INSIDE THE NSA 'TAO' HACKING UNIT

 

DER SPIEGEL Special Report on the NSA Office of Tailored Access Operations, or TAO

 

The NSA's TAO hacking unit is considered to be the intelligence agency's top secret weapon. It maintains its own covert network, infiltrates computers around the world and even intercepts shipping deliveries to plant back doors in electronics ordered by those it is targeting.

 

TAO 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.

 

According to internal NSA documents viewed by SPIEGEL, these on-call digital plumbers are involved in many sensitive operations conducted by American intelligence agencies. TAO's area of operations ranges from counterterrorism to cyber attacks to traditional espionage. The documents reveal just how diversified the tools at TAO's disposal have become -- and also how it exploits the technical weaknesses of the IT industry, from Microsoft to Cisco and Huawei, to carry out its discreet and efficient attacks.

 

 TAO specialists have directly accessed the protected networks of democratically elected leaders of countries. They infiltrated networks of European telecommunications companies and gained access to and read mails sent over Blackberry's BES email servers, which until then were believed to be securely encrypted. Achieving this last goal required a "sustained TAO operation," one document states.

 

It is from hacker circles that the NSA recruits new hires for its Tailored Access Operations unit. In recent years, NSA Director Keith Alexander has made several appearances at major hacker conferences in the United States. Sometimes, Alexander wears his military uniform, but at others, he even dons jeans and a t-shirt in his effort to court trust and a new generation of employees.

 

There are now TAO units in Wahiawa, Hawaii; Fort Gordon, Georgia; at the NSA's outpost at Buckley Air Force Base, near Denver, Colorado; at its headquarters in Fort Meade; and, of course, in San Antonio.

 

One trail also leads to Germany. According to a document dating from 2010 that lists the "Lead TAO Liaisons" domestically and abroad as well as names, email addresses and the number for their "Secure Phone," a liaison office is located near Frankfurt -- the European Security Operations Center (ESOC) at the so-called "Dagger Complex" at a US military compound in the Griesheim suburb of Darmstadt.

 

Don't miss page three of this report:

 

At the same time, it is in no way true to say that the NSA has its sights set exclusively on select individuals. Of even greater interest are entire networks and network providers, such as the fiber optic cables that direct a large share of global Internet traffic along the world's ocean floors.

 

Sometimes it appears that the world's most modern spies are just as reliant on conventional methods of reconnaissance as their predecessors.

 

Take, for example, when they intercept shipping deliveries. If a target person, agency or company orders a new computer or related accessories, for example, TAO can divert the shipping delivery to its own secret workshops.

 

The NSA calls this method interdiction. At these so-called "load stations," agents carefully open the package in order to load malware onto the electronics, or even install hardware components that can provide backdoor access for the intelligence agencies. All subsequent steps can then be conducted from the comfort of a remote computer.

 

These minor disruptions in the parcel shipping business rank among the "most productive operations" conducted by the NSA hackers, one top secret document relates in enthusiastic terms. This method, the presentation continues, allows TAO to obtain access to networks "around the world."

Read more about the above and about the methods employed to infiltrate German Chancellor Angela Merkel's computers here - http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/nsa-secret-toolbox-ant-unit-offers-spy-gadgets-for-every-need-a-941006.html

More on the NSA spying:

NSA paid computer security firm to weaken encryption
http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/12/nsa-paid-computer-security-firm-to.html

How the NSA infects computers with malicious software
http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/11/how-nsa-infects-computers-with.html

The NSA scandal - Connecting the Dots - The powers of General Alexander
http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/06/technology-news-nsa-scandal-connecting.html

How intelligence companies pay Congressmen overseeing surveillance
http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/12/intelligence-companies-money-flows-to.html

Satire - How the NSA intercepted children's letters to Santa Claus
http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/12/satire-how-nsa-intercepted-childrens.html

Satire - Video - You better watch out, you better not Skype
http://rt.com/usa/aclu-nsa-santa-claus-328/

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This blog's archive on SURVEILLANCE by government and private companies
http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/search/label/Surveillance


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