Snowden: Hack of an NSA server is not unprecedented, publication of the take is
His complete post (just in case) original 4:40 AM - 16 Aug 2016 from @Snowden:<p>The hack of an NSA malware staging server is not unprecedented, but the publication of the take is. Here&#x27;s what you need to know: (1&#x2F;x)<p>1) NSA traces and targets malware C2 servers in a practice called Counter Computer Network Exploitation, or CCNE. So do our rivals.<p>2) NSA is often lurking undetected for years on the C2 and ORBs (proxy hops) of state hackers. This is how we follow their operations.<p>3) This is how we steal their rivals&#x27; hacking tools and reverse-engineer them to create &quot;fingerprints&quot; to help us detect them in the future.<p>4) Here&#x27;s where it gets interesting: the NSA is not made of magic. Our rivals do the same thing to us -- and occasionally succeed.<p>5) Knowing this, NSA&#x27;s hackers (TAO) are told not to leave their hack tools (&quot;binaries&quot;) on the server after an op. But people get lazy.<p>6) What&#x27;s new? NSA malware staging servers getting hacked by a rival is not new. A rival publicly demonstrating they have done so is.<p>7) Why did they do it? No one knows, but I suspect this is more diplomacy than intelligence, related to the escalation around the DNC hack.<p>8) Circumstantial evidence and conventional wisdom indicates Russian responsibility. Here&#x27;s why that is significant:<p>9) This leak is likely a warning that someone can prove US responsibility for any attacks that originated from this malware server.<p>10) That could have significant foreign policy consequences. Particularly if any of those operations targeted US allies.<p>11) Particularly if any of those operations targeted elections.<p>12) Accordingly, this may be an effort to influence the calculus of decision-makers wondering how sharply to respond to the DNC hacks.<p>13) TL;DR: This leak looks like a somebody sending a message that an escalation in the attribution game could get messy fast.<p>Bonus: When I came forward, NSA would have migrated offensive operations to new servers as a precaution - it&#x27;s cheap and easy. So? So...<p>The undetected hacker squatting on this NSA server lost access in June 2013. Rare public data point on the positive results of the leak.<p>You&#x27;re welcome, @NSAGov. Lots of love.