The US National Security Agency obtained access to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) that is employed by over 10 thousand financial institutions. This was reported on September 9 by the Brazilian channel Globo, citing classified documents provided by Edward Snowden. Globo disclosed the information in coordination with Glenn Greenwald, an American blogger and journalist for the Guardian newspaper, who has worked with Edward Snowden to expose the extent of US spying at home and abroad.
According to the former NSA analyst, the US intelligence agencies tapped into the SWIFT computer network and also spied on a number of the largest world corporations including Google, and Brazil’s state-run oil company Petrobras. Apart from them, the US National Security Agency’s cyber-attacks were targeted at state offices of various countries including France’s Foreign Office.
The documents are dated May 2012; they were a part of the Security Agency’s presentation for recruits. The papers did not say when the alleged spying took place, what data might have been gathered or what exactly the agency may have been seeking.
SWIFT’s spokesperson has not made any comments yet concerning the Globo broadcast. SWIFT’s headquarters are located in Belgium. The company asserts that it does not store its clients’ information on a going basis. In July 2013, SWIFT conveyed over 2.9 billion messages.
The Brazilian TV channel presented the coverage about cracking SWIFT and Petrobras networks shortly after the visit of President Dilma Rousseff to the USA has been cancelled. This way Brazil has reacted to reports released by whistleblower Edward Snowden that America's National Security Agency spied on private phone calls and emails of Brazil’s and Mexico’s presidents.
