According to Foreign Policy magazine, "shadow brokers" claim to have made a historic hack into the NSA.
"Foreign Policy, a very respected magazine, broke a story yesterday on the shadow brokers. Apparently, they claim to have broken into the NSA and hacked their way in and stolen malware," Glenn said Tuesday on The Glenn Beck Program.
The thieves claim to have posted some of the malware files over the weekend online:
The hackers have made one set available for free, the other remains encrypted and is the subject of an online auction, payable only in bitcoin, the crypto currency. The set includes the so-called Shadow Broker's best files. If they receive at least 1 million bitcoin, the equivalent of $550 million, they will post more documents and make them available for free.
The set of files available for free contains a series of tools for penetrating network gear made by Cisco, Juniper, and other major firms. Targeting such gear, which includes things like routers and firewalls, is a known tactic of western intelligence agencies like the NSA and was documented in the Edward Snowden files.
"This is significant, really significant, for a couple of reasons. This is the first time I've ever heard of some sort of -- would you call this like a hostage situation in a way, or espionage? -- it's a hostage situation, really. Country is being held hostage, and it's being done in bitcoin. They're not asking for cash. They're asking for crypto currency, which is completely untraceable," Glenn said.
Glenn noted one other huge issue of concern.
"If they could hack into the NSA, what can't they hack into?" Glenn asked.
Listen to the full segment from The Glenn Beck Program:
Featured Image: A computer workstation bears the National Security Agency (NSA) logo inside the Threat Operations Center inside the Washington suburb of Fort Meade, Maryland, intelligence gathering operation 25 January 2006 after US President George W. Bush delivered a speech behind closed doors and met with employees in advance of Senate hearings on the much-criticized domestic surveillance. (Photo Credit: PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images)