More Snowden Leaks
There's some really big news in the NSA world today. According to leaked documents, the U.S. Government has been impersonating Google in order to trick Internet users. This information originally came from a Brazilian news station, Globo News, and the details were released from Edward Snowden.
How the NSA Hack Worked
Using redirection techniques, the faux Google site that the government set up led users directly to a copycat site. From there, the government could clearly see what users were doing and searching for while online. This hacking technique is used frequently by hackers to trick people into visiting mirror image sites, and now, it seems, the government is taking a page out of the old hack book.
What does Google have to say about all of this? The search giant stands by its original claim stating that the company only hands over information to the government when prompted – and when the company feels that it is necessary to do so. Further, Google reps state that the company had no knowledge of this hack.
Lawsuits Filed
Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Yahoo have all filed suits against the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, so that the court will make public all data requests filed by the NSA. All of this hacking suspicion is terrible for business from the Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo, and Google side of things.
There is no word from the U.S. Government in regards to these recent claims (at the time of this writing), but it's very easy to state that the Internet public, in general, is now extremely skeptical about using the Internet at all. If search companies like Google and Yahoo can't be trusted, what can be trusted?
More Snowden Leaks: Alternate Options
Right now, one of the few ways to make sure that your Internet searches are safe is to use Tor. So far, Snowden has not released any documents that point to Tor as being a hacked site, so you might want to go there if you don't want the government to spy on you.
On the other hand, the U.S. Government only looks at those people deemed suspicious, so there's a slim to none chance that your searches for holiday gifts are being tracked. Still, this news definitely doesn't put minds at ease.
More Leaks to Come?
Snowden, it seems, has tons of documents to release. The flow of information seems to be steady, and it doesn't look like it's going to stop anytime soon. It's all really crazy to think about, and it makes many people wonder whether or not it's a good idea to still use sites like Yahoo, Google, and even Facebook.
For the sake of those companies, let's hope that the filed suit is passed, and the public can see just what those companies have divulged. Otherwise, the public will never trust Yahoo, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft again.
There's one more thing to think about here too: is it important for these government tactics to stay under wraps? Is the public at risk if these tactics are widely known to other governments – possibly enemy governments?
Weigh in below!
