Snowden: Exposure of alleged NSA tools may be warning to US

By RAPHAEL SATTER

 

PARIS (AP) — The exposure of malicious software purportedly linked to the National Security Agency is likely a message from Moscow, former intelligence worker Edward Snowden said Tuesday, adding a layer of intrigue to a leak that has set the information security world abuzz.

 

Technical experts have spent the past day or so picking apart a suite of tools allegedly stolen from the Equation Group , a powerful squad of hackers which some have tied to the NSA. The tools materialized as part of an internet electronic auction set up by a group calling itself "Shadow Brokers," which has promised to leak more data to whoever puts in a winning bid.

 

In a series of messages posted to Twitter , Snowden suggested the leak was the fruit of a Russian attack on an NSA-controlled server and could be aimed at heading off U.S. retaliation over allegations that the Kremlin is interfering in the U.S. electoral process.

 

"Circumstantial evidence and conventional wisdom indicates Russian responsibility," Snowden said. "This leak is likely a warning that someone can prove U.S. responsibility for any attacks that originated from this malware server. That could have significant foreign policy consequences. Particularly if any of those operations targeted U.S. allies. Particularly if any of those operations targeted elections."

 

Snowden didn't return messages seeking additional comment. The NSA didn't return emails seeking comment on his claim. Messages sent to an address registered by the Shadow Brokers were also not returned.

 

Allegations of Russian subversion have been hotly debated following the hack of the Democratic National Committee, an operation which Democratic politicians, security companies and several outside experts have blamed on the Kremlin. Russian officials have dismissed the claims as paranoid or ridiculous, so the message delivered by Snowden — who resides at an undisclosed location in Moscow under the protection of the Russian government — struck many as significant.

 

Academic Thomas Rid, whose book "Rise of the Machines" traces the earliest known Kremlin-linked computer hacking campaign in the U.S., said Snowden's declaration would likely be interpreted as "shrewd messaging" from Russian intelligence.

 

Matt Suiche, the founder of United Arab Emirates-based cybersecurity startup Comae Technologies, said he and others looking through the data were convinced it came from the NSA.

 

"There's zero debate so far," he said in a telephone interview.

 

-- © Associated Press 2016-08-17

It's interesting how Snowden turned out from being US Freedom fighter and system analyst by releasing NSA data to the public, to a political analyst, speaking what Moscow wish to say to the western world. 

 

This latest tweet purge came after there were speculations that he might not be alive anymore. The speculations started from Snowden's encrypted tweet, which was thought to be a 'dead man's switch'. Basically meaning that a key to release unlock key to already delivered encrypted files was automatically sent in case Snowden was unable to stop the sending. This is actually a 'still alive' system, which prevents the message to be sent. In case of death or imprisonment, the message is sent automatically.

After almost two weeks of silence, Snowden started to tweet again. First with humour, then this was on. Click the tweet to see the all the messages. 
 

There still is a possibility that Snowed was just a naive boy, who thought he was doing good for the mankind by releasing the NSA information. There is however the possibility that he was all along working for the Russians and finally got back home to Mother. 

It has been obvious that the Wikileaks Assange has always been working for the Russians. He was also the person who, together with Moscow, arranged Snowden's 'asylum' to the Russia.

Wether Snowden was aware of what Assange was representing, is still not know.  Then again, if Snowden was able to obtain top secret information, he would most likely to have been aware what Assange's connections are, before taking his offer to get an asylum?

In any case it's quite unlikely that the latest tweets were coming from a person who wants to protect the western world of living and freedom of speech. 

 

The Tweet, which was deleted minutes after, was a 64 character code and is now being interpreted as a ‘dead-man’s switch’ which could mean he is either dead or missing.

 

[Developing Story] Brian Michael – Get Off The Bs – 8/8/2016

 

Late Monday afternoon,  the mistress of the infamous Edward Snowden announced the death of Snowden, who was allegedly killed this past Saturday by a drunken knife wielding Buryat man in the Republic of Buryatia.

 

http://getoffthebs.com/snowden-dead-in-russia/