The NSA successfully cracked the encryption guarding the United Nations’ internal videoconferencing system, according to documents seen by Germany’s Der Spiegel.
The publication said on Sunday that the encryption’s bypassing took place in the summer of 2012, and that within three weeks the NSA had boosted the number of such decrypted communications from 12 to 458.
According to the documents, on one occasion when the Americans were breaking into UN communications, they discovered the Chinese had tried to do the same.
Der Spiegel‘s report also followed on from earlier revelations about the NSA bugging EU institutions, explaining that the U.S. agency gained access to the virtual private network (VPN) used by the EU’s embassies in America.
It also claimed that the U.S. maintains a monitoring program called the “Special Collection Service” in 80 embassies and consulates around the world, often without the knowledge of the host country.
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