Current News UK | September 16, 2008 | 7 comments

Taliban using Skype phones to dodge MI6

source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1055611/Taliban-using-Skype-phones-dodge-M...

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superkiy
A pretty startling example of how a friendly technology like Skype is being used against Western interests. I have nothing but good things to say about Skype. I just talked to my wife, who was out of the country on business, for like an hour for free. But apparently it's too good for national security ... well, at least we know MI6 isn't able to monitor my Skype calls, either.
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7 comments // Taliban using Skype phones to dodge MI6

  • matt512
  • samonster34
    • 0
      samonster34  

    • i just signed up for skype
      and its pretty rad
      this is unfortunate, but they would find a way to do their business with or without skype....
      probably =)

    • 3 years ago
  • purplefox
    • 0
      purplefox  

    • It makes sense. All those long distance calls... the Taliban's not gonna want to tot up a huge international phone bill, not to mention get the attention of MI6 into the bargain. The intelligence services need to catch up with the technology...

    • 3 years ago
  • richjm
    • 0
      richjm  
    • Image

    • Did anyone see the story from yesterday about the Pentagon suspecting terrorists of using online virtual spaces like World of Warcraft to plan and rehearse real-life attacks?

      Both stories just emphasise how hard it is to keep track of these scattered cells in such a connected world. There's so much chatter - how to separate the informative conversations from the billions of innocent ones?

    • 3 years ago
  • Beta_Boy
    • 0
      Beta_Boy  

    • But...but...I thought they all used credit card fraud to raise millions of pounds, what need do they have for free international calls!

      On a serious note, it is only a matter of time before peer to peer connections will no longer be as private as the average person thinks.

    • 3 years ago
  • extblues
    • 0
      extblues  
    • Beta_Boy:

      Agreed. The boys and girls at GCHQ and NSA have bigger and better toys than we do, and that means that any technical advantage the Taliban have will be temporary at best...if it hasn't evaporated already.

      As for the rest of us...well that is a different matter now, isn't it?

    • 3 years ago
  • abbym0308
    • 0
      abbym0308  
    • Image

    • In fact, the technology is in place and they can monitor skype (or any VOIP calls), as well as personal emails, SMS, MMS, mobile calls... everything! It's part of the EU Directive 2006/24/EC, a Data Communications Bill that the UK government is trying to push through as mandatory monitoring of EVERYONE'S personal communications that they can then store in another database. Comfortable with that? I'm not. Government officials say it's not the content they'll be looking at, but instead tracking who is communicating with whom, where and by what means... BUT then, they go on to give this example as to why this 'counterterrorism bill" should be passed:

      Two people were engaged in an ‘internet chat session’, one in the United States and the second
      in Bradford. During the session the man in Bradford stated he had deliberately stabbed himself
      and was likely to bleed to death. The police were alerted and the acquisition of internet related data (IP address and consequential subscriber information) indicated the house where the man was. The police were able to intervene and assist the injured man;SEC1:9

      ...but that's not looking at the content, is it...

      more on this here:
      http://www.redditorial.com/2008/09/communications-data-and-how-to-stop-it/

      http://www.redditorial.com/2008/09/were-making-a-film-about-the-communications-d...

    • 3 years ago
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