Special Source Operations (SSO) is a division in the US
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the director of national intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and proces ...
(NSA)
which is responsible for all programs aimed at collecting data from major fiber-optic cables and switches, both inside the US and abroad, and also through corporate partnerships.
Its existence was revealed through documents provided by
Edward Snowden
Edward Joseph Snowden (born June 21, 1983) is a former National Security Agency (NSA) intelligence contractor and whistleblower who leaked classified documents revealing the existence of global surveillance programs.
Born in 1983 in Elizabeth ...
to media outlets in 2013 and, according to him, it is the "crown jewel" of the NSA.
History
The program began in 2006, according to one of Snowden's documents, when the NSA was collecting the equivalent of "one Library of Congress every 14.4 seconds". ''The Washington Post'' described the official seal of the SSO division as something "that might have been parody: an eagle with all the world's cables in its grasp."
Notable programs
The five biggest collection programs of the Special Source Operations division are codenamed:
[Top Level Telecommunications]
Some numbers about NSA's data collection
June 5, 2014
* DANCINGOASIS
* SPINNERET
* MOONLIGHTPATH
* INCENSER
* AZUREPHOENIX
Other known programs include:
*
PRISM
PRISM is a code name for a program under which the United States National Security Agency (NSA) collects internet communications from various U.S. internet companies. The program is also known by the SIGAD . PRISM collects stored internet ...
– front-door collection using
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA, , ) is a Law of the United States, United States federal law that establishes procedures for the surveillance and collection of foreign intelligence on domestic soil.[MUSCULAR
MUSCULAR (DS-200B), located in the United Kingdom, is the name of a surveillance program jointly operated by Britain's Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) and the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) that was revealed by documents release ...]
– back-door collection from Google and Yahoo private clouds
*
Upstream collection
Upstream collection is a term used by the National Security Agency (NSA) of the United States for intercepting telephone and Internet traffic from the Internet backbone, meaning major Internet cables and switches, both domestic and foreign. Besid ...
– which includes:
**
FAIRVIEW
**
BLARNEY
**
STORMBREW
**
OAKSTAR
See also
*
Special Collection Service
*
Tailored Access Operations
References
External links
INCENSER, or how NSA and GCHQ are tapping internet cables
{{National Security Agency
National Security Agency