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This has been going on since 2003: it's not new. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/07/11/greek_mobile_wiretap_latest/ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/07/11/g

by cstross 12y ago

This has been going on since 2003: it's not new. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/07/11/greek_mobile_wiretap_latest/ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/07/11/greek_mobile_wiretap... TL:DR; Vodafone Greece is known to have been bugged, to spy on the lines of top government officials including the Prime Minister by persons unknown. Kostas Tsalikidis, Vodafone Greece’s head of network design, was found hanged in a supposed suicide in 2005. As far as I know, nobody was identified, much less charged/tried/convicted in this scandal. Here's an in-depth report in IEEE Spectrum: http://spectrum.ieee.org/telecom/security/the-athens-affair http://spectrum.ieee.org/telecom/security/the-athens-affair The take-away I got from this is that the "hackers" must have had highly specific knowledge of how Ericsson AXE exchanges allow lawful intercepts, plus knowledge of how Vodafone Greece's backbone was configured, and the credentials to install diversions in that system. Which screams "Five Eyes". And if it is known to have been happening in Greece prior to 2004, it was probably going on in other national Vodafone subsidiaries at the same time or even earlier.

happyscrappy 12y ago
You mean the 14 eyes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UKUSA_Agreement#9_Eyes.2C_14_Eyes.2C_and_other_.22third_parties.22 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UKUSA_Agreement#9_Eyes.2C_14_Ey... Eventually you hate every western country. Up is down and Russia and China are the symbols of freedom.
coldtea 12y ago
>TL:DR; Vodafone Greece is known to have been bugged, to spy on the lines of top government officials including the Prime Minister by persons unknown. Kostas Tsalikidis, Vodafone Greece’s head of network design, was found hanged in a supposed suicide in 2005. As far as I know, nobody was identified, much less charged/tried/convicted in this scandal. This is slightly different though. The case you mention is about the discovery of the Greek government being bugged (obviously by another country, there were specific allegations -- and connections -- against an Embassy operating there). Vodafone's recent revelation is about the governments themselves asking Vodafone for a direct line to its data, in their own country.
- cstross 12y ago
  Yes, but you'll note the scandal was about the government mandated wiretap facility being used to wiretap the government itself. They tacitly admitted to having (and presumably using) the capability in the first place.

by cstross 12y ago

happyscrappy 12y ago

You mean the 14 eyes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UKUSA_Agreement#9_Eyes.2C_14_Eyes.2C_and_other_.22third_parties.22 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UKUSA_Agreement#9_Eyes.2C_14_Ey... Eventually you hate every western country. Up is down and Russia and China are the symbols of freedom.

coldtea 12y ago

>TL:DR; Vodafone Greece is known to have been bugged, to spy on the lines of top government officials including the Prime Minister by persons unknown. Kostas Tsalikidis, Vodafone Greece’s head of network design, was found hanged in a supposed suicide in 2005. As far as I know, nobody was identified, much less charged/tried/convicted in this scandal. This is slightly different though. The case you mention is about the discovery of the Greek government being bugged (obviously by another country, there were specific allegations -- and connections -- against an Embassy operating there). Vodafone's recent revelation is about the governments themselves asking Vodafone for a direct line to its data, in their own country.

cstross 12y ago
Yes, but you'll note the scandal was about the government mandated wiretap facility being used to wiretap the government itself. They tacitly admitted to having (and presumably using) the capability in the first place.