NSA可能监听Google和Yahoo数据中心通讯获得信息

新华网11月27日电 据美国科技博客Gizmodo报道，最近有报道说美国国家安全局（NSA）不需要进入Google和Yahoo的数据中心就能得到用户的通讯记录。现在《纽约时报》报道说，这可能是因为NSA入侵了他们使用的光缆。

这份报纸从“了解Google和Yahoo基础设施的人士”那里得到消息，他们说NSA入侵了国际主干网来监控那些使用Yahoo和Google服务的人：

互联网公司的数据中心都收到全天候安全保护，并且使用了最先进的技术，包括热传感和虹膜扫描。但在服务器中心之间，数据是不被加密的，很方便政府来截取数据。这是三位了解Google和Yahoo系统的人在匿名的条件下提供的信息。

实际上，《纽约时报》指的是Level 3 Communications，“全球最大的所谓主干网运营商”，该公司负责Google和Yahoo的线缆。现在两家公司都开始对数据中心之间传输的数据进行加密了。

报道并没有推测NSA监听线缆数据到什么精度，但现实中这可能比其他监听技术简单得多。当然，监听线缆这种事看起来很老套，不过我们还是希望没有发生过。

译者：林杉

百度新闻与新华网国际频道合作稿件，转载请注明出处。

The NSA May Have Penetrated Internet Cables to Spy on Google and Yahoo

It recently came to light that the NSA snooped on the communications of Google and Yahoo users without ever breaking into a data center. Now, the New York Times is reporting, it appears that could be because it penetrated fiber optic cables.

The newspaper cites "people knowledgeable about Google and Yahoo\'s infrastructure" who believe that the NSA penetrated an internet backbone to spy on those using Yahoo and Google:

The Internet companies\' data centers are locked down with full-time security and state-of-the-art surveillance, including heat sensors and iris scanners. But between the data centers information was unencrypted and an easier target for government intercept efforts, according to three people with knowledge of Google\'s and Yahoo\'s systems who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

In fact, the Times points specifically to Level 3 Communications—"the world\'s largest so-called Internet backbone provider"—which looks after the cables used by Yahoo and Google. No surprise, then, that both have now started encrypting data that runs on cables between its data centers.

The newspaper doesn\'t speculate as to how exactly the NSA would\'ve gone about tapping the cables, but in reality it was probably a darn sight easer than some of the complex math it uses for the rest of its snooping. Also, there\'s something deliciously old-skool about tapping a cable, even if it is something we\'d all rather didn\'t happen.