Two of the world's biggest technology companies, Microsoft and
Yahoo, expressed deep concern on Friday about widespread attempts by
the US and UK intelligence services to circumvent the online
security systems that protect the privacy of millions of people
online.
Microsoft said it had "significant concerns" about reports that the
National Security Agency and its British counterpart, GCHQ, had
succeeded in cracking most of the codes that protect the privacy of
internet users. Yahoo said it feared "substantial potential for
abuse".
Google said it was not aware of any covert attempts to compromise
its systems. However, according to a report in the Washington Post
on Saturday, the company said that it had accelerated the encryption
of information in its data centres in a bid to prevent snooping by
the NSA and the intelligence agencies of other governments.