NSA Diverted Computers And Laptops From Shipping Facilities To Install Spyware - RawStory

[WillyT]

NSA diverted computers and laptops from shipping facilities to install spyware
By Scott Kaufman - RawStory
Sunday, December 29, 2013 14:39 EST



<snip>

Der Spiegel reported on Sunday that the NSA’s “Tailored Access Operations” (TAO) has been diverting desktops and laptops shipped to U.S. consumers and installing spyware on them.

According to the report, the process, which TAO calls “interdiction,” involves intercepting packages on their way from manufacturers like Dell, Cisco, and Seagate, and installing bugs or spyware on them at a “secret workshop.”

The packages are then reintroduced into the delivery pipeline and arrive at their destination without the consumer ever realizing their machine has been compromised.

When contacted by Der Spiegel, Cisco senior vice president John Stewart said that his company is “deeply concerned with anything that may impact the integrity of our products or our customers’ networks,” and that Cisco does “not work with any government to weaken our products for exploitation.”

Unlike most NSA operations, which rely on remote access to targeted computers and networks, the TAO’s programs offer unprecedented physical access.

<snip>

More: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/12/29/nsa-diverted-computers-and-laptops-from-shipping-facilities-to-install-spyware/

[NYC_SKP]

1. Full article here. Der Spiegel.

Inside TAO: Documents Reveal Top NSA Hacking Unit

By SPIEGEL Staff

In January 2010, numerous homeowners in San Antonio, Texas, stood baffled in front of their closed garage doors. They wanted to drive to work or head off to do their grocery shopping, but their garage door openers had gone dead, leaving them stranded. No matter how many times they pressed the buttons, the doors didn't budge. The problem primarily affected residents in the western part of the city, around Military Drive and the interstate highway known as Loop 410.

ANZEIGE
In the United States, a country of cars and commuters, the mysterious garage door problem quickly became an issue for local politicians. Ultimately, the municipal government solved the riddle. Fault for the error lay with the United States' foreign intelligence service, the National Security Agency, which has offices in San Antonio. Officials at the agency were forced to admit that one of the NSA's radio antennas was broadcasting at the same frequency as the garage door openers. Embarrassed officials at the intelligence agency promised to resolve the issue as quickly as possible, and soon the doors began opening again.

It was thanks to the garage door opener episode that Texans learned just how far the NSA's work had encroached upon their daily lives. For quite some time now, the intelligence agency has maintained a branch with around 2,000 employees at Lackland Air Force Base, also in San Antonio. In 2005, the agency took over a former Sony computer chip plant in the western part of the city. A brisk pace of construction commenced inside this enormous compound. The acquisition of the former chip factory at Sony Place was part of a massive expansion the agency began after the events of Sept. 11, 2001.

On-Call Digital Plumbers

One of the two main buildings at the former plant has since housed a sophisticated NSA unit, one that has benefited the most from this expansion and has grown the fastest in recent years -- the Office of Tailored Access Operations, or TAO. This is the NSA's top operative unit -- something like a squad of plumbers that can be called in when normal access to a target is blocked.

more at link:

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/the-nsa-uses-powerful-toolbox-in-effort-to-spy-on-global-networks-a-940969.html

Related stories here:

http://www.spiegel.de/international/topic/nsa_spying_scandal/

[pscot]

2. This isn't good for business

If you sell tech overseas, like Cisco, HP, Microsoft, IBM...They can't be happy about this kind of crap.

[WillyT]

3. You Ain't Kidding...

NSA Spying Scandal Could Cost U.S. Tech Giants Billions

Link: http://business.time.com/2013/12/10/nsa-spying-scandal-could-cost-u-s-tech-giants-billions/

[Liberal_in_LA]

5. yep. kicking this story to the top

[WillyT]

7. Thank You For That !!!

Alas... some people have come to accept Big Brother... others fully embrace "him".

Sad really.

[WillyT]

4. Kick !!!

[WillyT]

6. Poke... Er... I Mean... Kick !!!

[WillyT]

8. More Here:

Report: NSA intercepts computer deliveries
Raphael Satter - The Associated Press
9 hours ago (12/30/13)

A German magazine lifted the lid on the operations of the National Security Agency's hacking unit Sunday, reporting that American spies intercept computer deliveries, exploit hardware vulnerabilities, and even hijack Microsoft's internal reporting system to spy on their targets.

Der Spiegel's revelations relate to a division of the NSA known as Tailored Access Operations, or TAO, which is painted as an elite team of hackers specializing in stealing data from the toughest of targets.

Citing internal NSA documents, the magazine said Sunday that TAO's mission was "Getting the ungettable," and quoted an unnamed intelligence official as saying that TAO had gathered "some of the most significant intelligence our country has ever seen."

Der Spiegel said TAO had a catalog of high-tech gadgets for particularly hard-to-crack cases, including computer monitor cables specially modified to record what is being typed across the screen, USB sticks secretly fitted with radio transmitters to broadcast stolen data over the airwaves, and fake base stations intended to intercept mobile phone signals on the go.

The NSA doesn't just rely on James Bond-style spy gear, the magazine said. Some of the attacks described by Der Spiegel exploit weaknesses in the architecture of the Internet to deliver malicious software to specific computers. Others take advantage of weaknesses in hardware or software distributed by some of the world's leading information technology companies, including Cisco Systems, Inc. and China's Huawei Technologies Ltd., the magazine reported.

From: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/report-nsa-intercepts-computer-deliveries-2D11820931

[WillyT]

9. So... I Guess You Guys Knew This, Huh ???

Did a search... must have used the wrong keywords.

[MineralMan]

10. And Google created Android.

I am far more concerned about that.

[TheKentuckian]

11. Defund, criminalize, and set up multi million dollar awards for leakers.

[WillyT]

12. Agreed !!!

[Warren DeMontague]

13. How else are they going to catch pot smokers?

Oh, sure, I bet you'd just LET granny smoke that joint.

[WillyT]

14. G'Night All !!!

[Savannahmann]

15. Swell

&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[wildbilln864]

16. k & r! nt

[woo me with science]

17. Corporate fascism. nt