Is there a way to locate and remove the malware, or do they just keep loading you back up with it?
Theoretically, if such a thing were installed on your computer, there’d be a way to remove it. However, they probably would just reinstall upon you if it became obvious that your computer wasn’t phoning in.
It still would be nice to know where to look for it.
I will answer questions.
IMB: Unfortunately detecting novel malware is very hard. I would suspect that a lot of the NSA malware doesn’t even live on disk: when you can reinfect someone so easily, you have it only exist in memory.
But, really, don’t worry about the NSA. The problem is the precedent they set: if you do anything of international economic significance, there is now a UN full of possible attackers.
Oh, minor nit, I’m a researcher at the International Computer Science Institute (in Berkeley) and a visiting researcher at UCSD. All opinions are my own.
given the information now available, it probably got packaged with chrome, ie, firefox, opera (english), safari, et aliae after delivery of notice from your not so secret anymore government courts and goon squads. they could have built it into windows, os?, and ubuntu system files using the same wetware vulnerability. those notices that aren’t allowed public discussion are very much a security threat to the global economy.
they couldn’t keep up, so they had to “cheat”.
I’m not worried so much as I am pissed off about the whole thing.
It’s all very well and good that this is public knowledge, and embarrassing to those responsible. We’d like the takeaway lesson to be, Don’t Do This. But really we all expect the real lesson here is, Don’t get caught again. Unless heads roll, we can expect a better packaged, more secure TIA and COINTELPRO that are no less chilling, just harder to reveal.
not always easy to recover. 
embarrassment <> accountability
close will not do, i agree.
Let’s deweaponize, and love some more, shall we?
It’s up to us…
As pissed off as we both are, you have to admire their sneakiness and tenacity. These are probably some of the few TLA body employees actually doing their job effectively!
Word. This merely gives others a template for better exploits.
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