Interdiction

Interdiction is a military term for the act of delaying, disrupting, or destroying enemy forces or supplies en route to the battle area. A distinction is often made between strategic and tactical interdiction. The former refers to operations whose effects are broad and long-term; tactical operations are designed to affect events rapidly and in a localized area.

The term interdiction is also used in criminology and law enforcement, such as in the U.S. War on Drugs and in immigration.

The term interdiction is also used by the NSA when an electronics shipment is secretly intercepted by an intelligence service (domestic or foreign) for the purpose of implanting bugs before they reach their destination. According to Der Spiegel, the NSA's TAO group is able to divert shipping deliveries to its own "secret workshops" in a method called interdiction, where agents load malware onto the electronics or install malicious hardware that can give US intelligence agencies remote access. The report also indicates that the NSA, in collaboration with the CIA and FBI, routinely and secretly intercepts shipping deliveries for laptops or other computer accessories, such as a computer monitor or keyboard cables with hidden wireless transmitters bugs built-in for eavesdropping on video and keylogging.

See also

• For interdiction in different theatres of conflict see:

• Air: Air interdiction
• Ground: No-drive zone
• Sea: Maritime interdiction or Blockade

• Operation Intercept