Spy Secrets Revealed by Snowden: U.S. bugged EU offices, computer networks

Samstwitch

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U.S. bugged EU offices, computer networks - German magazine

June 30, 2013 - BERLIN (Reuters) - The United States has bugged European Union offices and gained access to EU internal computer networks, according to secret documents cited in a German magazine on Saturday, the latest in a series of exposures of alleged U.S. spy programmes.

Der Spiegel quoted from a September 2010 "top secret" U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) document that it said fugitive former NSA contractor Edward Snowden had taken with him, and the weekly's journalists had seen in part.

The document outlines how the NSA bugged offices and spied on EU internal computer networks in Washington and at the United Nations, not only listening to conversations and phone calls but also gaining access to documents and emails.

The document explicitly called the EU a "target".

A spokesman for the Office of the U.S. Director of National Intelligence had no comment on the Der Spiegel story.

Martin Schulz, the president of the European Parliament, said that if the report was correct, it would have a "severe impact" on relations between the EU and the United States.

"On behalf of the European Parliament, I demand full clarification and require further information speedily from the U.S. authorities with regard to these allegations," he said in an emailed statement.

Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn told Der Spiegel: "If these reports are true, it's disgusting.

"The United States would be better off monitoring its secret services rather than its allies. We must get a guarantee from the very highest level now that this stops immediately."

Snowden's disclosures in foreign media about U.S. surveillance programmes have ignited a political furore in the United States and abroad over the balance between privacy rights and national security.

According to Der Spiegel, the NSA also targeted telecommunications at the Justus Lipsius building in Brussels, home to the European Council, the collective of EU national governments.

Without citing sources, the magazine reported that more than five years ago security officers at the EU had noticed several missed calls and traced them to NSA offices within the NATO compound in Brussels.

Each EU member state has rooms in Justus Lipsius with phone and internet connections, which ministers can use.

Snowden, a U.S. citizen, fled the United States to Hong Kong in May, a few weeks before the publication in the Guardian and the Washington Post of details he provided about secret U.S. government surveillance of internet and phone traffic.

Snowden, 30, has been holed up in a Moscow airport transit area since last weekend. The leftist government of Ecuador is reviewing his request for asylum.
 

Samstwitch

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Germany and France Demand to Know Why They Were Being Spied On

European politicians are taking their Sunday morning coffee with a side of outrage over the fact that the National Security Agency has been spying on them. Germany and France in particular are demanding answers over why the NSA would want to listen to their phone calls.

On Saturday, Der Spiegel reported seeing documents alleging the NSA has been spying on buildings across Europe that house European Union offices. The documents, reportedly obtained by Snowden and shown to Der Spiegel, show the NSA bugged phone lines and hacked the computer network in the EU's diplomatic representation in Washington, too. It seemed like another case of a spy agency performing its duty -- spying on other countries -- not unlike the leaks that showed the U.S. has spied on Russia.

But members of the European Union are quite upset because their relationship with the U.S. is supposed cozier than the frosty relationship between the U.S. and Russia. Germany and France seem really miffed over this whole spying deal. They thought they were exempt from surveillance because they are allies at the end of the day. "These facts , if confirmed, would be totally unacceptable," Minister of Foreign Affairs Laurent Fabius told Le Monde. "We expect the U.S. authorities to stand up as soon as possible the legitimate concerns raised by the revelations of the press." German politicians are also demanding an explanation from the U.S. for why they were targeted. German's justice minister released a statement comparing the spying to Cold War distrust. "It must ultimately be immediately and extensively explained by the American side whether media reports about completely disproportionate tapping measures by the US in the EU are accurate or not," Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger (above) said. "It’s beyond our imagination that our friends in the US consider the Europeans as enemies," she said.

Meanwhile, things aren't looking good for this Edward Snowden fellow. After abandoning his original plans to seek asylum in Iceland and instead opting for Eduador, at Julian Assange's behest, the Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa doesn't sound like he will be granting Snowden asylum. Correa told the Associated Press the safe passage document grated to Snowden by Ecuador's London embassy was "a serious error" and that some employees will be punished because of it. For now, Correa said, Snowden is "under the care of the Russian authorities" and stuck in Moscow until he can get his U.S. passport back.

German prosecutors probe NSA surveillance claims

BERLIN (AP) — German federal prosecutors say they are looking into whether reported U.S. electronic surveillance programs broke German laws.

The Federal Prosecutors' Office said in a statement Sunday that it was probing the claims so as to "achieve a reliable factual basis" before considering whether a formal investigation was warranted.

It also said private citizens were likely to file criminal complaints on the matter.
Germany news weekly Der Spiegel reports that at least one such complaint was lodged with prosecutors in the state of Hesse last week.

The magazine reported Sunday that apart from its PRISM program used to eavesdrop on Internet traffic, the U.S. National Security Agency also spied on European Union offices on both sides of the Atlantic.
 

trekie4ever

Member
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361
Maybe the entire world getting pissed off at the US government is what it will take to wake up the American people.

In a lot of ways, this is just cause to start making steps toward a war.... I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of countries start upping their military effectiveness and readiness. Spying like this is only good for a few things.

Setting people up, and preemptive strikes. Of course, our governments version of a preemptive strike is a proxy war or some close derivative.
 


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