February 2012

You are being watched!

Did you know that in the UK, companies are not allowed to build mobile phone networks or mobile phones unless it has the facility for the government to monitor the communication on the devices.

The Blackberry probably has the most secure messenging service, as they use their own private data encryption. This has led to the Blackberry being banned from some countries, because authorities object to messages being sent that they can not monitor.

Police and secret security services have been listen in to telephone conversations, landline and mobiles, intercepting text messages, and even have the powers to see what websites you have visited as they have access to a huge central database which logs every call and even every web page that every person has visited!

In America, NSA have been criticised over indulgent call listening in, and the FBI has been reported to have the technology to switch on the microphone on any mobile phone, even in 'power off' mode.

Governments all over the world are stepping up their technical capabilities, which now includes cyber attacks. The US government has already been using its cyber hacking tactics against Iraq.

Back in the UK, new cyber security minister, Lord West, has setup a number of internet based departments not just to deal with internet based crime but to also launch our internet cyber attacks from the UK. This basically means the government can deliberately cause destructive damage to internet based devices. He said, "We have an ability to do things and we have got very good and very talented people who have worked on this."

References:

BBC: UK surveillance plan to go ahead
BBC: UK cyber attack capability
BBC: Massive phone call database
BBC: Age of cyber warfare is 'dawning'
BBC: Giant database plan 'Orwellian'
BBC: Untangling the BlackBerry ban
BBC: India threatens to suspend BlackBerry
Youtube: NSA leasurely listening to worldwide calls
Youtube: FBI can activate microphone in your phone