[News] Report: The CIA took over a Swiss spy crypto company

[HiTLeR]

 

Swiss politicians expressed their anger and demanded an investigation be opened after it was revealed that the CIA and its German counterpart used a Swiss encryption company to spy on governments around the world.

 

"How can something like this happen in a country that claims to be neutral like Switzerland?"

He called for a parliamentary inquiry after an SRF investigation broadcast on Wednesday found that a second Swiss crypto company was part of a spying plan run by US and German intelligence services.

 

The first investigation in February revealed a detailed plan dating back to decades that the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and its German counterpart were briefed on the most secret communications between governments through the two covert systems' control of a Swiss crypto company called "Crypto".

 

The SRF report this week revealed that a second, smaller Swiss company called Omnicek was used in the same way.

 

The company, which split from Swiss encryption equipment maker Gretag in 1987, sold equipment to encode voice, faxes and data to governments around the world until it shut down operations two years ago.

 

The IRRF investigation program found that Omnisek, like Crypto, had sold tampered equipment to foreign governments and militaries.

 

Meanwhile, Omnicek sold its OC-500 tampered equipment to several federal agencies in Switzerland, including the country's intelligence agencies, to Switzerland's largest UBS bank and other private companies in the country, according to SRF investigation.

 

The investigation sparked outrage in Switzerland, which is still battered by the "Crypto" scandal.

 

An investigation by a committee in the Swiss parliament into the "Crypto" case and concluded earlier this month stated that the Swiss intelligence service made use of information collected by its counterparts abroad with the help of the crypto company.

 

According to information revealed by "SRF", the Washington Post and the German "ZDF" broadcasting organization, "Crypto" has been used for decades to spy on governments around the world.

 

The company provided encrypted communications devices to about 120 countries since after World War II until the turn of this century, including Iran and governments in South America, India and Pakistan.