[NOTE:The White House and NSA have denied Bloomberg's report that the agency knew about the Heartbleed bug.]
The National Security Agency knew about the Heartbleed internet security bug for at least two years and not only said nothing, but exploited it, according to anonymous sources speaking to Bloomberg. Bloomberg reports the agency discovered the glitch shortly after its introduction and it “became a basic part of the agency’s toolkit for stealing account passwords and other common tasks.” The bug, which affects the open-source OpenSSL encryption software used by hundreds of thousands of websites, was another means by which the NSA could obtain passwords and other private data. The NSA’s decision to keep the bug a secret in the interest of national security has upset critics, reinvigorating the debate over privacy concerns and the agency’s secrecy…..To Read More……
My Take – Does anyone besides me feel this must in be
in some way a criminal act? Here we have a government agency – an incredibly
secret government agency – created to protect Americans from their enemies by
finding out the enemy’s secrets - and presumably- sharing that information with
the appropriate people. That’s seems to me to be kind of a ….well…..let’s call
it a “shield” agency. You know - a shield of protection or, a shield to ward
off attack…. you know…. kind of like a“defense” agency! Oh wait….it is a
defense agency. Imagine that!
Well, isn’t this an
attack on Americans? And now we find it might be the case where they not only
not defending us they were actually participating in these criminal acts - and all
this Heartbleed stuff certainly seems to be criminal - don’t you think? I know
they deny it all, but would someone name one scandal - just one scandal - that
came out over the last two years regarding federal agencies and this
administration that didn’t turn out to be true in spite of abject denials right
from the beginning? Just one!
That last thought I
had was this. If this is a criminal act- and it seems like a criminal act,
don’t you think - and a government agency that’s sworn to protect society
ignores it does that make that agency guilty of aiding and abetting a criminal
act? If that agency takes advantage of this criminal act - and it seem like a
criminal act to me, don’t you think - does that make them guilty being
“accessories after the fact”?
You know – I seems
like a whole lot of criminal acts to me. Don’t you think?
However, there is
one more thought I would like to share. Spying is a dirty business. Spies are -
by their very nature – largely immoral, or if you will - amoral. They deal in
dirt. They lie, steal, murder, spread lies, destroy lives, and more - all in
the name of defense. And the most effective spy agencies are filled with the
most amoral people. In short, all spies, and the agencies that run them, are by
definition criminals. Then we're shocked when they act criminally!
That does make it a
bit more complex. Don't you think?
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