I came across this in Spiegel today:
The NSA's TAO hacking unit is considered to be the intelligence agency's top secret weapon. It maintains its own covert network, infiltrates computers around the world and even intercepts shipping deliveries to plant back doors in electronics ordered by those it is targeting.
Do you feel safer now? I sure do.
2 comments:
The origins of the NSA can be traced back to 1917, know then as the Cipher Bureau or Black Chamber. The Chamber persuaded Western Union to allow the government to monitor its private communication messages. Western Union being the largest telegram company at the time, a technology similar to today's texting and emails.
Deciphering of The Zimmerman Telegram ( http://www.nsa.gov/public_info/_files/cryptologic_quarterly/the_zimmermann_telegram.pdf ) was considered a major triumph of World War I.
The Black Chamber was dissolved in 1929 - forgotten but never really gone. When the government decides the best way to keep track of things is to exchange our SSA card for an implanted chip in our brains, remember precedent has already been established for data collection by the NSA.
We are lucky to have lived in a free age, you and I. Thanks for the comment.
Post a Comment