虎被曝曾協助美國政府大規模掃描用戶郵件

Yahoo secretly scanned millions of its users' email accounts on behalf of the US government, according to a report.

據一份報告顯示，雅虎曾協助美國政府對其數百萬用戶的郵件進行了掃描。

Reuters news agency says the firm built special software last year to comply with a classified request.

據路透社表示，雅虎去年開發了一款特殊軟件來滿足分類要求。

"Yahoo is a law abiding company, and complies with the laws of the United States," the tech firm said in a statement provided to the BBC.

雅虎公司在一份提供給BBC的聲明中說道：“雅虎是一家守法公司，遵守美國的法律。”

The allegation comes less than a fortnight after Yahoo said hackers had stolen data about many of its users.

在這起指控之前不到兩週的時候，雅虎曾經宣稱黑客竊取了該公司許多用戶的數據。

Yahoo is in the process of being taken over by Verizon Communications in a $4.8bn (3.8bn pound) deal. The telecoms provider declined to comment on the report.

雅虎正在被威瑞森通訊公司收購的過程中，據悉該公司以48億美元（約合38億英鎊）的價格收購了雅虎。威瑞森通訊公司拒絕就這份報告發表評論。

Reuters reports that the scans were requested by either the National Security Agency (NSA) or the FBI, according to three sources - two of whom it says were ex-Yahoo employees.

據路透社報道，三名知情人士（其中兩人以前是雅虎的員工）透露稱，掃描郵件是受美國國家安全局或者聯邦調查局的要求。

The news agency says that the software scanned for a string of characters within all incoming emails, but adds that it was unable to determine what information was handed over or if other internet companies had received a similar demand.

路透社表示，這款軟件在所有載入的郵件裏檢索了一個字符串，但是該社也表示無法確定雅虎到底移交了什麼信息，也不能確定其他互聯網公司是否也收到了類似的要求。

US law allows the country's intelligence agencies to order the release of customer data that they believe could prevent a terrorist attack, among other reasons.

美國法律允許該國情報機構在認爲可以防止恐怖襲擊或者其他原因的情況之下，命令企業公佈客戶的數據。

Companies can challenge such orders behind closed doors in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

在“外國情報監控法庭”上，企業可以對這些命令提起反對。

But Reuters reports that Yahoo decided not to fight the matter because it thought it would lose. It adds that some Yahoo employees were upset by that decision.

但是據路透社報道，雅虎決定不反對這件事，因爲它知道自己一定會輸。據悉，當時雅虎一些員工對這一決定感到非常失望。

The whistleblower Edward Snowden, who previously revealed details about the US's cyber-spying efforts, has tweeted in response to the unverified allegations: "Use @Yahoo? They secretly scanned everything you ever wrote... close your account today."

斯諾登是此次雅虎事件告密人之一，他之前曾經公佈過關於美國從事網絡間諜活動的詳細信息，他在推特上回應這起尚未被證實的指控說：“還在用雅虎？他們偷偷地掃描了你寫的所有東西，馬上註銷賬號吧！”