The U.S. National Security Agency has secretly succeeded in breaking much of the encryption that keeps people 's personal data safe online , according to reports by The New York Times , The Guardian and ProPublica . The reports , produced in partnership and published Thursday , are the latest to emerge based on documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden to Britain 's Guardian newspaper . According to the reports , the NSA , alongside its UK equivalent , Government Communications Headquarters , better known as GCHQ , has been able to unscramble much of the encoding that protects everything from personal e-mails to banking systems , medical records and Internet chats . The agencies ' methods include the use of supercomputers to crack codes , covert measures to introduce weaknesses into encryption standards and behind-doors collaboration with technology companies and Internet service providers themselves . `` Through these covert partnerships , the agencies have inserted secret vulnerabilities -- known as backdoors or trapdoors -- into commercial encryption software , '' The Guardian says . The Guardian cites a 2010 GCHQ memo that it says describes a briefing on NSA accomplishments given to GCHQ employees . `` For the past decade , NSA has lead ( sic ) an aggressive , multi-pronged effort to break widely used Internet encryption technologies , '' the memo reportedly says . `` Vast amounts of encrypted Internet data which have up till now been discarded are now exploitable . '' A second memo is quoted as saying that when the British analysts , who often work alongside NSA officers , were first told about the program , `` those not already briefed were gobsmacked . '' Another document states that GCHQ has been working to find ways into the encrypted data sent via four big Internet firms , Google , Yahoo , Facebook and Microsoft 's Hotmail , the reports claim . GCHQ told CNN it had no comment on The Guardian report . The reports claim that the NSA worked to develop more covert ways of unscrambling online data after losing a public battle in the 1990s to insert a government `` back door '' into all programming . 'Foundation of web security ' Computer security expert Mikko Hypponen believes the revelation is the most important leak to date from Snowden . `` It may not have gained as many headlines as some of his other stories , because most people do n't understand how crypto systems work . If indeed U.S intelligence does indeed have such a wide range of systems , then I 'm surprised , '' he told CNN . Crypto encryption is relevant to everyday applications that everyone uses , for example in communications and transactions , he said . `` Now we learn that the foundation of web security has been compromised . '' Hypponen , the chief research officer for F-Secure , said he believes the NSA and GCHQ had probably cracked the encryption by placing moles in key companies at key locations . `` Any major service provider must have sizable amounts of moles from intelligence agencies . Remember that the NSA has 35,000 people working for it , '' he said . `` The ordinary user should not be worried by these revelations -- it 's obvious that intelligence agencies are not interested in hacking financial transactions -- but they should be outraged . '' He suggested those outside the United States should be the most concerned . `` How many U.S. politicians use French cloud-services ? Almost none . But how many French politicians use U.S. cloud services ? All of them , '' he said . `` Remember that 96 % of the planet 's inhabitants are foreigners to the United States , so it 's wrong that the U.S. has a legal right to access foreign communications . '' Public concern . The scope of hidden U.S. surveillance programs has been brought to public light through leaks to media outlets by Snowden , who fled the United States and is now in Russia under temporary asylum . He faces espionage charges . The revelations have led many Americans , according to polls , to harbor skepticism about the NSA programs . They 've also generated concern in Congress as well as from privacy groups and libertarians . Last month , President Barack Obama sought to allay people 's unease over the work of the intelligence agency in an interview with CNN `` New Day '' anchor Chris Cuomo . Obama said he was confident no one at the NSA is `` trying to abuse this program or listen in on people 's e-mail . '' The president chalked much of the concern with domestic snooping on changes in technology . `` I think there are legitimate concerns that people have that technology is moving so quick , '' Obama said . `` What I recognize is that we 're going to have to continue to improve the safeguards and as technology moves forward , that means that we may be able to build technologies that give people more assurance . ''
This is the most important report to date from Edward Snowden , an analyst says . Reports : NSA and GCHQ have cracked much of the encryption protecting online data . The NSA have secret contracts with technology companies , the reports say . The encryption protects data including e - mail , banking systems and medical records .