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NSA Spied on European Politicians Through Danish Telecommunications Hub (therecord.media) 40

Denmark's foreign secret service allowed the US National Security Agency to tap into a crucial internet and telecommunications hub in Denmark and spy on the communications of European politicians, a joint investigation by some of Europe's biggest news agencies revealed on Sunday. From a report: The covert spying operation, called Operation Dunhammer, took place between 2012 and 2014, based on a secret partnership signed by the two agencies. The secret pact, signed between the NSA and the Danish Defense Intelligence Service (Danish: Forsvarets Efterretningstjeneste, FE) allowed US spies to deploy a data interception system named XKeyscore on the network of Sandagergardan, an important internet and communications hub in the city of Dragor, near Copenhagen, where several key submarine cables connected Denmark (and continental Europe) to the Scandinavian peninsula.

The NSA allegedly used XKeyscore to mass-sniff internet and mobile traffic and intercept communications such as emails, phone calls, SMS texts, and chat messages sent to the phone numbers and email addresses of European politicians. The covert operation abruptly stopped in 2014 after Danish government officials learned of the NSA-FE collaboration following the Snowden leaks. Danish officials put a stop to the operation after they learned that the NSA had also spied on Danish government members.

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NSA Spied on European Politicians Through Danish Telecommunications Hub

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  • Spied and learned the same thing we did. Politicians are boring.

  • Microsoft created new data centers in Denmark in 2020. In stupid locations near data hubs. But expensive location and they said they will need some used equipment. Read NSA equipment.
    So it continues in a new context.

  • As long as you don't invade or try to cut their politicians out of the loop, they will bend over for you. For example WWII. It might be from their Viking heritage, they respect that kind of behaviour from stronger foreign powers.
    • What a load of crock.
      If you want to know what caused this behaviour, google the second Schleswig war. Otto von Bismarck broke us in a way, from which we never really recovered.

      On the other hand, we didnâ(TM)t fork over Greenland when tin-pot dictator wannabe Trump wanted it.
      • by gtall ( 79522 )

        I'm glad you didn't fork over Greenland. But it would have been comical, quite like the dog that catches the car he's been chasing and then asks for driving lessons.

    • When you're a small country surrounded by bigger countries, especially if you happen to occupy some strategically useful territory, this sort of thing happens. You can get lucky and become Switzerland, with everyone using you quietly on the grounds that you Keep Your Mouth Shut, or you can be unlucky and become Hawaii, in which case your choice is more or less "which major Pacific power do you want to be ruled by, because there is ZERO chance they will all leave you alone".

      They've been cooperating with Fiv
  • by downfromtherafters ( 7922416 ) on Monday May 31, 2021 @03:37PM (#61440544)
    in other news water is wet
  • Wasn't there some big story about CIA/NSA spying a while back? What ever became of that?

  • Pot meet kettle (Score:4, Interesting)

    by liefer ( 5008787 ) on Monday May 31, 2021 @03:44PM (#61440562)
    I love the fabricated outrage from Germany over this - "How could you do this?!?". Don't be fooled, it is indeed fabricated. Everyone is spying on everyone, and everyone knows it. But lets keep the charade going and hope that everyone has forgotten that Germany was caught red handed spying on Danish leaders as late as 2015 - https://www.thelocal.dk/201511... [thelocal.dk]
    • by gtall ( 79522 )

      Spying is good, it prevents being surprised and overreacting.

    • "I love the fabricated outrage from Germany over this - "How could you do this?!?""

      They still remember a song by a local comic, Otto, who sang 'Dänen lügen nicht' (Danes don't lie)

    • by MikeKD ( 549924 )

      I love the fabricated outrage from Germany over this - "How could you do this?!?". Don't be fooled, it is indeed fabricated. Everyone is spying on everyone, and everyone knows it. But lets keep the charade going and hope that everyone has forgotten that Germany was caught red handed spying on Danish leaders as late as 2015 - https://www.thelocal.dk/201511... [thelocal.dk]

      Not to mention Merkel trying to get into the Five Eyes Club back in 2013 [ft.com].:

      Some European officials believe Ms Merkel’s call for a new intelligence-sharing arrangement with the US is aimed at creating for Berlin a relationship similar to “five eyes” for Germany.

  • Ban Huawei (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Gabest ( 852807 ) on Monday May 31, 2021 @03:48PM (#61440582)

    We need equipment that we can exploit.

    • We've been looking in the wrong place. The surveillance equipment was being installed and disseminated through the bakery all along!
    • by cciRRus ( 889392 )
      I'm not sure if you missed the summary that stated Denmark collaborated with the NSA. NSA did not have to exploit any equipment.
  • Vice versa (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Fons_de_spons ( 1311177 ) on Monday May 31, 2021 @03:49PM (#61440586)
    Why do I never read an article of EU intelligence infiltrating Russian/Chinese/US networks. Are we that good?
    • Russians used SolarWinds to spy USA.
    • by Teun ( 17872 )
      For someone with a Dutch nickname you are curiously clueless.
      It has been widely reported the Dutch services (AIVD/MIVD) had cracked a (security) camera in the offices of the Russian intelligence a few blocks from the Kremlin.
      This knowledge was blown up when a US official thought it wise to publicly talk about it (2017).
      https://nos.nl/nieuwsuur/artik... [nos.nl]

      Then there was the issue with the Russian operatives being caught red-handed with their equipment trying to penetrate the International Court in the Hag
      • by EvilSS ( 557649 )

        It has been widely reported the Dutch services (AIVD/MIVD) had cracked a (security) camera in the offices of the Russian intelligence a few blocks from the Kremlin.
        This knowledge was blown up when a US official thought it wise to publicly talk about it (2017).

        Or maybe we wanted to get the Russians to replace their security equipment to give us an opportunity to bug the new equipment.

      • Not Dutch, but apparently clueless. I think it is downplayed here. Interesting.
  • by tekram ( 8023518 ) on Monday May 31, 2021 @04:03PM (#61440618)
    Seems like Huawei has been convicted of spying with less evidence than the NSA and Denmark and yet US and EU sanctions were swift and deliberate when it comes to convenient targets.
    • by shanen ( 462549 )

      Interesting angle, but does it rise to the level of insight?

      The insight I was looking for in the discussion of the story was why the "investigation" was time-limited in that particular way. Gee, it's not like someone would have leaked something specifically to damage the reputation of one particular politician. Who could imagine such a thing?

  • We have a fan. Look to your right! We have some incoming shit. Look to the center where the twain shall meet!

    Oh wait, wake up. Come on, wakie wakie.

    I know we've seen this several times before but surely this one will be different. Are you really going to tell me this has become routine SNAFU, Situation Normal All Fucked Up. Cuz this is not Situation Normal, this is time for those wakey wakey folks to wakey wakey and pay some fucking attention.

    We have proof they've been spying on us since the
  • by Anonymous Coward

    How do we blame them for this information getting into the open?

  • Watching Merkel closely with all her pro Putin actions and protector in the EU of Russias interest (at least that's how she acts), is not a bad idea.
  • I can use a blowtorch to take down one statue of Obama.

    I can maybe use an SUV to crush another, made of wood of plaster.

    Definitely TNT to blow up a third, where there's no people nearby.

    Who can pledge to destroy the 4th and 5th?

  • It was foolish of NSA to do this, but this is old news.
  • When the story broke last summer, there we stories that they spied on various Danish ministries and defense contractors as well. That was why the head of the Danish military intelligence agency was suspended: helping a foreign government spy on Denmark.

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