The NSA-related cover surveillance operations are further detailed in a report by Dutch publication NRC that claims that more than 50,000 computers worldwide have been infected with NSA-operated malware. The software, hidden in computer networks belonging to organizations such as mobile operators across the globe, can remain dormant for years and be activated at will for personal data collection. The publication says it had access to documents provided by NSA employee turned whistleblower Edward Snowden that prove the agency’s complex hacking operation. According to the report, there are over 1,000 hackers working for a special department inside the agency called Tailored Access Operations or TAO. NSA hackers had apparently infected 20,000 computers with such “Computer Network Exploitation” or CNE programs back in