>>2382
>Firmware hacks were heard of since at least the late 1980's
Yes but there is a big difference between "this is possible" and "here is exactly how the NSA's bugs work, and what they look like".
>It...sounds like a limited hangout though.
Well yeah, because a limited hangout is deception, so it's supposed to look accidental. I don't think it is beause it leaked far too much actionable stuff. For instance, it tipped off Google that NSA was directly inside their datacenter, so they started encrypting between machines even inside their datacenters.
>he's leaking years old intel on a semi-annual basis through a reporter with a terrible track record in journalism.
It's not that old, but yes. As far as Greenwald, he picked Greenwald because out of all the mainstream people he could pick, GW has been consistently pro-whistleblower, pro-freespeech, and has always had a confrontational relationship with power. It was a good choice even though I don't like Greenwald personally (he's a shithead on Islam for instance.)
>dude you do realize everyone thinks most, if not all VPNs are already compromised?
It's my job, and again there's a big difference between "gov could do this" and "here is exactly how gov is doing this".
>Compare coverage of Assange/Snowden to someone like Barret Brown.
Assange got plenty of coverage. As far as Brown, the scope of his leaks were not anywhere near the breadth of Snowden's.
I'm not trying to be a jerk, but I've heard all this before. There's basically nobody with experience with intel or nsa that thinks Snowden is a plant. They appreciate how damaging the leaks were. Look, even if Americans themselves are too stupid to act on this information, every other government on the planet will act on it. There's an argument that other goverments already know this stuff. Russia I'm sure knows a lot, but there's many other smaller countries that didn't, and now they know exactly how NSA spies on them and can act to prevent it.