Eavesdropping made easy ...

In view of the News of the World scandal, this is not exactly a surprise

A burgeoning global trade in eavesdropping technology produced largely by U.S. and other Western companies -- and minimally regulated by the U.S. government -- has allowed sophisticated surveillance tools to end up in the hands of repressive regimes in Syria, Iran and elsewhere.

(Not to mention feral journalists.)


Company sales brochures, provided to The Washington Post by the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, show that few forms of electronic communication are beyond the reach of the buyers of these powerful products. The industry faces little scrutiny by the U.S. and other governments, and countries banned from buying surveillance products from U.S. companies can obtain them through intermediaries.


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