NSA spy programs foiled 50 plots

Secret US surveillance has foiled more than 50 terror plots since 2001, including a planned bomb attack on the New York Stock Exchange, a US spy chief said Tuesday, defending leaked programs.
Google, meanwhile, asked a federal surveillance court to grant it permission to release the number of national security requests and secret court orders it has received in order to be more transparent with users.
Since the disclosure of vast government surveillance programs targeting phone logs and Internet data, Silicon Valley firms have scrambled to respond to users angered by perceived privacy violations. The government has defended the programs as fully legal and vital to preventing terror attacks.
National Security Agency Director General Keith Alexander described four thwarted plots, including a plan to bomb the New York subway he called "the first core al-Qaeda plot since 9/11, directed from Pakistan."
Alexander, FBI Deputy Director Sean Joyce and others defended the digital snooping, which they insisted has kept America safe since 2001.
"In recent years, the information gathered from these programs provided the US government with critical leads to help prevent over 50 potential terrorist events in more than 20 countries around the world," Alexander said, adding that at least 10 threats were "homeland-based."
He told the House Intelligence Committee that most details were classified and would not be made public.
The controversy over the spying programs erupted after rogue defense contractor Edward Snowden leaked details of them to Britain's Guardian newspaper and The Washington Post earlier this month.