Actually, why nobody mention anything about Intel and Cisco? I would image it would be much more effective to build backdoor to network appliances if you want to spy someone.
True, but if the network traffic between you and, say Office 365, is encrypted, the NSA would need to decrypt that. It'd be so much easier if Microsoft just handed over the actual, unencrypted, files. I can easily imagine the NSA login screen for Microsoft's PRISM interface with a "Yes, I have a proper court order" checkbox under the password field.
