NSA tampers with US-made internet routers
Iran Press TV
Tue May 13, 2014 12:32PM GMT
The US National Security Agency has been secretly intercepting US Internet servers heading overseas in an attempt to spy on all data transactions of targeted customers.
The US has long accused China of spying on customers using Chinese routers and other Internet devices. However, a leaked NSA document shows Washington has been conducting the same kind of spying activity it accused Beijing of being engaged in.
The new document was published in prominent journalist Glenn Greenwald's latest book on NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden titled 'No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the N.S.A., and the U.S. Surveillance State' published Tuesday.
According to the book, a June 2010 report from the head of the NSA's Access and Target Development department revealed that the US spy agency routinely receives – or intercepts- routers, servers, and other computer network devices which are being exported from the US and are on their way to be delivered to the international customers.
The NSA then implants backdoor spying tools, repackages the devices with a factory seal, and sends them away to the customers.
This way, the agency gains access to entire networks and their users. The document even admits that some 'SIGINT tradecraft … is very hands-on (literally!)'.
Eventually, the implanted device connects back to the NSA. 'In one recent case, after several months a beacon implanted through supply-chain interdiction called back to the NSA covert infrastructure. This call back provided us access to further exploit the device and survey the network,' the report reads.
The book reveals that years of US efforts to warn people against Chinese network technologies and accuse Beijing of using backdoor surveillance functionality to spy on users was not only an economic strategy to reduce China's sales but also a strategy to gain intelligence and surveillance advantage over China.
AN/ISH
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