Photos of an NSA “upgrade” factory show Cisco router getting implant

Arstechnica

A document included in the trove of National Security Agency files released with Glenn Greenwald’s book No Place to Hide details how the agency’s Tailored Access Operations (TAO) unit and other NSA employees intercept servers, routers, and other network gear being shipped to organizations targeted for surveillance and install covert implant firmware onto them before they’re delivered.

Here's a story about the NSA being well, the NSA. The story broke here on ATS not too long ago about the Chinese modifying routers and now we have the NSA doing the exact same thing.

CBROnline

The US authorities have banned the sale of Chinese manufactured telecoms equipment in the domestic market after complaining about the Chinese Government doing exactly the same.
A report from the US House Intelligence Committee in 2012 accused two Chinese telecom equipment manufacturers Huawei and ZTE of conniving with the state agencies in implanting spy material on the goods meant for exports.

NSA's Chief Admiral Mike Rogers wants to see the NSA as more tansparent and candid to the public but this is solid gold

In an interview to Reuters CyberSecurity Summit in Washington, Rogers defended NSA's surveillance programme. He said that some NSA staff were "confused" by the onslaught of criticism because a series of official reviews found that the agency had for the most part abided by US law.

a reply to: ATSmediaPRO

..the agency had for the most part abided by US law.

For the most part. Wow.

I watched a vid on the Defcon channel (youtube) that spoke of exactly this! It seems they'll even mold chips into the plastic casing of laptops!

a reply to: ATSmediaPRO


Creepy. Very creepy.

so any advice out there to find and remove them?

And even worse off, they don't need to physically plant these:

For networks that the NSA can't get to physically, there's NIGHTSTAND, a self-contained Wi-Fi hacking system that can break into networks up to eight miles away, in optimum conditions. NIGHTSTAND hijacks the target network and uses packet injection attacks to install exploits on the target network's computers. Combined with a Windows exploit called SOMBERKNAVE, which uses a computer's Wi-Fi adapter to "phone home" with data, it could be used to collect data from target computers even when they're not intentionally connected to a network.

Source is 5 years old, so imagine how robust this system is now...

arstechnica.com...

a reply to: Bisman

Doesn't look like there is anything out there on how to disable the implants...yet.

a reply to: facelift

Which puts it at about 1982-1991 technology during the Marconi Days
No mystery

My God...its full of Stars"

lol at torpedos

a reply to: ATSmediaPRO

You'd need to assume that every piece of kit is suspect and instead of shipping it in head to a company selling the stuff and drop the cash on the table and walk out the door, there will be was to checksum any bios to see if the resultant value is the same as the one issued by the manufacturer and obviously theres the screwdriver to the case and see if theres anything unusual as most kit has field repair manuals and anything not in that should be considered suspect

All this coming from a dirtbag that as the main speaker at the annual Marxist-Leninist conference he made it clear that Hamas and Hezbollah are NOT terrorist movements-and should be rewarded by American taxpayers. Also, the Al-qeada terrorist are heroes for killing Americans. They should use the same rope their going to put around Snowden's neck if he ever stops being a coward and faces what he did like a man.

You guys sure know how to pick um'

No one forces you to use Google and Facebook so stop the winning that the NSA is listening in- if you don't like it-go save the whales or something.

If you are dumb enough to put your whole life on a social site then suffer the consequences.