Shipping giants FedEx and UPS haven't said much since it was revealed Sunday that the National Security Agency intercepts electronics packages to install spyware, but what they have said implies they knew what the agency was up to.Security researcher Jacob Appelbaum co-wrote a Der Spiegel article published Sunday detailing how the NSA intercepts newly purchased computer products mid-shipment to install surveillance malware before reaching the buyer without their knowledge.
"If a target person, agency or company orders a new computer or related accessories, for example, TAO [Office of Tailored Access Operations] can divert the shipping delivery to its own secret workshops," Appelbaum wrote. "The NSA calls this method interdiction. At these so-called "load stations," agents carefully open the package in order to load malware onto the electronics, or even install hardware components that can provide backdoor access for the intelligence agencies. All subsequent steps can then be conducted from the comfort of a remote computer."
In response to Daily Caller inquiries to shipping companies UPS and FedEx asking whether they had knowledge of such a program and if they cooperated with the NSA, FedEx media relations' Scott Fiedler responded with the following:
"The answer to your questions about 'permission/cooperation, etc...' is -- 'No.'"
Fiedler decline to comment on whether FedEx was aware of the program, or give a statement describing FedEx's official stance on the matter.
UPS declined to comment on repeated requests from TheDC.
| I'm sure the NSA is good at this, if they're doing it; it can't be but so hard to open a package, modify the hardware, and re-do the packaging. How's the target going to know? The package might not even be delayed in transit. Ace at Ace of Spades thinks that NSA behavior like this is mostly a non-issue: of course the NSA is supposed to be spying on 'targets': terrorist targets, targets who threaten us, nation-state targets that oppose us, and so on. My only response is this: what if the targets are us? |