Forwarded from BlackBox (Security) Archiv
The intelligence coup of the century’
For decades, the CIA read the encrypted communications of allies and adversaries.
For more than half a century, governments all over the world trusted a single company to keep the communications of their spies, soldiers and diplomats secret.
The company, Crypto AG, got its first break with a contract to build code-making machines for U.S. troops during World War II. Flush with cash, it became a dominant maker of encryption devices for decades, navigating waves of technology from mechanical gears to electronic circuits and, finally, silicon chips and software.
The Swiss firm made millions of dollars selling equipment to more than 120 countries well into the 21st century. Its clients included Iran, military juntas in Latin America, nuclear rivals India and Pakistan, and even the Vatican.
But what none of its customers ever knew was that Crypto AG was secretly owned by the CIA in a highly classified partnership with West German intelligence. These spy agencies rigged the company’s devices so they could easily break the codes that countries used to send encrypted messages.
The decades-long arrangement, among the most closely guarded secrets of the Cold War, is laid bare in a classified, comprehensive CIA history of the operation obtained by The Washington Post and ZDF, a German public broadcaster, in a joint reporting project.
👉🏼 Read more:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/national-security/cia-crypto-encryption-machines-espionage/?itid=hp_hp-top-table-main_crypto-730am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory-ans
👉🏼 In German:
https://www.zdf.de/politik/frontal-21
#CIA #BND #USA #Germany #spionage #cryptoAG #thinkabout #why
📡@cRyPtHoN_INFOSEC_DE
📡@cRyPtHoN_INFOSEC_EN
📡@BlackBox_Archiv
For decades, the CIA read the encrypted communications of allies and adversaries.
For more than half a century, governments all over the world trusted a single company to keep the communications of their spies, soldiers and diplomats secret.
The company, Crypto AG, got its first break with a contract to build code-making machines for U.S. troops during World War II. Flush with cash, it became a dominant maker of encryption devices for decades, navigating waves of technology from mechanical gears to electronic circuits and, finally, silicon chips and software.
The Swiss firm made millions of dollars selling equipment to more than 120 countries well into the 21st century. Its clients included Iran, military juntas in Latin America, nuclear rivals India and Pakistan, and even the Vatican.
But what none of its customers ever knew was that Crypto AG was secretly owned by the CIA in a highly classified partnership with West German intelligence. These spy agencies rigged the company’s devices so they could easily break the codes that countries used to send encrypted messages.
The decades-long arrangement, among the most closely guarded secrets of the Cold War, is laid bare in a classified, comprehensive CIA history of the operation obtained by The Washington Post and ZDF, a German public broadcaster, in a joint reporting project.
👉🏼 Read more:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/national-security/cia-crypto-encryption-machines-espionage/?itid=hp_hp-top-table-main_crypto-730am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory-ans
👉🏼 In German:
https://www.zdf.de/politik/frontal-21
#CIA #BND #USA #Germany #spionage #cryptoAG #thinkabout #why
📡@cRyPtHoN_INFOSEC_DE
📡@cRyPtHoN_INFOSEC_EN
📡@BlackBox_Archiv
The CIA secretly bought a company that sold encryption devices across the world. Then its spies sat back and listened.
via www.washingtonpost.com
#cia #encryption #cryptoag #spionage #scandal #usa #why
via www.washingtonpost.com
#cia #encryption #cryptoag #spionage #scandal #usa #why
www.washingtonpost.com via ctreaderbot
The CIA secretly bought a company that sold encryption devices across the world. Then its spies sat back and listened.
National Security
Forwarded from BlackBox (Security) Archiv
The Crypto AG Scandal And The Question Of Swiss Neutrality
On the 11 February 2020, the Washington Post published an extensive article revealing the #CryptoAG Scandal. The article damningly exposes the way in which the #Swiss #encryption company Crypto AG was co-opted by the #CIA for decades. The #spy #agency coerced the company’s founder into working for them in the 1950s, and later bought out Crypto AG in a secret partnership with the German spy agency the #BND. Throughout this time, faulty encryption machines were sold to governments around the world to improve American #espionage capabilities. This “audacious” project lasted well into the 21st century, presumably until the company’s liquidation in 2018. According to the Washington Post article, “CIA and BND documents indicate that Swiss officials must have known for decades about Crypto’s ties to the U.S. and German spy services, but intervened only after learning that news organizations were about to expose the arrangement.” It is this revelation which has led various news agencies (including the BBC) to declare that Swiss neutrality has been “shattered”.
The Swiss have long cultivated a policy of neutrality. This concept is ubiquitous in popular culture, from the end of The Sound of Music, to the English phrase “being Switzerland” which is synonymous with neutrality. What impact, (if any), will the implications of Swiss partiality toward the U.S. in the scandal have upon their aura of neutrality?
👉🏼 Read more:
https://theowp.org/the-crypto-ag-scandal-and-the-question-of-swiss-neutrality/
📡@cRyPtHoN_INFOSEC_DE
📡@cRyPtHoN_INFOSEC_EN
📡@BlackBox_Archiv
On the 11 February 2020, the Washington Post published an extensive article revealing the #CryptoAG Scandal. The article damningly exposes the way in which the #Swiss #encryption company Crypto AG was co-opted by the #CIA for decades. The #spy #agency coerced the company’s founder into working for them in the 1950s, and later bought out Crypto AG in a secret partnership with the German spy agency the #BND. Throughout this time, faulty encryption machines were sold to governments around the world to improve American #espionage capabilities. This “audacious” project lasted well into the 21st century, presumably until the company’s liquidation in 2018. According to the Washington Post article, “CIA and BND documents indicate that Swiss officials must have known for decades about Crypto’s ties to the U.S. and German spy services, but intervened only after learning that news organizations were about to expose the arrangement.” It is this revelation which has led various news agencies (including the BBC) to declare that Swiss neutrality has been “shattered”.
The Swiss have long cultivated a policy of neutrality. This concept is ubiquitous in popular culture, from the end of The Sound of Music, to the English phrase “being Switzerland” which is synonymous with neutrality. What impact, (if any), will the implications of Swiss partiality toward the U.S. in the scandal have upon their aura of neutrality?
👉🏼 Read more:
https://theowp.org/the-crypto-ag-scandal-and-the-question-of-swiss-neutrality/
📡@cRyPtHoN_INFOSEC_DE
📡@cRyPtHoN_INFOSEC_EN
📡@BlackBox_Archiv