Crypto AG: How the CIA Secretly Owned the World's Encryption Company for Decades
By
Michael Natale
Summary
This article reveals that a Swiss company called Crypto AG, which supplied encryption equipment to over 100 nations for decades, was secretly owned by the CIA and West German intelligence (BND) as part of a covert operation codenamed "Thesaurus," "Rubicon," and "Minerva." The company's machines were deliberately weakened to allow U.S. and allied intelligence agencies to decrypt the communications of foreign governments. The operation was first exposed by journalists in 1986 but was quickly suppressed. The article details how the scheme worked, the scale of the betrayal (including Iran's hostage crisis communications being read), and how the story was buried again until recently declassified documents confirmed the allegations.
Source
Twitter / XCrypto AG: How the CIA Secretly Owned the World's Encryption Company for Decadespopularmechanics.comKey quotes
· 5 pulled'The evidence,' Reagan said, 'is now conclusive that the terrorist bombing of La Belle discotheque was planned and executed under the direct orders of the Libyan regime.'
The company was a front for the CIA and the BND, the West German intelligence service. Its encryption machines were deliberately weakened so that the U.S. and its allies could read the encrypted communications of foreign governments.
For decades, more than 100 nations trusted one company to keep their secrets. It was owned by U.S. intelligence.
The operation was codenamed 'Thesaurus,' 'Rubicon,' and 'Minerva' by the CIA and the BND.
The story was first exposed by journalists in 1986, but it was buried again the same day.
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