

GCHQ taps fiber cables for secret access to world's communications.  - teawithcarl
http://m.guardiannews.com/uk/2013/jun/21/gchq-cables-secret-world-communications-nsa

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teawithcarl
This is what I thought all along.

A) Access is MUCH broader than just tapping Google, FB, MSFT, etc. Access is
at the far broader level of telecommunication cables. Encryption can be broken
later, with specialty FPGA chips.

B) More importantly, the US taking "everything foreign" and with GCHQ (also)
taking "everything foreign" ... the Venn set of these two closely associated
govt spying operations means they get "everything, period", including US
domestic communications.

If true, the Snowden revelations are (small) child's play to what may actually
be being surveilled, which may indeed be everything.

~~~
DanBC
> Encryption can be broken later, with specialty FPGA chips.

([http://www.gchq.gov.uk/AboutUs/Pages/Engineering-and-
Technol...](http://www.gchq.gov.uk/AboutUs/Pages/Engineering-and-
Technology.aspx))

> _Very High Speed Integrated Circuit (VHSIC) Hardware Description Language
> (VHDL) is used in system development stages. Circuits are implemented in
> discrete components, Integrated Circuits (ICs), Field Programmable Gate
> Arrays (FPGAs) and Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs)._

> _Most systems are PC based or rack mounted, although some have more
> demanding requirements. GCHQ is moving towards CE safety accreditation for
> all new systems, although all field systems are already fully Tempest
> tested._

EDIT: About your second point.
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECHELON](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECHELON))

> _ECHELON is a name used in global media and in popular culture to describe a
> signals intelligence (SIGINT) collection and analysis network operated on
> behalf of the five signatory states to the UKUSA Security Agreement[1]
> (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States,_
> [...] etc.

UK passes names to the US; US passes names to the UK; this is a neat way to
avoid the "don't spy on your own citizens" laws.

