[HN Gopher] The NSA Selector
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The NSA Selector
Author : anigbrowl
Score : 140 points
Date : 2025-05-20 18:30 UTC (4 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (github.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
| rekttrader wrote:
| This is killer art
| cole-k wrote:
| This went over my head at first, but I really like it. So for
| those like me: it converts network traffic into audio output.
|
| YouTube explainer: https://youtu.be/vfgySTaM1TI
| tobyjsullivan wrote:
| For those interested in hearing some beats, the terminal demo
| starts at 4:34 https://youtu.be/vfgySTaM1TI?t=274
| m463 wrote:
| No Such Agen^H^H^H^HAttachment
| tptacek wrote:
| There used to be a thing on SunOS (I think) where you'd get
| `ping` to write to /dev/audio so you could diagnose network stuff
| by sound.
| fuddy wrote:
| One of the funnier parameters to encounter in the snoop
| manpage.
| monster_truck wrote:
| You can still do this with /dev/dsp or similar. Might need sudo
| these days
|
| `cat /dev/urandom > /dev/dsp`
| jdthedisciple wrote:
| thanks this almost crashed my pc
| dylan604 wrote:
| some people learn the hard way that blindly copying and
| pasting things from the interweb directly to a terminal is
| not always the best of ideas. some times, they're bloody
| brilliant
| dgfitz wrote:
| curl $url | bash is probably the only worse culprit.
| 0xbadcafebee wrote:
| This one saves files to disk more efficiently by skipping
| the OS's bloated slow filesystem drivers and metadata.
| The bigger the file and faster the connection, the more
| efficient it is! sudo curl -o /dev/sda
| https://testfile.org/files-5GB
| nicce wrote:
| Some people are just evil.
| schoen wrote:
| You can "ping -a" nowadays to get beeps for each reply, but
| it's not quite as cool!
| amelius wrote:
| Cool, but I was hoping for some 80s era modem sounds.
| riknos314 wrote:
| > if possible disable encryption, then you can profit from not
| only timing pattern (of white noise), but also listen in on the
| plaintext payload. the NSA loves plaintext.
|
| Haha, incredible.
|
| On a more serious note this is a really cool idea. Would be
| interesting to listen to the same origin traffic in different
| network conditions to hear things like TCP rate control.
| ww520 wrote:
| Good for network wiring diagnostic. It would be great if it can
| pipe the noise to Bluetooth audio. I can pair a headphone to it,
| plug this into the network in another room and still can hear it
| while checking the line connections on the switch/router.
| hnuser123456 wrote:
| That audio port is blasting out a total bandwidth of 100 Mbps
| (4 bits at 25 MHz) versus 768 Kbps for BT audio, assuming a
| high quality codec (16 bits at 48 KHz), so not without loss.
| danesparza wrote:
| The Snowden silkscreen is a nice touch. What a great hardware
| build!
| TiredOfLife wrote:
| Snowden outside Putler inside.
| rurban wrote:
| Don't forget the GHCQ which installs a mirror on each UK modem. I
| don't think the NSA goes to these extremes
| godman_8 wrote:
| I've worked with quite a few ISPs and exchanges. I haven't set
| up port mirrors for the NSA but I have setup temporary mirrors
| for the FBI upon request.
| 0xbadcafebee wrote:
| The NSA/govt gets its own dedicated floor in some DCs, esp.
| large interconnects
| 1317 wrote:
| You can also achieve something like this with a powerline
| networking adapter + a shortwave radio
|
| bit evil really, they shit up almost the entire 0-30mhz
|
| but they do work...
| simpaticoder wrote:
| Really cool, but has anyone built software to do this locally on
| a PC? For example: sudo tcpdump -i "eth0" -w -
| -U | aplay -f S16_LE -r 44100
| jll29 wrote:
| In NSA parlance, a "selector" primarily is a string that semi-
| uniquely identifies and addresses a persons intercepted data,
| such as
|
| - an IP address,
|
| - an email address,
|
| - a phone number,
|
| - a SIM card's MSIN
|
| - a person's social security number,
|
| - a national ID card number,
|
| - a passport number,
|
| - a social media handle etc.
|
| (elsewhere also known as "accessor", "key", "handle" or "index")
| jonathanstrange wrote:
| They are interesting because combining and updating them is a
| non-trivial problem, as I've realized today while implementing
| a user ban system.
| Terr_ wrote:
| There's a certain system I work with where random visitors on
| the internet can supply any name, phone, or email of they're
| choosing, with no validation... And of course, the business
| wants to somehow convert that into a list of "real people"
| and start correlating it to other records.
|
| I've been trying to stop anything too terrible from happening
| by asking them what the business requirements are for
| handling malicious impersonation, or for ambiguous cases
| where there's a many-to-many correlation between emails and
| phone numbers.
| dylan604 wrote:
| Since he's building a sequencer, I'm almost disappointed it
| wasn't named Selecta.
|
| Rewind Bo Selecta!!
| desertmonad wrote:
| Imagining in a server farm. Cool project!
| hottakesbun wrote:
| The joke is on him - I used to get this functionality for free
| way back in the day when (what I presume was) RF noise generated
| during the processing of ethernet traffic would get picked up by
| my cheap ISA sound card and sent to the speakers. I never built a
| sequencer out of it though.
| sevensor wrote:
| Back in college, I would listen to AM radio while I worked on
| my computer. The radio would pick up electrical noise from the
| keyboard and the mechanical mouse. I wonder if this sounds
| anything like it.
| psunavy03 wrote:
| Cool idea to audio-ize network traffic. Artwork is peak edgelord
| cringe, though . . .
| als0 wrote:
| Stuff like this is exactly why I come to Hacker News.
| Liftyee wrote:
| Great idea and +1 for excellent PCB art!
| phendrenad2 wrote:
| Can you say "calm down my selector"?
| yapyap wrote:
| So ridiculous, love it
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