![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
This is sort of an open secret that wasn't widely known. The United States developed techniques for tapping Soviet military cables, the Soviets were so confident in the physical security of their cables that they didn't bother encrypting most of the traffic passing over them. A submarine and special techniques were used to drop a 20' long piece of equipment that could record all traffic over the cable, initially the unit was recovered every month and delivered to the NSA, as technology improved it only needed to be recovered annually.
Underseas communications eventually have to come up to land, these sites are called shore stations. The UK Government Communications Headquarters, GCHQ, got the cooperation of the cable operators and has been tapping these end-points, according to the article, it began in 2008. The intelligence is also passed to the NSA for their delectation.
I wouldn't be in the least surprised if the United States has similar arrangements with the cables that terminate here.
Another open little secret is in the sharing of intelligence. According to U.S. law, the CIA cannot spy on American citizens, especially within the United States. England has a similar law. But there's nothing in English law preventing them from spying on American citizens, and vice-versa. So they've been known to spy on each other's citizenry and give the information to the appropriate country. A cute little dodge, eh?
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/06/gchq-tapped-200-cables/
Underseas communications eventually have to come up to land, these sites are called shore stations. The UK Government Communications Headquarters, GCHQ, got the cooperation of the cable operators and has been tapping these end-points, according to the article, it began in 2008. The intelligence is also passed to the NSA for their delectation.
I wouldn't be in the least surprised if the United States has similar arrangements with the cables that terminate here.
Another open little secret is in the sharing of intelligence. According to U.S. law, the CIA cannot spy on American citizens, especially within the United States. England has a similar law. But there's nothing in English law preventing them from spying on American citizens, and vice-versa. So they've been known to spy on each other's citizenry and give the information to the appropriate country. A cute little dodge, eh?
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/06/gchq-tapped-200-cables/
