The system is described by Snowden as a search engine that provides a one-stop shop for access to content, metadata and real-time tracking and monitoring of user activities ( COU01 ). Edward Snowden, the NSA contractor who leaked the documents on the surveillance programs, has stated that “ encryption works”-and the more people adopt encryption tools, the less likely their use will be deemed suspicious. XKEYSCORE is an NSA search and analysis system for data collected by other surveillance programmes. government has been attempting to pressure Internet companies to hand over the keys that would allow it to snoop on encrypted SSL traffic, CNET recently reported.Įither way, using encryption remains the only real option you have when it comes to securing your communications on the Web from systems like XKEYSCORE. The NSA claims it can “discover the users” of VPNs, suggesting, again, that people using encryption or anonymizing tools may find themselves targeted as suspicious merely for attempting to protect the privacy of their communications. The 2008 slides suggest that the NSA is able to decrypt data on people who have turned to a Virtual Private Network in order to anonymize their Internet use by masking their IP address. (Incidentally, you can ensure that you are browsing as much of the Internet as possible using an encrypted connection by installing an add-on called HTTPS Everywhere.)īut encryption is not flawless, and the newly disclosed XKEYSCORE slides seem to illustrate that, too. Between 20, Facebook gave users the ability to turn on HTTPS and it was activated by default for Gmail and Twitter users. Locator tool Search depicted Media in category 'XKeyscore' The following 17 files are in this category, out of 17 total. Google searches are now automatically encrypted when you are logged into a Google account, for instance, and if you are not logged in you can direct your browser to. But since 2008, these websites have broadened their implementation of SSL encryption-which displays in the browser as HTTPS as opposed to unencrypted HTTP-meaning that users’ Internet sessions are more secure and harder to eavesdrop on. Back in 2008, the NSA could certainly use the XKEYSCORE program to mine vast quantities of data directly from networks about Google searches, email correspondence, and Facebook chats. However, the increasing adoption of encryption in recent years may have to some degree thwarted the scope of XKEYSCORE’s capabilities.