The secretive British spy agency GCHQ has urban underground tools to seed the internet with false in a row, plus the skill to manipulate the results of online polls, artificially drive up pageview counts on mess sites, “amplif[y]” certified messages on YouTube, and censor record content judged to live “extremist.” The capabilities, detailed into ID provided by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, even include an old be there for on behalf of pre-adolescent prank callers universally: A way to link up two unsuspecting phone users organized into a call.
The tools were produced by GCHQ’s establishment risk follow a line of investigation astuteness collection (JTRIG), and constitute approximately of the generally startling methods of propaganda and internet deception controlled surrounded by the Snowden archive. Previously disclosed ID contain detailed JTRIG’s use up of “fake victim blog posts,” “false flag operations,” “honey traps” and psychological manipulation to target online activists, watch visitors to WikiLeaks, and spy on YouTube and Facebook users.
But to the same extent the U.K. Parliament at the moment debates a fast-tracked charge to provide the government with greater surveillance powers, lone which Prime Minister David Cameron has justified to the same extent an “emergency” to “help keep us safe,” a newly released top-secret GCHQ keep a record called “JTRIG Tools and Techniques” provides a wide-ranging, birds-eye check over of exactly how scheming and persistent this unit’s operations are. The document—available into rounded here—is designed to notify other GCHQ units of JTRIG’s “weaponised capability” as it comes to the dark internet arts, and serves to the same extent a sort of hacker’s bang on behalf of wreaking online havoc.
The “tools” contain been assigned self-important code names. They include persistent methods on behalf of online surveillance, to the same extent well to the same extent approximately of the very techniques with the intention of the U.S. And U.K. Contain harshly prosecuted early online activists on behalf of employing, plus “distributed denial of service” attacks and “call bombing.” But they furthermore explain previously unknown tactics on behalf of manipulating and distorting online opinionated discourse and disseminating state propaganda, to the same extent well to the same extent the seeming skill to actively watch Skype users into real-time—raising more questions going on for the level of Microsoft’s cooperation with spy agencies otherwise would-be vulnerabilities into its Skype’s encryption. Here’s a roll of how JTRIG describes its capabilities:
• “Change outcome of online polls” (UNDERPASS)
• “Mass approach of email messaging to support an in a row Operations campaign” (BADGER) and “mass approach of SMS messages to support an in a row Operations campaign” (WARPARTH)
• “Disruption of video-based websites hosting extremist content through strenuous target discovery and content exclusion.” (SILVERLORD)
• “Active skype capability. Provision of real period call records (SkypeOut and SkypetoSkype) and bidirectional instantaneous messaging. Furthermore friend lists.” (MINIATURE HERO)
• “Find exclusive photographs of targets on Facebook” (SPRING BISHOP)
• “A tool with the intention of bidding permanently disable a target’s checking account on their computer” (ANGRY PIRATE)
• “Ability to artificially enhance traffic to a website” (GATEWAY) and “ability to drive up call out views on websites” (SLIPSTREAM)
• “Amplification of a certain message, normally record, on widely held multimedia websites (Youtube)” (GESTATOR)
• “Targeted Denial Of Service anti mess Servers” (PREDATORS FACE) and “Distributed denial of service using P2P. Built by ICTR, deployed by JTRIG” (ROLLING THUNDER)
• “A suite of tools on behalf of monitoring target use up of the UK public sale locate eBay (www.Ebay.Co.Uk)” (ELATE)
• “Ability to spoof slightly email take up and convey email under with the intention of identity” (CHANGELING)
• “For linking two target phone organized into a call” (IMPERIAL BARGE)
While approximately of the tactics are described to the same extent “in development,” JTRIG touts “most” of them to the same extent “fully operational, tested and dependable.” It adds: “We single advertise tools at this time with the intention of are either game to fire otherwise very close to being game.”
And JTRIG urges its GCHQ colleagues to think giant as it comes to internet deception: “Don’t handle this like a catalogue. If you don’t imagine it at this time, it doesn’t mean we can’t build it.”
The keep a record appears into a massive Wikipedia-style archive used by GCHQ to internally discuss its surveillance and online deception activities. The call out indicates with the intention of it was continue modified into July 2012, and had been accessed almost 20,000 era.
GCHQ refused to provide slightly comment on the make a note outside its standard boilerplate, into which it claims with the intention of it acts “in accordance with a strict permissible and certificate framework” and is area of interest to “rigorous overseeing.” But both claims are questionable.
British watchdog Privacy International has filed pending permissible war anti GCHQ terminated the agency’s use up of malware to spy on internet and movable phone users. Several GCHQ memos in print continue fall by The custodian revealed with the intention of the agency was eager to keep its activities secret not to watch over nationwide security, but since “our foremost trepidation is with the intention of references to agency practices (ie, the extent of interception and deletion) may possibly be in charge of to hurtful civic discuss which might be in charge of to permissible challenges anti the current regime.” And an EU parliamentary investigation earlier this time concluded with the intention of GCHQ activities were likely illegal.
To the same extent on behalf of overseeing, serious questions contain been raised going on for whether top nationwide security officials even know what did you say? GCHQ is responsibility. Chris Huhne, a ex- cabinet minister and part of the nationwide security assembly until 2012, insisted with the intention of ministers were into “utter ignorance” going on for even the leading GCHQ intelligence work predetermine, well-known to the same extent Tempora—not to point out “their extraordinary capability to hoover up and accumulation private emails, voice friend, social networking pursuit and even internet searches.” into an October custodian op-ed, Huhne wrote with the intention of “when it comes to the secret planet of GCHQ and the [NSA], the depth of my ‘privileged information’ has been dwarfed by the in a row provided by Edward Snowden to The custodian.”
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