The latest revelation from the Snowden files, reported by Glenn Greenwald and Ryan Gallagher for the new Intercept publication, is that “the National Security Agency is dramatically expanding its ability to covertly hack into computers on a mass scale by using automated systems that reduce the level of human oversight in the process.” The report details what it calls “groundbreaking” surveillance technology, at times masquerading as a Facebook server, other times implanted in spam e-mails. The practice dates back to 2009, but in response to questions, the NSA said in a statement that, going forward, signals intelligence will only be utilized to support national and departmental missions for foreign intellitence or counterintelligence.
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