mick silver
15th January 2014, 09:08 AM
Revealed: NSA has hacked into 100,000 computers around the world - including some which are not even connected to the internet
The spy agency claims none of the computers are in the United States
The spy software could create a digital highway for launching cyberattacks
Parts of the program were disclosed on documents leaked by Edward Snowden
By AP (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=&authornamef=Ap)
PUBLISHED: 00:28 EST, 15 January 2014 | UPDATED: 08:40 EST, 15 January 2014
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The National Security Agency has implanted software in nearly 100,000 computers around the world - but not in the United States - that allows the U.S. to conduct surveillance on those machines, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
The Times cited NSA documents, computer experts and U.S. 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 cyberattacks.
The agency has planted most of the software through getting access to computer networks, but has also used a secret technology that allows it entry even to computers not connected to the Internet, the Times said, citing U.S. officials, computer experts and documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
The software network could also create a digital highway for launching cyberattacks.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/01/15/article-0-1AABFECF00000578-393_634x426.jpgWatching: The NSA has implanted software into 100,000 computers around the world that allow it to conduct surveillance on those machines
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/01/15/article-0-1AABB1C900000578-95_634x408.jpgThe agency claims that of the 100,000 computers it has tapped, none of them are in the United States
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 defense" and has used the technology to monitor units of the Chinese Army, the Russian military, drug cartels, trade institutions inside the European Union, and sometime U.S. partners against terrorism like Saudi Arabia, India and Pakistan, the Times reported.
Among the most frequent targets of the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command, the Times reported, has been the Chinese Army. The United States has accused the Chinese Army of launching regular attacks on American industrial and military targets, often to steal secrets or intellectual property. When Chinese attackers have placed similar software on computer systems of American companies or government agencies, American officials have protested, the newspaper reported.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/01/15/article-0-1A80F6C100000578-68_634x417.jpgAttacks: The NSA's software network could also create a digital highway for launching cyberattacks
The NSA says the technology has not been used in computers in the U.S.
'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 spokeswoman, 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 - U.S. companies to enhance their international competitiveness or increase their bottom line.'
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/01/15/article-0-1A3B859B000005DC-186_634x544.jpgLeaked: Parts of the program have been disclosed in documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden
Parts of the program 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 United States 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 U.S. intelligence officials, when it reported in summer 2012 on American cyberattacks on Iran.
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The spy agency claims none of the computers are in the United States
The spy software could create a digital highway for launching cyberattacks
Parts of the program were disclosed on documents leaked by Edward Snowden
By AP (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=&authornamef=Ap)
PUBLISHED: 00:28 EST, 15 January 2014 | UPDATED: 08:40 EST, 15 January 2014
114 shares
32
View
comments
(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2539683/NSA-implanted-software-100-000-computers-world-capable-launching-cyberattacks-against-enemies-U-S.html#comments)
The National Security Agency has implanted software in nearly 100,000 computers around the world - but not in the United States - that allows the U.S. to conduct surveillance on those machines, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
The Times cited NSA documents, computer experts and U.S. 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 cyberattacks.
The agency has planted most of the software through getting access to computer networks, but has also used a secret technology that allows it entry even to computers not connected to the Internet, the Times said, citing U.S. officials, computer experts and documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
The software network could also create a digital highway for launching cyberattacks.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/01/15/article-0-1AABFECF00000578-393_634x426.jpgWatching: The NSA has implanted software into 100,000 computers around the world that allow it to conduct surveillance on those machines
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/01/15/article-0-1AABB1C900000578-95_634x408.jpgThe agency claims that of the 100,000 computers it has tapped, none of them are in the United States
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 defense" and has used the technology to monitor units of the Chinese Army, the Russian military, drug cartels, trade institutions inside the European Union, and sometime U.S. partners against terrorism like Saudi Arabia, India and Pakistan, the Times reported.
Among the most frequent targets of the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command, the Times reported, has been the Chinese Army. The United States has accused the Chinese Army of launching regular attacks on American industrial and military targets, often to steal secrets or intellectual property. When Chinese attackers have placed similar software on computer systems of American companies or government agencies, American officials have protested, the newspaper reported.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/01/15/article-0-1A80F6C100000578-68_634x417.jpgAttacks: The NSA's software network could also create a digital highway for launching cyberattacks
The NSA says the technology has not been used in computers in the U.S.
'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 spokeswoman, 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 - U.S. companies to enhance their international competitiveness or increase their bottom line.'
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/01/15/article-0-1A3B859B000005DC-186_634x544.jpgLeaked: Parts of the program have been disclosed in documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden
Parts of the program 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 United States 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 U.S. intelligence officials, when it reported in summer 2012 on American cyberattacks on Iran.
Share or comment on this article
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2539683/NSA-implanted-software-100-000-computers-world-capable-launching-cyberattacks-against-enemies-U-S.html#ixzz2qU4JkY6Z
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter (http://ec.tynt.com/b/rw?id=bBOTTqvd0r3Pooab7jrHcU&u=MailOnline) | DailyMail on Facebook (http://ec.tynt.com/b/rf?id=bBOTTqvd0r3Pooab7jrHcU&u=DailyMail)