ISLAMABAD – A Swiss encryption machine company, Crypto AG, is in thespotlight due to alleged involvement with the CIA in the spying of all thecountries in business with the company and trusted it to help keepinformation about their diplomats, soldiers, and spies safe.Background
For years, countries around the world have relied on a single company tohelp encrypt their communications and internal matters. Originally calledAB Cryptoteknik, the company made mechanical crypto encryption devices butstruggled to sell it to nations. They caught their first break when theAmerican Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) contracted them to buildcode-making machines for their troops during World War II.
Since then, the company has made millions of dollars by selling itsequipment to over 120 countries. Most notably, its clients includedPakistan and India, as well as Iran, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Japan, etc.
However, in some leaked documents published by the Washington Post, it hascome to light that none of the company’s clients were aware of the factthat Crypto AG was secretly owned by the CIA, with a classified partnershipwith West German intelligence (BND). The CIA describes pulling this off as“the intelligence coup of the century”.The Allegations
The crypto devices that were sold to various nations were designed in sucha way that the agency was easily able to decrypt and read all messages thatwere being sent by the company’s client. The operation was internally knownas “Thesaurus” and later on “Rubicon”.
Foreign governments were paying good money to the U.S. and West Germany forthe privilege of having their most secret communications read by at leasttwo (and possibly as many as five or six) foreign countries.
Most notably, during the 1979 hostage crisis in Iran when students stormedthe US Embassy and took more than 66 people hostage, the CIA was able toconstantly monitor the mullahs, their whereabouts, and communications.
The program was very successful for both the CIA and the BND, where the CIAwas able to intercept and read up to 40% of the communication whereas theBND was able to intercept up to 90%.
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Many former employees of the company were shocked and had no idea when theyfound out that Crypto AG was controlled by the CIA. BND left the operationin the early 1990s, fearing what would happen if all of it was exposed butthe CIA continued exploiting the crypto machines. Liquidating in 2018,Crypto AG was the leading provider of encryption services. The company wassold to 2 different companies, Crypto International and CyOne Security, andboth them denied their involvement with the CIA. CyOne Security, issued astatement when the above allegations came to light:
Since the start of its business activities, CyOne Security has been 100%owned by four Swiss private individuals. It is completely independent ofthe former Crypto AG. CyOne Security has no ties with any foreignintelligence services.
Responding to the allegations, a Crypto International spokesperson alsosaid:
Crypto International is a Swedish owned company that in 2018 acquired thebrand name and other assets from Crypto AG … We have no connections to theCIA or the BND and we never had.
The Swiss government also denies any knowledge of the nature of such anoperation and has launched an investigation into the matter on Tuesday.
*You can read more about this on the original report by The WashingtonTimeslink.*
