NSA accused of spying on Brazilian oil company Petrobras
NSA accused of spying on Brazilian oil company Petrobras
Accusations that NSA is conducting intelligence-gathering operations that go beyond its core mission of national security
Jonathan Watts in Rio de Janeiro - theguardian.com
Monday 9 September 2013 11.55 EDT
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The US National Security Agency has been accused of spying on Brazil's biggest oil company, Petrobras, following the release of more files from US whistleblower Edward Snowden.
The latest disclosures, which aired on Brazil's Fantástico news program, have led to accusations that the NSA is conducting intelligence-gathering operations that go beyond its core mission of national security – often cited as the key distinction between the agency and its counterparts in China and Russia.
The revelations are likely to further strain ties between the US and Brazil ahead of a planned state dinner for president Dilma Rousseff at the White House in October. Bileteral relations have already been muddled by the earlier release of NSA files showing the US agency intercepted Brazilian communications and spied on Rousseff and her aides.
Petrobras is the largest company in Brazil and one of the 30 biggest businesses in the world. Majority owned by the state, it is a major source of revenue for the government and is developing the biggest oil discoveries of this century, which are in a pre-salt region deep under the Atlantic.
Fantástico revealed a top secret NSA file – given by Snowden to Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald – which shows Petrobras is among several targets for the agency's Blackpearl program, which extricates data from private networks.
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More: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/09/nsa-spying-brazil-oil-petrobras
= new reply since forum marked as read
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Besides Petrobras, e-mail and internet services provider Google’s infrastructure is also listed as a target. The company, often named as collaborating with the NSA, is shown here as a victim.
Other targets include French diplomats – with access to the private network of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France – and the SWIFT network, the cooperative that unites over ten thousand banks in 212 countries and provides communications that enable international financial transactions. All transfers of money between banks across national borders goes through SWIFT.
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Greenwald defends the decision to omit the names. “It’s a question of responsible journalism”, says Greenwald. “These documents contain information regarding spying against terrorists, matters of national security which should not be published, because nobody doubts that the United States, just as any other country, has the right to spy in order to guarantee national security. But there is much more information on spying on innocents, against people who have nothing to do with terrorism, or on industrial issues, which need to be made public.”
The documents are classified as “top-secret”, to be seen only by those named by the Americans as “Five Eyes” – the five countries allied in spying: the United States, Australia, Canada, Great Britain and New Zealand.
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The yearly profits of Petrobras are over 280 billion reais – US$ 120 billion. More than the GDP of many countries. And there are plenty of motives for spies to want access to the company’s protected network.
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More: http://g1.globo.com/fantastico/noticia/2013/09/nsa-documents-show-united-states-spied-brazilian-oil-giant.html
I remember people laughing and mocking. Such a short-sighted knee-jerk reaction.
All of ALBA is dumping Microsoft and other proprietary products. Brazil is 90% set to forget about that $4 Billion dollar Boeing jet purchase (plus more billions for servicing and parts), they're laying their own cables, they're changing all their routers... demanding an official apology instead of the "lies" the US government has been giving them and that's just Brazil. Mexico isn't buying our excuses either. The repercussions have barely begun.
I think that in a year we'll all look back and be astounded at how much more unified they are. 