From
Ars Technica:
A document included in the trove of National Security Agency files released with Glenn Greenwald’s book No Place to Hide
details how the agency’s Tailored Access Operations (TAO) unit and
other NSA employees intercept servers, routers, and other network gear
being shipped to organizations targeted for surveillance and install
covert implant firmware onto them before they’re delivered.
These Trojan horse systems were described by an NSA manager as being
“some of the most productive operations in TAO because they pre-position
access points into hard target networks around the world.”
The document, a June 2010 internal newsletter article by the chief of
the NSA’s Access and Target Development department (S3261)
includes photos . . . of NSA employees opening the shipping box for a
Cisco router and installing beacon firmware with a “load station”
designed specifically for the task.
Today, the CEO of Cisco has written a letter to President Obama against these sleazy practices, which make everyone less safe. From
the CBC:
Cisco Systems Inc's chief executive officer has written a letter to
U.S. President Barack Obama urging him to curtail government
surveillance after evidence circulated showing the U.S. National
Security Agency had intercepted Cisco equipment, a company spokesman
said on Sunday.
In a letter dated May 15, John Chambers, chief executive officer and
chairman of the networking equipment giant, warned of an erosion of
confidence in the U.S. technology industry and called for new "standards
of conduct" in how the NSA conducts its surveillance.
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