On Tuesday, August 16, the notorious American whistleblower Edward Snowden posted a series of messages on his official Twitter account addressing the recent NSA hack, a security incident with unknown implications and still in development.
The hacking group who perpetrated the cyber attack call themselves “The Shadow Brokers” and much speculation surrounds their origin. During this past weekend, the band posted a lengthy message in several online platforms expressing their achievements, their message, and their cryptic intentions.
“The Shadow Brokers” also released a preliminary batch of tools, exploits, and files allegedly used by the NSA to spy on their targets. Snowden claimed that while the security breach itself was not the first of its kind, its was the firs time it went public.
8) Circumstantial evidence and conventional wisdom indicates Russian responsibility. Here's why that is significant:
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) August 16, 2016
Snowden says the “Shadow Brokers” are from Russia
Further tweets made by the former NSA contractor suggest that ties exist between “The Shadow Brokers” and Russia, the country that has hosted Snowden since his escape from the U.S. and the reported source of the DNC massive leak that took place a couple of months ago.
Moreover, “The Equation Group” is the unofficial hacking subdivision of the NSA reportedly at the receiving end of the breach, but neither the elusive body nor the government agency have made official statements.
6) What's new? NSA malware staging servers getting hacked by a rival is not new. A rival publicly demonstrating they have done so is.
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) August 16, 2016
The NSA’s security might have been compromised for years
Edward Snowden has been a controversial figure ever since the orchestration of the massive NSA leak back in 2013, and when it comes to cyber security issues, the world always turns its attention to the exiled expert.
The ex-CIA 33-year-old shed some more light on the nature of the attack, besides offering his perspectives and theories regarding the reason for the breach. Snowden claimed that it was a common practice for state security agencies like the NSA to lurk discretely on targets’ servers, tracking their every action and compiling data to gain access to their hacking tools.
In doing so, the security body recreates the exploits they find to identify their targets to defend themselves when they are the target in the future.
What this implies is of the utmost severity, for this practice is not unique to the NSA and the recent security breach means “The Shadow Brokers” have probably been sitting on U.S. servers undetected for years. Snowden claimed that was what happened, albeit admitting the hacking group’s reasons or objectives remain the object of speculation.
12) Accordingly, this may be an effort to influence the calculus of decision-makers wondering how sharply to respond to the DNC hacks.
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) August 16, 2016
Does the hacking group want to interfere with the presidential election?
The whistleblower implied that the hack could be linked to Russia and the most recent DNC leak, potentially tying the whole operation to a political move looking to interfere with the upcoming presidential elections.
“This leak is likely a warning that someone can prove US responsibility for any attacks that originated from this malware server,” said Snowden.
Meanwhile, “The Shadow Brokers” are still holding an open auction for 1 million bitcoins in exchange for the key to the remaining cyber weapons in their possession, with little to no bidders having made an offer as of today.
Source: Twitter
