Pierluigi Paganini May 07, 2017

According to a draft document leaked online, UK Government is assigning itself more powers to spy on live communications and use malware for surveillance.

While the NSA is announcing it will stop surveillance activities on emails, texts, and other internet communications, the UK government has secretly drawn up more details of its new bulk surveillance powers. – awarding itself the ability to monitor Brits’ live

The UK Government is assigning itself more powers to spy on live communications and use malware for surveillance purposes.

In the draft technical capability notices paper, the UK Government requests communications companies to provide real-time access to the full content of any named individual within one working day, along with “secondary data” relating to that person.

The draft document was obtained by the Open Rights Group, which leaked it.

“To provide and maintain the capability to carry out the interception of, or the obtaining of secondary data from, communications transmitted by means of a postal service and to disclose anything obtained under the warrant to the person to whom the warrant is addressed or any person acting on that person’s behalf within one working day, or such longer period as may be specified in the technical capability notice, of the postal operator being informed that the warrant has been issued.” states the draft. “To provide and maintain the capability to disclose secondary data in a form specified in the technical capability notice. “

The UK Government intends to have the ability to spy also on encrypted communications, this means that it will request every company operating communication services to not implementing end-to-end encryption or to insert a backdoor.

The authorities will request communication providers to allow bulk surveillance by deploying real-time interception systems that will allow spying on 1 in 10,000 their customers.

The live surveillance if any individual has to be authorized from secretaries of state and overseen by a judge appointed by the prime minister.

The worrying aspect of the draft is that the document has only been provided to a select number of ISPs and telcos companies for a four-week consultation.

The draft reports that is content has already passed through the UK’s Technical Advisory Board currently composed by telco companies (O2, BT, BSkyB, Cable and Wireless, Vodafone and Virgin Media) and six representatives from the government’s intercepting agencies.

The rules will have to be approved by the two houses of Parliament before becoming law.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(Security Affairs –  surveillance, UK Government)

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