The United States and Germany control a Swiss encryption technology company and eavesdrop on intelligence from more than 120 countries, with the exception of China

According to a joint investigation by The Washington Post and German TV II, the real "owners" of Swiss encryption communications equipment company Crypto AG are the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the German intelligence agency, the Federal Intelligence Service (BND).

For decades, the CIA, NSA, and German intelligence agency BND have stolen encrypted communications from more than 120 countries around the world. However, the former Soviet Union and China were not included in the scope of the theft because they did not use Crypto AG's encryption technology.

In response to this incident, the Swiss authorities said they have launched an investigation into the incident and will report in June 2020. The CIA and BND have not yet responded.

Crypto AG is a Swiss encryption communication equipment company and the world's largest encryption communication equipment supplier. It made its fortune by producing code-making equipment for the US military during World War II. After World War II, Crypto AG has been providing encryption communication equipment to many countries for communication with overseas spies, troops and diplomats.

According to investigative reports by The Washington Post and German TV II, Crypto AG was controlled by the CIA and BND as early as the 1970s, and the CIA and BND could easily obtain confidential communications using Crypto AG equipment. Not only that, Crypto AG was also able to bring huge profits to the two organizations.

As the main rival of the United States during the Cold War, the former Soviet Union never adopted Crypto AG's products due to its suspicion of its relationship with the United States. However, military governments in Iran, India, Pakistan, Latin America and other countries are customers of the company. Based on this, the CIA and BND have repeatedly controlled Crypto AG to eavesdrop on other countries' confidential communications, including:

• During the Iran Hostage Crisis of 1979, the CIA and BND eavesdropped on the communications of high-level Iranians;

• the 1982 Falklands War, whereby the United States provided Britain with classified communications of the Argentine military;

• In the 1986 West Berlin disco bombing, U.S. agents confirmed the involvement of the Gaddafi government through surveillance of Libyan communications.

The report also pointed out that the details of the CIA's monitoring of other countries' encrypted communications through Crypto AG came from a 2004 report by the CIA's Intelligence Research Center and "oral histories" collected by Federal Intelligence Agency officials.

In fact, the US government's connection with Crypto AG originated from the latter's founder, Boris Hagelin. In the late 1950s, the US government successfully persuaded Boris Hagelin to limit the encryption strength of encryption equipment sold to other countries, and the US government would provide compensation for the resulting losses.

During Crypto AG's transition to electronic encryption technology, the US intelligence agencies further exerted influence on it. In 1967, Crypto AG launched the first generation of electronic encryption equipment, which was basically designed by the US National Security Agency. There are two main versions of the encryption system sold by Crypto AG - the strong encryption version sold to allies; and the version sold to other countries that can be "manipulated".

It is worth mentioning that not only Crypto AG, but also Siemens and Motorola were involved in this incident. It is reported that the German intelligence agency hired Siemens to provide cryptographic services for commercial and technical issues, while the United States hired Motorola to repair its products. Siemens declined to comment on the report, and Motorola did not respond to requests for comment.

In the 1990s, German intelligence sold its stake in Crypto AG. The CIA held on to its stake until 2016.

Later, due to the widespread popularity of other digital encryption tools and a series of mistakes by Crypto AG, the intelligence value of Crypto AG was greatly reduced; this made the US government begin to worry that other countries owned part of its communications infrastructure, and the crackdown on Huawei was one of the evidences.

In 2017, Crypto sold its headquarters building. In 2018, Crypto's remaining assets were also divided and sold. It is understood that the two companies that bought the company's assets when Crypto AG was liquidated both stated that they currently have no contact with the intelligence agencies.

Currently, more than ten countries are still using Crypto AG's encryption system. On February 10, 2020, the Swiss government revoked Crypto AG's export license.