The Economist – A system at the heart of global telecommunications is woefully insecure [no paywall] “For year security experts have warned that a technology at the heart of global communications is dangerously insecure. Now there is proof that it has been used to snoop on people in America. Kevin Briggs, an official at America’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, told the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), a regulator, earlier this year that there had been “numerous incidents of successful, unauthorised attempts” not only to steal location data and monitor voice and text messages in America, but also to deliver spyware (software that can take over a phone) and influence American voters from abroad via text messages. The comments were first reported recently by 404 Media, a website that covers technology…”

See also Amnesty International report – A Web of Surveillance: Unravelling a murky network of spyware exports to Indonesia -“Highly invasive spyware and other rights-threatening surveillance technologies have been used to target human rights defenders, journalists and other members of civil society worldwide, as documented by an ever-growing body of research. Unfortunately, technical obstacles inherent in forensic investigations and a culture of secrecy surrounding the sale and transfer of surveillance tools keeps civil society and human rights defenders in the dark about the full extent of their deployment or use. This research provides a case study on how one country, Indonesia, is relying on a murky ecosystem of surveillance suppliers, brokers and resellers that obscures the sale and transfer of surveillance technology. The investigation also showcases the continued failure of multiple countries to regulate and provide transparency on the exports of dual-use technologies, such as spyware, and the non dual-use hardware that hosts the spyware or surveillance technology which pose serious human rights risks…”