NSA hacked Google and Yahoo and stole their data, new Snowden leak charges - New York Daily News

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[h=4]SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images[/h]General Keith Alexander, director of the National Security Agency, testifies before the Senate Appropriations Committee on the PRISM program.

WASHINGTON — The government hacked Google and Yahoo and stole data despite authority to tap their systems legally, a new leak from Edward Snowden charges.
The National Security Agency, working with its British counterpar GCHQ, broke into the Internet giants’ networks and stole more than 180 million records over the 30 days ending Jan. 9 under a program called "MUSCULAR," the Washington Post reported Wednesday.

[h=4]George Frey/EPA[/h][h=4]Part of the US National Security Agency's data center that is under construction in Bluffdale, Utah.[/h]
The NSA accessed both data about who sent the emails and who received them as well as their content.
A hand-drawn government presentation diagram accompanying the report represents a layer of encryption on Google's front-end server that was "removed," along with a sketched smiley face.

[h=4]Evan Vucci/AP[/h][h=4]Protesters hold signs on Capitol Hill on Oct. 2, 2013, during a Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.[/h]
The Post reported that two engineers associated with Google "exploded in profanity" when they saw the diagram and one told a reporter: "I hope you publish this."
Among the first Snowden leaks reported in June revealed the PRISM program, in which the NSA accesses the major Internet firms' central servers to extract email records that could lead to enemies operating overseas.

[h=4]YURI GRIPAS/REUTERS[/h][h=4]General Keith Alexander, director of the National Security Agency, arrives at the Senate Appropriations Committee hearing.[/h]
A gag order written into the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which authorizes PRISM, bars the tech companies from revealing their mandated cooperation with Uncle Sam.
Asked about the new claim during a panel discussion hosted Wednesday by media service Bloomberg Government, NSA director Gen. Keith Alexander denied that his agency accesses Web firm systems without court orders, Politico reported.

[h=4]THE GUARDIAN/AFP/Getty Images[/h][h=4]A new Edward Snowden leak says the National Security Agency hacked Google and Yahoo.[/h]
Alexander said that the agency does not "have access to Google servers, Yahoo servers" and must "go through a court process," according to the report.
Google revealed plans to further encrypt its data before being approached by the Washington Post about the latest report, the paper said.
Google told the Post that it was "troubled" by the report and has "long been concerned about the possibility of this kind of snooping, which is why we continue to extend encryption across more and more Google services and links."
A Yahoo spokeswoman told the paper that "We have strict controls in place to protect the security of our data centers, and we have not given access to our data centers to the NSA or to any other government agency."
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