The Government, in their mindset, seem to believe that they’re fighting the enemy, the enemy being the people who live in that nation, but the real enemy is our exploitive Government which sucks all the wealth out of the economy.
Politics on both sides of the Atlantic has been characterised by populist catchphrases, such as ‘Take back control’, and ‘Make your country great’, but this is a wilful and systematic disregard for telling the people the truth because we are considered the ‘Enemy of the State’.
Both the Tories here in the United Kingdom and the Republicans in the US have created a division by harnessing public fear, and now we have shady, unelected and unaccountable bodies who are allegedly responsible for our economic and societal adversities, and who pledge to combat on our behalf.
Governments are believed to be squeaky clean, but if you believe that, then you will believe anything. No one is infallible and behind the scenes, there are good people and then there are corrupt people.
There are people that will conspire and cover-up, and if that cover-up gets into the wrong hands they will do whatever they need to do and by whatever means is available, and it could happen to any unsuspecting person, walking about, minding their own business.
Nobody is safe, and Governments have control over everything that we do, and in our lives. Intercept our phone calls, freeze our bank accounts, they could even frame you for murder. They have the technology!
Edward Snowden revealed that one, but most people would have forgotten who Edward Snowden even was. He was the guy that told us that Government can hack into your smartphone and see everything.
He said that the Government could take control of your smartphone to look at your browser history, see emails and texts and listen to your conversations, and this man would know all about it because he was the former US security man that said the UK Government had invested heavily in technology to hack mobiles.
He revealed that Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) in Cheltenham uses a secret programme codenamed ‘Smurfs’ to monitor its citizens.
He said that ‘Dreamy Smurf’ is a power management tool which means turning your phone on and off without you knowing, and that ‘Nosey Smurf’ is the ‘hot mic’ tool, so for example, if it’s in your pocket they can turn the microphone on and listen to everything that’s going on around you.
And even if your phone is switched off, they have got other means for turning it on.
Snowden, who worked in America’s National Security Agency (NSA), disclosed there was also a tool to track phones through geolocation, allowing spies to find where you are to pinpoint accuracy.
So, in fact, they want to own your phone instead of you, and once your phone is under GCHQ control, operatives can see who you call, what you’ve texted, the things you’ve browsed, the inventory of your contacts, the places you’ve been, and the wireless networks that your phone is associated with, and they can do much more. They can photograph you.
Snowden also said there was another software, called ‘Paranoid Smurf’, which seeks to prevent technicians from finding out that Government workers have control over the smartphone if you become concerned.
Snowden said, as well as those suspected of planning terror attacks, agencies target people it believes are carrying out serious crimes such as paedophilia, but he said they gather mass data to find out who those targets may be.
The whistleblower, who now lives in Moscow because he’s under fear of detention by the US for leaking top secrets, said GCHQ collects bulk data under another system. This permits them to take control of the server and this tactic is used aggressively.
He said that Computer Network Exploitation (CNE) was essentially digital espionage.
What they try to do is take control of things they don’t own. What the Intelligence Agencies like to do is hack those network service providers and discreetly take ownership of the devices that are affecting traffic without the service providers ever knowing about it.
Snowden said he knows the tactics used by the UK spy agencies as he had privileged access to all files in his role, including British government documents, and that, in effect, GCHQ acted as a subsidiary of America’s NSA.
He said that when he was sitting at his desk working with tools of mass surveillance every day, he saw that all of their communications were being intercepted all of the time in the absence of any suspicion of wrongdoing, and this was something that was occurring without our knowledge, without our consent.
He said GCHQ is for almost intents and purposes a subsidiary of the NSA, they provide technology, they provide tasking and direction as to what they should go after, and in exchange, GCHQ provides access to communications that are collected in the United Kingdom.
Snowden said he was acting in the public’s interest releasing the information and added, that they have particular targets, but to find out who those targets are they’ve got to collect mass data.
US government officials brought charges against Snowden under the Espionage Act, but he said that the claims of stealing information were unfair and he fears that if he were to return to the US he would be given a life sentence.
He said that the Espionage Act finds anyone guilty who provides any information to the public regardless of whether it’s right or wrong and that you’re not even permitted to explain to a Jury what your reasons were for revealing that information, and that it was just a question of, did you disclose information. If yes, then you go to jail for the rest of your life.
But he did admit he has been offered a plea bargain with the government and would be prepared to go to prison, but he said the only assurance that he got from the US was that he wouldn’t be tortured.
In a statement about the allegations of spying on smartphones, a GCHQ spokesman said that it was a longstanding policy and that they don’t comment on intelligence matters.
The spokesman said that all of GCHQ’s work was carried out in accordance with a strict legal and policy framework, which ensured that their actions were authorised, necessary and proportionate and that there was strict oversight, including from the Secretary of State, the Interception and Intelligence Services Commissioners and the Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee.
They also said that their operational processes rigorously supported their position and that the UK’s interception regime was completely compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 