NSA News

Microsoft’s chief legal officer is chastising the U.S. government in the wake of the damage caused worldwide by the WannaCry virus, an insidious ransomware that holds hostage the data of its victims. Those victims include industry and retail locations as well as hospitals, schools and households across the globe with Europe and Asia being the […]

It appears the National Security Agency, once again, is the victim of a data dump — one that leaves Windows users vulnerable. A hacking group, known as the Shadow Brokers, published a list of spy tools over the Easter weekend that it says were developed and used by the NSA to hack computer systems running Windows. The list, which was announced in a bizarre […]

By Lauren Kirchner, ProPublica Current and former government officials have been pointing to the terror attacks in Paris as justification for mass surveillance programs. CIA Director John Brennan accused privacy advocates of “hand-wringing” that has made “our ability collectively internationally to find these terrorists much more challenging.” Former National Security Agency and CIA director Michael […]

The National Security Agency has apparently upped its game to help keep American firms safe from cyber-attack. The agency said it informs U.S. firms about security vulnerabilities 91 percent of the time — an obvious bid to improve its image which suffered greatly after former contractor-turned whistleblower revealed back in 2013 the scope of the […]

The Internet is a gigantic collection of linked networks that span the globe. The networks are connected using routers. A router is a specialized computer that directs traffic on the Internet. As the Internet consists of hundreds of thousands of smaller networks linked together, the use of routers is absolutely necessary for it to function. When you want to […]

By Julia Angwin, ProPublica Since Edward Snowden exposed the extent of online surveillance by the U.S. government, there has been a surge of initiatives to protect users’ privacy. But it hasn’t taken long for one of these efforts — a project to equip local libraries with technology supporting anonymous Internet surfing — to run up against […]

By Julia Angwin and Jeff Larson Newly disclosed documents unveiling the close relationship between the National Security Agency and AT&T could breathe new life into a long-running legal dispute about the NSA’s controversial method of tapping the Internet backbone on U.S. soil. This program, according to documents provided by Edward Snowden, is largely enabled by […]

AT&T has been more eager than most telecommunication and technology companies to help the National Security Agency in its surveillance efforts. Documents leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden have revealed has not only been helping the U.S. spy agency for more than a decade, but has done so with “extreme willingness,” according to a joint […]

The White House has not softened its stance on National Security Whistleblower Edward Snowden. The U.S. government has denied the request in a “We the People” petition to pardon Snowden for stealing and the releasing to the media thousands of classified NSA documents. Lisa Monaco, the President’s advisor on Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, addressed the 167,955 […]

The National Security Agency and British counterpart, the GCHQ, have infiltrated numerous online security companies to track their customers, new documents from whistleblower Edward Snowden have revealed. The documents, provided to The Intercept, revealed the two agencies have “reverse engineered” software to “discreetly thwart anti-virus software and obtain intelligence from companies about security software and […]

By Julia Angwin and Jeff Larson, ProPublica; Charlie Savage, the New York Times and Henrik Moltke, special to ProPublica Without public notice or debate, the Obama administration has expanded the National Security Agency’s warrantless surveillance of Americans’ international Internet traffic to search for evidence of malicious computer hacking, according to classified NSA documents. In mid-2012, […]

The National Security Agency has lost its authority to collect bulk phone data after the Senate failed to renew key sections of the U.S. Patriot Act before its midnight deadline today. The Senate had convened an emergency session Sunday night to renew Section 215 of the Patriot Act — which would prevent any lapse in […]

The National Security Agency is in limbo after the Senate this weekend failed to renew its controversial surveillance program. The Senate recessed Saturday without voting to approve an extension of provisions of the USA Patriot Act. The Act and two other anti-terror programs, which are set to expire June 1, have been deemed by the […]

National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden had the toughest interview of his life at the hands of comedian and Last Week Tonight host John Oliver. During a face-to-face interview in Russia, the country in which Snowden has been living for the past year-and-a-half to avoid being prosecuted by the U.S. government on charges of espionage, […]

The Wikimedia Foundation has launched a lawsuit against the U.S. National Security Agency and Department of Justice, accusing the agencies of violating the First and Fourth Amendments of the Constitution with the “mass surveillance of Internet traffic on American soil.” The lawsuit, filed today by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of Wikimedia, and […]