To infiltrate foreign networks and gain access to sensitive systems, the NSA has been using the tactics of “physical subversion” – deploying undercover agents in Chinese, German, South Korean and possibly even American companies.

Past reports on the National Security Agency have typically depicted a government organ that hacks other systems or works with private corporations to bypass their own encryption protections, but the latest report based on files leaked by Edward Snowden suggests the agency could be embedding operatives into foreign, as well as domestic, “commercial entities.”

Intelligence service BND failed to protect the private data of German citizens as it handed over internet data collected at a Frankfurt traffic hub to the US. During an ongoing parliamentary investigation into US National Security Service spying on German soil the secret documents were obtained from the federal government. 

So when last year in was revealed that the two intelligence services had been collaborating to collect communication data at the De-Cix internet exchange node in Frankfurt, the BND had to produce explanations. The German service said it had a filter running, which prevented data of German citizens from being collected and forwarded to the NSA. 

The corporation must disclose information about the search process in connection with a leading position on the market. The German leadership requires Google to provide data on the search algorithm.

Heiko Maas, a German justice minister said that Google should provide more transparent information about the search process and its implementation due to the prevailing market position. The Minister also reported that nowadays each company is going to use Google to promote their goods. The corporation, in turn, can use it in order to create online market without competitiveness in Europe. 

US and UK intelligence services have secret access points for German telecom companies’ internal networks, Der Spiegel reports, citing slides created in the NSA’s Treasure Map program used to get near-real-time visualization of the global internet.

The latest scandal continues to evolve around the US’ NSA and the British GCHQ, both of which appear to be able to eavesdrop on German giants such as Deutsche Telekom, Netcologne, Stellar, Cetel and IABG network operators, according to Der Spiegel’s report based on material disclosed by Edward Snowden.

NSA inquiry head Patrick Sensburg claims communications technology mistrusted in wake of US spying allegations.

German politicians are considering a return to using manual typewriters for sensitive documents in the wake of the US surveillance scandal. The head of the Bundestag's parliamentary inquiry into NSA activity in Germany said in an interview with the Morgenmagazin TV program that he and his colleagues were seriously thinking of ditching email completely. Asked "Are you considering typewriters" by the interviewer on Monday night, the Christian Democrat politician Patrick Sensburg said: "As a matter of fact, we have – and not electronic models either". 

A leading ally of Angela Merkel has critically responded to the US government to provide adequate guarantees on its spying tactics. The expectations of making some progress in the bilateral talks have been set to the next month as the German leader visits Washington.

According to the classified information, provided last October by the whistleblower Edward Snowden, US intelligence agents were able "to bug” Ms. Merkel’s mobile phone from a listening post on the US Embassy roof. This caused outrage in Germany, where any surveillance actions are particularly sensitive because of the link to the East German Stasi secret police and the Nazis. 

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere has strongly criticized the US over revelations about electronic surveillance by intelligence services.

The minister complained that German questions have not been answered. De Maiziere complained that information that had been requested of Washington by the German government about the actions of the National Security Agency (NSA) was "to date, insufficient." Speaking to the news magazine Der Spiegel, the minister complained that Berlin's fears about the extent of the agency's operations - as revealed by whistleblower Edward Snowden- had not been allayed. "If two thirds of what Edward Snowden maintains is true, or what has been put forward pertaining to him as a source, then I can only come to one conclusion," de Maiziere said on Saturday, ahead of the magazine's publication.

World media is getting rich on spy sensations - Edward Snowden keeps on leaking classified files. The former U.S. intelligence officer informed Der Spiegel and The Intercept about NSA’s surveillance program that targeted political leaders of the world.

The program codenamed Nymrod was developed to intercept various telecommunications channels, with a main focus on internet and voice services. The information was collected automatically and added into the "Target Knowledge Database". According to the documents, there were about 300 reports listed in a secret dossier on the German Chancellor Angela Merkel alone.

The US eavesdropped on former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder over his staunch criticism of the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, says a new report by German journalists.

Schroeder was added to the NSA espionage targets list as number 388 by 2002, Munich daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung and NDR revealed in their reports on Tuesday. Media quoted unnamed US government officials and "NSA insiders” who saw Snowden documents. Schroeder told Sueddeutsche Zeitung that he was not surprised by the report.

In an open letter published on November 3 by the German news magazine Der Spiegel, whistleblower Edward Snowden accused the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) and its British counterpart (GCHQ) of being among the “worst offenders” engaged in uncontrolled mass surveillance.

In his letter, entitled “A Manifesto for the Truth,” Snowden wrote: “The world has learned a lot in a short amount of time about irresponsibly operated security agencies and, at times, criminal surveillance programs. Sometimes the agencies try to avoid controls.”