According to security specialist Duncan Campbell, the answer is a definite yes. The Echelon network originated during the Second World War when the U.K. cracked the secret codes used by the German government and the U.S. cracked the codes used by the Japanese government. He was speaking at hacker groups the Chaos Computer Club's 16th Chaos Communication Congress here. Campbell wrote the first article on Echelon over 10 years ago, and has been reporting on the network ever since. Echelon can supposedly intercept text messages sent over any medium from fax machines to the Internet without being noticed.
Echelon then sorts through the intercepted communication looking for keywords.
Much of the paranoia surrounding Echelon is based in fact, Campbell said. The function of the NSA complex is shrouded in secrecy, he said. Although the written word is easy for Echelon to deal with, the spoken word is a little more difficult for the network to handle. The Echelon network of the future faces a much harder task, with the introduction of new forms of surveillance, including direct interference with target computers, Campbell said. He also pointed out that governments may secretly release information-stealing viruses and holes in the style of the Melissa virus and Back Orifice hacking tool.