Snowden recently told the BBC that he is willing to return to the United States and face prison time but just can’t seem to get an answer one way or another from the American government. “All our operational processes rigorously support this position”. They had to put shoe leather to pavement and get creative. But there was one freakish fact unrelated to surveillance, freedom, the Government and the NSA that Snowden felt compelled to share with his followers: his favourite Pokemon character. Fast forward to the exciting, happy faced wonderful world of technology that’s here today and “being in touch” 24/7 with all your friends and what a swell thing it is. Authorities can already track smartphones by measuring which cell tower they’re nearest to, but it looks like this tool is much more accurate. After all, in March former Army general and Central Intelligence Agency director David Petraeus avoided jail by pleading guilty to a single misdemeanor in a classified leaks case.
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At the time, Holder, who stepped down in April, said, “I certainly think there could be a basis for a resolution that everybody could ultimately be satisfied with” to return Snowden from his current asylum in Moscow.
The United Kingdom government declined to comment on “intelligence matters”. “Nosey Smurf” would enable spies to switch on a smartphone’s microphone even with the phone off, he claimed.
Mr Snowden also referred to a tool known as Paronoid Smurf.
Mr Snowden said GCHQ could gain access to a handset by sending it an encrypted text message and use it for such things as taking pictures and listening in.
Perhaps most insidious is Paranoid Smurf, which hides evidence of the Smurf Suite’s presence on a phone so that fix technicians do not detect it if a user brings the phone in for servicing.
“And they can do much more”.
The GCHQ had the power to hack into phones without their owners’ knowledge, he said.
Speaking to South Carolina, Privacy worldwide said that, “the reason this has come back into the spotlight is due to the Investigatory Power Bill, which will likely include provision for CNE (Computer Network Exploitation), generally analogous to hacking”. According to Snowden, the special text message goes to your phone, and you pay for it like any other text – but you’ll never actually see it in your inbox. “You paid for it however whoever controls the software program owns the telephone”, he added. And if you’re a British citizen you’ll love this part.
The NSA has also spent almost $1 billion on a similar program, Snowden said.
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Mr Snowden described in a few detail the GCHQ’s collection of secret intercept capabilities, known as the “Smurf Suit”.
