Editing National Security Agency (section)

=== Hacking operations ===
Besides the more traditional ways of eavesdropping to collect signals intelligence, the NSA is also engaged in [[hacker (computer security)|hacking]] computers, smartphones, and their networks. A division that conducts such operations is the [[Tailored Access Operations]] (TAO) division, which has been active since at least circa 1998.<ref name=fp2013>{{cite journal|last=Aid|first=Matthew M.|title=Inside the NSA's Ultra-Secret China Hacking Group|journal=Foreign Policy|date=10 June 2013|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2013/06/10/inside-the-nsas-ultra-secret-china-hacking-group/|access-date=11 June 2013|archive-date=12 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220212231030/https://foreignpolicy.com/2013/06/10/inside-the-nsas-ultra-secret-china-hacking-group/|url-status=live}}</ref>

According to the ''[[Foreign Policy]]'' magazine, "... the Office of Tailored Access Operations, or TAO, has successfully penetrated Chinese computer and telecommunications systems for almost 15 years, generating some of the best and most reliable intelligence information about what is going on inside the People's Republic of China."<ref>"[http://www.businessinsider.com/us-nsa-unit-tao-hacking-china-for-years-2013-6 U.S. NSA Unit 'TAO' Hacking China For Years] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240512132004/https://www.businessinsider.com/us-nsa-unit-tao-hacking-china-for-years-2013-6 |date=2024-05-12 }}". Business Insider. June 11, 2013</ref><ref>"[http://www.computerworld.com/article/2473609/cybercrime-hacking/secret-nsa-hackers-from-tao-office-have-been-pwning-china-for-nearly-15-years.html Secret NSA hackers from TAO Office have been pwning China for nearly 15 years] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180207010751/https://www.computerworld.com/article/2473609/cybercrime-hacking/secret-nsa-hackers-from-tao-office-have-been-pwning-china-for-nearly-15-years.html |date=2018-02-07 }}". ''[[Computerworld]]''. June 11, 2013.</ref> In an interview with ''[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]'' magazine, Edward Snowden said the Tailored Access Operations division accidentally caused [[Syria]]'s internet blackout in 2012.<ref>"[http://www.ibtimes.com/flubbed-nsa-hack-caused-massive-2012-syrian-internet-blackout-snowden-says-1657886 Flubbed NSA Hack Caused Massive 2012 Syrian Internet Blackout, Snowden Says] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240512123802/https://www.ibtimes.com/flubbed-nsa-hack-caused-massive-2012-syrian-internet-blackout-snowden-says-1657886 |date=2024-05-12 }}". ''International Business Times.'' August 13, 2013.</ref>