NSA Chief Declines Comment on Backdoor Spyware use on World Populous for Wide Spread Surveillance Purposes

WASHINGTON: The head of the National Security Agency refused to comment on Monday on reports that the US government implants spyware on computer hard drives for surveillance purposes, saying "we fully comply with the law."

""US Navy Admiral Michael Rogers was responding to reports that the NSA had embedded spyware in computers on a vast scale and that along with its British counterpart, had hacked into the world's biggest manufacturer of cellphone sim cards. 

"Clearly I'm not going to get into the specifics of allegations. But the point I would make is, we fully comply with the law," Rogers said at a Washington forum sponsored by the New America think-tank. 

The Moscow-based security software maker Kaspersky Lab said last week that spies had figured out how to embed spy software deep within hard drives by Western Digital, Seagate, Toshiba and other top manufacturers, giving the agency the means to eavesdrop on a majority of the world's computers. Former NSA operatives told Reuters the agency was behind the campaign. 

Another report, based on documents provided by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden and published by the Intercept, said the US agency and its British counterpart hacked into Gemalto, which produces sim cards. That would potentially allow intelligence agencies to monitor the calls, texts and emails of billions of people, the report said.""

Down the Rabbit Hole:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/NSA-chief-refuses-to-comment-on-PC-spyware/articleshow/46352008.cms

Cybercommand Chief Opposes U.N. Net Control: Nations Request International Deliberations Within the United Nations Framework on Such an International Code

""BALTIMORE — The commander of the U.S. Cyber Command said Thursday that he does not favor giving the United Nations the power to regulate the Internet.

Some regulations are needed to protect critical networks that control electrical power, banking, transportation and other key elements of society, Army Gen. Keith Alexander, who is also director of the National Security Agency, said after a speech to a security conference.

But asked whether the U.N. should have a regulation role, Gen. Alexander said: “No. I’m not for regulating, per se. I’m concerned about it, and this is a tough question. I would say, generally speaking, I’m not into that portion of regulating as you would espouse.”

Last month, Russia, China, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan submitted a resolution to the U.N. General Assembly calling for giving individual states the right to control the Internet. The resolution, submitted Sept. 14, calls for “an international code of conduct for information security.”

It requests “international deliberations within the United Nations framework on such an international code, with the aim of achieving the earliest possible consensus on international norms and rules guiding the behavior of states in the information space.”""

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/oct/20/cybercommand-chief-opposes-un-net-control/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS