Russians say US has put spying tools in personal computers

The US has developed a way to embed sophisticated hacking tools within the hard drives of personal computers built by some of the worlds bigger manufacturers, according to research based in Russia.

Kaspersky Lab, a Moscow-based cyber security company, said it uncovered the spying software in computers made by companies including Toshiba, Western Digital, Seagate and IBM. The spying software when used in countries, including Russia, Iran, Pakistan, China, etc.

Some of the surveillance tools had been hidden inside the hard drives of the computers, Kaspersky said: If a US role in developing the new cyber tools is confirmed it could tarnish the reputation of US technology companies after the damaging revelations about the US leaked by Edward Snowden in 2013.