If you happened to receive a laptop as Christmas present you might want to crack that baby open and take a look around to see if there is any NSA hardware hidden. It shouldn't worry us normal law abiding folk - they only use these methods for.....everyone, friend or foe.

According to a report from Der Spiegel that outlines the practice; take, for example, when they intercept shipping deliveries. If a target person, agency or company orders a new computer or related accessories, for example, TAO (Tailored Access Operations) can divert the shipping delivery to its own secret workshops.

The NSA calls this method interdiction. At these so-called "load stations," agents carefully open the package in order to load malware onto the electronics, or even install hardware components that can provide backdoor access for the intelligence agencies. All subsequent steps can then be conducted from the comfort of a remote computer.

These minor disruptions in the parcel shipping business rank among the "most productive operations" conducted by the NSA hackers, one top secret document relates in enthusiastic terms. This method, the presentation continues, allows TAO to obtain access to networks "around the world."



Even in the Internet Age, some traditional spying methods continue to live on.