KARACHI: WikiLeaks has given weight to a claim that the US National Security Agency (NSA) had compromised telecommunication networks in Pakistan, Dawn.com learnt on Monday.

In a tweet, the whistleblower website referenced a new set of decrypted data leaked by notorious hacker group ShadowBrokers, which reportedly leaked a large tranche of alleged spy tools used by the NSA for intercepting communications around the world.

Since the latest release, a number of security researchers have made use of the password to decrypt and make sense of some documents.

One such researcher that goes by the Twitter name ‘x0rz’ has claimed that part of the documents show NSA’s access inside Mobilink’s GSM network.

In reply to a question by Dawn.com, Mobilink’s chief technical Officer Khalid Shehzad said: “Subscriber privacy is our top priority. We have a state-of-the-art security mechanism in place to ensure data protection and are constantly testing and upgrading it.”

Mr Shehzad added that the news on social media regarding the NSA leaks were related to Mobilink and referred to 2006 and had no implications today.

The original data dump was made by the hacker group in August last year but included a set of encrypted files, with previews of tools that were allegedly used by the NSA.

Previously, security ex­perts had warned that the post could prove to be a hoax.

The group claimed that interested parties had to send funds in advance of winning the auction via Bitcoin, a form of digital currency, and would not get their money back if they lost.

On Saturday, however, ShadowBrokers released a password for the encrypted files, giving the public access to the database.

On Medium, an account allegedly run by the hacking group claimed, in a post releasing the password for the files, “TheShadowBrokers... auction was an apparent failure. Consider this our form of protest.”

The post also directly addresses US President Donald Trump and sets forth a series of ‘policy suggestions’.

Earlier, The Intercept had reported that the NSA had allegedly spied on top civil-military communications in Pakistan using a tool called SECONDDATE, the code to which was leaked by ShadowBrokers.

Published in Dawn, April 11th, 2017