GCHQ, the British eavesdropping agency, has been implicated in some incredible surveillance schemes involving the NSA including the cracking of what was thought to be secure encryption and the sharing of global communications. They also reportedly have unlimited access to telecommunications networks.
Most of the monitoring conducted by the European agencies is reportedly carried out via direct taps into fiber optic cables and through relationships with telecommunications corporations, the Guardian reports.
Indeed, most recently it was reported that the NSA and GCHQ both directly tapped into Google and Yahoo data as it traveled via fiber optic cable between data centers.
The Guardian cites documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden that indicate a loose alliance between European nations that allows an intelligence agency from one country to develop a relationship with a corporation from another to allow easier web surveillance.
The documents also reportedly make it clear that GCHQ played a major role in showing other European intelligence agencies how to avoid national laws designed to restrict surveillance.
These latest revelations are especially interesting given that the governments of France, Spain and Germany reacted angrily to reports that the NSA was spying on their citizens.
It is now clear that the White House itself approved of the surveillance of major allied leaders, though it seems the outrage on their part is entirely hypocritical.
Even James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, seemed to hint at that in his statements before Congress on Tuesday.
“Some of this reminds me of the classic movie Casablanca: ‘My God, there’s gambling going on here,’” Clapper said, speaking of the public outrage of the European governments.
While Germany likened GCHQ’s Tempora program to “a Hollywood nightmare,” it appears that the German intelligence agencies can do the same thing.
The documents reportedly reveal GCHQ’s admiration for the ability of the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) to monitor high-speed fiber optic cables.
BND had “huge technological potential and good access to the heart of the internet – they are already seeing some bearers running at 40Gbps and 100Gbps,” a 2008 GCHQ survey of its European partners reportedly states.
GCHQ refers to fiber optic cables as “bearers.” The speed mentioned is especially amazing given that GCHQ was reportedly only able to monitor 10 Gbps (gigabits per second) cables four years after the report cited above.
The document also shows that British intelligence helped their German friends to work around or laws holding back massive surveillance programs.
“We have been assisting the BND (along with SIS [Secret Intelligence Service] and Security Service) in making the case for reform or reinterpretation of the very restrictive interception legislation in Germany,” the document states, according to the Guardian.
It seems that the outrage of Germany is quite obviously hypocritical.
The same goes for France, with their General Directorate for External Security (DGSE) reportedly working with GCHQ on a “cooperate and share” basis, according to the documents.
The documents state that GCHQ trained French intelligence technicians on “multi-disciplinary internet operations” and that GCHQ “made contact with the DGSE’s main industry partner, who has some innovative approaches to some internet challenges, raising the potential for GCHQ to make use of this company in the protocol development arena.”
Furthermore, it was reported in the past that France also has a Prism-like program in operation.
GCHQ also claimed partial credit for successfully changing laws in Sweden that allow the monitoring of fiber optic cables similar to the Tempora program.
The Spanish intelligence agency, the National Intelligence Center (CNI), reportedly had strong ties with an unnamed commercial partner in the United Kingdom.
“GCHQ and the commercial partner have been able to coordinate their approach,” the document states. “The commercial partner has provided the CNI some equipment whilst keeping us informed, enabling us to invite the CNI across for IP-focused discussions this autumn.”
GCHQ “have found a very capable counterpart in CNI, particularly in the field of Covert Internet Ops,” the document reportedly states.
Thus, it seems that Spain’s outrage is also quite hypocritical as well.
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