Blockbuster Revelation: Microsoft Helped NSA Access Private Emails, Skype Calls And More

By Susan Duclos

In a series of revelations from NSA leaker Edward Snowden we partially saw the extent of domestic and international spying by the National Intelligence Agency (NSA).


The previous information reported on ranged from classified documents showing unprecedented levels of information collected by the NSA on Americans and foreign entities to slides confirming the NSA was instructed to obtain information, via direct access, to data from large tech companies which includes, Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube, and Apple.

The latest blockbuster revelation is that Microsft "collaborated closely with US intelligence services to allow users' communications to be intercepted, including helping the National Security Agency to circumvent the company's own encryption, according to top-secret documents obtained by The Guardian."

The documents show that:

• Microsoft helped the NSA to circumvent its encryption to address concerns that the agency would be unable to intercept web chats on the new Outlook.com portal;

• The agency already had pre-encryption stage access to email on Outlook.com, including Hotmail;

• The company worked with the FBI this year to allow the NSA easier access via Prism to its cloud storage service SkyDrive, which now has more than 250 million users worldwide;

• Microsoft also worked with the FBI's Data Intercept Unit to "understand" potential issues with a feature in Outlook.com that allows users to create email aliases;

• In July last year, nine months after Microsoft bought Skype, the NSA boasted that a new capability had tripled the amount of Skype video calls being collected through Prism;

• Material collected through Prism is routinely shared with the FBI and CIA, with one NSA document describing the program as a "team sport".

 Read the rest at The Guardian.

CNET reminds readers: In " 2008, when the company was owned by eBay instead of Microsoft, a Skype spokeswoman told CNET: "We have not received any subpoenas or court orders asking us to perform a live interception or wiretap of Skype-to-Skype communications. In any event, because of Skype's peer-to-peer architecture and encryption techniques, Skype would not be able to comply with such a request."

CNET asked Microsoft Wednesday morning whether that statement was still correct. Microsoft did not respond.


Full Wake up America NSA scandal coverage found here.