If you use no protection, you know you're vulnerable and be very careful what you say. If you are using a protection system that you think is secure but really is vulnerable you might say things you wouldn't say in the open.
The issue isn't that he revealed we are doing it, it's that he revealed information that might indicate how we did it.
Also, of course the Germans expect to the subject of collection. If they're doing their job they would have used protected Merkel's phones and so might have thought that they were.
The Germans have a two-War record of assuming their leaking communications were secure. (Lucky for us.)
It's hard to determine exactly what damage Edward Snowden has done to the National Security, but I'd say it's substantial. I don't mean phone and email taps, I mean when he talked about how we were collecting signals intelligence from foreign countries and their leaders.
History clearly shows the dangers. It's arguable that we would have lost World War II if the Poles hadn't broken the German Enigma cipher machine. The Germans were losing, and they knew something was wrong, but they were convinced that Enigma was secure. If someone like Edward Snowden had made that information public we might have lost the war.
That's not the only case. The US won the Battle of Midway because the Japanese didn't know that we had broken their operational code. The in World War I British won the Battle of Jutland because the Royal Navy had broken the High Seas Fleet's codes.
I believe that some of the things Snowden has revealed will make it harder for us to get the advantage that signals intelligence gave to the people who preceded us. His revelation about collection on foreign leaders is one example. The damage he caused may be much wider than we think and may last much longer than we fear. Targets will not just fix the systems Snowden has identified, they'll also check others he hasn't. And they may keep doing it for years.
Collecting on foreign systems is important because it gives us a window into their interests and actions. Of course we should collect on Angela Merkel. Germany has different interests are different from ours. She's taken a different position on Ukraine and we'll do better if we know the details of what it is. There are other examples.
Please be clear; I'm not defending bulk collection of US phone calls and email. That's wrong and I'm glad Snowden told us. I'm talking only about what he's said about collecting on foreign targets.
It's how to understand the damage that Snowden did without having some of the history. I suggest "The Ultra Secret," "We Slept at Dawn," "The Codebreakers," and "Seizing the Enigma." There are some good websites on the Enigma: "http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/military/how-enigma-works.html," "http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/enigma_01.shtml," "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hb44bGY2KdU," "http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/wwii/atlantic/enigma.aspx." There are some good sites on how codebreaking won the Battle of Midway: "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Midway," "http://www.navy.mil/midway/how.html"
Thanks for taking time to read my post.
Techdirt has not posted any stories submitted by Peter.
Re: Re: Re: Re:
Re: Re: Re: Snowden and National Security
Also, of course the Germans expect to the subject of collection. If they're doing their job they would have used protected Merkel's phones and so might have thought that they were.
The Germans have a two-War record of assuming their leaking communications were secure. (Lucky for us.)
Re: Snowden and National Security
History clearly shows the dangers. It's arguable that we would have lost World War II if the Poles hadn't broken the German Enigma cipher machine. The Germans were losing, and they knew something was wrong, but they were convinced that Enigma was secure. If someone like Edward Snowden had made that information public we might have lost the war.
That's not the only case. The US won the Battle of Midway because the Japanese didn't know that we had broken their operational code. The in World War I British won the Battle of Jutland because the Royal Navy had broken the High Seas Fleet's codes.
I believe that some of the things Snowden has revealed will make it harder for us to get the advantage that signals intelligence gave to the people who preceded us. His revelation about collection on foreign leaders is one example. The damage he caused may be much wider than we think and may last much longer than we fear. Targets will not just fix the systems Snowden has identified, they'll also check others he hasn't. And they may keep doing it for years.
Collecting on foreign systems is important because it gives us a window into their interests and actions. Of course we should collect on Angela Merkel. Germany has different interests are different from ours. She's taken a different position on Ukraine and we'll do better if we know the details of what it is. There are other examples.
Please be clear; I'm not defending bulk collection of US phone calls and email. That's wrong and I'm glad Snowden told us. I'm talking only about what he's said about collecting on foreign targets.
It's how to understand the damage that Snowden did without having some of the history. I suggest "The Ultra Secret," "We Slept at Dawn," "The Codebreakers," and "Seizing the Enigma." There are some good websites on the Enigma: "http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/military/how-enigma-works.html," "http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/enigma_01.shtml," "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hb44bGY2KdU," "http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/wwii/atlantic/enigma.aspx." There are some good sites on how codebreaking won the Battle of Midway: "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Midway," "http://www.navy.mil/midway/how.html"
Thanks for taking time to read my post.
Techdirt has not posted any stories submitted by Peter.
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