CIA & FBI can neither confirm nor deny they know about these Operating Systems

Date:
Thu, 29 Dec 2022 19:17:30 GMT

Description:
Gentoo Linux, OpenBSD, and even Windows Vista are hush-hush.

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After I published The CIA invests in these Tech companies , it was pointed out to me by one of The Lunduke Journal Community members that the CIA had rejected a Freedom of Information Act Request for documentation about the
Plan 9 operating system.

Not joking. Heres the rejection letter from the CIA: The FOIA rejection letter from the CIA.

Thats right. When it comes to Plan 9 (an open source research OS originating at Bell Labs in the early 1990s), the CIA can neither confirm nor deny the existence or nonexistence of records about it. The Lunduke Journal can
neither confirm nor deny that this is a screenshot of Plan 9.

Which is pretty doggone funny. Id like to imagine that Plan 9 is part of
some complex spy program. Possibly involving Nazis. And space lasers.

But this got me thinking What other Operating Systems can the CIA neither confirm nor deny knowing about?

Lets find out! Linux and the CIA / FBI

Well, according to the CIA, they know nothing at all about Gentoo Linux .

This isnt even a can not confirm nor deny scenario The CIA straight up says, without ambiguity , theyve never even heard of Gentoo Linux . No memos, emails, letters or reports that even casually mention the existence of Gentoo Linux.

Harsh!

Same goes for Yggdrasil , one of the earliest Linux distributions (from back in 1992).

How about for Qubes OS (a security focused Linux distribution)? Turns out
the FBI can neither confirm nor deny that one .

Same with TAILS a desktop Linux system designed to be used for whistleblowers, journalists, and others who might need extreme privacy. We get a Neither confirm nor deny by the CIA.

This time, an appeal was filed that appeal was drum-roll please rejected by the CIA (theyre sticking with the whole neither confirm nor deny thing).

But, heres a crazy bit. The same FOIA request was sent to the FBI regarding TAILS and the FBI accepted it ! Took a little back and forth, but the FBI released at least some documentation showing they know what TAILS is.

As far as I am aware, this is the only Freedom of Information Act Request where a government agency has acknowledged the existence of Linux at all . Which is a little amusing.

Also interesting While the FBI admits to knowledge of TAILS they refuse to confirm or deny the existence of records that shows the FBI actually uses TAILS. From the FBIs response to the TAILS FOIA .

OK, FBI. Got it. You can neither confirm nor deny that you use TAILS. Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge. Say know more. Know what I mean, know what I mean. BSD and the CIA / FBI

What about BSD? Well. It turns out that the FBI is willing to admit a
little knowledge of OpenBSD . How much knowledge? One document.

A single, highly redacted, document detailing a time (in 2002) when the openbsd.org servers were hacked. In Canada.

Thats it, and thats all. Otherwise the FBI claims to have no knowledge of this OpenBSD thingamajig.

The CIA, on the other hand, can say it with me now! neither confirm nor deny that theyve ever heard of OpenBSD.

Riiiiiight. Microsoft Windows and the NSA

What about Windows? Surely theres some interesting stuff the CIA, FBI or other agencies know about Windows!

Well, as it turns out, there is only publicly published FOIA request that we know of at the moment that asks about Windows. Specifically, it requests documents relating to the NSAs evaluation of Windows Vista .

Seriously.

And, while the NSA admits they have documents about Windows Vista they cant let the public know whats in those documents.

Because obviously Windows Vista is a national security issue. Or something. On the hunt for more

I have yet to be able to find FOIA requests for MS-DOS, AmigaOS, NetBSD,
BeOS, PalmOS, Ubuntu, or many others. But I shall not give up the quest!

Because this is just too much fun.

Dont forget to check out these recent premium articles from The Lunduke Journal:

The CIA invests in these Tech companies

Report: Over 33 Million Desktop Linux users, worldwide

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Link to news story: https://lunduke.substack.com/p/cia-and-fbi-can-neither-confirm-nor


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