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puzzle
By
nessie
READ The Puzzle Palace, by James Branford, ISBN 0-395-31268-8. It's a little dated, but it's still essential reading for those wishing to learn (what there is that actually can be learned of) the history of the agency for whom the CIA is only a front.
And consider this, from CNN:
It's gotten to the point where no vendor hip to the NSA's power will even start building products without checking in with Fort Meade first. This includes even that supposed ruler of the software universe, Microsoft.
"It's inevitable that you design products with specific (encryption) algorithms and key lengths in mind," said Ira Rubenstein, Microsoft attorney and a top lieutenant to Bill Gates. By his own account, Rubenstein acts as a "filter" between the NSA and Microsoft's design teams in Redmond, Wash. "Any time that you're developing a new product, you will be working closely with the NSA," he noted.
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