Researcher Wins NSA Cybersecurity Award; Uses Opportunity To Bash The NSA

from the good-for-him dept

Mon, Jul 29th 2013 8:45am — Mike Masnick

A bunch of folks have sent over this story of Joseph Bonneau, an engineer from Google, who happened to win the NSA's award for "Best Scientific Cybersecurity Paper" for 2012, for his paper on The Science of Guessing: Analyzing an Anonymized Corpus of 70 Million Passwords. In response, Bonneau took to his blog to first thank those who helped with the research... and then to explain why mass surveillance is bad and why the NSA should go away:

Like many in the community of cryptographers and security engineers, I’m sad that we haven’t better informed the public about the inherent dangers and questionable utility of mass surveillance. And like many American citizens I’m ashamed we’ve let our politicians sneak the country down this path.

In accepting the award I don’t condone the NSA’s surveillance. Simply put, I don’t think a free society is compatible with an organisation like the NSA in its current form.

When even the people the NSA is handing out awards to are publicly speaking out against the NSA's practices, perhaps it's time for the NSA to change?

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Filed Under: awards, cybersecurity, joseph bonneau, nsa, nsa surveillance, security
Companies: google

16 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 29 Jul 2013 @ 8:56am

'perhaps it's time for the NSA to change?'

yes it most definitely is, but we all know it wont! all it will do is cover it's arse a bit better and start keeping it's workforce under even closer scrutiny!!
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- ChurchHatesTucker (profile), 29 Jul 2013 @ 10:47am
  
  Re:
  They'll certainly change the type of people they give awards to.
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The dude, 29 Jul 2013 @ 9:03am

Off-topic
A little bit off-topic but i am getting an "this connection is untrusted" from firefox and qupzilla for techdirt.com
Is something happening?
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- The dude, 29 Jul 2013 @ 9:30am
  
  Re: Off-topic
  Nevermind, works again now
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This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it

out_of_the_blue, 29 Jul 2013 @ 9:14am

Oh, but GOOGLE is GOOD!
Perhaps this guy will wake up to his actual part helping build the surveillance state.

HA! -- NO, he won't! this is just more PR positioning Google as somehow against the surveillance state. Pffft!
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- AC Unknown (profile), 29 Jul 2013 @ 10:01am
  
  Re: Oh, but GOOGLE is GOOD!
  Get off of your Google-bashing cloud and shut up.
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vastrightwing, 29 Jul 2013 @ 9:14am

A case for dismantling the NSA.
If the NSA is designed for intelligence, It's time to retire it. The case is that by not having the NSA, we can now make our enemies more paranoid then ever before. By not spying on anyone, every time we are not caught spying will only serve to make our enemies more paranoid that we are spying on them and simply not being caught doing it. Because we've been so invasive before, our enemies will think we are ever more stealth full and they will spend billions of dollars trying to uncover acts we are simply not doing.

Sure laugh, but this tactic has been used before. It's safe, within the law and effective. We can still claim we are not spying and be truthful. After all, with all the lying that's been going on, no one would know the truth if it hit them in the head anyway. And with the economy we have today, this makes perfect sense. (unless of course, the NSA was really designed for us citizens).

What do we have to loose?
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DannyB (profile), 29 Jul 2013 @ 9:32am

People need to fear speaking badly of the NSA
In cold war police states and in dictatorships, people knew better than to openly speak out.

George Orwell's novel "1984" took it further with the idea of "thoughtcrime".

The NSA needs to get on the ball here. If people can still openly criticize the NSA, then something needs to be done and they deserve the criticism they get.
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TasMot (profile), 29 Jul 2013 @ 9:37am

When even the people the NSA is handing out awards to are publicly speaking out against the NSA's practices, perhaps it's time for the NSA to change?

Nope, they just don't care. Can't you hear their thoughts "more data, more data, "MUST HAVE MORE DATA on those damned citizen/enemies".....
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- Anonymous Coward, 29 Jul 2013 @ 10:15am
  
  Re:
  Nope, they just don't care. Can't you hear their thoughts "more data, more data, "MUST HAVE MORE DATA on those damned citizen/enemies".....
  
  For some reason, I'm reminded of Ash from the movie Alien, who spent half the movie "collating data" before going nuts and attacking Ripley.
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Anonymous Coward, 29 Jul 2013 @ 9:38am

Have to say it seems his words might have carried more weight if he had said them in refusing their award rather than accepting it.

And this statement sounds as though perhaps he (and his friends/colleagues in his particular branch of the industry) could still do something about this if they so choose:
"Like many in the community of cryptographers and security engineers, I�m sad that we haven�t better informed the public about the inherent dangers and questionable utility of mass surveillance."
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- Anonymous Coward, 29 Jul 2013 @ 11:16am
  
  Re:
  The problem is the politicians and the military/surveillance contractors. Those industries are extremely powerful in USA http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130727/23184623970/its-all-about-money-house-reps-who-voted-to-ke ep-nsa-surveillance-received-two-times-as-much-money-defense-industry.shtml Politicians care about money for their reelection and since giving more money in that direction is likely to give a better grant to them, they have little interest in turning these people down. Also, private actors cooperating with NSA is a recipe for industrial espionage down the line...
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Paul, 29 Jul 2013 @ 9:41am

But what are those people we put out of work by dismantling the NSA supposed to do to earn a living and support their families?? Oh yeah, that's right, they will have to join the millions of common folk/citizens (who they recently called their enemy)and suffer the fruits of their labor. I'd like to be the first to welcome them to the same level of economic embarrassment their corrupt leaders (and elected officials) have left "We the People". Hell, just make pot legal to vacate half the prison cells then we can fill the cells with these lying, stealing, cheating usurpers of our Democracy. As a 100% Disabled and Decorated Vietnam Veteran I want my Constitution Back, I want my Privacy back. We all need to do anything & everything possible to bring down our current Tyrannical Regime and reinstall the Democracy we once had. I love my Country but Hate its' current Government.....
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Ninja (profile), 29 Jul 2013 @ 9:53am

Suddenly Mr Bonneau is seen sleeping in Moscow International Airport unable to travel. Who would have thought Moscow would host some American refugee camp?
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RyanNerd (profile), 29 Jul 2013 @ 10:25am

Thank you NSA for this award of a bronze statue
Now come closer and bend over so I can show you exactly where I think it should go...
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Anonymous Coward, 29 Jul 2013 @ 1:56pm

Hoist by their own petard, I wonder how the NSA will take this one?
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