Project Bullrun

Based on recently released documents courtesy Edward Snowden, it's evident the NSA either knows all or can get access to anything it wants by cracking all the normally used encryption technologies used on the Net as seen by the joint post  from the NY Times and The Guardian.

The National Security Agency is winning its long-running secret war on encryption, using supercomputers, technical trickery, court orders and behind-the-scenes persuasion to undermine the major tools protecting the privacy of everyday communications in the Internet age, according to newly disclosed documents.

The agency has circumvented or cracked much of the encryption, or digital scrambling, that guards global commerce and banking systems, protects sensitive data like trade secrets and medical records, and automatically secures the e-mails, Web searches, Internet chats and phone calls of Americans and others around the world, the documents show.

Seen below is a screen grab of the various types of private communications the NSA can crack. Click the image to learn about the different kinds of encryption we rubes use to "protect" our privacy.

Here is a blurb about Bullrun, the code word used for the top secret NSA decryption program.

A classification guide for NSA employees and contractors on Bullrun outlines in broad terms its goals.

"Project Bullrun deals with NSA's abilities to defeat the encryption used in specific network communication technologies. Bullrun involves multiple sources, all of which are extremely sensitive." The document reveals that the agency has capabilities against widely used online protocols, such as HTTPS, voice-over-IP and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), used to protect online shopping and banking.

I feel better already.