Let's have some fun!
90 2013-10-02 by [deleted]
When this idea spontaneously occurred to me, I shot my coffee out of my nose. Hopefully you'll enjoy it also.
Open a new tab in Firefox and type about:config into the address bar.
If the warning pops up, click the button that says "I'll be careful, I promise!"
Right-click anywhere on the settings list and select "New" in the contextual menu. You want to create a new string.
Where is says "Enter the preference name," enter general.useragent.override
In the next box, enter XKeyscore (www.nsa.gov)
Go visit the websites of foreign embassies and various news outlets.
Bonus points: modify Tor in the manner specified above and then visit the Chinese Embassy (www.china-embassy.org/eng/) in NYC.
Edit: you can verify that you did it correctly by visiting http://www.whatsmyuseragent.com/
38 comments
15 GrandpaSkitzo 2013-10-02
I have no idea what Im doing.....but ok!
10 [deleted] 2013-10-02
[deleted]
3 GrandpaSkitzo 2013-10-02
Now i get it! This is brilliant and stupendous! 😬
2 WhoIsOBrien 2013-10-02
I still don't get it. Do you mind explaining?
1 GrandpaSkitzo 2013-10-02
It makes it look to the other embassies like NSA is spying on them. Your name shows up as the NSA instead of your normal computer's id. And when they see hundreds of tags with that same name on their logs, they should freak out.
2 Slimlenny 2013-10-02
dammit grandpa
-2 toneii 2013-10-02
Always an intelligent response...
15 [deleted] 2013-10-02
[deleted]
2 MrPSAGuy 2013-10-02
They shouldn't tell them their real name when they do it though. They should probably just not use a name at all!
5 Aikawa_Kizuna 2013-10-02
So... What exactly does this do?
3 [deleted] 2013-10-02
My understanding is that it makes it appear that you are the NSA. So anyone interested in checking who pinged their websites will see that the NSA has. If Anon gets involved, they may see that the NSA has pinged their site several thousands times in a day, which would be an irking realization.
2 Aikawa_Kizuna 2013-10-02
The actual NSA probably does this anyway. For all we know, this could be a tactic to try and obscure the actual movements of the NSA.
3 [deleted] 2013-10-02
Yeah, that's possible. It's pretty likely that the gov plants agents everywhere. From twitter to abovetopsecret. Be it for spying, or simply for misinformation. It is't much of a stretch to think there are some right here in reddit. If down the road the NSA gets caught snooping someone they shouldn't, they can just point to this reddit thread. "Wasn't us! Those dang cyber terrorists are framing us!" It's a convenient scapegoat for down the road. Who knows though. Could be a bit if a stretch.
1 Aikawa_Kizuna 2013-10-02
Well what do you think Conspiratard is? It's 99% government shills that exist only to try and mock people with critical thinking skills.
0 4too 2013-10-02
A large number of conspiratard users are Jews who are there to mock and derail any criticism of Israel or Zionism.
3 [deleted] 2013-10-02
[deleted]
3 The-Internets 2013-10-02
There are 83+ other identifiers that you would need to spoof on windows for this to work properly.
1 Aikawa_Kizuna 2013-10-02
But it could be used to disguise their actual activity. If 10,000 people appear to be the NSA accessing a website, how will they know which one is the actual NSA?
4 [deleted] 2013-10-02
[deleted]
1 TheWiredWorld 2013-10-02
How will it draw attention?
2 Afro_Samurai 2013-10-02
It doesn't.
1 [deleted] 2013-10-02
Oh. Alright then.
4 Richard_M_Lurkmoar 2013-10-02
You can do this in Chrome by going into Developer Tools (Ctrl Shift I), then settings (gear in lower right), then overrides tab, then change 'User Agent' to 'Other' and enter 'XKeyscore'.
Note: Developer Tools must remain open for the override to be used
As to what this does, simplified: your user agent is how your browser identifies itself to a web server, and the content returned by the server may be different depending on the user agent, e.g. a user agent that ids itself as 'Iphone' or 'Android' will see the mobile version of a site. Web server logs will show user agents - in this case, they'll see 'XKeyscore' as a user hitting their web servers, likely resulting in soiled undergarments.
3 mcjiggawhat 2013-10-02
and?
1 [deleted] 2013-10-02
[deleted]
2 mcjiggawhat 2013-10-02
Yes, thanks. I looked it up after I asked.
3 moparornocar 2013-10-02
it didn't work for me on Chrome.
5 Richard_M_Lurkmoar 2013-10-02
you have to keep the developer tools window open
2 thewongguy 2013-10-02
istill don't understand...what does this do?
3 Richard_M_Lurkmoar 2013-10-02
causes 'XKeyscore' to appear in web server activity logs instead of 'Firefox' or 'Chrome' or 'Iphone', etc.
2 fredman555 2013-10-02
someone give this man some gold!
1 WhoIsOBrien 2013-10-02
What is the point of this?
1 fredman555 2013-10-02
of giving him gold? more of a gesture of goodwill than anything
1 WhoIsOBrien 2013-10-02
No... I meant the purpose of his instructions... but I got it now.
2 ShouldHaveSaidNO 2013-10-02
I had to google the significance of "XkeyScore" because I am retarded but now I really like this idea.
2 MarlboroMundo 2013-10-02
Imma do this when I get home
2 [deleted] 2013-10-02
[deleted]
1 MarlboroMundo 2013-10-02
Okay.
Sorry for my ignorance but what will this exactly do?
2 Gibbie_X_Zenocide 2013-10-02
step 7: Profit!!
1 [deleted] 2013-10-02
[deleted]
2 [deleted] 2013-10-02
[deleted]
2 [deleted] 2013-10-02
This didn't come from 4chan.
I am impressed
1 [deleted] 2013-10-02
[deleted]
1 ashiron2 2013-10-02
It has been oh so long since I have visited /b/ ... I don't dare check on how much that creature has evolved... but someone should bring it up with them.
0 [deleted] 2013-10-02
Oh I don't dare visiting them anytime soon, it is too much for my head. There's a sub of them here, you could post there yourself /r/4chan
It would be better if it was posted by the original poster and not by someone called "gayunicorn6969"
2 TheWiredWorld 2013-10-02
"GayUnicorn6969" - you DON'T visit 4chan...?
0 ashiron2 2013-10-02
I can't believe I haven't thought of this, I had been playing with canary as I am trying to develop a webrtc app at the moment and I have wandered past this incredible opportunity several times a day...how did I not see it? you sir, are a fine gentleman!
1 Aikawa_Kizuna 2013-10-02
But it could be used to disguise their actual activity. If 10,000 people appear to be the NSA accessing a website, how will they know which one is the actual NSA?
3 The-Internets 2013-10-02
There are 83+ other identifiers that you would need to spoof on windows for this to work properly.