The NSA is reportedly able to access offline computers thanks to radio wave tech

[Wilikon]

The ongoing series of leaks from the NSA and its cyberspying programs have got many wondering how to stay safe. It’s been joked that the only guarantee is to be offline, but now even that extreme approach doesn’t guarantee an escape from the US agency’s eyes, according to a New York Times report.

Citing leaked documents, the paper claims that the NSA has developed “a secret technology” which taps into radio waves to access computers and hardware, even those that are offline. The setup relies on a radio-transmitting device — such as a USB or other kinds of hardware/peripherals — being connected to the device in question, either by an agent, a manufacturer or users themselves.

There’s no evidence that the technology has ever been used, but it is a particularly troubling development considering that the agency is already reported to have all manner of tools to gain backdoor access to popular consumer and business electronic devices.

➤ N.S.A. Devises Radio Pathway Into Computers [New York Times]
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/15/us/nsa-effort-pries-open-computers-not-connected-to-internet.html




http://thenextweb.com/insider/2014/01/15/nsa-reportedly-able-access-offline-computers-thanks-radio-wave-technology/?fromcat=all#!seaPr

[keithers]

It is scary that the NSA will go to such lengths to spy on our own citizens.  Gotta love how the USA allocating all of our hard workers tax dollars.

[Ekaros]

So sticking radio transmiter in computers allows you to communicate with it... So anything new?

[Romyen]

I guess we need to keep our offline computers enclosed within a copper wire mesh.

[Wilikon]

I guess we need to keep our offline computers enclosed within a copper wire mesh.

Make sure the whole room is a Faraday cage.

[Ekaros]

I guess we need to keep our offline computers enclosed within a copper wire mesh.

Make sure the whole room is a Faraday cage.

I think sound proofing and no windows(physical ones that is) is also in order...

[Lethn]

There’s no evidence that the technology has ever been used, but it is a particularly troubling development considering that the agency is already reported to have all manner of tools to gain backdoor access to popular consumer and business electronic devices.

Before you fly off into a panic everybody read more carefully, the NSA and other crime agencies love scaring the crap out of you and making you think they're more clever than they actually are, this would have been all over the other news networks if it was true and when you consider the laws of physics I find this even more unbelievable but you'd need someone who's an actual expert in this kind of thing to confirm it if it's true anyway.

[coinpr0n]

Fortune Cookie says,

"The only secure computer is one that's unplugged, locked in a safe,
and buried 20 feet under the ground in a secret location... and I'm
not even too sure about that one"
-- Dennis Huges, FBI.

[Spendulus]

The ongoing series of leaks from the NSA and its cyberspying programs have got many wondering how to stay safe. It’s been joked that the only guarantee is to be offline, but now even that extreme approach doesn’t guarantee an escape from the US agency’s eyes, according to a New York Times report.

Citing leaked documents, the paper claims that the NSA has developed “a secret technology” which taps into radio waves to access computers and hardware, even those that are offline. The setup relies on a radio-transmitting device — such as a USB or other kinds of hardware/peripherals — being connected to the device in question, either by an agent, a manufacturer or users themselves.

There’s no evidence that the technology has ever been used, but it is a particularly troubling development considering that the agency is already reported to have all manner of tools to gain backdoor access to popular consumer and business electronic devices.

➤ N.S.A. Devises Radio Pathway Into Computers [New York Times]
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/15/us/nsa-effort-pries-open-computers-not-connected-to-internet.html




http://thenextweb.com/insider/2014/01/15/nsa-reportedly-able-access-offline-computers-thanks-radio-wave-technology/?fromcat=all#!seaPr

How about this?

It's not believable.  The USB / whatever radio device could REPORT AND RECEIVE INSTRUCtioNS when the computer was off, but not "tap into the computer", unless the firmware of the computer was set to turn on with USB activity.

[guybrushthreepwood]

The ongoing series of leaks from the NSA and its cyberspying programs have got many wondering how to stay safe. It’s been joked that the only guarantee is to be offline, but now even that extreme approach doesn’t guarantee an escape from the US agency’s eyes, according to a New York Times report.

Citing leaked documents, the paper claims that the NSA has developed “a secret technology” which taps into radio waves to access computers and hardware, even those that are offline. The setup relies on a radio-transmitting device — such as a USB or other kinds of hardware/peripherals — being connected to the device in question, either by an agent, a manufacturer or users themselves.

There’s no evidence that the technology has ever been used, but it is a particularly troubling development considering that the agency is already reported to have all manner of tools to gain backdoor access to popular consumer and business electronic devices.

➤ N.S.A. Devises Radio Pathway Into Computers [New York Times]
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/15/us/nsa-effort-pries-open-computers-not-connected-to-internet.html




http://thenextweb.com/insider/2014/01/15/nsa-reportedly-able-access-offline-computers-thanks-radio-wave-technology/?fromcat=all#!seaPr

How about this?

It's not believable.  The USB / whatever radio device could REPORT AND RECEIVE INSTRUCtioNS when the computer was off, but not "tap into the computer", unless the firmware of the computer was set to turn on with USB activity.

Yup, sounds like utter bullshit to me.

[benjamindees]

It's not believable.  The USB / whatever radio device could REPORT AND RECEIVE INSTRUCtioNS when the computer was off, but not "tap into the computer", unless the firmware of the computer was set to turn on with USB activity.

It depends on how integrated it is.  The technology has been openly available for quite a while.  I've had the misfortune of being subjected to it via an ex-employer.  Some Acer Aspire notebooks have integrated GSM modems, which can be used (even when the device is off) to update or alter the system's software.  When they say "by a manufacturer," they mean it.

[Ekaros]

Offline doesn't always mean turned off...

[Spendulus]

Offline doesn't always mean turned off...

I stand corrected on that.

I guess also the hack would be to get the USB/whatever device in place, then use it in conjunction with a virus/worm, proceeding to mod the bios as required.

[Carlton Banks]

I guess we need to keep our offline computers enclosed within a copper wire mesh.

Make sure the whole room is a Faraday cage.

Even computers need a tinfoil hat!  

If this is indeed possible, I don't think it would work on a massive scale, and I also don't think it would work for every possible environmental case. Sure, somewhere without much metal and without much background EM waves would be ideal, but you're not going to get that for anything but a small number of situations IRL. It defies common sense that a busy city environment would be an easy place to target a computer in this way, and if there was another agent trying to do the same to another target a couple doors down, you'd probably have to work in shifts. NSA can't bend the laws of physics in the same way they bend the law of the land. Unless we're actually in The Matrix.

[TwentyGotoTen]

I heard this same story on boston public radio 89.7 wgbh an hour or so ago, seems legit, even if you're not doing anything wrong, THEY'RE STILL WATCHING YOU, LOL

[Spendulus]

I heard this same story on boston public radio 89.7 wgbh an hour or so ago, seems legit, even if you're not doing anything wrong, THEY'RE STILL WATCHING YOU, LOL

of course most people don't even know that all computer wireless runs on 'radio waves'.

So the interesting thing about this story is that ....

A) the NSA can attach a wireless modem to a computer, like by USB
B) MICROSOFT OPERATING SYSTEMS DO NOT REPORT THAT THE COMPUTER IS ONLINE

Bit of shouting now over.

[RodeoX]

If it is just using a radio implanted into the PC then this is not a big deal. The computer would have to be specifically built to have this ability.
A spookier technology, that has been around a while, monitors the radiated signal from each keystroke. In this system an antenna is aimed at the computer. It may or may not be connected to a network. Each time the user hits a key, a tiny bit of EM energy is broadcast. Using software on a computer attached to the antenna. The signal is turned back into characters and the keystrokes are revealed.   

[benjamindees]

All it takes is a software defined radio integrated with a multi-core processor.  The same hardware that powers your wi-fi connection can be used to access your PC, even while it's powered off.  Even while you're using it.  You would never know.  It's been in the works for a decade now.  Soon it will be standard, in every computer.  I'm telling you, this is not science fiction.  It's very real.  And it's being implemented at the lowest possible level.

http://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240163228/Intel-makes-breakthrough-on-digital-radio-chips

Intel has incorporated this breakthrough into a system-on-chip (SoC) codenamed Rosepoint, which features two Intel Atom core processors and a Wi-Fi transceiver on the same die.

[krach]

rasberry pi does not have any wifi, bluetooth or other radio outputs, thats why its great for an offline wallet

[Xenophis]

When in doubt, do what the Russians do (don't, most of the time).

Buy typewriters.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/11/kremlin-typewriters_n_3579184.html