Chinese media says Snowden is the one who outed Cisco

Jun 26, 2013 08:08 GMT  ·  By

The NSA PRISM controversy is far from being over. China is now using Edward Snowden’s leaks in support of claims that several major companies have been helping the US spy on China.

According to some reports from the Chinese media, Snowden has allegedly said that Cisco – whose equipment is present in most large network projects in China – had been helping the NSA in gaining access to Chinese networks.

Chines publication TechWeb highlights that Cisco is the main equipment supplier for the US government and military, and in case of a cyber war, the United States could take advantage of Cisco’s presence in the Chinese networks.

In addition to Cisco, several other major companies whose names have been associated with PRISM – such as Google, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, and Yahoo – are accused by the Chinese media of aiding the US’ spying operations.

Snowden has told the South China Morning Post that the NSA had been hacking Chinese networks, but he hasn't specifically named Cisco. These latest accusations are either an attempt to relaunch the anti-Cisco campaign, or they’re simply some sort of payback for the anti-Huawei campaign led by the US.