WAKE UP WORLD
WAKE UP WORLD
MI5 called in to find organisers of riots
Vikram Dodd, Josh Halliday, Richard Norton-Taylor
August 17, 2011
Ads by Google
BP's Work in the Gulf
www.BP.com/GulfOfMexicoResponse
BP continues their work in the Gulf. Visit BP.com to learn how.
Cameron: UK riots a 'wake-up call'
British Prime Minister David Cameron promises an all-out war on gang culture following the "wake-up call" of recent riots.
- Video feedback
- Video settings
LONDON: The security service MI5 and the electronic interception centre GCHQ have been asked by the government to join the hunt for people who organised last week's riots, theGuardian has learnt.
The agencies, the bulk of whose work normally involves catching terrorists inspired by al-Qaeda, are helping the effort to catch people who used social messaging, especially BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), to mobilise looters.
A key difficulty for law enforcers last week was cracking the high level of encryption on the BBM system. BBM is a pin-protected instant message system only accessible to BlackBerry users.
Advertisement: Story continues below
Hunting for the riot organisers ... South London shortly after the disturbances. Photo: AP
MI5 and GCHQ will also help the effort to try to get ahead of any further organisation of disturbances. They have a statutory right to target criminals or those suspected of being involved in crime, officials have said.
Police struggled to access the BBM network last week, though some who received messages planning violence were so outraged they passed them on to law enforcement agencies.
GCHQ's computers and listening devices can pick up audio messages and BBM communications. MI5 and the police can identify the owners with the aid of mobile companies and internet service providers.
The agencies can intercept electronic and phone messages, identify where they have been sent from and their destination. That allows other investigations to take place and other efforts to develop intelligence.
In his speech on Monday, the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, made no mention of his threatened clampdown on social media.
Last week, in the House of Commons emergency debate, he said: ''We need a major piece of work to make sure that the police have all the technological capabilities they need to hunt down and beat the criminals.''
For law enforcement, the difficulty with BBM is that it boasts semi-private - and instant - access to a network of like-minded users. And unlike Twitter or Facebook, many messages are untraceable by the authorities.
Guardian News & Media
Ads by Google
Comcast® - Official Site
Sign Up For Comcast Digital Cable Learn More About Local Offers
Secure Sensitive Data
Data Security with Tokenization and Encryption
Cellular South AdvancePay
Unlimited Talk, Text, Internet & more w/ no contract or credit.
Join the conversation
You're the only person reading this now. Tell your friends
- Add to Facebook
- Email this story
- Close
Related Coverage
VIDEO
Cameron: UK riots a 'wake-up call'
16 AUG British Prime Minister David Cameron promises an all-out war on gang ...
Click to play video
VIDEO
Cameron: UK riots a 'wake-up call'
Four years' jail for Facebook post that incited no one
17 AUG Two men who posted messages on Facebook inciting other people to riot in ...
Top Technology articles
- Facebook revamped to combat Google+ threat
- Tweet revenge at last for shoppers with complaints
- Wiki war: 3500 unpublished leaks destroyed forever as Assange hits out
- HP fire sale sparks anger as customers accuse staff of gobbling up tablets
- 'Bulletproof' skin: researcher creates silk that helps stop bullets
- More Technology articles
Story Tools
- Share on Facebook
- Email this story
- Print this story
The Age Jobs
More Related Coverage
Click to play video
VIDEO
Cameron: UK riots a 'wake-up call'
British Prime Minister David Cameron promises an all-out war on gang culture following the "wake-up call" of recent riots.
Four years' jail for Facebook post that incited no one
17 AUG Two men who posted messages on Facebook inciting other people to riot in their home towns during the recent English outbreaks of violence have each been sentenced to four years in prison by a judge at Chester Crown Court.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/mi5-called-in-t...
Comment
"Destroying the New World Order"
THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!
Latest Activity
- Top News
- Everything
"cheeki kea I was wrong Emperor Penguins are big and powerful but still alive but this,
A size…"
"Cheeki kea here's another that they say there have been modern sightings of!
The name of…"
"cheeki kea, did you ever hear of the giant Imperial Penguins? They were about 6 feet tall and could…"
"cheeki kea I do not think these giant two legged birds would need to have a bad attitude as long as…"
“What’s His Motive?” - Inside The Mind of George Soros
"Trump calls for George Soros and son to face federal…"
Mossad, Terrifying CIA Technology, Blackwater & The Most Secret CIA Unit | John Kiriakou
John Kiriakou served 15 years in the CIA as a Case Officer (Spy) and as CIA's Head of Counterterrorism Operations in Pakistan where he lead the raid that cap...
A Critique of the Tavistock Institute - The Mother Of All Conspiracy Theories
An examination of the Tavistock Institute, a theory which seeks to explain how Western societies have been brainwashed by a cabal of social scientists and th...
“What’s His Motive?” - Inside The Mind of George Soros
In this short clip, Patrick Bet-David, Sebastian Gorka Adam Sosnick, and Tom Ellsworth George Soros and what motivates him to do the things he does. FaceTime...
"If you're ever out there Doc V and notice giant two legged birds roaming the wilderness be…"
© 2025 Created by truth.
Powered by
You need to be a member of 12160 Social Network to add comments!
Join 12160 Social Network