The NSA can decrypt encrypted data send over the Internet

LAwLz · September 5, 2013

According to the newest leak from Snowden, the NSA and the GCHQ (basically the UK equivalence of the NSA) can decrypt vast amounts of encrypted data sent on the Internet. What they have done is invested hundreds of millions building computers to brute force encryption, and also collaborated with a big amount of companies (from service providers to software companies) to implement backdoors into the encryption software they use. Big services like Hotmail, Google, Yahoo and Facebook are mentioned so if you use any of those services, chances are that even encrypted traffic to them is being sniffed.

The agencies insist that the ability to defeat encryption is vital to their core missions of counter-terrorism and foreign intelligence gathering.

Experts such as Bruce Schneier (specialist on encryption) are very worried about this, because it is undermining the foundation the Internet was built upon. This is a huge security risk since it means that there is code in a lot of services which can be used to decrypt traffic. I am highly against the NSA spying on me, but if someone manages to exploit this they could basically get access to all your private information including bank details, phone numbers, medical records, your Internet history, chat history, everything.

By the way, this might very well apply to things like VPN providers as well, or any other service you use.

Maybe it's time to move away from Windows and start using only open and free software...

Source and further reading: The Guardian