In a recent report, Privacy International (PI), an organization focused on privacy intrusions, asserted that the government had obtained such surveillance tools from multiple sources, including Ericsson, Alcatel, Huawei, SS8 and Utimaco. There is increasing concern that local Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) and intelligence agencies have the ability to intrude into a range of devices to capture data, encrypted or otherwise.One software that enables such high-level spying is Remote Control System (RCS) — a ‘cyber security’ solution developed by Hacking Team (HT), an Italian IT company notorious for its spy tools that have been sold to countries as far and wide as Sudan, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, India, Mexico and Russia.Not only can the software in question intercept emails, phone calls and all other messages, it can access all data stored in mobile phones as well as switch on the microphone and camera remotely to listen to and watch everything happening in a user’s surroundings.The revelation comes from a large hack of the private company’s internal emails, which contains more than 1,000 emails exchanged between the management and Pakistani contractors claiming to be working for various law enforcement bodies as well as the telecom regulator. The emails contain a record of one payment, indicating that somebody did in fact purchase the software. Notwithstanding the fact that surveillance equipment has become a necessity for security agencies operating in a murky world where terrorism can be enabled by technology, this is troubling for several reasons. For one, in Pakistan such capabilities have been used to spy on politicians and judges, as well as human rights activists and journalists, as detailed in a recent report by Privacy International. For another, very few controls exist over how this capability will be used.As recently as in June, during the proceedings of a 19-year-old suo motu case, the ISI disclosed before the Supreme Court that it had tapped thousands of phones over the preceding months; there is no clarity, however, as to what parameters were followed in deciding to place the wiretaps. And perhaps most importantly, the leaked emails show how far snooping technology is now spreading, going beyond traditional intelligence agencies to police departments and provincial intelligence agencies. The email exchanges provide a glimpse into a very disturbing world where technologies designed to violate people’s private lives are being shopped from an online bazaar as if they were nothing more than cosmetics or music players. Hacking Team undertook only the most pro forma and superficial vetting of the contractors they were approached by.
pk.shafaqna.com
