Xetron Corporation is a
Northrop Grumman Corporation
Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and Arms industry, defense technology company. With 90,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one ...
subsidiary and government contractor developing software and communications systems.
Background
Xetron used to produce the popular Xetron SPL-60 low noise audio amplifier with a tunable comb notch filter.
On 9 July 1992, the first
AM IBOC
In-band on-channel (IBOC) is a hybrid method of transmitting digital radio and analog radio broadcast signals simultaneously on the same frequency. The name refers to the new digital signals being broadcast in the same AM or FM band (in-band) ...
transmission was sent from the Xetron offices in Cincinnati, since the company was contracted by the USADR to work on the project.
In 2000, the company was awarded a $2.1 million contract from
ViaSat
Viasat may refer to:
*Viasat (American company) (founded 1986)
* Viasat (Nordic television service) (founded 1991)
* Danish 1st Division, officially Viasat Divisionen, second-highest football league in Denmark
* Viasat Cup, 2006 Danish football to ...
to develop a
MIDS-LVT radio system.
Intelligence work for the government
In 2011 it was revealed that the company worked with
HBGary and
Palantir on attribution for deanonymizing Internet activists of
Anonymous.
According to
documents leaked by
Edward Snowden
Edward Joseph Snowden (born June 21, 1983) is an American and naturalized Russian former computer intelligence consultant who leaked highly classified information from the National Security Agency (NSA) in 2013, when he was an employee and su ...
, it has been sharing hacking techniques with intelligence agencies since at least 2010. In that year they developed a malicious Windows software named "Orca" for preventing malware detection by
antivirus software
Antivirus software (abbreviated to AV software), also known as anti-malware, is a computer program used to prevent, detect, and remove malware.
Antivirus software was originally developed to detect and remove computer viruses, hence the name. ...
.
With
WikiLeaks
WikiLeaks () is an international non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activist, is generally described as its founder and director and ...
'
Vault 7
Vault 7 is a series of documents that WikiLeaks began to publish on 7 March 2017, detailing the activities and capabilities of the United States Central Intelligence Agency to perform electronic surveillance and cyber warfare. The files, dating fr ...
disclosures in 2017, it was revealed that Xetron developed tools allowing unauthorized access to
Cisco
Cisco Systems, Inc., commonly known as Cisco, is an American-based multinational digital communications technology conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, ...
routers for the
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
as well as "Cinnamon" − an implant for Cisco devices. According to the documents, they also developed software for the control of compromised computers via
command servers for the agency. As of March 2017, the company's name shows up in nearly 400 of the leak's documents.
''
The Intercept
''The Intercept'' is an American left-wing news website founded by Glenn Greenwald, Jeremy Scahill, Laura Poitras and funded by billionaire eBay co-founder Pierre Omidyar. Its current editor is Betsy Reed. The publication initially reporte ...
'' revealed in 2017 that some employees of Xetron were suddenly subjected to a
polygraph
A polygraph, often incorrectly referred to as a lie detector test, is a device or procedure that measures and records several physiological indicators such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity while a person is asked ...
. It was unclear whether this was due to an active investigation into the source of the leaks or simply a stepped-up security requirement.
References
External links
*
Project PM entry on Xetron{{Northrop Grumman, state=autocollapse
Computer security companies
Companies based in Ohio
Technology companies established in 1972
1972 establishments in Ohio