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Basically, you’re either dealing with Mossad or not-Mossad. If your adversary is not-Mossad, then you’ll probably be fine if you pick a good password and don’t respond to emails from ChEaPestPAiNPi11s@ virus-basket.biz.ru. If your adversary is the Mossad, YOU’RE GONNA DIE AND THERE’S NOTHING THAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT. The Mossad is not intimidated by the fact that you employ https://. If the Mossad wants your data, they’re going to use a drone to replace your cellphone with a piece of uranium that’s shaped like a cellphone, and when you die of tumors filled with tumors, they’re going to hold a press conference and say “It wasn’t us” as they wear t-shirts that say “IT WAS DEFINITELY US,” and then they’re going to buy all of your stuff at your estate sale so that they can directly look at the photos of your vacation instead of reading your insipid emails about them. In summary, https:// and two dollars will get you a bus ticket to nowhere. Also, SANTA CLAUS ISN’T REAL. When it rains, it pours.

[PDF] https://www.usenix.org/system/files/1401_08-12_mickens.pdf




I think this understates the threat of privatized hacking tools. Governments that can barely tie their shoelaces now have access to capabilities that only a few heavy hitters used to have. One example: In Mexico NSO software was used to target anti-obesity activists who were pushing for less soda pop consumption.


The funny thing is that despite all of this high end, super secret, extremely sophisticated technology used against them, those activists won in the end.


It's a well known piece but it's from 2014 (or earlier), and the world was different back then.





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