For more than half a century, governments all over the world trusted a single company to keep the communications of their spies, soldiers and diplomats secret. The company, Crypto AG, got its first break with a contract to build code-making machines for U.S. troops during World War II. Flush with cash, it became a dominant maker of encryption devices for decades, navigating waves of technology fro
![The CIA secretly bought a company that sold encryption devices across the world. Then its spies sat back and listened.](https://cdn-ak-scissors.b.st-hatena.com/image/square/e84c1232b636e621ff4be9991f4d46e52b3f0fb9/height=288;version=1;width=512/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fresizer%2F5i6h3byfAbADvdFUAn-5RMklGQ4%3D%2F1200x630%2Ffilters%3Afocal%282231x1260%3A4531x2559%29%3Aquality%28100%29%2Farc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost%2Fpublic%2FJBWJ3HR4RQI6VL7CBEHLG63AWE.jpg)