Where's the outrage? If this was under Bush's watch, the libs would be calling for impeachment and jail time.
Encryption just isn't that cryptic anymore.
The NSA, through the use of supercomputers and trickery, has figured out ways to do an end run on the encrypted documents, communications and transactions internet users send every day, meaning encrypted e-mails, banking transactions and other materials can be read, The New York Times reports.
According to documents the Times obtained from former NSA analyst Edward Snowden, the codebreaking activities target the cryptography systems that protect a user's data on the internet, such as the Secure Socket Layer, or SSL, system on the web, on mobile phones, and they also target internet companies with access to user communications.
In some cases, the NSA compels companies to cooperate either voluntarily or through a court order, or steals their encryption keys, the Times reported. In other cases, back doors are installed into communications systems, or NSA coders figure out a way to gain access to communications pre-encryption or after they are decrypted.
According to the Times, U.S. intelligence officials requested that ProPublica and the Times not publish the article about NSA's encryption breaking.
"The news organizations removed some specific facts but decided to publish the article because of the value of a public debate about government actions that weaken the most powerful tools for protecting the privacy of Americans and others."
Read more – including information on specific cases in which the NSA gained access to information – at The New York Times.