When you've absolutely, positively got to blow up a building, and need a Web mail service to coordinate your plans, most terrorists use Gmail, Michael Hayden, the former director of the CIA, tells a church audience. September 16, 2013 4:44 PM PDT (Credit: James Martin/CNET) Former Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Administration Director Michael Hayden defended the PRISM program to an adult education class, saying that "Gmail is the preferred Internet service provider of terrorists worldwide." Related stories: Galaxy disturbed by NSA director's 'Star Trek' office NSA snoops on credit card transactions, says report FISA court orders feds to declassify more opinions Google's Eric Schmidt downplays NSA spying NSA disguised itself as Google to spy, say reports He made the comment during a speech on "the tension between security and liberty" at The Forum at St. Johns Church in Washington, D.C., where he was arguing in support of the Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Act (FISA) Section 702, the Washington Post reported. Section 702 provides the legal underpinning of the PRISM spying program. He described the Internet as being "quintessentially American," and said that since much of the Internet traffic goes through servers based in America, the US government "takes a picture of it for intelligence purposes." Google refused to comment on Hayden's comments, or whether they affect the opinion of Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt that Internet Balkanization is a bigger concern than spying. Topics: Google, Policy Tags: NSA, Michael Hayden, spying, surveillance, Gmail, Google, PRISM Seth Rosenblatt Senior writer Seth Rosenblatt covers Google and security for CNET News, with occasional forays into tech and pop culture. Formerly a CNET Reviews senior editor for software, he has written about nearly every category of software and app available. Smartwatches are on the cusp of something big, OLED and 4K TV explained and connected, and smart appliances finally start to make sense.
When you've absolutely, positively got to blow up a building, and need a Web mail service to coordinate your plans, most terrorists use Gmail, Michael Hayden, the former director of the CIA, tells a church audience.
(Credit: James Martin/CNET)
Former Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Administration Director Michael Hayden defended the PRISM program to an adult education class, saying that "Gmail is the preferred Internet service provider of terrorists worldwide."
Related stories:
- Galaxy disturbed by NSA director's 'Star Trek' office
- NSA snoops on credit card transactions, says report
- FISA court orders feds to declassify more opinions
- Google's Eric Schmidt downplays NSA spying
- NSA disguised itself as Google to spy, say reports
He made the comment during a speech on "the tension between security and liberty" at The Forum at St. Johns Church in Washington, D.C., where he was arguing in support of the Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Act (FISA) Section 702, the Washington Post reported. Section 702 provides the legal underpinning of the PRISM spying program.
He described the Internet as being "quintessentially American," and said that since much of the Internet traffic goes through servers based in America, the US government "takes a picture of it for intelligence purposes."
Google refused to comment on Hayden's comments, or whether they affect the opinion of Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt that Internet Balkanization is a bigger concern than spying.
Senior writer Seth Rosenblatt covers Google and security for CNET News, with occasional forays into tech and pop culture. Formerly a CNET Reviews senior editor for software, he has written about nearly every category of software and app available.
Smartwatches are on the cusp of something big, OLED and 4K TV explained and connected, and smart appliances finally start to make sense.
