How an obscure acro and an old Network World story helped link AT&T to NSA spying

You may have noticed a story over the weekend by Pro Publica and the New York Times that used documents provided by Edward Snowden to reveal previously unknown details of the “highly collaborative” relationship between AT&T and the NSA that enabled the latter’s controversial domestic spying program.

An aspect of the story that received only passing mention was how the reporters who wrote it connected an acronym for an obscure proprietary network configuration – SNRC — to AT&T and the NSA in part through a 1996 story in the now-defunct print version of Network World. In essence, that acro proved to be a fingerprint confirming the connection … and its match was found thanks to the wonder that is Google Books.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here