Re:The NSA can't remotely turn on all phones
by pdkl95 on Thursday May 29, 2014 @02:17AM
(#7814996)
In addition to this very-real technical issue, there is also another thing those of us used to dealing with technical topics need to keep in mind: Snowden is not talking (specifically) to us.
Snowden, along with Greenwald/etc, are trying to explain the complex brave new world of encryption, data mining, network sniffing, exploits such as MitM, and such to a non-technical audience that makes up most of the world. Worse - it's a crash-course trying to cram what should have been a public discussion gradually happening over the last couple decades into a few short newspaper articles, interviews, and pages torn out of .ppt files.
It is a truly rare thing to see someone even attempt such a herculean task. So it's perfectly understandable if he fudges some of the minor technical details - especially when the target audience won't understand them.
He was obviously trying to get people to understand that just because you clicked some software-controlled button and saw the backlight+screen turn off ("phone==OFF" to a lot of people), the NSA could still be using it. He could have instead used that time to trying explain what stuff like soft-power, firmware, and baseband mean, but all that would have done is make people tune out and ignore the real message.
Most people don't need a lesson in embedded systems, radio, and internetworking. What they do need to understand that there's a massive power-play going on that could become something particularly nasty if left alone, and they need to understand that some of the products and services they've been sold might really be working for someone else.
Snowden, along with Greenwald/etc, are trying to explain the complex brave new world of encryption, data mining, network sniffing, exploits such as MitM, and such to a non-technical audience that makes up most of the world. Worse - it's a crash-course trying to cram what should have been a public discussion gradually happening over the last couple decades into a few short newspaper articles, interviews, and pages torn out of .ppt files.
It is a truly rare thing to see someone even attempt such a herculean task. So it's perfectly understandable if he fudges some of the minor technical details - especially when the target audience won't understand them.
He was obviously trying to get people to understand that just because you clicked some software-controlled button and saw the backlight+screen turn off ("phone==OFF" to a lot of people), the NSA could still be using it. He could have instead used that time to trying explain what stuff like soft-power, firmware, and baseband mean, but all that would have done is make people tune out and ignore the real message.
Most people don't need a lesson in embedded systems, radio, and internetworking. What they do need to understand that there's a massive power-play going on that could become something particularly nasty if left alone, and they need to understand that some of the products and services they've been sold might really be working for someone else.