The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has for years attempted to defeat the security of Apple iPhones that keep user information secret. It's even held an annual jamboree since 2006 among U.S. intelligence units to share their findings and accomplishments in this mission.

The CIA's target was the security Relevant Products/Services of Apple devices, including iPhones and iPads, according to documents released by American whistleblower and former intelligence analyst, Edward Snowden, and revealed by The Intercept.

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The CIA and its allies tried to break the keys used to encrypt data Relevant Products/Services on Apple devices. Part of their efforts to do so was to develop their own version of Apple's Xcode development environment aimed at creating backdoor access to iPhones and iPads, said The Intercept report.

Breaking into Apple was treated almost like a game by the CIA. The spy agency and other U.S. intelligence units have been meeting annually since 2006 at a secret gathering called the "Trusted Computing Base (TCB) Jamboree".

Here, participants shared findings and strategies for breaking into Apple devices and other electronics. The iPhone was released in 2007, meaning the CIA was concerned enough to plan to attack the device a year before it hit the market.

The latest Snowden leaks reveals a "calculated, organized and ruthless" campaign by the U.S. surveillance agencies to crack the security of Apple products, said Peter Eckersley, Technology Projects Director with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an international non-profit digital rights group based in the United States.

"It's fundamentally a scandal anytime a well-funded agency is trying to undermine the security" of products made by a U.S.-based company, he said.

Eckersley said the newly revealed attempts to create security vulnerabilities in Apple devices are likely not exclusive to U.S. spy agencies. He noted that any country with a well-funded government security infrastructure such as Russia, China or Israel is likely to be doing the same thing.

Technology companies like Apple will have to redouble their efforts to improve security and encryption protections.

"We really need to lift our game," Eckersley said.

Apple last updated its Privacy Policy in September. It issued a statement saying it's "never worked with any government agency from any country to create a 'back door' in any of our products or services. We have also never allowed any government access to our servers. And we never will."