Sci-tech magazine Popular Mechanics has scored a well-timed goal with the publication of a cover story on America’s National Security Agency (NSA), describing how it gathers and analyses billions of pieces of information from sources across the world – including, it now seems, from world leaders such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The magazine’s November issue delves into the NSA’s complex and technologically advanced surveillance systems, which include vast databases, and explains how they are applied to analyse incoming data for potential security threats.
Editor Alan Duggan says although the article was written before the latest NSA revelations, he’s quite happy about the timing, and believes everyone should know how the agency works. He adds: “Although the spying revelations are interesting, and pose a messy problem for America’s intelligence community, they will hardly come as a surprise to those in the game. We look forward to interesting debates over the sanctity of privacy, the need for security and the perils of government secrecy.”
The magazine’s November issue also introduces an SAA pilot who builds café racers in his spare time, describes how an underwater cameraman gets really close with sharks, and provides some useful “survival secrets”.
