NSA Extends Internet Spying To Search For Hackers: Report

The White House has expanded the National Security Agency's warrantless surveillance of Americans' international Internet traffic to search for evidence of computer hacking, according to a report in the New York Times on Thursday. The report, based on documents provided by Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor, said the agency can hunt for Internet traffic that contains malware or flows to suspicious internet addresses. While the Justice Department allowed the NSA to monitor only addresses that it could tie to foreign governments, the agency sought to target hackers even if it could not establish any links to foreign powers. This program has never been publicly disclosed.