NSA Secretly Taps Into Google, Yahoo Networks to Collect Information

[Matsuda]

The NSA intercepts millions of pieces of Google and Yahoo user information each day by tapping into the links between servers, The Washington Post reports.

According to documents leaked by Edward Snowden, the agency secretly exploits the data links in Google and Yahoo's global networks through a project called MUSCULAR, allegedly operated jointly with the GCHQ (which was accused earlier this year of snagging data from fiber optic cables).

A January 9th document says that in the preceding 30 days, collectors had processed over 181 million pieces of information, including both metadata and the actual contents of communications.

The government can already request information from phone or data through the FISA Amendments Act, but this data collection would ostensibly take place without Google and Yahoo even being aware of it.

Google told the Post that it had not known about the collection and was "troubled by allegations of the government intercepting traffic between our data centers." Sources close to Google reportedly "exploded in profanity" when shown the drawing above, saying "I hope you publish this." At the time of the initial revelations about PRISM's internet-monitoring capabilities, one slide suggested direct data collection from servers.

The collection alleged by the Post is made possible by the fact that data is sent through servers around the world, connected by dedicated fiber optic cables that may not be encrypted. Google revealed in September that it was working to encrypt information moving between data centers, however Yahoo hasn't announced a similar intention. The NSA may prefer this method in that it would facilitate data collection without the knowledge of the companies it's collecting it from.

"We have strict controls in place to protect the security of our data centers, and we have not given access to our data centers to the NSA or to any other government agency," a Yahoo spokesperson says in a statement to The Verge. Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The data is reportedly being collected primarily from Google and Yahoo's cloud servers, which are generally hosting redundancies of existing information. Because the information isn't brand new, the Post reports that one NSA slide describes the collection as being akin to taking "a retrospective look at target activity." The NSA's collection seemingly occurs as encryption is removed while the data enters Google's servers, as the agency illustrates with a smiley face in the slide above.

NSA head Keith Alexander said that the new allegations weren't accurate while speaking in an interview immediately following the leaks. "Not to my knowledge, that's never happened," Alexander says, according toWashington Post reporter Brian Fung. Bloomberg TV anchor Trish Regan quotes him as also saying explicitly that the allegations are "not true."

Alexander also said that the leaks aren't revealing anything that isn't justifiable. "None of this shows that [the] NSA is doing something illegal, or that it has not been asked to do," he said in an interview immediately after the leaks. "It's legal, it's necessary, and it's authorized in every case." The Post notes that data collection occurring overseas isn't constrained by the same rules that govern domestic surveillance, potentially allowing the NSA to collect information on Americans as well.

Though Alexander says that the NSA's practices are legal, the Post reports that a similar style of data collection to what's used in MUSCULAR was previously found to be illegal when performed inside of a US territory.

The ruling reportedly comes from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in 2011, which found that such data collection was illegal under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and that it didn't meet the requirements of the Fourth Amendment. With this new collection occurring around the world, however, it's possible that the NSA isn't bound to the ruling.

Update: The leaked slides have surfaced, which show the program in further detail. According to the slides, the NSA was pulling roughly 15 GB per day from the Yahoo network, but considered the data of poor quality. Internal analysts had also objected to the program, saying the small intelligence value "does not justify the sheer volume of collection."

Update 2: Speaking to Politico, NSA director Keith Alexander has taken issue with theWashington Post article, saying that to his knowledge, the NSA does not directly access Google's data centers and, "the assertion that we collect vast quantities of U.S. persons’ data from this type of collection is also not true." The statements stop short of a full denial, not addressing whether the NSA gained unauthorized access to internal networks at Google or Yahoo outside of company data centers.

Update 3: In a statement, Google's chief legal officer, David Drummond, tells us that it's been addressing these issues by extending encryption across its network. The full statement is available below, while an excerpt of it has been added into the article above.

"We have long been concerned about the possibility of this kind of snooping, which is why we have continued to extend encryption across more and more Google services and links, especially the links in the slide. We do not provide any government, including the U.S. government, with access to our systems. We are outraged at the lengths to which the government seems to have gone to intercept data from our private fiber networks, and it underscores the need for urgent reform."

This article has been updated to include statements from Yahoo and Google.

View: Original Article

Edited October 30, 2013 by Matsuda

[ande]

New definition of Tor user:

[Ambrocious]

I find it hard to believe that Google which is funded by the same corporation that funds the C.I.A. (In-Q-Tel) had no idea that the NSA was using thier search engine to collect data. Im sure many people working at Google and Yahoo knew full well this was happening, how do you think this gets leaked to places like Infowars and other alternitive media websites?

Google’s deep CIA and NSA connections

Google and CIA Fund Political Precrime Technology

Edited October 30, 2013 by Ambrocious

[Reefa]

I find it hard to believe that Google which is funded by the same corporation that funds the C.I.A. (In-Q-Tel) had no idea that the NSA was using thier search engine to collect data. Im sure many people working at Google and Yahoo knew full well this was happening, how do you think this gets leaked to places like Infowars and other alternitive media websites?

Google’s deep CIA and NSA connections

Google and CIA Fund Political Precrime Technology

M8 there's no not sure or what if..Its fact..

[STEEL]

del

Edited January 13, 2014 by STEEL

[Chancer]

I'm sure GCHQ here in the UK is an integral part of the jigsaw.

The UK government has been obvious by its absence in some of this debate.

Mind you - its nothing new -

[nIGHT]

Data collection has been done and used by almost everyone setting up a website mostly for user profiling as a reference for effective advertising content and presentation.

I'm not against data collection used only to prevent terrorist attack but its use to leverage more than that is troublesome.

Spying on world leaders to gain leverage on some deals and politics is immoral, cheating, malicious and illegal.

Personally, they can spy on me, I wouldn't care. They can peek at my shaved balls too if they like it. :P

But, please! Erase my data about my purchase of polka-dots underwear! :bruce:

That thing is illegal to do in my native planet. :lmao:

Edited October 31, 2013 by nIGHT