How the CIA used Crypto AG encryption devices to spy on countries for decades
Report a link problem
Submission timeline
2007–2026One slot for every year since HN launched. Height is that year's peak points; orange marks a 100+ point or 50+ comment breakout. Select a bar to open its strongest thread.
First comments on top threads
HN comment orderReading between the lines on this, it's plainly apparent why there's been repeated attacks on encrpytion by the US government. From this, through RSA's Dual_EC_DRBG, to the present day, it's obvious that the US highly values rigging the deck to aid their decryption, and that the current democratisation of encrpytion protocols is a threat to them. I mean, you only need to read their repeated admissions that without MINERVA their intelligence recovery would've dropped from ~80% to ~10% to see…
There is a nice documentary by Swiss Public Broadcaster SRF (in German with English subtitles): "Cryptoleaks – Wie CIA und BND mit Schweizer Hilfe weltweit spionierten | Doku | SRF Dok" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWImO1Qz4Zo
The first top-level comment from each of the four biggest threads, in HN’s own order. Excerpts are shortened; open a comment for full context.
- Breakout years
- 2
- Total points
- 1110
- Total comments
- 404
100+ points or 50+ comments
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
Every submission
| Date | Title as submitted | By | Points | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-02-11 | How the CIA used Crypto AG encryption devices to spy on countries for decadesFirst breakout · Best thread | allard | 962 | 330 |
| 2023-04-17 | The Intelligence Coup of the Century (2020) | haltingproblem | 3 | 0 |
| 2023-06-03 | How the CIA used Crypto AG encryption devices to spy on countries for decadesLatest 20+ point return | janandonly | 145 | 74 |