WASHINGTON: The US National Security Agency developed plans to hack into data links to app stores operated by Google and Samsung to plant spyware on smartphones, a media report said on Thursday.

The online news site The Intercept said US intelligence developed the plan with allies in Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, a group known as the “Five Eyes” alliance.

The report, based on a document leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, said the plan aimed to step up surveillance efforts on smartphones.

The plan appeared to have been discussed at meetings involving the intelligence services in 2011 and 2012, according to the classified document.

Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play