Citing “internal documents” and reports from “unnamed intelligence officials”, the German magazine Der Spiegel has made shocking allegations about hacking operations in place at the NSA.

The magazine has reported on various tactics employed by the Tailored Access Operations branch of the NSA– known as the TAO– an elite group specializing in gathering intelligence on some of the globe’s most desired targets.  Likening it to “something like a squad of plumbers that can be called in when normal access to a target is blocked,” the magazine further quoted a source crediting the TAO with obtaining “some of the most significant intelligence our country has ever seen.”

According to the reports, the strategies include specialized surveillance to track keystrokes, interception of computer deliveries to outfit equipment with espionage devices, and exploitation of hardware vulnerabilities in major U.S. computer companies.   One of the most eyebrow-raising items was the accusation that the group was tracking Microsoft’s internal reporting, well-known among users as the “error report” messages commonly popping up during a crash.

Der Spiegal said TAO employs a variety of advanced gadgetery pursuant to these goals, including modified computer cables and USB sticks and technology designed to intercept mobile phone signals.

Their major base is the NSA’s offices in San Antonio, Texas– conducting their work from an old Sony factory.  The TAO was originally based from the NSA’s headquarters in the Baltimore-Washington area, but the unit now has a nation-wide presence with operations also in Hawaii, Georgia, and Colorado.

“During the middle part of the last decade, the special unit succeeded in gaining access to 258 targets in 89 countries — nearly everywhere in the world,” Der Spiegel further said.  “In 2010, it conducted 279 operations worldwide.”

The report drooped on Sunday, and, if based in accuracy, will be another leak following the major admissions brought to light by Edward Snowden earlier this year.  Its unclear the exact source of the publication’s reports, but the magazine had previously run a series of stories from the Snowden material.

Der Spiegal is a weekly news magazine published out of Hamburg with more than one million in circulation, making it one of Europe’s most widespread publications.