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IP: Spy agency taps into undersea cable
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Fri, 25 May 2001 10:03:39 -0400
Date: Fri, 25 May 2001 09:43:03 -0400 To: dave () farber net From: Manuel Calero <manuel_calero () yahoo com> Subject: Spy agency taps into undersea cable Thought it would be of interest to IP: Spy agency taps into undersea cable By Neil King Jr. WSJ Interactive Edition May 23, 2001 11:50 AM PT (full article: http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2764372,00.html) Using a special spy submarine...(NSA) personnel descended hundreds of feet into one of the oceans and sliced into a fiber-optic cable. The mixed results of the experiment--particularly the agency's inability to make sense of the vast flood of data unleashed by the tap--show that America's pre-eminent spy service has huge challenges to overcome if it hopes to keep from going deaf in the digital age. Details of the NSA cable-tapping project are sketchy. Individuals who confirm the tap won't specify where or when it occurred. It isn't known whether the cable's operator detected the intrusion, though former NSA officials say they believe it went unnoticed. Nor is it known whether the NSA has attempted other taps since. Efforts to intercept all sorts of signals--ranging from military radar to international phone calls--are among the most highly classified U.S. government operations. Leaking information about interception methods is a federal crime punishable by imprisonment. In an interview, Air Force Lt. Gen. Michael Hayden, the NSA's director, laughed when asked whether the NSA had tapped undersea cables. "I'm not going to sit here and dissuade you from your views," he said. But he suggested that access isn't the problem. Rather, he said, the sheer volume and variety of today's communications means "there's simply too much out there, and it's too hard to understand." _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com
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