Definitely. They could, targets were using it, they were known to tap backhaul microwaves&#x2F;satellites, their own guideance in high-assurance side was using link encryptors between sites, its in their commercial recommendations (NIPSOM Industrial Security Manual), and so on. Everything in the world to make you think <i>somebody</i> was tapping your line and that they might.<p>So, some groups that were wise went ahead and deployed link encryptors. Black programs, follow NIPSOM and SAP supplements, sure as hell used link encryptors so good [1] we can&#x27;t buy them because... national security. I sure as hell used end-to-end crypto and VPN&#x27;s for anything significant. Google and Facebook... treasure troves of PII and I.P.... didn&#x27;t for reasons I can&#x27;t imagine. Result was they got intercepted in bulk by something that&#x27;s been a known risk for 20+ years. Take NSA out of picture and they should&#x27;ve still thought the lines might get tapped by crooks or foreign spooks.<p>So, yes, Snowden leaks mostly just taught us what we already knew in greater detail. People ignored it then, some ignore it now, and yeah problems happened.<p>[1] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.raytheon.com&#x2F;capabilities&#x2F;products&#x2F;high_speed_network&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.raytheon.com&#x2F;capabilities&#x2F;products&#x2F;high_speed_net...</a>