14 DAY TRIAL // Now that it was revealed the NSA had been spying not only on EU diplomats, but also on the United Nations, things could turn particularly complicated from a political standpoint.
Der Spiegel revealed that the NSA had managed to hack into the UN’s videoconferencing system about a year ago, before the building was even given into use.
According to leaked documents, before the building of the European Union and United Nations on Third Avenue in New York was opened for business, the NSA agents already had the floor plans and knew exactly how the offices were laid out and, most importantly, where the data servers were located.
The offices the NSA had its eyes on were those where all ambassadors from the 28 members meet once a week to forge a common policy on the UN.
Codenamed “Apalachee,” the East River building soon held no secrets for the NSA.
Last month, it was also revealed that the NSA had spied on the European Union in several ways. Firstly, the embassies in Washington and New York got bugged, at the embassy in NY, the hard drives have been copied, while in Washington the agents tapped into the internal computer cable network.
More and more, the revealed information regarding the NSA spying slaps the wrist of the Obama administration. Every time the president comes forth and makes a public statement, more details are exposed to reveal that things aren’t as officials want people to believe.
One very good example is the statements Obama made time and time again, including recently, where the US president claims that the NSA’s surveillance projects have a single scope – to prevent terrorist attacks.
And while the fact that nations spy on each other is nowhere close to being new, spying among allies leaves a particularly bad impression.