“I am the 20th century’s greatest spy.” Boris Hagelin — Private discussion with his brother-in-law Sixten Svensson “Further evidence suggesting that the Crypto AG machines were compromised was revealed after the assassination of former Iranian Prime Minister Shahpour Bakhtiar in 1991.” Intel Today (December 29 2007) “The different versions of the report make clear Friedman – described as special assistant to the director, NSA – went with a proposal agreed not just by US, but also British intelligence. Friedman offered Hagelin time to think his proposal over, but Hagelin accepted on the spot.” BBC Gordon Corera (July 28 2015)

A decade ago, I suggested that Crypto AG had been actively working with the British and US Intelligence Agencies. Specifically, I argued that Crypto AG had rigged the equipment used by diplomats around the world to allow the NSA and GCHQ to decode in real-time their messages. These claims were vindicated by US government documents declassified in 2015. End of the story? Not quite. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

If you read his Wikipedia page, Boris Hagelin appears to have been a successful but rather ordinary Swiss businessman. But appearances can be deceptive.

Boris Hagelin was one of the greatest US spies of the 20th century. A few bits of his extraordinary life have begun to emerge recently but much is still classified.

Sixten Svensson is a retired Swedish journalist and the brother-in-law of the late Boris Hagelin who founded Crypto AG.

Hagelin betrayed about 130 countries — and several organizations such as the UN and NATO — when he decided to collaborate with the NSA and rig his machines to allow the US spooks to read all diplomatic cables around the world in real-time.

Svensson told Intel Today that all the machines delivered to the UN — including the one used by Hammarskjöld during his visit to Congo — had been rigged at the request of the NSA. All machines delivered to NATO were also compromised.

So the CIA, the NSA and the GCHQ were able to read his communications in real-time.

The details of this information will not be published before 2033, fifty years after Hagelin’s death.

The UN is currently investigating the possibility that Hammarskjöld was assassinated.

Several countries — including the US and the UK — still refuse to collaborate with the UN investigation.

Hammarskjöld’s Last Message

The Ndola United Nations DC-6 crash happened on 18 September 1961. Dag Hammarskjöld, the second Secretary-General of the United Nations, and 15 others died.

Hammarskjöld’s death occurred en route to cease-fire negotiations. The following message had been sent the day before.

Connect the dots… Tell the Story

Boris Hagelin junior discovered the treason and decided to reveal the affair to at least one person.

His father never forgot and never forgave him. He never spoke to him again.

Hagelin Junior died in a car crash in Washington DC on November 17 1970. Whether is death was an “arranged car crash” or suicide, I do not know.

But it was certainly not an accident.

PS — Crypto AG headquarters are still located in Steinhausen, Canton of Zug, Switzerland. The name Zug originates from fishing vocabulary.

In the Middle Ages it referred to the right to pull up fishing nets and hence to the right to fish.

After his intitial visit to Boris Hagelin in Zug, NSA William Friedman wrote in his report:

“The NSA has now complete control over Crypto AG. Spying can start on an industrial scale.”

So much for Swiss neutrality…

REFERENCES

Boris Hagelin — Wikipedia

=

Boris Hagelin — The Swiss Businessman Who Sold The World Out