Source: www.schneier.com – Author: Bruce Schneier
Comments
Clive Robinson •
@ Bruce, ALL,
I never did pull a genuine one apart to reverse engineer…
But there were several stories floating around…
One of which was the genuine Furby randomly recorded and played back audio it identified as Speach…
If this is true or not for a genuine Furby I don’t know, it certainly was not for the couple of “knock offs” I did pull appart.
So to this day I’m skeptical for various reasons.
But… The meer thought it could be true did indeed cause a major panic in certain “establishment” places in the UK with secretaries who had a fondness for the mechanical toys got told they had to “hand them in” and not bring them into the offices ever again.
One story had it that the recordings would record “typing noise” and thus reveal what was being typed…
If there was a recording device then yes this would certainly have been a risk.
Oddly the knowledge about Russia putting recording devices in IBM Selectric Typerwrighters in the US Embassy in Moscow was at best an “open secret” in the UK and Europe, whilst in the US it was still apparently clasified “Way up and beyond the whoosie” (what ever that means 😉
Life gets odd sometimes.
Delos •
”’ can’t take this FURBY post seriously with such vague sourcing — it’s just empty gossip as presented here
echo •
Reading through that FOI was an interesting look into bureaucracy and reputation management!
In contrast the New York Times is deleting employees internal Slack messages critical of Pamela Paul’s transphobic disinformation. Employees are complaining about a “hostile work environment”.
Authenticity and Pride in the Workplace: Travis’s NSA Journey
And:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/ny-times-fires-off-warning-to-staffers-after-trans-coverage-brouhaha
NY Times Fires Off Warning to Staffers After Trans Coverage Brouhahahttps://translash.org/transcript-capturing-the-new-york-times/
TRANSCRIPT: ‘Capturing The New York Times’
Presumably the NYT would throw a fit if someone brought a glitter ball into work. In which case email trails of “don’t put it in email” and “shut up” would look condemning.
https://www.nytimes.com/editorial-standards/ethical-journalism.html#ourDutyToOurReaders
The Times treats its readers as fairly and openly as possible. In print and online, we tell our readers the complete, unvarnished truth as best we can learn it. It is our policy to correct our errors, large and small, as soon as we become aware of them.
[…]
Staff members who plagiarize or who knowingly or recklessly provide false information for publication betray our fundamental pact with our readers. We will not tolerate such behavior.
And:
Times readers apply exacting standards to the entire paper. They do not distinguish between staff written articles and those written by outsiders. Thus as far as possible, freelance contributors to The Times, while not its employees, will be held to the same standards as staff members when they are on Times assignments, including those for the Times Magazine. If they violate these guidelines, they will be denied further assignments.
Snort.
You would expect the NSA to be careful because if they’re not people die.
You would expect the media to be careful because if they’re not people die.
One takes the job seriously. The other does not.
MK •
I know Dave Hampton, and have several Furbys. It was a true tour-de-force of mechanical engineering and programming. They never recorded anything. They would respond to another Furby (via infrared link) and sing a lulaby before going to sleep. It’s amazing what a 6502 could do.
echo •
GCHQ is excluded from FOI requests. You can ask for environmental information but that has a public interest threshold. Subject Data Access Requests have national security exemptions.
This article is old but still relevant.
https://www.ft.com/content/ccc68ffc-7c1e-11e9-81d2-f785092ab560
Five years ago, Rob, a 38-year-old father of two, was fitting kitchens and bathrooms for a living. Now he is a digital spy. As one of GCHQ’s army of cyber analysts, he monitors global counter-intelligence targets in countries he cannot disclose for national security reasons.
[…]
One of the ways GCHQ hopes to attract new hires and convince existing staff to stay is by publicising its willingness to embrace people from a wide range of backgrounds. In 2015, the Cheltenham “doughnut” was lit up in rainbow colours to support the LGBT community, and the agency is trying to recruit more black and Asian staff. It also actively seeks people who class themselves as neurodiverse, with conditions including autism, Asperger’s syndrome and learning difficulties such as dyslexia, dyspraxia or dyscalculia.
Officials believe people with such conditions can approach difficult problems from completely different angles. GCHQ even has a well-established club, the Think Differently group. Its chair, Mike, a senior project manager, says he landed his current role despite being both dyslexic and dyspraxic and having problems with his short-term memory.
Mike says his memory problems can turn routine tasks, such as remembering how to get to a certain meeting room, into an ordeal. But he adds: “I’m great at problem-solving.”
A steady job without getting crap from the boss is a good motivator. Another plus is all these far right leaning states and organisations do is create a workforce more motivated to take them down.
Does he ever feel guilty snooping around someone’s digital profile? “No. Because everything you do is for a reason. I trust in the organisation and the wider government to be correct in that process.”
Steve, a senior security official who sits in on a number of my interviews to ensure no one breaks the UK’s Official Secrets Act, chips in: “People think we’re cowboys and we’re not.”
I cringe to think what’s in mine. It’s one reason why I’d never apply for a job there. I’d die of embarrassment.
&ers •
@ALL
So the NSA Furby documents ended up on archive.org.
hxxps://archive.org/details/nsa-furby-memo/
Maybe our host can add that link to the posting above?
Original 404media is behind the paywall. Free registration,
sure, but we don’t know when they get hacked and email will leak.
So i used a free disposable email address.
Erdem Memisyazici •
As a 10 year old kid in Turkey back in 1998 I was excited to put batteries in a Furby for the first time to witness all the amazing things it can learn. A few weeks later my brother and I were very much surprised to see that it ended up speaking English.
lurker •
@echo
NYT used to be a Journal of Record, but now they’re asking not only that I turn js on, but also turn my adblocker off. Nope, I can get real news elsewhere, and their opinions are now rather stale and boring.
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Original Post URL: https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2024/02/documents-about-the-nsas-banning-of-furby-toys-in-the-1990s.html
Category & Tags: Uncategorized,children,FOIA,NSA – Uncategorized,children,FOIA,NSA
