PRISM may only be the tip of the iceberg. A new Bloomberg report reveals that a vast array of companies – many of them in the tech sector- have close working relationships with U.S. intelligence agencies and the military. These arrangements may, in some cases, cross the line from defensive information sharing to assistance that could aid active investigations and even offensive cyberwarfare capabilities.
Some of these relationships are voluntary, therefore bypassing federal restrictions. Bloomberg’s Michael Riley writes:
Some U.S. telecommunications companies willingly provide intelligence agencies with access to facilities and data offshore that would require a judge’s order if it were done in the U.S., one of the four people said. In these cases, no oversight is necessary under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, and companies are providing the information voluntarily.