US intelligence services are spying on the European Union mission in New York and its embassy in Washington, according to the latest top secret US National Security Agency documents leaked by the whistleblower Edward Snowden.
One document lists 38 embassies and missions, describing them as "targets". It details an extraordinary range of spying methods used against each target, from bugs implanted in electronic communications gear to taps into cables to the collection of transmissions with specialised antennae.
Along with traditional ideological adversaries and sensitive Middle Eastern countries, the list of targets includes the EU missions and the French, Italian and Greek embassies, as well as a number of other American allies, including Japan, Mexico, South Korea, India and Turkey. The list in the September 2010 document does not mention the UK, Germany or other western European states.
One of the bugging methods mentioned is codenamed Dropmire, which, according to a 2007 document, is "implanted on the Cryptofax at the EU embassy, DC" – an apparent reference to a bug placed in a commercially available encrypted fax machine used at the mission. The NSA documents note the machine is used to send cables back to foreign affairs ministries in European capitals.
The documents suggest the aim of the bugging exercise against the EU embassy in central Washington is to gather inside knowledge of policy disagreements on global issues and other rifts between member states.
The new revelations come at a time when there is already considerable anger across the EU over earlier evidence provided by Snowden ofNSAeavesdropping on America's European allies.
Germany's justice minister, Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, demanded an explanation from Washington, saying that if confirmed, US behaviour "was reminiscent of the actions of enemies during the cold war".
The German magazine Der Spiegel reported at the weekend that some of the bugging operations in Brussels targeting the EU's Justus Lipsius building – a venue for summit and ministerial meetings in the Belgian capital – were directed from within Nato headquarters nearby.
The US intelligence service codename for the bugging operation targeting the EU mission at the United Nations is "Perdido". Among the documents leaked by Snowden is a floor plan of the mission in midtown Manhattan. The methods used against the mission include the collection of data transmitted by implants, or bugs, placed inside electronic devices, and another covert operation that appears to provide a copy of everything on a targeted computer's hard drive.
The eavesdropping on the EU delegation to the US, on K Street in Washington, involved three different operations targeted on the embassy's 90 staff. Two were electronic implants and one involved the use of antennas to collect transmissions.
Although the latest documents are part of anNSAhaul leaked by Snowden, it is not clear in each case whether the surveillance was being exclusively done by the NSA – which is most probable as the embassies and missions are technically overseas – or by the FBI or the CIA, or a combination of them. The 2010 document describes the operation as "close access domestic collection".
The operation against the French mission to the UN had the covername "Blackfoot" and the one against its embassy in Washington was "Wabash". The Italian embassy in Washington was known to theNSAas both "Bruneau" and "Hemlock".
The eavesdropping of the Greek UN mission was known as "Powell" and the operation against its embassy was referred to as "Klondyke".
Snowden, the 30-year-old formerNSAcontractor and computer analyst whose leaks have ignited a global row over the extent of US and UK electronic surveillance, fled from his secret bolthole in Hong Kong a week ago. His plan seems to have been to travel to Ecuador via Moscow, but he is in limbo at Moscow airport after his US passport was cancelled, and without any official travel documents issued from any other country.
據(jù)英國《衛(wèi)報》6月30日報道,根據(jù)愛德華·斯諾登披露的美國家安全局(NSA)絕密文件,美國情報機(jī)構(gòu)對38家使館和代表團(tuán)進(jìn)行監(jiān)聽活動。
一份2010年9月份的文件列出了38個大使館和代表團(tuán),將他們稱為“目標(biāo)”。這些目標(biāo)除了傳統(tǒng)的意識形態(tài)對手和敏感的中東國家外,還包括歐盟代表團(tuán),法國、意大利、希臘大使館,以及其他美國盟友,如日本、墨西哥、韓國、印度和土耳其。但這份文件沒有提到英國或其他西歐國家。
有關(guān)文件詳述了針對每個目標(biāo)所采取的超常監(jiān)視手段,如向電子通訊設(shè)備植入竊聽器,用專用天線搜集信息。
其中一種竊聽手段代號為“Dropmire”。2007年的一份文件稱,在歐盟駐華盛頓代表處的加密傳真機(jī)中植入了竊聽器,這顯然是指一種竊聽器。歐盟代表處使用的加密傳真機(jī)在市場上就可以買到,專門用來往歐洲國家首都的外事部門發(fā)送電報。
文件稱,竊聽歐盟駐華盛頓代表處的目的是搜集關(guān)于歐盟成員國在全球議題上的不同意見,以及其他分歧的情報。
美情報部門針對歐盟駐聯(lián)合國代表團(tuán)的竊聽代號為“Perdido。在斯諾登泄露的文件中有一份是歐盟代表團(tuán)在曼哈頓中城區(qū)的建筑平面圖。竊聽的手段包括向電子設(shè)備植入竊聽裝置,展開秘密行動,獲取目標(biāo)計算機(jī)硬盤上所有內(nèi)容的副本。
對華盛頓歐盟駐美國代表處的90名員工,美國動用了三種竊聽手段,其中兩種是通過向電子設(shè)備植入竊聽裝置,一種是利用天線搜集傳送的信息。
盡管該文件是斯諾登泄露的NSA系列的一部分,但尚不清楚每起竊聽活動是否由NSA、美聯(lián)邦調(diào)查局或中情局其中之一專門執(zhí)行,還是由他們合作完成。從技術(shù)上說,代表團(tuán)和大使館都屬于海外情報范疇,因此NSA可能性最大。
文件還披露了一系列竊聽代號。如針對法國駐聯(lián)合國代表團(tuán)和駐華盛頓大使館的竊聽代號分別為“Blackfoot”和“Wabash”。針對意大利駐華盛頓大使館的竊聽代號有兩個,是“Bruneau”和“Hemlock”。針對希臘駐聯(lián)合國代表團(tuán)和駐美大使館的竊聽代號分別為“Powell”和“Klondyke”。