>> all of the above. when we've learned is that there's been a sustained, multipronged effort to break or circumvent many of the encryption technologies that have been developed over the last two decades. in some cases, the n.s.a. is using its power and influence as the world's best code maker to set standards that only it knows how to break. in other cases, it's getting into servers and taking encryption keys. it's using secret court orders, in some cases through its

so as we point out in our article, two decades ago, we as a nation had a big conversation around the clipper chip, which was the clinton administration's way of putting in a backdoor to all encryption technologies. and as a nation, we decided that this was fundamentally unacceptable, that we wanted some things to remain secret. what we found out yesterday and what we said today in tower article is that the n.s.a. has gotten around that-- effectively done the same thing in secret. >> what's their justification? that they want to be able to

>> well, the n.s.a. put out a statement said that effectively said that this was a huge setback for them, and that they didn't believe that the story should have been published, that there was-- that national security concerns outweighed the public's need to know and debate about this topic. everyone else i've spoken with, however, is very glad we made these disclosures. people in the cryptography community dmoount thought they had won this war with encryption two decades ago are heartbroken.

this was the last bastion of privacy on the internet and what we've discovered is that the last few decades, the n.s.a. has been actively working to crack or circumvent the incontraception technologies we all use, not just for internet banking and to protect medical records and electronic voting systems, but that we actually, as you pointed out, use for everyday internet communications like e-mail or internet chats, et cetera. >> how does the n.s.a. do this?

what we found out is all these accusations that american lawmakers have leveled against wawa and cte in china, basically american lawmakers accused those companies of planting backdoors in their systems allowing the p.l.a. to spy on american corporations and what we have found out in our report is the u.s. government has been doing the exact same thing. it definitely puts american lawmakers in a bind and it puts american companies in a bind in terms of their global market share. it will be interesting to see what happens over the next

it's using secret court orders, in some cases through its intermeadaries, to grab encryption keys from private companies and in some cases, it's working hand in hand with companies to embed itself into encryption chips that scramble information for much of the world's businesses and governments or working with companies to build in custom solutions that give it preencrimented access to communications. this has all been done in secret. so as we point out in our article, two decades ago, we as

two decades ago are heartbroken. american companies are extremely frustrated that they continue to make assurance thoz their customers that their systems have not been breached or compromised and are not handing the government their encryption keys, but i think the public no longer can trust those assurances any more. so i think what we're seeing now say fundamental lack of trust.

reporters found the n.s.a. is able to crack through encryption or protective encoding tools that are used by businesses, banks, social media and other kinds of online commerce. for example, it's often assumed that when you purchase a product online or bank online with a secured and locked h.t.t.p.s. connection, you have protected your password and financial information. but the news reports say the n.s.a. can unlock that information. nicole perlroth is a cybersecurity reporter with "the new york times."