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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSwiss company, Crypto AG, was secretly owned by the CIA.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/national-security/cia-crypto-encryption-machines-espionage/
For decades, the CIA read the encrypted communications of allies and adversaries.
By Greg Miller Feb. 11, 2020
For more than half a century, governments all over the world trusted a single company to keep the communications of their spies, soldiers and diplomats secret.
The company, Crypto AG, got its first break with a contract to build code-making machines for U.S. troops during World War II. Flush with cash, it became a dominant maker of encryption devices for decades, navigating waves of technology from mechanical gears to electronic circuits and, finally, silicon chips and software.
The Swiss firm made millions of dollars selling equipment to more than 120 countries well into the 21st century. Its clients included Iran, military juntas in Latin America, nuclear rivals India and Pakistan, and even the Vatican.
But what none of its customers ever knew was that Crypto AG was secretly owned by the CIA in a highly classified partnership with West German intelligence. These spy agencies rigged the companys devices so they could easily break the codes that countries used to send encrypted messages.
</snip>
For decades, the CIA read the encrypted communications of allies and adversaries.
By Greg Miller Feb. 11, 2020
For more than half a century, governments all over the world trusted a single company to keep the communications of their spies, soldiers and diplomats secret.
The company, Crypto AG, got its first break with a contract to build code-making machines for U.S. troops during World War II. Flush with cash, it became a dominant maker of encryption devices for decades, navigating waves of technology from mechanical gears to electronic circuits and, finally, silicon chips and software.
The Swiss firm made millions of dollars selling equipment to more than 120 countries well into the 21st century. Its clients included Iran, military juntas in Latin America, nuclear rivals India and Pakistan, and even the Vatican.
But what none of its customers ever knew was that Crypto AG was secretly owned by the CIA in a highly classified partnership with West German intelligence. These spy agencies rigged the companys devices so they could easily break the codes that countries used to send encrypted messages.
</snip>
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Swiss company, Crypto AG, was secretly owned by the CIA. (Original Post)
Dennis Donovan
Feb 2020
OP
hmm..sounds like a foreign entity messing with other countries elections and stuff...
Fix The Stupid
Feb 2020
#2
Wounded Bear
(58,670 posts)1. Let me guess, Trump outed them...
amirite?
Fix The Stupid
(948 posts)2. hmm..sounds like a foreign entity messing with other countries elections and stuff...
Sound familiar?
Zorro
(15,740 posts)3. Wow
Heady stuff.
wendyb-NC
(3,328 posts)4. Very interesting.
Dennis Donovan
(18,770 posts)5. One of Crypto's clients was the Vatican
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)6. meh...