The U.S. National Security Agency has figured out how to hide spying software deep within hard drives, which are made by manufacturers like Western Digital, Seagate and Toshiba, among many others. In this way the agency can spy on majority of the computers worldwide, according to cyber-security experts and researchers.
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Kaspersky Lab, the Moscow-based security software maker, has exposed a series of such spying programmes. As per the Lab, personal computers in 30 countries are infected with one or more of the cyberespionage operations from the West. Most of the infections could be found in Iran, Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, Mali, Syria, Yemen and Algeria. The targets include government and military institutions, telecom companies, banks, energy companies, nuclear researchers, media and Islamic activists.
The firm has declined to name the company in public which is conducting the spying programme. But it said that it's closely linked to NSA-led Stuxnet, that was used to attack Iran's uranium enrichment unit. A former NSA employee has also confirmed that the Lab's reports are absolutely correct. NSA spokeswoman Vanee Vines said that the agency is also aware about the Lab's report but declined to comment about it in public. The technical details of the programme was published on Monday and with the help of it, infected institutions can now detect spying programmes.
The revelation could affect NSA's surveillance abilities and could lead to a backlash against Western technology in countries like China. Kaspersky says, the spies figured out how to install a malicious software in firmware that launches everytime a computer is switched on. The disk drive firmware is observed by spies. The vulnerable disk drives are manufactured by Western Digital Corp, Seagate Technology Plc , Toshiba Corp, IBM, Micron Technology Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. Among these companies, Western Digital, Seagate and Micron had no knowledge of these spying programs, Toshiba and Samsung denied to comment and IBM also didn't not respond to requests for comment.
Kaspersky Lab, the Moscow-based security software maker, has exposed a series of such spying programmes. As per the Lab, personal computers in 30 countries are infected with one or more of the cyberespionage operations from the West. Most of the infections could be found in Iran, Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, Mali, Syria, Yemen and Algeria. The targets include government and military institutions, telecom companies, banks, energy companies, nuclear researchers, media and Islamic activists.
The firm has declined to name the company in public which is conducting the spying programme. But it said that it's closely linked to NSA-led Stuxnet, that was used to attack Iran's uranium enrichment unit. A former NSA employee has also confirmed that the Lab's reports are absolutely correct. NSA spokeswoman Vanee Vines said that the agency is also aware about the Lab's report but declined to comment about it in public. The technical details of the programme was published on Monday and with the help of it, infected institutions can now detect spying programmes.
The revelation could affect NSA's surveillance abilities and could lead to a backlash against Western technology in countries like China. Kaspersky says, the spies figured out how to install a malicious software in firmware that launches everytime a computer is switched on. The disk drive firmware is observed by spies. The vulnerable disk drives are manufactured by Western Digital Corp, Seagate Technology Plc , Toshiba Corp, IBM, Micron Technology Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. Among these companies, Western Digital, Seagate and Micron had no knowledge of these spying programs, Toshiba and Samsung denied to comment and IBM also didn't not respond to requests for comment.
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