How to hacker NSA into computers worldwide - Aftenposten

It’s Spiegel that tells the story of the NSA elite hacker group TAO (see fact box).

NSA department, which has existed since 1997, breaks into computers around the world and make ‘back doors’ in machines with them they will spy on. Rear doors are security holes that the user of a machine do not know, and that can be utilized in hacking.

information NSA obtain, can be used to, among other anti-terror efforts or good old-fashioned espionage.

Spiegel article is based on documents leaked by whistleblower Edward Snowden, who has previously revealed massive surveillance under the auspices of the U.S. and British secret services.

Exploiting vulnerabilities in Windows

NSA describes itself that the program is about “getting hold of it as it is impossible to obtain.” And that TAO has access to some of the most difficult goals NSA trying on.

Spiegel also reveals that they use vulnerabilities in large companies such as American Microsoft, Dell and Cisco, as well as Chinese Huawei to carry out attacks.

An example of a weakness in Microsoft’s operating system Windows by NSA utilize are:

It is quite common to bring up a pop-up window when that happens something wrong with your computer. Then you can report what’s wrong. If you do, you make your way into your computer much easier for the NSA. For if the NSA is curious about you and entered your IP address in their system, they will get the message when you send an error of this report.

In Snowden document describes these reports as a great way to get passive access to the computer.

Passive access does not mean that the NSA can actively do things on the computer, but that they know everything that the computer does on the internet.

And as Spiegel writes – this passive access may reveal security holes on your computer, such as the NSA in turn can use to get active access it by hacking.

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Are internet users

NSA also sends out emails with links to virus infected sites. But according to an internal NSA documents have spam a success rate of less than 1 percent.

Another key element in the hacking operation to the NSA’s network of routers and servers they control. In addition to their own routers and servers, they have also been infiltrated others that allow NSA hackers to control computers.

In this way the NSA track the people they’re watching, including when they leave traces as e-mail addresses of other computers than they usually use. When one of the NSA-controlled routers or servers detects a specific email address, then go “alarm”.

Then NSA determine which web internet user tries to go to, and in addition to sending the person to the side, the machine will be connected to a NSA server. This sends spyware (malware) that is adapted to the known security holes on your computer.

Although this does not always work, according to an internal NSA document that when this is done in connection with such Linkedin pages is the success rate of over 50 percent.

Opens physical mail

more physical method that NSA uses, but they also get the help of hacking is to ensure that physical packages harbors stop them before they are redirected. If someone they’re ordering computer equipment, NSA may even physically adapt the equipment, install “back doors” so that they will have access to devices via the internet.

This is described as one of the most effective methods of surgery hacker department TAO has.

NSA has also infiltrated European telecommunications companies and managed to get access to e-mails sent using BlackBerry phones, formerly known as eavesdropping secure. According Spiegel it using a long TAO operation that it was possible.

Another method is called Computer Network Exploitation – use of computer networks. The goal is to gain control of some of the devices that make it possible to get further access to the network. It can be such as computers, mobile phones, firewalls, routers, servers and industrial control systems such as the U.S. and Israel managed with Stuxnet operation against Iran.

Spying on cables

As known from previous Snowden leaks spying both the Americans and the British in cables that cross the Atlantic and the Pacific. But the Spiegel article also revealed that underwater cables between Europe and North Africa and the Gulf states might be tapped.

cables moving on to Malaysia and Thailand and is owned by both French and Italian telecommunications operators.

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Simply by using the methods described above, NSA managed to hack into the telecommunications operators so that they could see how the technical infrastructure looks like. There do not appear in the Spiegel article on the NSA physically connect on and can eavesdrop cables today.

But the document also states that they are planning more operations to get more information on this and other cable systems.

NSA has only this comment to Spiegel about the case:

– TAO is in the forefront to ensure that NSA can defend the nation and our allies. The work is centered around utilizing data networks to support our foreign intelligence collection.

Attacker hard drives

You can also read the Spiegel article about the 50-page brochure NSA employees can browse to obtain various monitoring equipment.

There comes among other things that the NSA has equipment that attack the hard drives from the U.S. companies Western Digital, Seagate and Maxtor, and the South Korean Samsung.

Spiegel says that there is nothing in the documents to suggest that the companies themselves collaborating with the NSA. The companies also refuses even that they do it.