Smartphone users virtually nothing to do in order not to give special services to get” full control ” on their phone, he said debunker of US intelligence Edward Snowden.
A former employee of the US intelligence agencies said in an interview with BBC BBC that the Office of Government Communications UK (GCHQ) has the ability to hack phones without the user’s knowledge.
According to Snowden, GCHQ can gain access to the phone, send an encrypted text message, after which the security services will be able to listen to everything that is happening around and take pictures.
The UK Government has refused to comment on this statement.
“Curious Smurf”
Snowden gave an interview to the TV program BBC BBC “Panorama” from Moscow, where he had fled in 2013, transferring before the press the details of a large-scale program of surveillance of the Internet and mobile phones that led the US National Security Agency, for which he worked.
He said that GCHQ and NSA are interested in mass monitoring of communications of ordinary citizens, but He said that both agencies invested a lot of effort to develop the technology that allows them to hack smartphones. “They want not you, but your phone”, – he said.
Edward Snowden mentioned that GCHQ uses so-called “set Smurfs” (Smurf suite) – a set of secret methods of interception, named after the blue creatures invented and drawn by Belgian artist Pierre Kyulliforom.
“Dreamy Smurf” (Dreamy Smurf) is a power management tool, which means that your phone can be switched on and off without your knowledge, “- he said.
“Curious Smurf – a mechanism that controls the microphone. For example, if the [phone] in your pocket, the GCHQ can include a microphone and listen to everything that is happening around you – even if your phone is turned off, as they have other tools to enable it “- said Snowden.
“Smurf-ranger” (Tracker Smurf) – the mechanism of geolocation, which allows [GCHQ] track you with greater accuracy than is possible by conventional triangulation towers of mobile communication “, – he said.
In the film “Edward Snowden: spies and the law”, filmed by Peter Taylor, also stated:
- divisive relations between the British government and the companies that belong to the social networks. The security services and the police want to have these with them to cooperate in identifying the content associated with terrorism, however, found the authors of the program, not all companies are willing to cooperate with the secret services are so closely, as we would like to intelligence agencies.
- Documents released by Snowden, appear to indicate that the UK government has extracted an enormous amount of information about telephone calls and other communications from Pakistan secretly penetrated into routers American company Cisco.
“necessary and proportionate”
Snowden also mentioned the method of interception called “Paranoid smurf” (Paranoid Smurf): “This is a self-defense mechanism, protecting the manipulation of your phone from GCHQ. For example, if you assign your phone for repair, as you notice that it is doing something weird, or you suspect that something is wrong, then this mechanism will make sure that any equipment will be much difficult to understand that something is wrong “.
After the GCHQ has access to the phone user, the agency said Snowden, will be able to see” who you call what you wrote in a text message, what sites you visited, list of your contacts, the places where you were, to some wireless networks to connect your phone “.
” They can do more. They may have to take a picture, “- he added.
Snowden explained that a text message sent to GCHQ to enter your phone number, will be received without being noticed by.
“This is called” exploit “[computer intrusion - Ed.],” – he said. – It is specially prepared message, which is sent to your room as well as any other text message. But when it comes to your phone, they hide from you. You paid for it [the phone], but whoever controls the software becomes the master phone “.
With regard to relations between GCHQ and NSA Snowden he said that” in essence, GCHQ is dependent structure of the NSA “.
” They [the NSA] provides the technology, set goals and indicate the direction in which they [GCHQ] should work “, – explained the champion of privacy.
How know, the NSA has a program similar to “set the Smurfs”, which is used by GCHQ, NSA has spent billions of dollars for its development, since the terrorists were increasingly using smartphones.
Edward Snowden said the two agencies use the technology against those suspected of terrorism or other serious crimes such as pedophilia, “but in order to determine for whom to shadowing, they need to collect large amount of data “.
” They say, and in many cases this is true, they will not read your e-mails, for example, but they can do it, and if they it will do you this will never know “- he says.
In a statement, the representative of the British Government says that” according to our long-standing practice, we do not comment on issues related to the intelligence agencies. “
“All the activities of GCHQ is a part of a strict legal regime and principles to ensure that our activities are authorized, necessity and proportionality, and it also conducted a serious oversight, including at ministerial level, as well as from authorized on the interception and intelligence on the part of the Parliamentary Committee on Intelligence and Security. All our business processes fully support this position, “- said in a statement the government.
The Government believes that Edward Snowden caused serious damage to the ability of intelligence agencies to deal with threats to national security.
Sam Snowden insists that he committed the act in the public interest, as the work of interception and surveillance, which became known due to released documents he carried, in his words, “behind us without our consent and without any whatsoever of democratic participation.”
Peter Taylor’s film “Edward Snowden: spies and the law”, aired in the program BBC BBC “Panorama” on Monday night.
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