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The U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) has developed a software technology using radio wave which allows it to secretly access computers over long distances even if they are not connected to any network. The NSA has reportedly been using the technology since 2008 and has installed the software on 100,000 computers around the globe.
Based on information leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, the technology uses a secret radio channel to transmit information from USB devices or miniature circuit boards installed into a targeted computer by NSA agents or unknowingly by the computer manufacturer or owner. The transmitted radio signals can be picked up from a variety of devices including a briefcase sized relay station that can receive the signals from as far away as a few kilometers.
The NSA has justified the development and use of the technology as being more like an active defense strategy rather than a tool for an offensive strike, according to the New York Times. However, American officials have protested when Chinese agents have employed similar software against U.S. companies and government departments. There is no evidence that the NSA has used the technology inside the United States, says the paper.
Interestingly, President Obama is set to introduce new limits on NSA spying practices this Friday. The new limits will be based on the recommendations of an advisory panel that was convened to analyze NSA spying practices after information leaked by Snowden last summer. Some of the panel's recommendations include forbidding the NSA from exploiting flaws in common software for surveillance and cyberattack purposes and to ban NSA efforts to weaken public encryption algorithms.
