Hmm. Why do I not feel comforted by that?

Probably $21B !!!

Hmm. Why do I not feel comforted by that?

I spent 25 years at NSA - What you say is categorically false. There is neither capacity nor legal authority to do so and despite what the tin-foil hat crowd says, NSA very much follows the law.

I spent 25 years at NSA - What you say is categorically false. There is neither capacity nor legal authority to do so and despite what the tin-foil hat crowd says, NSA very much follows the law.

We've seen just how low the bar is for a FISA warrant... so I'm not sure about this either.

I would also assume one of two things to be true, a) if you worked for the NSA in a capacity to know, you wouldn't state so publicly (or) if b) you worked for the NSA in the capacity to know, anything you stated would be intentional misinformation.

All of these tinfoil hat stories start with “I know a guy who…” Rather than producing a link to something tangible like an ACLU lawsuit resulting from it.

About like those talking about what defensive measures may, or may not, be employed at various sites that may be threatened or what capabilities already exist and are in development.

The NSA has actually been sued by the ACLU multiple times.

Sorry, but I don’t trust the US Government or intelligence agencies when they claim they play by the rules.

Not NSA here but I suspect you'll find that the capability exists but not the capacity to scale it across a population of 350 million people 24/7. End-to-end encrypted OTT communication apps are pretty secure so you need to compromise either a handset or a human to get at those communications. It can be done but I very much doubt it's being done to all of us at the same time.

If, on the other hand, you decide you're just going to post "Imma [do something bad to] the President" on social media, or talk about it loudly in a bar, then you're going to attract a level of attention you probably don't want. I think a lot of these amateur operations are compromised more because they're sloppy than because the government is monitoring us all constantly.

Having said all of that, I apply the same rule to all of my communications that I was taught about email 20+ years ago: if you don't like the idea of it being read out loud in front of a jury, you probably don't want to write it. That applies to your colleagues, your enemies, your terrorist buddies and your mistress.

Anyway, gotta go, some guys in a black Suburban are knocking on my front door...

Ok so your country smuggles in a few containers of drones to take out a huge percentage of our bomber fleet.

There is the other two legs of the US Strategic Triangle nuclear deterrent that you will now have to deal with.

Perhaps the POTUS isn’t ready to go nuclear on the little Turd World country half way around the world that attacked us so he sends two out of four of our Ohio-class SSBNs convert to carry 154 Tomahawks each to bring a world of pain to your little junta.

What about China you say, go watch a few Peter Zeihan videos on how vulnerable China’s ocean trade routes are when it comes to oil and food.

Let alone when a few of our all new QuickSink bombs take out half of COSCO’s container ships.

A few Virginia class subs parked outside of China’s ports would shutdown all of China’s shipping.

Not saying putting a lot of our bombers in some sort of harden hangar isn’t a good idea.

Page #2 - I never did understand why just before Boeing shutdown their B747-8 assembly line we didn’t order at least fifty B747-8 bombers.

In almost every “Police Action” the USA had been involved in since Vietnam we establish air superiority within days of us taking out the offending country’s ability to defend itself from air attacks.

To take the load off of our front line strategic nuclear bombers install multiple bomb bays in the B-8 bomber with rotary launchers.

Perhaps at the hard point where you can carry the fifth engine install a pod to carry a cluster of four 2000 pound bombs or just one 30,000 pound bunker buster bomb.

For a “conflict” like Afghanistan there would be four B-8 bombers flying in a cloverleaf holding pattern over the entire country.

The kid on the ground under attack would whip out an iPad like device and it would be like ordering a pizza.

I need (4) <500 POUNDS> delivered in a <DIAMOND> formation <ASAP> to these <QUADRANTS>.

I need (2) <2000 POUNDS> delivered in a <SINGLE> formation <ASAP> to <QUADRANTS> and <QUADRANTS>.

Then via data link the four B-8 bombers orbiting overhead at between FL340 to FL370 would decide who is the closest with the package being requested by the grunt on the ground.

In the cockpit on the NAV display an all new waypoint would pop up and the pilot would press a button to acknowledge the new bombing order.

Then a message would be returned down to the grunt on the ground your package will be delivered in X minutes, please take cover.

The capacity is there. I mostly trust my government to do the right thing with ample checks and balances. But in my "backyard" you hear things. Like where is all the water in the desert going and why People working on the NSA project. Apparently there is mathematically capability to capture almost every electronic interactions. Non-classified AI data:

The NSA's Utah Data Center, located in Bluffdale, Utah, is a massive facility with a large storage capacity, though exact figures are classified. Estimates range from 5 zettabytes to 1 yottabyte, which translates to 1.25 to 250 trillion DVDs according to NPR. The facility includes 1.5 million square feet of space, with 100,000 square feet dedicated to high-performance computers and 25,000 square feet per building for data storage.
Here's a more detailed breakdown:
Storage Capacity:
Estimates vary, with some sources suggesting 5 zettabytes, while others propose 1 yottabyte, or even 3-12 exabytes, according to Wikipedia.
Physical Size:
The data center spans over 1.5 million square feet.
Data Storage Focus:
The facility is designed to store, decrypt, and analyze data from intelligence programs like PRISM and Stellar Wind, according to Forbes.
Technical Infrastructure:
The center includes 100,000 square feet for high-performance computers and significant space for data storage.
Power and Water Consumption:
The facility requires 65 megawatts of electricity and 1.7 million gallons of water daily for cooling.

The point being you spent $billions on the vulnerable leg that you could have saved. Basically all you built was an easy target, not a true deterrent.

ICBMs in silos and boomer subs are vastly less vulnerable than a small fleet of very expensive, very fragile, airplanes sitting in known places you can get very close to.

There is also the issue of answering an attack with a nuclear bomb for someone that attacked you with flying toys. Even Russia, whose bomber fleet got attacked, and is in a war with the attacker, isn't using a nuclear weapon against the attacker.

Mike C.

I guess Edward Snowden is a tinfoil hat guy?

He exposed XKeyscore, which is well capable of everything I mentioned above… and that technology is from the early 2000’s.

The existence of these programs and their capabilities have to be secret for them to work.

I have no illusion of privacy.