US and British spy agencies worked to reverse-engineer antivirus software in order to "exploit such software and to prevent detection of our activities." Russian security firm Kaspersky Lab was particularly targeted.
Citing documents leaked by former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden more than two years ago, The Intercept reported Monday that the US National Security Agency (NSA) and the British Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) teamed up to subvert antivirus and security software made by the likes of Kaspersky Lab.
In addition, 23 total security firms -- including the antivirus company F-Secure of Finland, Avast from the Czech Republic, and DrWeb of Russia -- were targets
The spy agencies sought to remain ahead of the software companies -- which often flag state-sponsored malware -- in order to give the US and UK governments an advantage during official hacking operations.
Kaspersky Lab was a particularly crucial target, according to the Snowden documents.
INC News, 22/06/2015 - via RT
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