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# The Secret War on Encryption: Inside Bullrun
- URL: https://www.privacyguides.org/videos/2026/08/09/the-secret-war-on-encryption-inside-bullrun/
- Published: 2026-08-09T17:00:02.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-22T00:27:16.000Z
- Description: This is the story of Bullrun, the National Security Agency's probably-ongoing effort to have eyes into every single digital service on the planet, and how you can you defend yourself against it.
- Author: Nate Bartram
- Tags: Videos, The History and Future of the Encryption Wars

There are a lot of claims online that various services are honeypots or contain secret backdoors. Most of these claims are based only on circumstantial evidence - if any evidence at all. But it's not hard to see why people believe these stories. Governments have done exactly this sort of thing in the past, and continue to do so even to this day. 

This is the story of Bullrun, the National Security Agency's probably-ongoing effort to have eyes into every single digital service on the planet, and how you can you defend yourself against it.

#### Sources

0:06 <https://www.reddit.com/r/privacy/comments/1c0vqe0/do%5Fyou%5Ftrust%5Fsignal%5Fmessenger%5For%5Fis%5Fit%5Fa%5Fhoneypot/>  
0:07 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeXaYR4ed9c>  
0:08 <https://www.reddit.com/r/PrivacyGuides/comments/ufcpvg/is%5Fprotonmail%5Fand%5Fprotonvpn%5Freally%5Fa%5Fhoneypot/>  
0:09 <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34819088>  
0:38 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clipper%5Fchip>  
1:01 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDD37mSA0iw>  
1:14 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First%5FBattle%5Fof%5FBull%5FRun>  
1:54 <https://www.propublica.org/article/the-nsas-secret-campaign-to-crack-undermine-internet-encryption>  
2:07 <https://www.propublica.org/article/the-nsas-secret-campaign-to-crack-undermine-internet-encryption>  
2:26 <https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/09/05/us/documents-reveal-nsa-campaign-against-encryption.html>  
2:39 <https://www.reuters.com/article/world/exclusive-secret-contract-tied-nsa-and-security-industry-pioneer-idUSBRE9BJ1C5/>  
3:25 <https://www.propublica.org/article/the-nsas-secret-campaign-to-crack-undermine-internet-encryption>  
3:52 <https://www.linux-magazine.com/Online/News/Linus-Says-No-Backdoor-in-Linux>  
4:39 <https://www.propublica.org/article/the-nsas-secret-campaign-to-crack-undermine-internet-encryption>  
5:05 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual%5FEC%5FDRBG>  
5:30 <https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/09/new-york-times-provides-new-details-about-nsa-backdoor-in-crypto-spec/>  
6:00 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullrun%5F%28decryption%5Fprogram%29>  
6:17 <https://privacyguides.org>  
7:03 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hLjuVyIIrs>  
7:25 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual%5FEC%5FDRBG>  
7:46 <https://www.zdnet.com/article/edward-snowden-five-years-on-tech-giants-change/>  
8:10 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual%5FEC%5FDRBG>  
8:59 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullrun%5F%28decryption%5Fprogram%29>  
9:04 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vault%5F7>  
9:09 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crypto%5FAG>  
9:28 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDD37mSA0iw>  
9:33 <https://www.propublica.org/article/the-nsas-secret-campaign-to-crack-undermine-internet-encryption>