Google Teams With NSA to Fight Cyberattacks

Shaken by recent large-scale hacking of its systems, Google is enlisting the National Security Agency in a deal that highlights the growing dilemma of balancing privacy concerns with national security interests. The agreement, the first of its kind between a government agency and an Internet search company, will see the NSA help Google figure out how it was hacked and better defend itself from future attacks, the Washington Post reports.

The recent attacks targeted Google source code and compromised the Gmail accounts of human rights activists in the US, China, and Europe. The NSA, the world's most powerful electronic surveillance organization, will help Google assess the attacker's level of sophistication and evaluate where the Internet giant's vulnerabilities lie. The NSA will not have access to users' search data or email accounts.
(More Google stories.)