The Internet Dark Age

This document describes how your regular consumer modem given to you by your ISP can be (is being) used to intercept all your traffic for intelligence gathering purposes. And what you can do about it. It is 60 pages with lots of technical jargon. But please take the time to read it in full because it contains VALUABLE information.

http://cryptome.org/2013/12/Full-Disclosure.pdf

"The NSA also attacks network devices directly: routers, switches, firewalls, etc. Most of these devices
have surveillance capabilities already built in; the trick is to surreptitiously turn them on. This is an
especially fruitful avenue of attack; routers are updated less frequently, tend not to have security software
installed on them, and are generally ignored as a vulnerability."

"The NSA also devotes considerable resources to attacking endpoint computers. This kind of thing is done by
its TAO – Tailored Access Operations – group. TAO has a menu of exploits it can serve up against your
computer – whether you're running Windows, Mac OS, Linux, iOS, or something else – and a variety of tricks
to get them on to your computer. Your anti-virus software won't detect them, and you'd have trouble finding
them even if you knew where to look. These are hacker tools designed by hackers with an essentially
unlimited budget. What I took away from reading the Snowden documents was that if the NSA wants in to
your computer, it's in. Period."

The evidence provided by this Full-Disclosure is the first independent
technical verifiable proof that Bruce Schneier's statements are indeed
correct.