A Close Look at the NSA's Most Powerful Internet Attack Tool

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

http://www.wired.com/opinion/2014/03/quantum/

By Nicholas Weaver
Wired.com
03.13.14

We already knew that the NSA has weaponized the internet, enabling it to 
"shoot" exploits at anyone it desires. A single web fetch, imitated by an 
identified target, is sufficient for the NSA to exploit its victim.

But the Edward Snowden slides and story published yesterday at The Intercept 
convey a wealth of new detailed information about the NSA’s technology and its 
limitations.

First, it’s clear that the NSA has settled on a system called QUANTUM as its 
preferred, if not near-universal, internet exploitation mechanism. QUANTUM is 
vastly more effective than just sending spam. But since its launch at NSA, the 
program has clearly suffered from both mission creep and target creep.

If NSA only used QUANTUM to attack wannabee terrorists attempting to read 
Inspire, hardly anyone would object. But instead the agency expanded it 
greatly, not only in target scope (including its confirmed use against 
Belgacom) but also in functionality.

[...]

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