NSA Taps Directly Into Undersea Fiber-optic Data Cables

NSA Taps Directly Into Undersea Fiber-optic Data Cables

rinf.com

In addition to gaining access to web companies’ servers and asking for phone metadata, we’ve now learned that both the U.S. and the U.K. spy agencies are tapping directly into the Internet’s backbone — the undersea fiber optic cables that shuttle online communications between countries and servers. For some privacy activists, this process is even more worrisome than monitoring call metadata because it allows governments to make copies of everything that transverses these cables, if they wanted to.
The amount of data being grabbed by British and American snoops is astounding. The infor

(visit the link for the full news article)

I am not sure if this was the new revelations Gleenwald was referring to last week on German TV but this is the first i am hearing of this.

Not surprising really and at this point who really cares right? I mean the Amash bill failed the house on queue. I am utterly amazed at the indifference of mankind.

rinf.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

I wouldn't say this is breaking since I've read articles about it from May & it's really no secret to those who completely distrust any govt. The NSA is a major spy operation but they are in cahoots with other Govts the world over.

www.google.com...

Originally posted on New American:

www.thenewamerican.com...

reply to post by Swills


Understood but both articles have been published within 36hrs so falls within the scope of the T&C of BAN.

I haven't heard revelations of tapping directly into the underwater fiber optics.

The US Navy used a specially modified submarine to sneak into Soviet harbors and place a tap on their phone lines for years. Even after the mission ended crews on that sub wouldn't talk about it.

This is not new information. We've known for years about the nefarious AT&T room (641?) in San Francisco that tapped these cables. Snowden's PRISM slides just reconfirmed it and placed the practice in perspective relative to all the other types of "bugged" communications.

ganjoa

reply to post by Rosinitiate


It does fit the BAN rule but my point is many already know the Trans-cable has been tapped, probably since day 1. It's not as if these govt just decided to spy on everyone back in 2003

If i remember correctly undersea cables entering the states are not considered on American soil till a certain point on land so upto that point they're fair game to the spooks as they're classed as in international waters(!)

I'd imagine every spook agency taps into anything entering its territory and will try and get a tap onto everything else either via a reciprocal agreement or more underhand agreement

It's stuff like this that has mae me realize murkkka is over!!!!! Replaced by corporate fascism and totalitarian rouge agencies that are to big to fail, to big to be accountable to anyone but themselves.

Give it another 10 years and you guys will be getting pulled/taken from your homes for posting your opinion on ATS. By then, I won't be on here anymore

Originally posted by dominicus
It's stuff like this that has mae me realize murkkka is over!!!!! Replaced by corporate fascism and totalitarian rouge agencies that are to big to fail, to big to be accountable to anyone but themselves.

Give it another 10 years and you guys will be getting pulled/taken from your homes for posting your opinion on ATS. By then, I won't be on here anymore

At least back in the Nixon era, people worldwide accepted that wiretapping was wrong, even the man himself eventually. Nowadays it seems, it's the norm

Originally posted by Zcustosmorum

Originally posted by dominicus
It's stuff like this that has mae me realize murkkka is over!!!!! Replaced by corporate fascism and totalitarian rouge agencies that are to big to fail, to big to be accountable to anyone but themselves.

Give it another 10 years and you guys will be getting pulled/taken from your homes for posting your opinion on ATS. By then, I won't be on here anymore

At least back in the Nixon era, people worldwide accepted that wiretapping was wrong, even the man himself eventually. Nowadays it seems, it's the norm

I had never even thought of it like that but you're 100% correct, as generations pass, people know less and less of what freedom really is though I think the general population also think wiretapping is still wrong, it is just who do you complain to? The guys doing it?

The only response is anger or fuggeddabout it.

No real public outlet in any country other than protest and that's not going so well elsewhere, would our guys be any worse? of course.

I'm talking USA and UK as I class them as pretty much one and the same.

Originally posted by Zaphod58
The US Navy used a specially modified submarine to sneak into Soviet harbors and place a tap on their phone lines for years. Even after the mission ended crews on that sub wouldn't talk about it.

Taping into a cable is hella easy
compared to splicing into fiber.

Add tons of water overhead,
and I must say I'm impressed.

Do they bring the fiber section into an airlock
and let a tech do it, or do they have something
that can make the splice outside the sub.

Either way, I bet there is some classified tech involved.

/speculation
Mike

reply to post by mikegrouchy


Actually quite a bit is known about it now. They revealed it in Blind Man's Bluff (after a lot of wheeling and dealing, and calls to the Pentagon by former submariners).

en.wikipedia.org...

What makes it funny is that most of the crew didn't have security clearance to know about the mission, so they had to come up with a cover mission for them.

I believe it was Halibut, had a modified hangar installed, along with a remote arm, and was capable of carrying submersibles on her. And used them quite a bit with a good bit of success. She was, needless to say, nothing like any other Navy sub of any class.