Ethical hacking organization hacked, website defaced with Edward Snowden's passport | The Verge
Left Snowden's passport picture all over the site. Called himself Eugene Belford from the movie "Hackers". Left a message "Defaced again? Yep, good job reusing your passwords, morons."
This is Snowden.
1) He believes he is still working for the NSA. That he is making them "better". "...good job reusing your passwords, morons."
2) Movie reference. This is Snowden's signature.
3) More than one movie reference. Snowden has taken information of names and other identification information of military, police and security officials. "Skyfall".
4) Snowden's original run in with a supervisor at the CIA was regarding "poor security" in the online personnel files of the CIA where he put allegedly harmless coding into the program to show its "flaws". Snowden was reprimanded and sent home from Geneva. One of several recurring failures in his life. According to Snowden, he had already been collecting information at that time. He may or may not have already taken personnel information. This is either to show that he still can or as reprisal for the suggestion by media and government officials that he had already done so and put enumerable lives at risk.
5) Snowden's personality, superiority, overcoming those lingering feelings of failure are all similar to other serial criminals. Snowden is a serial criminal. He's known to have taken information from at least two different locations, very likely more. Being stuck in Putin's Russia where freedom, as he has repeatedly said he believes he is defending, is basically non-existent. In order to maintain his personal view of himself, he is likely to continue to try to prove his continuing superiority as well as act as if he is doing the intelligence and government agencies a favor.
Narcissism is likely also driving him to continue to try to insert himself into the story. His handlers in Russia, however he arrived at them, have tucked Snowden away in order to remove him and his potential of being exposed as a spy so that the story that is being perpetrated can come to the fore. Snowden's need to be seen as a hero, for himself, for his father and for the accolades he receives from various audiences, drives him to continue to act.
The only question is whether he did this with knowledge, participation or urging of any handlers or whether they will be surprised to know that he acted. In either event, it continues to act against and on the psyche of the relative agencies that are responsible for intelligence and security, thus serving their purpose.
6) Ethical Hacking organization. Also highly important as one of Snowden's activities while in Japan, prior to going to Hawaii was to attend an "Ethical hacking course" in India.
7) Which brings us to another recent hack that stole 309k records of administration, faculty, students and others attached or attending University of Maryland where Snowden was working when first employed by the CIA. He also attended the university's sub-campus in Japan (University of Maryland University College - Asia). This also bares signature, not just because Snowden attended, but because the University at first was very quick to point out that Snowden hadn't actually attended the main campus, but was a security guard only attending a semester at the Japan campus.
Again, ego may be at issue here as Snowden is reported to have had a consistent problem with his lack of education even as he consistently bragged about his ability to over come it. Largely by puffing up his resume or giving the impression he had done more or for longer than he had actually done so. Suggestions have been made that this might have even been one of his purposes for hacking the personnel files in the first place or even to discover that he did indeed have a derogatory report on his file.
UPDATE: Questions arise whether Snowden would be so foolish as to use his own passport as a signature instead of a copycat who wants to be or invoke Snowden's image or cause. From the perspective of this analysis, this is very likely a purposeful signature. Taken along with the other aspects and signatures, this seems to be a proverbial taunt. That he was there. That the revocation of his American passport did not keep him from fleeing and that he had a new passport and country. In essence, "in your face" act.
Another question was posed about whether Snowden would break his own operational security to hack something so publicly that possibly exposes his location. From the perspective of this analysis, Snowden is now inside Russia and has been reported to be staying in safe housing surrounding the Russian intelligence complex. This likely gives him a false sense of security, rendering him "untouchable". He also considers himself to be relatively brilliant or genius programmer or hack that can cover his tracks well enough even though his insider hacks left a considerable trail once the investigators began to look.
As far as breaking operational security, during his long efforts of collecting information, Snowden had gone relatively quiet on the regular forums that he frequented on Ars Technica after he collected his first batch of information from the Geneva location. However, during that operation his appearance on those forums and various IRC chats had increased significantly.
Later, at significant moments during other operations, he re-appeared on the forums, if only briefly. Significantly, in 2012 when he commented on people being inordinately obedient to "spooky types". This was around the same time that he is suspected of beginning to collect data or at least left his "foot print". He may have been in other unpublicized IRC chats at this time.
The question remains about leaving "foot prints" and whether Snowden has good operational security practices. In general, his practices were good enough to keep him off the radar or at least have a plausible reason for his actions at three different locations. On the other hand, he did leave "foot prints" at each of these locations. This can either be described as not having absolute perfect "OpSec", but good enough or that he may have intentionally left those traces.
Mr. Snowden was not adverse to showing himself at the time that he released the information, nor has he been adverse to appearing in interviews, chats or simple writings for columns. Each time invariably leaves an opening or explicitly violates operational security that would other wise be maintained by a person who was in fear of being found. In other words, mooting the idea that Snowden, in person or as a hacker, is overly concerned with operational security as opposed to making himself seen and heard.
This not about being a hacker or a spy per se. This is about character and patterns that Mr. Snowden set well before he was known to the general public, particularly in his on line life.
This is Snowden. Hereafter, there is a likelihood future events may be copy cats as he purposefully or inadvertently inspires other actors. Targets, messages and references for future hacks may provide superficial clues in the future as to whether it is a Snowden Hack or other. Forensic studies of the hack will likely produce more definitive information as to the process and location from where the hacks occurred.
Mr. Snowden is not nearly as good at hiding his tracks as he thinks he is or is intentionally acting in the open. "Catch me if you can."
Code Name "VERAX": Snowden Uncovered - Spy Wars and the Internet 2009
Code Name "VERAX": Snowden Uncovered - In Context (The Big Picture)
Code Name "VERAX": Snowden Uncovered - The Geneva Decision
Code Name "VERAX": Snowden Uncovered (the movie-esque quality of Snowden Spy Craft)
Code Name "VERAX": Snowden Uncovered - Administrative Discharge
Idiot Wind: A Compendium of Snowden, WikiLeaks, Greenwald, Poitras and Appelbaum Topics
Ed v. Ed or How to Think About the Snowden Operation
Russian Intelligence is Behind the Snowden Show: German Intelligence
On Snowden and Coincidences
The End of the Snowden Operation
Edward Lucas: The New Cold War
Edward Lucas: The Snowden Operation
Catherine Fitzpatrick: Privacy For Me and Not For Thee
Left Snowden's passport picture all over the site. Called himself Eugene Belford from the movie "Hackers". Left a message "Defaced again? Yep, good job reusing your passwords, morons."
This is Snowden.
1) He believes he is still working for the NSA. That he is making them "better". "...good job reusing your passwords, morons."
2) Movie reference. This is Snowden's signature.
3) More than one movie reference. Snowden has taken information of names and other identification information of military, police and security officials. "Skyfall".
4) Snowden's original run in with a supervisor at the CIA was regarding "poor security" in the online personnel files of the CIA where he put allegedly harmless coding into the program to show its "flaws". Snowden was reprimanded and sent home from Geneva. One of several recurring failures in his life. According to Snowden, he had already been collecting information at that time. He may or may not have already taken personnel information. This is either to show that he still can or as reprisal for the suggestion by media and government officials that he had already done so and put enumerable lives at risk.
5) Snowden's personality, superiority, overcoming those lingering feelings of failure are all similar to other serial criminals. Snowden is a serial criminal. He's known to have taken information from at least two different locations, very likely more. Being stuck in Putin's Russia where freedom, as he has repeatedly said he believes he is defending, is basically non-existent. In order to maintain his personal view of himself, he is likely to continue to try to prove his continuing superiority as well as act as if he is doing the intelligence and government agencies a favor.
Narcissism is likely also driving him to continue to try to insert himself into the story. His handlers in Russia, however he arrived at them, have tucked Snowden away in order to remove him and his potential of being exposed as a spy so that the story that is being perpetrated can come to the fore. Snowden's need to be seen as a hero, for himself, for his father and for the accolades he receives from various audiences, drives him to continue to act.
The only question is whether he did this with knowledge, participation or urging of any handlers or whether they will be surprised to know that he acted. In either event, it continues to act against and on the psyche of the relative agencies that are responsible for intelligence and security, thus serving their purpose.
6) Ethical Hacking organization. Also highly important as one of Snowden's activities while in Japan, prior to going to Hawaii was to attend an "Ethical hacking course" in India.
7) Which brings us to another recent hack that stole 309k records of administration, faculty, students and others attached or attending University of Maryland where Snowden was working when first employed by the CIA. He also attended the university's sub-campus in Japan (University of Maryland University College - Asia). This also bares signature, not just because Snowden attended, but because the University at first was very quick to point out that Snowden hadn't actually attended the main campus, but was a security guard only attending a semester at the Japan campus.
Again, ego may be at issue here as Snowden is reported to have had a consistent problem with his lack of education even as he consistently bragged about his ability to over come it. Largely by puffing up his resume or giving the impression he had done more or for longer than he had actually done so. Suggestions have been made that this might have even been one of his purposes for hacking the personnel files in the first place or even to discover that he did indeed have a derogatory report on his file.
UPDATE: Questions arise whether Snowden would be so foolish as to use his own passport as a signature instead of a copycat who wants to be or invoke Snowden's image or cause. From the perspective of this analysis, this is very likely a purposeful signature. Taken along with the other aspects and signatures, this seems to be a proverbial taunt. That he was there. That the revocation of his American passport did not keep him from fleeing and that he had a new passport and country. In essence, "in your face" act.
Another question was posed about whether Snowden would break his own operational security to hack something so publicly that possibly exposes his location. From the perspective of this analysis, Snowden is now inside Russia and has been reported to be staying in safe housing surrounding the Russian intelligence complex. This likely gives him a false sense of security, rendering him "untouchable". He also considers himself to be relatively brilliant or genius programmer or hack that can cover his tracks well enough even though his insider hacks left a considerable trail once the investigators began to look.
As far as breaking operational security, during his long efforts of collecting information, Snowden had gone relatively quiet on the regular forums that he frequented on Ars Technica after he collected his first batch of information from the Geneva location. However, during that operation his appearance on those forums and various IRC chats had increased significantly.
Later, at significant moments during other operations, he re-appeared on the forums, if only briefly. Significantly, in 2012 when he commented on people being inordinately obedient to "spooky types". This was around the same time that he is suspected of beginning to collect data or at least left his "foot print". He may have been in other unpublicized IRC chats at this time.
The question remains about leaving "foot prints" and whether Snowden has good operational security practices. In general, his practices were good enough to keep him off the radar or at least have a plausible reason for his actions at three different locations. On the other hand, he did leave "foot prints" at each of these locations. This can either be described as not having absolute perfect "OpSec", but good enough or that he may have intentionally left those traces.
Mr. Snowden was not adverse to showing himself at the time that he released the information, nor has he been adverse to appearing in interviews, chats or simple writings for columns. Each time invariably leaves an opening or explicitly violates operational security that would other wise be maintained by a person who was in fear of being found. In other words, mooting the idea that Snowden, in person or as a hacker, is overly concerned with operational security as opposed to making himself seen and heard.
This not about being a hacker or a spy per se. This is about character and patterns that Mr. Snowden set well before he was known to the general public, particularly in his on line life.
This is Snowden. Hereafter, there is a likelihood future events may be copy cats as he purposefully or inadvertently inspires other actors. Targets, messages and references for future hacks may provide superficial clues in the future as to whether it is a Snowden Hack or other. Forensic studies of the hack will likely produce more definitive information as to the process and location from where the hacks occurred.
Mr. Snowden is not nearly as good at hiding his tracks as he thinks he is or is intentionally acting in the open. "Catch me if you can."
Code Name "VERAX": Snowden Uncovered - Spy Wars and the Internet 2009
Code Name "VERAX": Snowden Uncovered - In Context (The Big Picture)
Code Name "VERAX": Snowden Uncovered - The Geneva Decision
Code Name "VERAX": Snowden Uncovered (the movie-esque quality of Snowden Spy Craft)
Code Name "VERAX": Snowden Uncovered - Administrative Discharge
Idiot Wind: A Compendium of Snowden, WikiLeaks, Greenwald, Poitras and Appelbaum Topics
Ed v. Ed or How to Think About the Snowden Operation
Russian Intelligence is Behind the Snowden Show: German Intelligence
On Snowden and Coincidences
The End of the Snowden Operation
Edward Lucas: The New Cold War
Edward Lucas: The Snowden Operation
Catherine Fitzpatrick: Privacy For Me and Not For Thee
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