Advertisement
US National Security Agency (NSA)
World

US and UK have secret access to German telecoms data, report claims

The US National Security Agency and British intelligence services are able to secretly access data from telecoms giant Deutsche Telekom and several other German operators, according to Der Spiegel weekly.

1-MIN READ1-MIN
Deutsche Telekom said the access of foreign secret services to the network would be totally unacceptable.

The US National Security Agency and British intelligence services are able to secretly access data from telecoms giant Deutsche Telekom and several other German operators, according to Der Spiegel weekly.

An NSA programme called "Treasure Map" gave the US agency and Britain's electronic eavesdropping GCHQ almost instant information about the operators' networks, right through to end users on computers, smartphones or tablets, Der Spiegel said in a report in yesterday's edition.

It is the latest in a string of revelations based on documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

Advertisement

The article said the tracking programme, which it dubbed "the Google Earth of the internet", could be used to plan cyberattacks.

The magazine said it did not receive any immediate comment from the spy agencies in response to the claims.

Advertisement

Satellite ground station operator Stellar, which according to Der Spiegel was among the German firms targeted, responded angrily to the revelation.

Advertisement
Select Voice
Select Speed
1.00x