AT&T monopolizes another market: NSA collaboration
According to new revelations found in another leaked document, AT&T has been working closely with the National Surveillance Agency (NSA) to assist in the government agency’s need to spy on internet use. Billions of messages have been intercepted and hundreds of millions more were spent on programs to provide the agency with the data it needs.
It has been known due to Edward Snowden’s leaks that the NSA practiced spying operations on the internet and the world, but AT&T is at the center of this specific document due to the size and nature of the cooperation they had with the NSA. Since 1985, under the program “Fairview,” AT&T has been instrumental in the NSA’s efforts to amass data for the agency’s spying operation needs. A key component of the partnership was allowing the NSA to install surveillance equipment on at least 17 AT&T operated internet hubs. Once installed; the equipment on the hubs that AT&T allowed to be tampered with provided the NSA with billions of messages over the course of many years, most likely dating back to when they were first activated as a hub. There is more information on the document such as information on operations throughout 2002 and up to 2013, so we do have a more comprehensive scope of what processes were involved with the spying operations and their reasoning.
AT&T would intercept its own data, provide that information to the NSA and then the NSA would deem what what would be used and why once they had the data themselves. The NSA not only had the capability of snooping through the internet because ISPs such as AT&T and Verizon under the Strormbrew program practically handed them a majority of the data that flows through their networks. The key thing about AT&T’s involvement is that they contributed to 80% of the data that the NSA used for its spying operations during the time the document stated. Yes, you read that correctly. The majority of the NSA’s data came from AT&T during 2002 up to 2013 and it is possible a similar arrangement is still taking place.
AT&T has declined to elaborate on the matter but AT&T spokesman Brad Burns stated the following:
“We do not voluntarily provide information to any investigating authorities other than if a person’s life is in danger and time is of the essence.”
Come comment on this article: AT&T monopolizes another market: NSA collaboration
AIVAnet 