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FBI cyber cop: Salt Typhoon pwned 'nearly every American'

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287 points Bender | 10 comments | 30 Aug 25 12:43 UTC | HN request time: 0.95s | source | bottom
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nekitamo ◴[30 Aug 25 15:11 UTC] No.45075341[source]▶
This is what we get for installing mandatory government backdoors all over our communications infrastructure. Unbelievable that such a critical piece of infrastructure wasn't secured properly. But after the OPM hack and the bungled implementation of CIA "drop sites" online, nothing about our government's cyber incompetence surprises me anymore.
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1. krisbolton ◴[30 Aug 25 16:38 UTC] No.45075962[source]▶
Top tier state-sponsored actors don't need backdoors, their skill, resources, and persistance mean they can penetrate almost any system. Ascrbing this to mandatory backdoors distracts from the fact we need to improve cyber resilence and build better offense.

Reading the Atlantic Council's recent paper on what the US can do to counter the system China has created which funnels exploits to their government shows how mistatched the West is versus China. Paper here: https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/C...

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2. hammock ◴[30 Aug 25 17:07 UTC] No.45076226[source]▶
You are being downvoted by anti-backdoor people, which is fine, but you highlight an interesting new facet of the discussion:

How do we build a functioning world where secrets are not required? By this I don’t mean “everyone behaves good and therefore has nothing to hide/fear” but rather, how do we function in a world in which secrets are simply not possible?

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3. christophilus ◴[30 Aug 25 17:32 UTC] No.45076457[source]▶
Locally.
4. ptero ◴[30 Aug 25 17:34 UTC] No.45076475[source]▶
It is not black and white. There is a continuum of difference between my whole life being discoverable by a targeted effort of a major state (for which there were always very few defenses) and "we have no privacy" world where my whole life is being easily seen by anyone: employers, coworkers, neighbors, potential dates, etc.

I think sliding down towards "I have no privacy" end of the spectrum is bad for both the citizens and the society. Stopping the this slide is a worthwhile goal. My 2c.

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5. zargon ◴[30 Aug 25 17:39 UTC] No.45076516[source]▶
I think your point is we need deeper security improvements than only patching back doors. But it does come across like saying “hackers don’t need to guess passwords to get in, therefore just use hunter2.”
6. lazide ◴[30 Aug 25 18:07 UTC] No.45076777{3}[source]▶
Generally? Lots and lots of lying and bullshit, so people stop knowing or caring what the actual truth is as long as people do x specific thing they need.
7. impossiblefork ◴[30 Aug 25 18:46 UTC] No.45077025[source]▶
What do you mean, 'secrets are not possible'? You can still have secrets, you just stop writing things down, stop talking and literally start whispering or using other anti-eavesdropping techniques.
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8. hammock ◴[30 Aug 25 20:01 UTC] No.45077555{3}[source]▶
It’s a thought experiment , as I observe that it is becoming harder and harder to have secrets. Even your examples (whispering, speaking behind a closed wall, even private thoughts) are either no longer safe or have promising technology being actively developed to counter them
9. hammock ◴[30 Aug 25 20:02 UTC] No.45077559{3}[source]▶
Yes
10. wakawaka28 ◴[30 Aug 25 23:19 UTC] No.45078872[source]▶
If they don't NEED them, why do they always DEMAND them? The fact is that mandatory backdoors makes things easier for attackers. Counter offensive capabilities do not cancel out defensive vulnerabilities. Once your data is gone or your personnel killed, there's no taking it back.