In a report from Der Spiegel – based on leaked internal NSA documents, it is reported that the NSA runs “interdiction” campaigns to intercept laptops and other computer accessories ordered online, and diverts the packages to their secret labs, where agents are able to load software or hardware into the device to allow them to “back-door” them later.
ie – your friendly neighborhood NSA is loading trojans onto laptops bought online – so it can snoop or control them later:
Sometimes it appears that the world’s most modern spies are just as reliant on conventional methods of reconnaissance as their predecessors.
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 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.”
So – that brand new laptop you bought – could come with hardware backdoors already loaded onto it…