AfterDawn: News

Report: NSA installing spyware and hardware bugs on newly purchased PCs

According to a new Der Spiegel report, the NSA's elite hacking unit (TAO), in collaboration with the CIA and FBI, intercept deliveries of laptops and other computer accessories in order to implant spyware, keyloggers and other hardware bugs.

The TAO can divert deliveries to "secret workshops" through a method called interdiction, where the devices are then bugged by trained agents. US intelligence agencies then have remote access to the machines.



Although it is unclear which Americans are being targeted, one popular product the NSA is using is a USB "hardware implant" which they have been using since 2009.

Der Spiegel came upon the information through internal NSA documents. NSA agents order the bugs and other tools through a "mail-order spy catalog" which offers backdoors into both the hardware and software of nearly all major computer and computer parts makers like Cisco, Juniper Networks, Dell, Seagate, Western Digital, Maxtor, Samsung, and Huawei.

Making matters worse, the NSA also intercepts error reports sent from the Windows operating system and then uses the reports to find exploits and then target the computer.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 29 Dec 2013 20:27

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• 14 comments

• DarkJello

  Any way to tell if I'm effected?
  

  29.12.2013 21:59 #1

• Mysttic

  Sure, if you got your new device since 2009 chances are it's infected. If you got your device in the last year, it's likely guaranteed to be infected.

  30.12.2013 00:13 #2

• aldan

  mail order bugs? sounds like one honkin big conspiracy theory to me.ranks right up there with contrails,bigfoot,and freakin alien abduction.LMFAO.
  be gentle with me my brothers.
  

  30.12.2013 02:32 #3

• Ryberg360

  Phillip K. Dick anyone?

  30.12.2013 08:32 #4

• hearme0

  I'm not sure this is believable. Let's check, stand by................
  
  And just as I thought.........this nonsense bullshit story is being perpetuated SOLELY by bloggers and noname losers. There is no proof, no citing, no evidence, NOTHING indicating this is legit.
  
  And while I'm all about conspiracy theories....except 911 ones because I'm not an uneducated idiot...........I will say that "redirecting" shipments is highly unlikely as it violates privacy laws brutally and would be already exposed as I'm sure a few "targets" here and there are computer experts that can and/or would find the malicious software that the NSA put in. Besides, it would take a long time to redirect and send on therefore, people would ask a million questions. And for those saying "Dell works with NSA to redirect shipments and lies for the NSA about the actual status of their newly purchased PC.".........I say......not gonna happen unless it's on such a small, individualized scale and a per-person basis.
  
  THis is all crap and anybody buying into this without questions should be exiled to a small island with dinosaurs on it!!!
  
  Believers in this make me feel so much smarter than I already am! Gotta have somebody to laugh at........

  30.12.2013 16:31 #5

• A5J4DX

  its pathetic seriously...enemy of the state right here!
  

  30.12.2013 17:20 #6

• dp70

  A good intelligence operation contains some truth and much disinformation. The US government accused the builders of foreign equipment of inserting spyware in computers. Now we are treated to stories about the US doing the same thing. I am certain there is a element of truth, somewhere in the extremes of yes and no.
  Where the truth resides, is anyone's guess. Let us not judge the free press to harshly,consider how it helped Nixon, and the rest of the world.

  31.12.2013 04:21 #7

• KillerBug

  Originally posted by hearme0: I'm not sure this is believable. Let's check, stand by................
  
  And just as I thought.........this nonsense bullshit story is being perpetuated SOLELY by bloggers and noname losers. There is no proof, no citing, no evidence, NOTHING indicating this is legit.
  
  And while I'm all about conspiracy theories....except 911 ones because I'm not an uneducated idiot...........I will say that "redirecting" shipments is highly unlikely as it violates privacy laws brutally and would be already exposed as I'm sure a few "targets" here and there are computer experts that can and/or would find the malicious software that the NSA put in. Besides, it would take a long time to redirect and send on therefore, people would ask a million questions. And for those saying "Dell works with NSA to redirect shipments and lies for the NSA about the actual status of their newly purchased PC.".........I say......not gonna happen unless it's on such a small, individualized scale and a per-person basis.
  
  THis is all crap and anybody buying into this without questions should be exiled to a small island with dinosaurs on it!!!
  
  Believers in this make me feel so much smarter than I already am! Gotta have somebody to laugh at........ I doubt they are doing it on a mass scale...but if you are on their target list and order a computer with 3-day shipping, I am guessing that it wouldn't be an issue for them to get Dell to ship it to them with 1-day shipping, put in a hardware keylogger or something in about an hour, and then ship it to you with 1-day shipping marked as 3-day shipping. As for finding malicious stuff on a new PC, people do it all the time...who is to say if it was put on by Dell or the NSA? As for violating privacy laws...WHAT??? DO you even know what the NSA has been doing for the last 5 years? Did you completely miss the last few WikiLeaks? The NSA cares nothing for ANY law.
  

  
  

  31.12.2013 07:43 #8

• Mrguss

  Yup. The NSA care about nobody.
  And yes before start using your New PC, etc. Check for those Govt. files preinstalled by the partners in crime like Microsoft, etc.
  

  +5000

  31.12.2013 11:11 #9

• xnonsuchx

  Just don't be one of the very tiny number of highly questionable people they might go after.

  31.12.2013 15:16 #10

• banzilla

  Originally posted by hearme0: I'm not sure this is believable. Let's check, stand by................
  
  And just as I thought.........this nonsense bullshit story is being perpetuated SOLELY by bloggers and noname losers. There is no proof, no citing, no evidence, NOTHING indicating this is legit.
  
  And while I'm all about conspiracy theories....except 911 ones because I'm not an uneducated idiot...........I will say that "redirecting" shipments is highly unlikely as it violates privacy laws brutally and would be already exposed as I'm sure a few "targets" here and there are computer experts that can and/or would find the malicious software that the NSA put in. Besides, it would take a long time to redirect and send on therefore, people would ask a million questions. And for those saying "Dell works with NSA to redirect shipments and lies for the NSA about the actual status of their newly purchased PC.".........I say......not gonna happen unless it's on such a small, individualized scale and a per-person basis.
  
  THis is all crap and anybody buying into this without questions should be exiled to a small island with dinosaurs on it!!!
  
  Believers in this make me feel so much smarter than I already am! Gotta have somebody to laugh at........ Heh, Well said. On a side note theres a app that enables you to pull large pieces of furniture out of you a$s. I believe and always will believe in triggers, say or text the right thing or sequence and they're on you. There is nothing new that hasn't already been provided by you service provider. Just a quick 2cents.
  
  (opinions are like a$sholes, everyones got one, and some stink)

  31.12.2013 17:48 #11

• xboxdvl2

  your always being watched monitered and probably judged by your neighbours,local police,government,NSA, religious groups in your town, just now there finding more complex ways to do it.
  
  unless your doing something highly destructive or highly dangerous or highly illegally you don't actually have much to worry about.
  

  custom built gaming pc from early 2010,ps2 with 15 games all original,ps3 500gbs with 5 games all original,yamaha amp and 5.1channel surround sound speakers,46inch sony lcd smart tv.

  1.1.2014 11:00 #12

• Mrguss

  Originally posted by xnonsuchx: Just don't be one of the very tiny number of highly questionable people they might go after. Actually yes. I just to all of them already. They all use beautiful girls pics as avatars everywhere, without posting.
  
  NOTE: Be as Anonymously as much as possible now on days, and keep your "computers" in the best shape as possible too.
  

  +5000

  2.1.2014 15:15 #13

• spontcumb

  Originally posted by aldan: mail order bugs? sounds like one honkin big conspiracy theory to me.ranks right up there with contrails,bigfoot,and freakin alien abduction.LMFAO.
  be gentle with me my brothers. Actually, according to Thomas Friedman in "The World is Flat", computer companies such as Dell, IBM....name one...most of them have their own "service centers" in the major hubs of UPS, FedEx and other delivery service companies. Think about it....No need to even disrupt/delay the flow of delivery.

  17.1.2014 16:08 #14