Snowden's "dead man's switch"

[lovuian]

Greenwald later responded to initial reports on the interview, rebutting allegations that he was "blackmailing" or "threatening" the US. He stated in a Guardian column that the reported fact Snowden had created a "dead man's switch" of sorts was not new, but he was rather reiterating that it was precaution "against all eventualities," adding that he himself does not have access to the "insurance" documents and played no role in arranging the dead man's switch.

http://rt.com/news/snowden-us-nightmare-greenwald-064/

can someone explain what Greenwald means by "dead man's switch"?

thanks

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Probably a setup whereby someone has instructions to reveal certain information

in the event Snowden turns up dead.

[dkf]

2. Either it needs continued feedback to keep the keys from being released.

Or trusted people are instructed to release the keys if they see specific news.

[Warren Stupidity]

3. It means he has an arrangement, perhaps automated, such that

if he (Snowden) doesn't check in periodically, the "switch" is triggered and whatever insurance documents there are get released.

The tv series Lost famously featured a deadman switch.

[Catherina]

4. Trusted activists and trusted journalists all over the world have archives of Snowden's files

Right now those archives are highly encrypted and no one has the passwordS to unlock them.

If anything happens to Snowden or certain people don't hear from him over a set amount of time, they'll get the passwords and snow will turn into an avalanche.

Wikileaks did the same thing when they asked activists to download their "insurance file".

[randome]

5. It means he wants to see if the same trick can work twice.

Assange pulled this back in 2010. I'm sure some of his hard-core followers are still loyal to him. http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021145676

Now it's Greenwald's turn. He thinks he can fool the same people the same way. It's sad to think he's right.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]You should never stop having childhood dreams.[/center][/font][hr]

[Scurrilous]

10. Good catch.

[MineralMan]

6. There may or may not be such a thing in Snowden's case.

Greenwald now says he has no access to this information, so the reality is that he probably doesn't know if it even exists. Snowden knows, but he appears to believe that such a thing is some sort of protection.

Based on the low-level stuff he has already released, I doubt if he has any such information. So far, what he has released and made public is nothing more than briefing slides used by the NSA to inform people who are cleared about some of what the NSA does. If he truly had access to more important information, why did he not present some of it?

The briefing documents he did expose would not have been tightly protected by the NSA. They've been distributed widely, and contain only small amounts of information that is not already widely known to people who have no access whatever to classified material. They are sanitized, partial information, designed to explain the NSA to people not connected with the NSA.

I doubt that Snowden has anything like what has been described. I expect that whatever investigation that has been done by the NSA internally clearly shows exactly what he accessed, when, and where.

[cantbeserious]

8. The Question Is Did The Systems He Had Access To Have Sensitive Information On Them

The Government is acting as if he did have access to systems with sensitive information.

[Warren Stupidity]

11. The authoritarian apologists are big on contradictory positions.

Snowden is a traitor who deserves draconian punishment and Snowden revealed nothing of any importance.

[MineralMan]

12. He did, obviously. However, there are many levels of

sensitive information, and the NSA is quite obsessive about keeping them compartmentalized and controlling access to them. The information he released was certainly sensitive, but was not detailed. It was very general. As I said, it was designed to be used for briefing outsiders.

So far, I've seen nothing that is very sensitive from Snowden. If you take the terms used in the documents and search for them on Google, you'll find lots more information about those programs. Wikipedia has articles on almost everything in those documents. While they were classified Top Secret /SI/NOFORN, they reveal only general information, rather than details.

I doubt seriously that Snowden has anything much more sensitive than that. If he had, he'd have made a much bigger splash by releasing that more sensitive information. He did not, and that is telling. Here's how the stuff he released was used by the NSA:

1. Briefing members of Congress about the NSA, so they'll continue funding the NSA.
2. Briefing new hires to the NSA so they'll have an overview of the agency.
3. Briefing vendors about what the NSA does.

I know this because I saw similar documents when I was assigned to and briefed by the NSA while serving in the USAF. They all had the same classification as these briefing documents. When I began working, I had access to much more sensitive material, but only when it related specifically to what I was doing. Beyond that, there was zero access to any information. I doubt very much that the NSA has changed its compartmentalization policies.

[cantbeserious]

13. Reasonable Argument Based On Past Experience - However It Will Forever Be Unconvincing Without The Facts

eom

[MineralMan]

15. That's a matter of indifference for me.

I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything. I'm just sharing information.

[cantbeserious]

17. And Your Opinion Is A Matter Of Indifference To Me - I Am Highlighting The Slippery Slope Of Assumptions

eom

[MineralMan]

18. I see. Please proceed...

[cantbeserious]

19. Have Done So Consistently - Post After Post After Post

eom

[agent46]

7. A dead man's switch

is a safety feature found on manually operated industrial machinery. If the operator is injured or incapacitated, releasing the switch will automatically shut the machine down.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_man's_switch

[MADem]

9. The thing that Greenwald keeps shouting about, while telling people to pay no attention to it.

"If Snowden is killed, all of the secrets he is holding will be released." That is a dead man's switch.

GG keeps touting that--almost like he wants someone to take a shot at the guy, so he'll have another story to write. "I was one of the last people to speak with the martyr...." I can see it now.

Anyone--not just "intelligence" enemies, not just "political" enemies--but any nutcase with an anti-choice, anti-gay, anti-gun-control, anti-black-guy-in-the-White-House attitude now has an idea in their head, thanks to GG repeating it ad nauseum, and then saying "Oooooooooh, it wasn't just MEEEEEE who said that....!"

Wanna "get back" at America--for being too (name whatever you are opposed to)? Go kill Snowden--that'll fix their little red wagons but GOOD! That, in essence, is what GG is saying--even if he didn't MEEEAAAAN to say it that way.

The guy is a loud-mouthed idiot.

Heckuvajob, Glennie.

[Ruby the Liberal]

14. On the web, it could be something timed to launch

that has to be manually "stopped" every so often and if not stopped, it launches.

Think of it like a virus that has been programmed to go into action on a certain date, but has a feature where logging into it would move the date out by a day.

[MineralMan]

16. Greenwald is talking out of his ass.

It is his habit.

[lovuian]

20. thanks everyone I was wondering what it meant

the "dead man's switch" maybe the reason Snowden is still alive

[FarCenter]

21. When rail was electrified, it could be operated by a single trainman, so dead man switches were used

With steam rail, either the engineer or the fireman could stop the train in case the other became incapacitated.

Subways, in particular, were operated electrically with one motorman in the cab. The deadman switch requires that the motorman hold it in position. If the motorman lets go, the motors are cut off and the brakes are applied.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_man's_switch

According to Manhattan borough historian Michael Miscione, there have been at least three instances where the dead-man's switch was used successfully – in 1927, 1940, and 2010.[1]