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Spying on Cellphones Undermines UK Moral Authority - Civil Liberties Group

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Director of Big Brother Watch believes that hacking by GCHQ along will NSA undermines UK's moral authority when talking about the importance of freedom of the internet.

Turns out, SIM card producer Gemalto has experienced numerous hacking attempts against their system in the past. - Sputnik International
Gemalto SIM Card Producer Reports Many Hack Attempts ‘Over the Years’
MOSCOW (Sputnik), Anastasia Levchenko – Stealing the codes that protect the privacy of mobile communications by a UK intelligence agency undermines the moral authority of the country and public trust in the government, the Big Brother Watch civil liberties group told Sputnik on Friday.

Gemalto SIM cards producer was hacked by the UK Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) along with US National Security Agency (NSA), the Intercept revealed on Thursday. The agencies stole Gemalto's network encryption keys, which enabled them to monitor calls and data transfers on mobile phones across the globe.

"These actions completely undermine the UK's moral authority when talking about the importance of freedom of the internet and the discouragement of state sponsored cyber-attacks," Emma Carr, director of Big Brother Watch, told Sputnik.

Following the revelation, GCHQ said in a statement that it did not comment on intelligence matters. GCHQ added that the UK interception regime was entirely compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.

American and British intelligence hacked the largest manufacturer of SIM cards in the world. - Sputnik International
SIM Card Producer Investigates US Intelligence Hack, Unable to Verify
"Failures to properly address these allegations make a mockery of the trust that the public is supposed to have in both the Government and the spy agencies," Carr continued.

Major mobile operators, such as AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint, China Mobile and other providers use SIM cards produced by Gemalto, which is based in the Netherlands.

The SIM card producer is currently investigating the breach.

On Friday, the company issued a statement saying it was unable to verify whether the case was related to the numerous cyberattacks on it in the past.

The Intercept claimed it had received the information about the hack from a secret 2010 document from GCHQ provided to it by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

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