‘US embeds spyware in new-build computers’

The US can embed sophisticated hacking tools within the hard-drives of personal computers built by some of the world’s 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 big-name companies.

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