Big Brother is definitely watching every move you make even if they are trying to keep it a secret. It's been recently reported that the National Security Agency (NSA) has been able to thwart internet security by using supercomputers, technical sleight of hand, court orders and behind-the-scenes persuasion. Some of the encryption they have cracked is used to protect banking, global commerce and even medical records. While they might have our "best interests" at heart – has the government gone too far in the quest to keep us secure?
In an effort to alleviate consumer concerns about privacy, Google, Microsoft,
Yahoo and
Facebook have each filed suit to ask the government for permission to reveal information about the number and types of national security requests for user data that the companies receive. In doing so, the companies are hoping to bring some transparency to this secretive government process. They want to ensure their users that their data has some form of protection against unwarranted searches.
What protections are being done to ensure the safety of the information being "reviewed" by the NSA? According to an article in the New York Times, the 2013 NSA budget requests “partnerships with major telecommunications carriers to shape the global network to benefit other collection accesses” – this will make it even easier for them to eavesdrop. One main problem seen in the technical community is that once you open a backdoor (in the interest of security) – you are also opening that back door to unethical hackers who could use it for malicious activity. If someone found a way to access this so-called confidential information about the NSA, then it is suffice to say that any information held by and reviewed by the NSA is vulnerable.
Remember the next time you are browsing that web site - someone might be watching!
Here are some links with more information on this topic:
NSA Foils Internet Encryption
NSA Defeats Many Encryption Efforts
National Security Agency
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