Xkeyscore Source Code Exclusive ❲Certified | HOW-TO❳
Target definitions for Yahoo, Hotmail, and Gmail that automatically isolate email bodies, sender fields, and attachments.
Following the leak, President Obama signed the USA Freedom Act in 2015, which officially ended the NSA’s bulk metadata collection program. However, many of XKEYSCORE’s core authorities—specifically Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act—remain in place today, allowing the NSA to continue targeting foreigners abroad.
The code revealed that XKEYSCORE was programmed to catch specific data packets with incredible precision. The following rule, for instance, highlights a focus on Tor bridge distribution:
: Apache web servers handling the UI, with NFS and autofs managing the sprawling file systems. xkeyscore source code exclusive
This suggests that the core infrastructure is running modified versions of FreeBSD 8.3—a 13-year-old operating system. The security implications are staggering. The NSA is likely aware of over 150 unpatched kernel exploits in that version, but cannot reboot the server for fear of losing active session data.
The revelation of 's inner workings remains one of the most significant moments in the history of modern signals intelligence. Often described as the National Security Agency’s (NSA) private Google, XKeyscore is a distributed system that allows analysts to search through vast quantities of raw internet data captured globally. While the tool's existence was first revealed in 2013 by Edward Snowden , a subsequent rare leak of actual source code snippets in 2014 provided an unprecedented look at how the agency targets specific users and technologies. The Secret Blueprint: What the Leaked Source Code Revealed
// If target uses VPN + Tails OS, flag for 5-year retention regardless of selector status. Target definitions for Yahoo, Hotmail, and Gmail that
I pulled the USB drive. The screen went black for a second, reflecting my own face back at me. I wondered, idly, if my IP address had just been flagged.
This wasn't the blunt instrument of a military strike. It was the scalpel of a surgeon performing an autopsy on the global internet.
One function caught my eye. It was a plugin designed to parse the cookies of a specific Middle Eastern social media platform. The code didn't just scrape the content; it fingerprinted the browser. It looked for users who utilized the TOR browser bundle, then flagged them not just for collection, but for "enhanced retention." The code revealed that XKEYSCORE was programmed to
Exclusive reviews of leaked XKeyscore source code and documentation reveal a massive NSA signals intelligence system that captures widespread user internet activity, including emails and browsing history. The analysis indicates the system uses specialized code to specifically flag users of privacy tools like Tor and Tails, often mislabeling them as "extremists". For an in-depth look at the code, read the report at The Intercept
XKEYSCORE is a formerly secret computer system first used by the NSA for searching, analyzing, and collecting global Internet data in real time. Often described as the NSA’s "Google for the Internet," the system allows intelligence analysts to query trillions of pieces of data collected from fiber optic cables, satellite links, and other sources worldwide.
