# For decades, the CIA read the encrypted communications of allies and adversaries



## dapaterson (11 Feb 2020)

The intelligence coup of the century: For decades, the CIA read the encrypted communications of allies and adversaries


For more than half a century, governments all over the world trusted a single company to keep the communications of their spies, soldiers and diplomats secret.

The company, Crypto AG, got its first break with a contract to build code-making machines for U.S. troops during World War II. Flush with cash, it became a dominant maker of encryption devices for decades, navigating waves of technology from mechanical gears to electronic circuits and, finally, silicon chips and software.

The Swiss firm made millions of dollars selling equipment to more than 120 countries well into the 21st century. Its clients included Iran, military juntas in Latin America, nuclear rivals India and Pakistan, and even the Vatican.

But what none of its customers ever knew was that Crypto AG was secretly owned by the CIA in a highly classified partnership with West German intelligence. These spy agencies rigged the company’s devices so they could easily break the codes that countries used to send encrypted messages.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/national-security/cia-crypto-encryption-machines-espionage/?fbclid=IwAR047QKSFL9pyFVxU9MGrTAVdCt7nu8HUfTGnDCR1PLYmohYMq3yccGUMeQ


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## Czech_pivo (11 Feb 2020)

An amazing read - fascinating.

As interesting as reading 'By Way of Deception' when it came out in the early 90's.


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## macarena (11 Feb 2020)

dapaterson said:
			
		

> (...)
> But what none of its customers ever knew was that Crypto AG was secretly owned by the CIA in a highly classified partnership with West German intelligence. These spy agencies rigged the company’s devices so they could easily break the codes that countries used to send encrypted messages.
> (...)



!EMOSEWA
!swen gnizama na tahW

(let's see if the CIA can read my text, from the end to the begin, without the unencryption key)  :rofl:


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## MarkOttawa (11 Feb 2020)

In fact a lot of the Crypto AG story (though not CIA part in WaPo piece) came out in 1995:



> RIGGING THE GAME Spy sting: Few at the Swiss factory knew the mysterious visitors were pulling off a stunning intelligence coup -- perhaps the most audacious in the National Security Agency's long war on foreign codes; NO SUCH AGENCY
> https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1995-12-10-1995344001-story.html



Mark
Ottawa


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## Cloud Cover (11 Feb 2020)

macarena said:
			
		

> !EMOSEWA
> !swen gnizama na tahW
> 
> (let's see if the CIA can read my text, from the end to the begin, without the unencryption key)  :rofl:



Here you go: 0dcf5aa7cb05de106dc53f5ed3e8cfdac43e58c5

No offset:

00110000 01100100 01100011 01100110 00110101 01100001 01100001 00110111 01100011 01100010 00110000 00110101 01100100 01100101 00110001 00110000 00110110 01100100 01100011 00110101 00110011 01100110 00110101 01100101 01100100 00110011 01100101 00111000 01100011 01100110 01100100 01100001 01100011 00110100 00110011 01100101 00110101 00111000 01100011 00110101


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## McG (13 Feb 2020)

> For decades, the CIA read the encrypted communications of allies and adversaries


Now it's Huawei's turn


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