Snowden: NSA Spied On Netherlands From 1946 To 1968

The U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) secret documents leaked by Edward Snowden, an American computer specialist and former NSA contractor, reveal that the United States spied on the Netherlands from 1946 to 1968, Xinhua reports, citing the NRC newspaper. However, it was not clear when and why NSA spied on the Netherlands and whether the spying stopped after 1968. Also, it was unclear who was bugged, according to the news report. “The NSA wanted to keep the tapping secret for the fear that the relationship between the Netherlands and the United States could be jeopardized, according to the documents,” the newspaper said. The NSA in October admitted monitoring e-mail and phone traffic in the Netherlands but it denied considering the country a target. In addition, the documents show that other U.S. allies such as Belgium, Germany, France and Norway were also bugged as from 1946. The documents also disclose that the NSA had infected more than 50,000 computer networks worldwide by mid-2012 with malicious software designed to steal sensitive information.