How could this happen? Hacking has been around from the beginning of technology. When the telegraph and telephone were created people figured out how they work and used that knowledge to get around or to take advantage of those systems. With the steady progression of technology, we have also had a progression of hackers. To combat this commercial businesses and the government have been working to increase cryptography and security of systems both public and private. The problem is that when you create something there is always a way to get around whatever security you have put in place. The government feels that they have been behind the curve and have been attempting to gain a foothold in this new age of computers and hacking. This all started with the wiretap, aptly named for the actual connecting to the phone line or taping into the phone line. Decrypting has also been in the government's repitwor for a very long time, code breaking is a key element in all wars. Then followed by bugging or planting listening devices in or around a place of importance for the law enforcement agency. Nevertheless, things have changed because of strong encryption that is readily available on the Internet the government has no choice but to become the hackers them selves.
The first attempt of hacking or snooping by the government on networks like the Internet was carnivore. Carnivore is a system that is portable and can attach to a working Internet Service Provider's network to intercept email. The only problem that has been raised is that unlike wiretapping Carnivore is not exclusive it has the potential to read all emails not just of the suspect in question. Another problem with Carnivore was the fact that up until the year 2000 congress had no idea that the FBI was using such technology after it had been in use for over a year (Baase). Once Carnivore was discovered by the courts they ruled that it was much like a wiretap and needed court approval before it could be implemented.