In the last few weeks, there has been quite a lot of noise and discussion on ‘Ye Olde Informatik Oxtrail.’

The Chinese have exploited technology required by United States law enforcement for investigative wiretapping purposes, called CALEA, to spy on American communications. Essentially, they hacked the backdoor used by law enforcement to spy on law enforcement (and other government agencies) — a clear example of how intentionally introducing a flaw in a security system can have unintended consequences (see Clipper for another example). This same sort of cat-and-mouse game is also being played by the Russians against the United States (and NATO), but it isn’t making quite the same headlines right now.