By Cliff Montgomery – Nov. 25th, 2013
The National Security Agency (NSA) has infected over 50,000 computer networks around the world with malicious software for the purpose of conducting spying activities, according to Dutch newspaper NRC.
“The NSA computer attacks are performed by a special department called TAO (Tailored Access Operations),” stated NRC on Saturday.
“Public sources show that this department employs more than a thousand hackers,” added the Dutch newspaper.
The article is based on documents leaked by Edward Snowden, the well-known former NSA contractor. The American Spark offers one document on the matter below, courtesy of the Dutch newspaper.
U.S.-directed malware infections have occurred over the last several years: The NSA apparently has spiedon computer networks via this kind of malicious software since 1998, according to The Washington Post.
The Agency installed about 20,000 ‘implants’ by 2008, and “by mid-2012 this number had more than doubledto 50,000,” stated NRC. And it seems “the program recently expanded to include others in Rome, Berlin,Pristina, Kinshasa, [and] Rangoon,” stated BBC News today.
The malware’s activity is easy to grasp.
“The malware can be controlled remotely and be turned on and off at will,” stated the Dutch newspaper.
“The ‘implants’ act as digital ‘sleeper cells’ that can be activated with a single push of a button,” added NRC.
