Fact check
Is it true: Operation Rubicon / Crypto AG (1970-2018)?
Yes — this is confirmed.
Confirmed by the CIA's own classified internal history (the Minerva Files), obtained by the Washington Post and published jointly with ZDF and SRF on 11 February 2020. The CIA and West German BND covertly owned Crypto AG from approximately 1970 and sold cryptographically backdoored cipher machines to roughly 120 governments. The BND exited in 1993; the CIA continued as sole owner until 2018. No serious factual dispute remains about the core claim.
The claim
The CIA and West German BND covertly co-owned Swiss cipher-machine manufacturer Crypto AG from 1970, selling rigged encryption hardware to approximately 120 governments and militaries worldwide. For d
Key evidence
CIA internal history (Minerva Files) confirms covert ownership
Swiss and Swedish Internal Investigations Partially Redact Operational Specifics
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