Technology / Computers
NSA spies on computers worldwide, but not in the US
15 Jan 2014 at 00:04hrs | Views
Washington - The US National Security Agency has implanted software in nearly 100 000 computers around the world - but not in the US - that allows the US to conduct surveillance on those machines, The New York Times reported on Tuesday.
The Times cited NSA documents, computer experts and US officials in its report about the use of secret technology using radio waves to gain access to computers that other countries have tried to protect from spying or cyber attacks. The software network could also create a digital highway for launching cyber attacks, the Times reports.
The Times reported that the technology, used by the agency for several years, relies on radio waves that can be transmitted from tiny circuit boards and USB cards inserted covertly into the computers.
The NSA calls the effort an "active defence" and has used the technology to monitor units of the Chinese Army, the Russian military, drug cartels, trade institutions inside the EU, and sometime US partners against terrorism like Saudi Arabia, India and Pakistan, the Times reported.
Among the most frequent targets of the NSA and US Cyber Command, the Times reported, has been the Chinese Army. The US has accused the Chinese Army of launching regular attacks on American industrial and military targets, often to steal secrets or intellectual property.
Spy map
When Chinese attackers have placed similar software on computer systems of American companies or government agencies, American officials have protested, the newspaper reported.
The NSA says the technology has not been used in computers in the US.
"NSA's activities are focused and specifically deployed against - and only against - valid foreign intelligence targets in response to intelligence requirements," Vanee Vines, an agency spokesperson, said in a statement to the Times.
"We do not use foreign intelligence capabilities to steal the trade secrets of foreign companies on behalf of - or give intelligence we collect to - US companies to enhance their international competitiveness or increase their bottom line."
Parts of the programme have been disclosed in documents leaked by Edward Snowden, the former NSA systems analyst, the Times reported.
A Dutch newspaper published the map showing where the US has inserted spy software, sometimes with the help of local authorities. Der Spiegel, a German newsmagazine, published information about the NSA's hardware products that can secretly transmit and receive signals from computers, according to the Times.
The Times said that it withheld some of those details, at the request of US intelligence officials, when it reported in 2012 on American cyber attacks on Iran.
The Times cited NSA documents, computer experts and US officials in its report about the use of secret technology using radio waves to gain access to computers that other countries have tried to protect from spying or cyber attacks. The software network could also create a digital highway for launching cyber attacks, the Times reports.
The Times reported that the technology, used by the agency for several years, relies on radio waves that can be transmitted from tiny circuit boards and USB cards inserted covertly into the computers.
The NSA calls the effort an "active defence" and has used the technology to monitor units of the Chinese Army, the Russian military, drug cartels, trade institutions inside the EU, and sometime US partners against terrorism like Saudi Arabia, India and Pakistan, the Times reported.
Among the most frequent targets of the NSA and US Cyber Command, the Times reported, has been the Chinese Army. The US has accused the Chinese Army of launching regular attacks on American industrial and military targets, often to steal secrets or intellectual property.
Spy map
The NSA says the technology has not been used in computers in the US.
"NSA's activities are focused and specifically deployed against - and only against - valid foreign intelligence targets in response to intelligence requirements," Vanee Vines, an agency spokesperson, said in a statement to the Times.
"We do not use foreign intelligence capabilities to steal the trade secrets of foreign companies on behalf of - or give intelligence we collect to - US companies to enhance their international competitiveness or increase their bottom line."
Parts of the programme have been disclosed in documents leaked by Edward Snowden, the former NSA systems analyst, the Times reported.
A Dutch newspaper published the map showing where the US has inserted spy software, sometimes with the help of local authorities. Der Spiegel, a German newsmagazine, published information about the NSA's hardware products that can secretly transmit and receive signals from computers, according to the Times.
The Times said that it withheld some of those details, at the request of US intelligence officials, when it reported in 2012 on American cyber attacks on Iran.
Source - Ap
