EUROPE

Chip Maker to Investigate Claims of Hacking by N.S.A. and British Spy Agencies

By MARK SCOTT
LONDON — Gemalto, a French-Dutch digital security company, said on Friday that it was investigating a possible hacking by United States and British intelligence agencies that may have given them access to worldwide mobile phone communications.
The investigation follows news reports on Thursday that the National Security Agency in the United States and the Government Communications Headquarters in Britain had hacked Gemalto’s networks to steal SIM card encryption codes.
The claims — reported on a website called The Intercept — were based on documents from 2010 provided by Edward J. Snowden, the former N.S.A. contractor.
The American and British intelligence agencies are said to have stolen the encryption key codes to so-called smart chips manufactured by Gemalto, which are used in cellphones, passports and bank cards around the world.
Gemalto is the world’s biggest maker of SIM cards, the small chips in cellphones that hold an individual’s personal security and identity information.
By gaining access to the chips, the British and American agencies are said to have been able to look up large amounts of mobile voice and data communications without the permission of governments or telecommunications providers like Verizon Wireless and AT&T.
“We cannot at this early stage verify the findings of the publication and had no prior knowledge that these agencies were conducting this operation,” Gemalto said in a statement on Friday.
It added, “We take this publication very seriously and will devote all resources necessary to fully investigate.”
Shares in the company fell 7.5 percent on Friday in early afternoon trading in Amsterdam. A spokeswoman for the company declined to comment on the length of the investigation into the possible hacking.
A GCHQ spokesman declined to comment on intelligence matters, while a representative from the N.S.A. was not immediately available to comment.
The latest claims follow a series of accusations based on documents provided by Mr. Snowden that American and British intelligence agencies routinely gained access to online communications.
Those affected included several high-profile figures, like Angela Merkel, the German chancellor; American intelligence agencies were suspected of monitoring her cellphone conversations.
“The news that U.S. and U.K. spy agencies hacked the network of a Dutch company to steal encryption keys for billions of SIM cards is truly shocking,” said Anne Jellema, chief executive of the World Wide Web Foundation, a nonprofit that campaigns for Internet freedom. “This is yet another worrying sign that these agencies think they are above the law.”