Editing Federal Intelligence Service (section)

==== Acquisition of Crypto AG ====
In 1970 the CIA and the BND bought the Swiss informations and communication security firm [[Crypto AG]], for $5.75 million. Already in 1967 the BND tried, together with the French intelligence service, to buy the company from its founder Robert Hagelin. This deal though fell through due to Hagelin, who was already cooperating with the CIA, refusing. The CIA at the time did not cooperate with the French. In 1969, after negotiations with the US, the BND approached Hagelin anew and bought the company together with the US intelligence service. Crypto AG produced and sold radio, Ethernet, STM, GSM, phone and fax encryption systems worldwide. Its clients included Iran, Libya, military juntas in Latin America, nuclear rivals India and Pakistan, and even the Vatican. The BND and the CIA rigged the company's devices so they could easily decipher the codes that countries used to send encrypted messages.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/national-security/cia-crypto-encryption-machines-espionage/|title=The CIA secretly bought a company that sold encryption devices across the world. Then its spies sat back and listened.|newspaper=The Washington Post|accessdate=6 March 2021}}</ref>