huge security risk they should unplug all of their servers and throw them into a dark empty warehouse where there is no possibility of any information being accessed by anyone.
The military could go back to using typewriters. That would make everything secure. With no access to anything on an electronic network there would never be any possibility that leaks could occur (right?!?)
Sorry. I have to go with Mike on this one.
The military head is stuck deep in the sand.
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Re: Re: It's getting old, Mike
Visiting these sites that contain classified information from unclassified machines isn't a security risk in the traditional sense. Making the assumption that the point of these blocks is to "stop military personnel from reading the truth" or that it somehow is done in an effort to increase logical security is where the whole thing breaks down.
If you are WILLFULLY choosing to believe that the purpose of the block is for reasons other than what they really are; there's not much point in discussion. If you take the time to understand WHY blocks like this are put into place it makes a lot more sense.
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Re: Re: Re: It's getting old, Mike
Just blocking complete websites, when 99% of the content is all fine and dandy seems like a bad idea.
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Re: It's getting old, Mike
a) stop leaks
b) stop anyone in the army from finding out about the leaks
And yet it fails at both of those. And fails badly, making the DoD look pretty stupid in the process. I prefer to think that the military that defends me has a reality-based approach to things, not one that requires them to stick their head in the sand and make pretend whenever something like this happens.
The reality of the situation is the point of the block is to keep classified documents off unclassified government systems
I understand that. I'm saying that *makes no sense* because it makes no sense to claim that those documents are still classified once *EVERYONE* in the public has them.
This is akin to a credit card company accidentally publishing a massive list of CC #'s, discovering the leak and then just leaving the information up because "it's public anyway" or leaving those files on their servers in plain text because "the accounts were cancelled anyway".
No, it's not like that at all. Because that's a situation where we're talking about information directly on servers they control. But blocking access to entire websites? That's like saying that if you work for Visa, you can't visit the NY Times if they reported on the leak of those credit cards.
It's unrealistic to expect the auditors in these situations to have to then go search to find out if each occurrence of unencrypted CC #'s is "legitimate" because they are invalid or had already been made public.
No, but it IS realistic to say that (a) this particular information is no longer secret and (b) blocking access to an entire news website is moronic and makes us look petty.
I know it's really easy to make an assumption as to why certain directives are made. It's easy to take it down the worst path possible if you so choose. But doing either of the above is only useful if you're trying to push an agenda and not actually a fair assessment of what's going on and why some of these decisions are made.
I've heard this excuse before, as you know, and it still makes no sense to me. Sorry, no one has given a good reason for why blocking access to a news website here makes any sense at all.
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Re: Re: It's getting old, Mike
Who's responsibility is it to scour the Internet, world newspapers, TV broadcasts, etc. to try and identify what "Classified" information has been leaked?
What would the process be for taking marked classified documents on an unclassified system and identifying them as the specific documents that were leaked and suddenly should now lose their classification status?
How do you teach automated systems that look for classified data on unclassified systems how to determine if a particular document is still classified or not?
For me; it seems like the same argument that you make about Youtube trying to decide if a piece of content is infringing or not. You're asking me to spend all my time trying to research any classified documents I find to determine if they've been leaked and are now unclassified? That's an INSANE undertaking that would cost considerable amounts of taxpayer dollars to achieve.
I don't agree that an entire SITE should be blocked. I think that move is a bit lazy, but I don't agree that blocking access to classified content from unclassified government systems is a bad thing. The last thing I need to be doing on a daily basis is chasing my tail trying to figure out what's been leaked and what isn't. I have more productive ways of spending my time.
There's no "make pretend" going on here. It's simply maintaining compliance until such time that classified documents are unclassified by their originators.
The credit card analogy got twisted a bit. My point is that said unencrypted card data SHOULD NOT BE ON CC PROCESSING SYSTEMS because that creates an enormous amount of work for those who have the job of keeping said data secure. The said goes for classified data on UNCLASSIFIED systems. Blocking the URL that contains the content (in this case, the entire site) PREVENTS that content from being copied to a government system; wherein the issues of data classification arise. In both cases; the issue is with the protected data being on unprotected systems.
You can hear the excuse as much as you want; and it won't make sense to you until you CHOOSE to understand why the directives exist in the first place.
I saw a video a couple weeks ago about a study in pedestrian traffic management. The study (with testing) showed that putting something like a bollard in FRONT of a doorway actually makes the traffic flow in/out of said doorway far more efficient because it reduces the bunching that occurs when multiple people try to squeeze through simultaneously. Now, if someone who didn't see this video saw a bollard in front of a doorway; they would likely jump to the conclusion that it's completely idiotic to do as it will impede foot traffic. The key they are missing is the understanding of why it was put there in the first place.
Look, I love this site and really agree and enjoy about 99% of what you write here. It's good stuff and in many all cases it's well researched and understood. But I'm not a sheep; I go do my own research and try and understand BOTH perspectives of any given issue. I think it would be beneficial if you did the same with this instance. Reach out and try and understand the details behind the WHY. Don't just fabricate your own intent (to stop the Army from reading the TRUTH) and run with it to make everyone else look like idiots.
Information is powerful.
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Re: Re: Re: It's getting old, Mike
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Posting AC for a bit of safety [ha]
It sure looks like the higher ups did a good job of pulling the wool over his eyes! Not to mention that the majority of people who make a military base operational are now contractors and don't have to play by the same rules as the enlisted folks.
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for j in (list of Guardian articles)
send $j to $i
end
end
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Its necessary for them to do...
It doesn't matter if copies of the document are on the front page of every newspaper in the country, scattered across a hundred flyers, and sent a thousand times to every general, colonel, and corporal in the army, its still classified.
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Re: Its necessary for them to do...
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Re: Re: Its necessary for them to do...
If I need to wipe a machine to remove classified data, it takes a whopping 13 minutes to go from a machine containing spillage to a completely reimaged workstation ready for the user to log back in. And it's not a one at a time deal either; we can do dozens upon dozens simultaneously with no issues.
That aside; Nicholas didn't say that the Army was going to be "wholesale wiping all their computers", you did. Just more manufactured outrage.
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BTW, I'm not outraged, just depressed. Much like most of your workers I would assume.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Its necessary for them to do...
The reality is that users are still using Windows 7 desktops and applications. It's just that the imaging process, and software install processes can be largely automated and made very efficient. All the base applications used by pretty much everyone are part of the image, other specific applications might be delivered as ThinApp packages and/or directly installed for that unique user as part of the imaging process.
In terms of wiping classified data off unclassified machines; the process can vary depending on what it is, where it is, and how sensitive it is. But yes; it can be a pain and rather depressing at times. That's why there's such a focus on keeping classified data off unclassified machines, PERIOD.
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Re: Its necessary for them to do...
Which is a knee jerk reaction that misses the real problem, how did it get off of a classified computer. It presence on an unclassified computer would indicate at least on more copy on removable media, and that is the one to worry about.
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Jesus Christ...the stupid! It hurts my head!
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scared yet?
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It's only recently that people around me realized that my hat WASN'T made of tinfoil (it was actually a leftover copper pot).
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WHOM are the real nazis now
whose a fucking nazi nation now eh?
us stories on guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/28/general-cartwright-investigated-stuxnet-leak
http://www .guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/27/ecuador-us-trade-pact-edward-snowden
http://www.guardian.co.uk/wo rld/2013/jun/27/nsa-data-mining-authorised-obama
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/jun/28/m icrosoft-google-fisa-united-states-government
in case us soldiers cant see them we need to do a mirror site of there news
like call it SNOWGUARDIAN.com or some crap....
oh and here comes a news worthy story soon http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/jun/27/turkish-government-heads-twitter-showdown
http://w ww.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/jun/26/commerce-department-economic-recovery-gdp
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2006 DRM leak to pirates
the fact that oracle and sun were using a shoe company as a front for all this work for 30 companies never dawned on anyone....they are all evil people every fucking last american company....
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Worse than China
Not the Defense department's finest hour.
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Incompetence and ignorance
Probably some top ranking General, with a very limited understanding of (social)media and the internet as a whole had a wild hair up his butt.
There is no such thing as a media blackout anymore, not unless they take the entire internet offline and ISP's start blocking sites.
It's not really anything new that the top brass is doing. Incompetence or self-perpetuated ignorance like this is usually only an act of "show of force or power" that serves absolutely no one, except the brass' (false) sense of security.
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It's amusing to watch you say this stuff, Mike, since you hide your head in the sand and ignore the things you don't like more so than most.
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read this for a slightly clearer picture
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Everyone else: uhhhhhhh
Seriously the US is just proving with every action that they are in tremendous trouble. But screw it right, if your going to go down do it in style! 'Murica!
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It's not just DoD
I agree that this seems stupid, but it sort-of explains the legal-think behind the policy.
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This.
This is just retarded on so many levels, I can't even understand how they can do this with a straight face.
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la la la
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Devil's Advocate Question...
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