Communications of the ACM

sequences, even though it has virtually unlimited resources and access—if it wants it—to the best computer-security experts in the country.

Most of the good security practices covered here were discussed in the author’s Real World Linux Security first published in 2000.29 The most important of these security practices also were discussed in this author’s article, “The Seven Deadly Sins of Linux Security,” published in the May/June 2007 issue of ACM Queue.

I am honored there are autographed copies of my book in the NSA’s headquarters. The vast majority of NSA employees and contractors are eminently talented law-abiding dedicated patriots. It is unfortunate that a tiny percentage no doubt ignored warnings that these security problems desperately needed fixing to avoid a serious breach.

More Encryption Is Not the Solution

Poul-Henning Kamp

http://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=2508864

Four Billion Little Brothers?: Privacy, mobile phones, and ubiquitous data collection

Katie Shilton

http://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=1597790

References

1. Allen, J. NSA to cut system administrators by 90

percent to limit data access. Reuters. Aug. 9, 2013; http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/09/us-usa- security-nsa-leaks-idUSBRE97801020130809.

2. Block, M. Snowden’s document leaks shocked the NSA, and more may be on the way. National Public Radio. Dec. 17, 2013; http://www.npr.org/templates/ story/ story.php?storyId=252006951.

3. Brosnahan, J. and West, T. Brief of Amicus Curiae Mark Klein. May 4, 2006; https://www.eff.org/files/ filenode/att/kleinamicus.pdf.

4. Chimel v. California, 395 U.S. 752, 761 (1969).

5. Cohn, C. and Higgins, P. Rating Obama’s NSA reform plan: EFF scorecard explained. Electronic Frontier Foundation, Jan. 17, 2014; https://www.eff.org/ deeplinks/2014/01/rating-obamas-nsa-reform-plan- eff-scorecard-explained.

6. Coke’s Reports 91a, 77 Eng. Rep. 194 (K. B. 1604).

7. Davidson, A. Judge Pauley to the N. S.A.: Go Big. The New Yorker. Dec. 28, 2013; http://www.newyorker. com/online/blogs/closeread/2013/12/judge-pauley-to- the-nsa-go-big.html.

8. Davidson, J. NSA to cut 90 percent of systems administrators. Washington Post. Aug. 13, 2013; http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/ wp/2013/08/13/nsa-to-cut-90-percent-of-systems- administrators/.

9. Defense Logistics Agency. Critical nuclear weapon design information access certificate; http://www.dla. mil/dss/forms/fillables/DL1710.pdf.

10. Department of Defense Trusted Computer System
Evaluation Criteria, a.k.a., Orange Book 1985; http://
csrc.nist.gov/publications/history/dod85.pdf.

11. Dilanian, K. Officials: Edward Snowden took NSA secrets on thumb drive. Los Angeles Times. June 13, 2013; http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jun/13/news/ la-pn-snowden-nsa-secrets-thumb-drive-20130613.

12. Electronic Frontier Foundation ( eff.org). NSA spying video, includes comments from many well-known respected people and reminders of past violations; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGmiw_rrNxk.

13. Esposito, R. Snowden impersonated NSA officials, sources say. NBC News. Aug. 28,

2013; http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_ news/2013/08/28/20234171-snowden-impersonated- nsa-officials-sources-say?lite.

14. Everett, B. and Min Kim, S. Lawmakers praise, pan President Obama’s NSA plan. Politico. Jan. 17, 2014; http://www.politico.com/story/2014/01/rand-paul- response-nsa-speech-102319.html.

15. GNU Privacy Guard; http://www.gnupg.org.

16. Howell’s State Trials 1029, 95 Eng. 807 (1705).

17. Klein, M. and Bamford, J. Wiring Up the Big Brother Machine...and Fighting It. Booksurge Publishing, 2009.

18. Legal Information Institute, Cornell University Law School. Fourth Amendment: an overview; http://www. law.cornell.edu/wex/fourth_amendment.

19. Miller, J. CBS News “ 60 Minutes.” Dec. 15, 2013;

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/nsa-speaks-out-on-snowden-spying/.

20. Lemos, R. Security guru: Let’s secure the Net. ZDnet,

2002; http://www.zdnet.com/news/security-guru-lets- secure-the-net/120859.

21. Mears, B. and Perez, E. Judge: NSA domestic phone data-mining unconstitutional. CNN. Dec. 17, 2013; http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/16/justice/nsa- surveillance-court-ruling/.

22. Nakashima, E. A story of surveillance. Washington Post. Nov 7, 2007; http://www.washingtonpost. com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/07/ AR2007110700006.html.

23. Napolitano, A.P. A presidential placebo – Obama’s massive NSA spying program still alive and well.

Fox News. Jan. 23, 2014; http://www.foxnews.com/ opinion/2014/01/23/presidential-placebo-obama- massive-nsa-spying-program-still-alive-and-well/.

24. Presidential Executive Order 13526 12/29/2009; http:// www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/executive-order-classified-national-security-information.

25. Rosenbach, M. Prism exposed: Data surveillance with global implications. Spiegel Online International.

June 10, 2013: 2; http://www.spiegel.de/international/ world/prism-leak-inside-the-controversial-us-data- surveillance-program-a-904761.html.

26. Schwartz, M. Thumb drive security: Snowden 1, NSA

0. Information Week. June 14, 2013; http://www. informationweek.com/infrastructure/storage/thumb- drive-security-snowden-1-nsa-0/d/d-id/1110380.

27. Shiffman, J., Cooke, K. Exclusive: U.S. directs agents to cover up program used to investigate Americans. Reuters. Aug. 05, 2013; http://www. reuters.com/article/2013/08/05/us-dea-sod- idUSBRE97409R20130805.

28. Smith, C. BGR. Jan. 23, 2014; http://news.yahoo.com/ watchdog-says-nsa-phone-spying-program-illegal- end-130014396.html.

29. Toxen, B. Real-world Linux Security: Intrusion Detection, Prevention, and Recovery. 2nd Edition.

Prentice Hall, 2002.

30. U. S. Courts. What does the Fourth Amendment mean?; http://www.uscourts.gov/educational-resources/get-involved/constitution-activities/fourth-amendment/ fourth-amendment-mean.aspx.

31. U. S. Government Printing Office. Fourth Amendment;

http://beta.congress.gov/content/conan/pdf/GPO- CONAN-2013-10-5.pdf.

32. Washington Post. Transcript of President Obama’s Jan. 17 speech on NSA reforms, 2014; http://www. washingtonpost.com/politics/full-text-of-president- obamas-jan-17-speech-on-nsa-reforms/2014/01/17/ fa33590a-7f8c-11e3-9556-4a4bf7bcbd84_story.html.

33. Wikipedia. Public-key cryptography; http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public-key_cryptography

34. Wikipedia. Edward Snowden; http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Edward_Snowden#NSA_rulings_in_federal_court.

Bob Toxen ( bob@VerySecureLinux.com) is chief technical officer at Horizon Network Security, which specializes in Linux and network security. He was one of the developers of Berkeley Unix.

Copyright held by Owner/Author. Publications rights licensed to ACM. $15.00

like it if the NSA listened to that conversation and provided the local police with his daughter’s location using the phone’s GPS and a transcript of that private phone conversation, and the police then arrested his daughter for underage drinking? Josh got real unhappy at this point. Are you trying to keep your sexual orientation or interests private? How about your religious beliefs or even whom you voted for in the Presidential election? What about that stock tip or patent idea? Is it the government’s business to know whom you are telephoning?

Yes, the NSA really is listening to your domestic phone calls and reading your email in addition to obtaining your private information on the people you telephone. 3, 12, 17, 22

Reuters reported on August 5,

2013, that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) admitted to covering up the use of information illegally obtained from the NSA and falsifying the source of evidence. This included information obtained by the NSA from intelligence intercepts, wiretaps, informants, and a massive database of telephone records, all without benefit of a proper warrant or probable cause. The DEA then gave this information to authorities across the nation to help them launch criminal investigations of Americans. 27 Clearly this is exactly what the Fourth Amendment was intended to prevent. Is it the government’s place to be doing this?

Judge Andrew P. Napolitano, the youngest person ever to serve on the New Jersey Superior Court, called President Obama’s promised NSA reforms, announced January

17, 2014, a presidential placebo. 23, 32

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) rated the President’s reforms

3. 5 out of 12. 5 (The EFF is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting for people’s rights in the electronic world and is, perhaps, the most active organization to fight in the courts and elsewhere against the NSA’s spying on Americans.) Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY.) argued that Obama’s suggested changes will amount to “the same unconstitutional program with a new configuration.” 14 Many of these actions by the NSA were started under the second Bush Administration following 9/11. Is the NSA’s spying on all Americans an unconstitutional and illegal violation of the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment? Given the 400 years of history we have examined, this author can see only one conclusion.