by Search Copywriter
J. Morton
J. Morton
In an unprecedented meeting, the world's largest web search company, Google, will be coming to an information-sharing agreement with the National Security Agency, a powerful digital surveillance department of the United States government.Ellen Nakashima, writing for the Washington Post, reported that while the deal has yet to be finalised, it looks set to allow the NSA to analyse Google's recent victimisation in an espionage hack-attack that originated in China.
Though both Google and the NSA refused to speak to the Post about the tentative agreement, Director of National Intelligence Dennis C Blair called the recent attacks a "wake up call" for the search company and that the web needs a "collaborative effort that incorporates both the U.S. private sector and our international partners."
The NSA has existed for over 50 years in the US, and functions to intercept and analyse communications both domestic and abroad. The department has drawn criticism in the years since 9/11, as former president George W. Bush authorised the tapping of phones without obtaining a warrant.
Google is turning to the government agency after announcing in January that its systems had been compromised in a series of attacks late last year. Targeting the firm's source code, the infiltration reached more than 30 other companies, as well as select Gmail accounts worldwide.
The incident brought rising tensions with the Chinese government after Google threatened to cease operations in the Far East country. The company wants to operate in the country unfettered, though no new terms have been come to with China.
The Post reported that Google approached the NSA shortly after these attacks, and that it would mark the first of any information-sharing agreement with the agency, after refusing to work with the NSA on its Terrorist Surveillance Program.
