Yahoo Quietly Submit your email to US Intelligence

Yahoo Quietly Submit your email to US Intelligence

Yahoo Inc. in 2015 and then quietly making a software that can scan all email users, searching for certain information, and submit it to the US intelligence services, so proclaimed by Reuters on Tuesday (04/10/2016).

Internet giant that is collapsing is known undertakes confidential request from the US government to scan thousands Yahoo email account worldwide. The information gathered was then submitted to the US intelligence agency (NSA) or the US federal police (FBI).

This information was obtained by Reuters from the three former Yahoo employees and others who know the source of the illicit activity.

It is unknown what kind of information sought by US intelligence agencies. But US intelligence handed over a series of letters - can be a word or phrase - to look for in each email and attachments are scanned Yahoo.

According to two former employees of Yahoo, Yahoo CEO decision, Marissa Mayer, to comply with a request by US intelligence that makes some company officials outraged. Even the field of information security officers Yahoo, Alex Stamos resigned in 2015. He now works for Facebook.

"Yahoo is a company that complies with the law and operate according to the law of the United States," read an official statement Yahoo respond to the confirmation request from Reuters. There was no further explanation.

As Stamos, through a Facebook spokesman, declined to comment.

Likewise NSA declined to be interviewed and asked that questions be sent to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

Actually Can Refuse

According to three sources Reuters, demand for tracking the Yahoo email accounts, sent a confidential document to the legal team Yahoo.

Laws in the US, including amendments to legislation Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in 2008, it is set that the intelligence agencies could ask telecommunications companies to hand over customer data. The reason can vary, including preventing terrorist attacks.

But the company could refuse such requests. Yahoo in 2007 when intelligence agencies have refused to ask to check multiple email accounts without a court order.

The dispute was taken to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, a court that is closed to the public, and Yahoo is declared the loser.

Apple also experienced the same thing last year when it refused the FBI's request to create a special program to penetrate the security system of an iPhone belong to the perpetrator of mass murder in San Bernardino.

FBI to take legal action to force Apple to make the program. But the fight in the courts halted midway because the FBI managed to find a phone that is with the help of a third party.

Unfortunately, Yahoo seems reluctant to refuse a request US intelligence last year. According to Reuters sources, Mayer and other officers already pessimistic would lose if they fight in court.

Some Yahoo employees Mayer are disappointed with the decision made no attempt to resist. They are also upset because Mayer and Yahoo legal team leader, Ron Bell, did not involve the company's security team in the process.

Instead Mayer and Bell immediately ordered the email field technicians to make the requested program to US intelligence. The program is filtering the emails that contain the word or phrase that has been specified, separating them, and store them in particular to be accessed from the outside by US intelligence.

Reuters sources said that the program was discovered by security Yahoo in 2015, a few weeks after installation. They initially thought it was the work of hackers.

When Stamos knows that Mayer is to allow installation of the program, he decided to resign. To his subordinates he said that he knew nothing about the program.

Stamos also warned that there is a security gap in the program that can be used by hackers to steal information. Stamos withdrew in June 2015 and now he has joined Facebook.

As for Yahoo last month announced that a group of hackers backed by certain countries managed to access 500 million accounts in 2014.

Yahoo itself has agreed to sell its core business to the US telecommunications company, Verizon Communications Inc. at a price of 4.8 billion US dollars, or about IDR. 62.5 trillion.

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