Now that RIM has agreed to give ‘lawful’ access to the security agencies what is the guarantee that the government will not spy on legitimate communication (personal, business, legal) between citizens.
Given the Indian Government’s record in illegally tapping phones there is a huge possibility of them using the access to BB devices to monitor communications of business leaders, journalists, social activists, political rivals, and bureaucrats among others.
A White House official has revealed that the Obama administration was considering a spy swap well before the 10 were arrested on 27 June. White House officials were first briefed on the spy ring in February, while President Barrack Obama was made aware of the case on 11 June.
“The idea of a swap was discussed among the administration’s national security team before the arrests were made,” the source added. According to the White House, the US itself chose the names of the four men to be freed by Moscow.
The report, Shadows in the Cloud: Investigating Cyber Espionage 2.0, is the result of a collaborative investigation by the Information Warfare Monitor and Shadowserver Foundation.
The recovered data that was stolen from sensitive locations in India was analyzed by the researchers. One of the document was an encrypted diplomatic correspondence. Other documents belonging to the Indian government included two marked as “SECRET”, six as “RESTRICTED”, and five as “CONFIDENTIAL”.
While the confusion prevails on whether India will get access to Headley, Canary Trap brings you the details of Headley’s plea bargain. The government knows that Headley has signed a plea agreement while pleading guilty to all the 12 terrorism related charges against him.
It is quite clear from the agreement that US wants to control access to David Headley for reasons that Canary Trap has highlighted in a previous post. The Indian Government can make tall claims of questioning/extraditing Headley, but the reality is that it is not being taken seriously by the US administration.