Tor and Linux Users Are Extremists? The NSA Thinks So | Homeland Security Degrees

https://homelandsecurityedus.wordpress.com/2016/07/14/tor-and-linux-users-are-extremists-the-nsa-thinks-so/

The National Security Agency (NSA) has reportedly turned its focus on Tor and Linux users, having recently shown a keen interest in these users’ online activities.

The NSA has gone as far as calling users of products such as The Amnesic Incognito Live System (Tails) and Tor as extremists. Readers of Linux Journal were also designated as extreme. Users of these products, however, maintain that they are used due to the security and anonymity they provide.

The Tor Project revealed that the NSA flags members of the Tor community and their related IP addresses for surveillance. And, documentation leaked in connection with Edward Snowden includes information about XKeyscore, a…

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Visiting Websites About Privacy Gets You Put in an NSA Database of “Extremists”

Merely expressing an interest in anonymity makes you a target

‘Potential Extremists’: Merely going to Tor’s website will land you on NSA’s red list video here: http://youtu.be/kvjdxtS2BmU

Searching for online articles about privacy is enough to get someone put in an NSA database of “extremists,” according to new revelations published today.

In an article for German news outlet Tagesschau (translation here), Lena Kampf, Jacob Appelbaum and John Goetz reveal how the NSA’s “deep packet inspection” rules, which it uses to determine who to target for deep surveillance, include looking for web users who search for articles about Tor and Tails, an anonymous browser and a privacy-friendly operating system.

Those whose Internet traffic patterns suggest merely an interest in Tor or Tails are immediately put on a list of “extremists,” as is anyone who actually uses the Tor network.

“Tor and Tails have been part of the mainstream discussion of online security, surveillance and privacy for years. It’s nothing short of bizarre to place people under suspicion for searching for these terms,” writes Boing Boing’s Cory Doctorow, adding that the NSA’s goal is, “to split the entire population of the Internet into “people who have the technical know-how to be private” and “people who don’t” and then capture all the communications from the first group.” More Here: http://www.infowars.com/visiting-websites-about-privacy-gets-you-put-in-an-nsa-database-of-extremists/

Tor and Linux Users Are Extremists? The NSA Thinks So