Archiv: Five Eyes (spy alliance) / associated / subordinated states


07.05.2025 - 18:46 [ ORF.at ]

„Five Eyes“ hinter den Entschlüsselungsplänen des EU-Ministerrats

(29.11.2020)

Gemeint ist ein erster Schritt zu einer EU-weiten Regulation, die Plattformbetreiber de facto verpflichten wird, Ende-zu-Ende-Verschlüsselung mit einem Generalschlüssel auszuhebeln. Dass diese vom britischen Geheimdienst GCHQ vorgeschlagene Methode favorisiert wird, bestätigte de Kerchove ganz nebenbei in einem am Freitag von der Nachrichtenagentur AFP verbreiteten Interview. Ein frisch geleaktes Dokument des Rats dokumentiert die tiefe Involvierung der Spionageallianz „Five Eyes“ in die Entschlüsselungspläne.

(…)

Was de Kerchove, der auch die Gaming-Websites als überwachungspflichtig ins Spiel gebracht hatte, geflissentlich verschwieg, ist, wozu dies in jedem EU-Staat unweigerlich führen wird, dessen Gesetze den Geheimdiensten ein Mandat zum Anzapfen der Glasfaserleitungen zum Zwecke der „Gefahrenverhütung“ bzw. der „Nachrichtenaufklärung“ verleihen.

20.04.2025 - 19:14 [ Netzpolitik.org ]

US-Analysesoftware: Palantir macht Polizei und Militär politisch

Mehrere Bundesländer – darunter Hamburg, Bremen und Thüringen – fordern eine europäische Alternative zu dem umstrittenen System, das Sicherheitsbehörden automatisierten Zugriff auf vielfältige personenbezogene Daten gewährt. Doch unionsgeführte Länder wie Bayern, Hessen und Nordrhein-Westfalen nutzen die Technik bereits.
(…)
Auch in militärischen Strukturen hat Palantir längst Fuß gefasst. Am Mittwoch gab die Nato bekannt, dass ihr operatives Hauptquartier in Brüssel künftig mit dem „Maven Smart System“ (MSS) arbeiten werde – einer KI-gestützten Planungssoftware, die das US-Unternehmen entwickelt hat.
(…)
Das US-Militär setzt das „Maven“-System längst ein, auch an Standorten in Deutschland.

09.04.2025 - 17:02 [ Netzpolitk.org ]

Automatisierte Rasterfahndung: Tür zu für Palantir und Co.

Palantir arbeitet schon heute mit den Polizeien in Hessen, Hamburg und Nordrhein-Westfalen eng zusammen. In welchem Ausmaß und mit welchen Palantir-Softwarefunktionen und wie genau dabei auch höchst sensible Informationen über Menschen verarbeitet werden, ist öffentlich nicht einsehbar und strukturell geheim. Wie die namensgebenden Palantíri in Tokiens „Der Herr der Ringe“ bleiben die Softwaresysteme des Konzerns in geheimen Räumen, nur konzerneigene Hüter haben echten Zugang. Der Konzern Palantir entzieht sich der öffentlichen Diskussion weitgehend und damit der Rechenschaft.
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Es ist daher nicht länger die Frage, ob die Systeme von Palantir und Co. ethisch und rechtlich problematisch sind und gesellschaftsfeindlich und demokratiezerstörend eingesetzt werden könnten, sondern wie dies verhindert werden kann.

24.03.2025 - 11:52 [ theGuardian.com ]

Intercepting the Internet

(29.April 1999)

European commission documents obtained this week reveal plans to require manufacturers and operators to build in „interception interfaces“ to the Internet and all future digital communications systems. The plans, drafted by a US-led international organisation of police and security agencies, will be proposed to EU Justice and Home Affairs ministers at the end of May.

(…)

The plans require the installation of a network of tapping centres throughout Europe, operating almost instantly across all national boundaries, providing access to every kind of communications including the net and satellites. A German tapping centre could intercept Internet messages in Britain, or a British detective could listen to Dutch phone calls. There could even be several tapping centres listening in at once.

11.03.2025 - 15:02 [ PWC.com ]

UK online safety deadlines loom, impacting 100K companies worldwide

(February 26, 2ß25)

The rules affect thousands of businesses of all sizes worldwide, far exceeding the scope of the EU’s Digital Safety Act (DSA) and similar online safety frameworks. Companies that view the OSA as the “UK‘s DSA” may be surprised to learn that it applies to a much wider range of tech businesses, not just the biggest global platforms.

In fact, it applies to more than 100,000 user-to-user (U2U) and search services providers that target the UK market or have many UK users — including social media apps, video sharing platforms (VSPs), private messaging apps, online marketplaces, gaming sites, search engines and others — even if they’re small or based overseas.

11.03.2025 - 15:00 [ pymnts.com ]

UK Publishes Safety Rules for Online Service Providers

(December 16, 2024)

The act places new safety requirements on social media platforms, search engines, messaging, gaming and dating apps, and pornographic and file-sharing sites.

Websites and apps covered by the law have until March 16 of next year to “complete an assessment to understand the risks illegal content poses to children and adults on their platform,” the release said.

The law lists more than 130 “priority offenses.” Companies that fail to comply could be fined up to 10% of global annual turnover or up to 18 million pounds (about $22.8 million), whichever number is greater.

The U.K. adopted the Online Safety Bill last year after a lengthy period of debate.

07.03.2025 - 11:55 [ Computerworld.com ]

Apple appeals UK encryption backdoor demand

(March 5, 2025)

Let’s say that Apple lets the order stand and simply opts out of the UK market, which is essentially what it has already done, he said. That could encourage other governments, especially those in France, Australia, and Canada, to try the same tactic.

“If that happens, then the [UK] government has set a precedent,” Chagnon said. But if Apple succeeds in this appeal, which was reported in various media including The Financial Times, “then Apple will have turned the tables and set their own precedent. It would be saying ‘No, China, no, Germany, no, France, you can’t have a backdoor.’”

07.03.2025 - 11:40 [ theQuantumInsider.com ]

China Launches Its Own Quantum-Resistant Encryption Standards, Bypassing US Efforts

(February 18, 2025)

That, in itself might not be seen as an unusual initiative, but experts see China’s decision to pursue an independent cryptographic standard as a strategic move. As reported by New Scientist, China may be avoiding US-led encryption initiatives due to concerns over potential “back doors” that could allow US intelligence agencies to access encrypted communications. There is also speculation that China may seek to integrate its own covert access points into its encryption protocols.

27.02.2025 - 22:00 [ Netzpolitik.org ]

Nach der Wahl: Anlasslose Massenüberwachung erwartbar

(February 24, 2025)

Zuweilen gingen die Sozialdemokraten in Sachen Überwachungsideen über Forderungen der Konservativen hinaus. Die SPD-Innenministerin hatte gar Vorschläge in einen Referentenentwurf gießen lassen, die nicht mal der Union eingefallen waren: Sie wollte künftig heimlich in Wohnungen einbrechen, um Staatstrojaner leichter installieren zu können.

Einzig bei der Chatkontrolle bleibt abzuwarten, wie sich die potentiellen Koalitionspartner zu dem europäischen Vorhaben stellen werden. In den Wahlprogrammen blieb das Thema ohne Erwähnung.

09.02.2025 - 17:35 [ Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) ]

CCIA Responds to Reports of UK Demand for Worldwide Apple iCloud Access

The following can be attributed to CCIA President & CEO Matt Schruers:

“As the recent Salt Typhoon breach makes clear, end-to-end encryption may be the only safeguard standing between Americans’ sensitive personal and business data and foreign adversaries.

“Reports that Apple has been secretly ordered by the UK Government to weaken its encryption, including in the United States, are a troubling development, if accurate. Decisions about Americans’ privacy and security should be made in America, in an open and transparent fashion, not through secret orders from abroad requiring keys be left under doormats.”

09.02.2025 - 17:30 [ Forbes ]

Apple’s ‘Dangerous’ iPhone Update Is Much Worse Than You Think

So, why is this worse than you think. In my view — and no one can officially comment, so “views” will be all we can share — any such government action would not stop with Apple. Not to over-simplify matters, but a bad actor would simply run Google’s helpful switch to Android software. If the U.K is going after Apple, it’s also going after Google and Meta and others. Why would they not? But Soviet-style, none of these other parties can comment or answer questions or confirm or deny.

08.02.2025 - 17:46 [ Washington Post ]

U.K. orders Apple to let it spy on users’ encrypted accounts

(February 7, 2025)

The law, known by critics as the Snoopers’ Charter, makes it a criminal offense to reveal that the government has even made such a demand. An Apple spokesman declined to comment.

Apple can appeal the U.K. capability notice to a secret technical panel, which would consider arguments about the expense of the requirement, and to a judge who would weigh whether the request was in proportion to the government’s needs. But the law does not permit Apple to delay complying during an appeal.

08.02.2025 - 17:26 [ theVerge.com ]

Apple ordered to open encrypted user accounts globally to UK spying

Apple’s iCloud backups aren’t encrypted by default, but the Advanced Data Protection option was added in 2022, and must be enabled manually. It uses end-to-end encryption so that not even Apple can access encrypted files. In response to the order, Apple is expected to simply stop offering Advanced Data Protection in the UK. This wouldn’t meet the UK’s demand for access to files shared by global users, however.

08.02.2025 - 17:21 [ TKP.at ]

UK verlangt Zugriff auf verschlüsselte Daten aller Apple-Nutzer weltweit

(today)

Hintertüren, wie die von den Briten geforderte, sind von Natur aus gefährlich. Beim Hack der US-Kommunikationssysteme im Jahr 2024, der angeblich von chinesischen Akteuren durchgeführt wurde, wurde eine Hintertür verwendet, die die USA und andere Regierungen gefordert hatten:

„Dies ist nicht das erste Mal, dass Hacker die von CALEA vorgeschriebenen Abhör-Backdoors ausnutzen. Wie der Computersicherheitsexperte Nicholas Weaver 2015 gegenüber Lawfare betonte, „muss jede in den USA verkaufte Telefonanlage die Möglichkeit bieten, eine große Anzahl von Anrufen effizient abzuhören. Und da die USA einen so großen Markt darstellen, bedeutet dies, dass praktisch jede weltweit verkaufte Telefonanlage die Funktion ‚Lawful Intercept‘ enthält.“

Vor zwei Jahrzehnten wurde diese obligatorische Abhörfunktion von Hackern, die es auf Vodafone Griechenland abgesehen hatten, unterwandert. Sie fingen Telefongespräche des Premierministers des Landes und hochrangiger politischer, polizeilicher und militärischer Beamter ab.“

08.02.2025 - 17:15 [ Techdirt ]

Snooper‘s Charter May Not ‚Increase‘ Surveillance… But Tries To Legalize Over A Decade Of Secret, Illegal Mass Surveillance

(November 6, 2015)

Earlier this week, we wrote about the UK’s release of its new Snooper’s Charter bill, where we noted that the government spin on it was fairly dizzying. I noted at the time that while the government kept insisting that it wasn’t adding a requirement to backdoor encryption, that was misleading because the text of the bill indicated the government believed such a mandate already existed. And that’s only the least of it. The bill and the discussion around it simply confirmed that the UK government engaged in mass surveillance for many, many years, and until now only a “tiny handful” of government ministers even knew about it.

That’s kind of astounding.

And, amazingly, the government is using this fact to argue that the new bill is a good thing because it actually “limits and restricts” activity that it secretly engaged in for years and years.

08.02.2025 - 17:13 [ Techdirt ]

UK Government Goes Full Orwell: Snooper‘s Charter, Encryption Backdoors, Free Speech Suppression

(May 28, 2015)

The old joke goes “George Orwell’s 1984 was a warning, not a ‘how to’ manual.” But that joke is increasingly less funny as the UK really seems to be doing everything it can to put in place Orwell’s fictitious vision — just a few decades later.

(…)

That first sentence is about the extremism orders, but the second part may be even more troubling. It’s the Queen making it clear that the Snooper’s Charter is returning — but even worse than before.

07.02.2025 - 13:49 [ Netzpolitik.org ]

Massenüberwachungspläne der Union: Trump geleckt

(January 27, 2025)

Der Antragsentwurf der Christenunion hat es in sich: In Deutschland soll nicht nur bei Fragen der Einreise und des Asyls eine Politik im Stile Donald Trumps mit massiven Verschärfungen beginnen. Auch ein ganzer Überwachungskatalog soll Wirklichkeit werden. Neben mehreren Vorhaben von technisierter Massenüberwachung ist auch der Ausbau staatlichen Hackings vorgesehen, dazu mehr Befugnisse für Polizei und Geheimdienste.

Die Fülle an Vorhaben begründet die Union mit den zurückliegenden Morden von Tätern mit psychischen Auffälligkeiten in Magdeburg und Aschaffenburg und mit der „ernüchternden innenpolitischen Bilanz nach drei Jahren Regierung Scholz“, wie es im Antrag heißt.

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Die wenigen Abgeordneten des Bundestags, die in Überwachungsfragen der Geheimdienste Einblick bekommen, sollte das beunruhigen. Denn die Kontrolle durch das Parlament ist schon heute unterentwickelt und kaum praktikabel. Parlamentarische Untersuchungsausschüsse des Bundestags, die wegen Geheimdienstskandalen immer wieder bemüht werden mussten, haben gezeigt: Das Stochern im Nebel hat System. Wenn nun noch mehr Auflagen „zurückgeführt werden“, läuft die Geheimdienstkontrolle ins Leere.

15.11.2024 - 16:23 [ ABC News ]

Former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is Trump‘s pick for director of national intelligence

(November 13, 2024)

„Trump ended up with some neocons around him who were trying to undermine his objectives so they could feed their goals of continuing to keep us in a perpetual state of war,“ Gabbard said, discussing his first administration. „This administration has us facing multiple wars on multiple fronts and regions around the world and closer to the brink of nuclear war than we ever have been before,“ Gabbard said when she endorsed Trump during a campaign event in Michigan.

„This is one of the main reasons why I‘m committed to doing all that I can to send President Trump back to the White House, where he can, once again, serve us as our commander in chief.“

04.09.2024 - 10:45 [ New York Times ]

Israel Found the Hamas Money Machine Years Ago. Nobody Turned It Off.

(December 16, 2023)

Israeli leaders believed that Hamas was more interested in governing than fighting. By the time the agents discovered the ledgers in 2018, the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was encouraging the government of Qatar to deliver millions of dollars to the Gaza Strip. He gambled that the money would buy stability and peace.

Mr. Levy recalled briefing Mr. Netanyahu personally in 2015 about the Hamas portfolio.

28.08.2024 - 12:40 [ Anadolu ]

UK’s Online Safety Bill to be fully enforced next year

(20.08.2024)

The UK‘s new Online Safety Bill, which is set to take effect next year and aims to curb speculative news and online hate speech, has gained renewed attention after far-right groups used social media to incite violence.

05.05.2024 - 07:15 [ Middle East Eye ]

Gaza is the greatest test liberalism has faced since 1945. And it is failing

Pro-Israeli lobbies have hijacked most western liberal democracies.

The whole world is now privy to the shameless pimping of western politicians previously documented in Congressman Paul Findley‘s 1985 book They Dare to Speak Out and reinforced by the 2007 book The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy, by political scientists John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt.

As an anonymous commentator wrote: “People think Gaza is occupied, but in reality, Gaza is free but the whole world is occupied.”

14.02.2024 - 12:49 [ New York Times ]

Israel Found the Hamas Money Machine Years Ago. Nobody Turned It Off.

(16.12.2023)

Israeli leaders believed that Hamas was more interested in governing than fighting. By the time the agents discovered the ledgers in 2018, the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was encouraging the government of Qatar to deliver millions of dollars to the Gaza Strip. He gambled that the money would buy stability and peace.

Mr. Levy recalled briefing Mr. Netanyahu personally in 2015 about the Hamas portfolio.

05.01.2024 - 16:22 [ New York Times ]

Israel Found the Hamas Money Machine Years Ago. Nobody Turned It Off.

(16.12.2023)

Israeli leaders believed that Hamas was more interested in governing than fighting. By the time the agents discovered the ledgers in 2018, the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was encouraging the government of Qatar to deliver millions of dollars to the Gaza Strip. He gambled that the money would buy stability and peace.

Mr. Levy recalled briefing Mr. Netanyahu personally in 2015 about the Hamas portfolio.

16.12.2023 - 16:00 [ Times of Israel ]

NYT: Israel had blueprint of Hamas’s financial infrastructure in 2018, but didn’t shut it down

However, the report says that even though the documents were shared in Jerusalem and Washington, nothing was done to disrupt the operations.

“Everyone is talking about failures of intelligence on Oct. 7, but no one is talking about the failure to stop the money,” Udi Levy, a former chief of Mossad’s economic warfare division, tells the paper “It’s the money — the money — that allowed this.”

The report says that the funds totaled some $500 million.

Levy says he briefed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2015 about Hamas’s finances.

16.12.2023 - 15:46 [ New York Times ]

Israel Found the Hamas Money Machine Years Ago. Nobody Turned It Off.

Israeli leaders believed that Hamas was more interested in governing than fighting. By the time the agents discovered the ledgers in 2018, the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was encouraging the government of Qatar to deliver millions of dollars to the Gaza Strip. He gambled that the money would buy stability and peace.

Mr. Levy recalled briefing Mr. Netanyahu personally in 2015 about the Hamas portfolio.

15.11.2023 - 07:24 [ Stewart Clark (Blue Tick Goes Here) / Twitter ]

UK Internet Censorship bill was passed a few weeks ago, you will see sweeping changes in censorship coming soon, all for your safety and protection of course

10.11.2023 - 10:15 [ Manager-Magazin.de ]

Siemens und der BND: Ehemalige Manager packen aus

(12.04.2008)

Siemens lieferte Abhörtechnik für Geheimdienste in aller Welt, nach Russland, Ägypten, oder Oman. Der Konzern kann sich zur Fehleranalyse in jede große Vermittlungsanlage einwählen, die das Unternehmen geliefert hat. Das legt den Verdacht nahe, der BND habe sich Zugang zu diesen Einwahlschlüsseln verschaffen wollen.

Für den Nachrichtendienst war Siemens auch deshalb interessant, weil Ingenieure des Konzerns beim Bau von Telefonanlagen Räume zu sehen bekommen, die auch einem US-Spionagesatellit verschlossen sind, …

10.11.2023 - 09:42 [ Wikipedia ]

Operation Rubicon

Operation Rubicon (German: Operation Rubikon), until the late 1980s called Operation Thesaurus, was a secret operation by the West German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) and the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), lasting from 1970 to 1993 and 2018, respectively, to gather communication intelligence of encrypted government communications of other countries.[1][2] This was accomplished through the sale of manipulated encryption technology (CX-52) from Swiss-based Crypto AG, which was secretly owned and influenced by the two services from 1970 onwards.[1] In a comprehensive CIA historical account of the operation leaked in early 2020, it was referred to as the „intelligence coup of the century“ in a Washington Post article.

10.11.2023 - 09:20 [ ZDFinfo Dokus & Reportagen / Youtube ]

Streng geheim! Cryptoleaks. Die große BND und CIA Spionage | ZDFinfo Doku

(Aug 29, 2020)

Jahrzehntelang belauschten BND und CIA die verschlüsselte Kommunikation von über 100 Staaten. Die Operation „Rubikon“ wurde bis heute geheim gehalten. Sie gilt als größter Erfolg des BND.

Opfer des Lauschangriffs waren arabische und südamerikanische Länder, aber auch NATO-Partner. Sie vertrauten der Krypto-Technik des schweizerischen Herstellers Crypto AG – und wurden betrogen.

10.11.2023 - 04:50 [ Netzpolitik.org ]

Geheime Liste: Wie der Sicherheitsapparat die Chatkontrolle prägt

Auffällig ist, dass die EU-Kommission von den neun Regierungsvertreter:innen auch zwei von der australischen Bundespolizei einlud. Hintergrund könnte hier sein, dass Australien seit 2019 ein Gesetz gegen sichere Verschlüsselung anwendet. Australien gehört wie das Vereinigte Königreich, die USA, Neuseeland und Kanada zum Geheimdienstverbund „Five Eyes“.

03.10.2023 - 11:55 [ Netzpolitik.org ]

Europol will Chatkontrolle-Daten unbegrenzt sammeln

(29.09.2023)

Europol wünscht sich ungefilterten Zugang zu Daten der Chatkontrolle, um KI-Algorithmen zu trainieren. Das geht aus internen Dokumenten hervor, die wir veröffentlichen. Zwei ehemalige Beamte der EU-Polizei wechselten zur US-Organisation Thorn, die massiv für das geplante Gesetz lobbyiert.

03.10.2023 - 11:00 [ World Economic Forum / Weltwirtschaftsforum ]

World Economic Forum Launches Coalition to Tackle Harmful Online Content

(29 Jun 2021)

· Leaders in Australia, the UK, Indonesia, Ukraine, Bangladesh, Singapore and other public and private sector members have come together to collaborate and share best practices to reduce the spread of child sexual exploitation and abuse online, violent extremist and terrorist content, and health misinformation