2013 has not been kind to the National Security Agency (NSA), which has found itself at the center of national and global debates on whether its data collection programs were lawful. And, a new report, that claims that NSA may have intercepted electronics products purchased online to install spyware on these devices before sending them off to their unsuspecting owners is ertain to add fuel to the fire.
The allegations of package interception were first made by German newspaper Der Spiegel. The report details the methods that the NSA uses to gain access to computers as well as other devices owned by persons of interest to the agency.
According to the report, employees of the NSA's Tailored Access Operations group, or TAO for short, have the capabilities to intercept products like computers and mobile devices that were purchased online. Once these devices have been intercepted, TAO can then install backdoor programs and spyware to help the agency keep track of all activities on the devices. In addition to TAO, NSA's ANT division ((presumably short for Advanced/Access Network Technology) also has access to a wide variety of tools that can be used to add backdoors to many electronics products out in the market today. These tools can be used to access hard drives from companies like Western Digital and Seagate as well as networking devices from Huawei and Cisco. The list goes on.
The report published by Der Spiegel also indicates that some of the tools that the NSA uses can allow the agency almost permanent access to devices. Even if the owners of affected products resets, formats or wipes everything from their devices, some of the backdoor programs and spyware can still work.
While the new revelations are alarming, the report also hints that the companies who manufactured the devices indicated in the report were unaware of NSA's interception activities. In fact, some companies like Cisco have already sent word to Spiegel stating that it they were not involved in any coordinated activities with the NSA regarding the interception of these devices.
While the NSA has yet to confirm or deny these allegations, the agency is insisting that its TAO division was created to exploit foreign networks.
