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A simple guide to GCHQ's internet surveillance programme Tempora and First ever pictures from inside the heart of Britain's GCHQ spying station show intelligence agency keeping eyes (and ears) on global communications
POLITICS
10 December 15 by KADHIM SHUBBER
GCHQ in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
Ministry of Defence/Wikipedia
Revelations about the extent of the US government's ability to snoop on the private data of ordinary people have rocked the world. The Prism programme, which former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden leaked to the Guardian and Washington Post, has brought into relief the extent of surveillance in the digital age.
Now the Guardian, using documents leaked by Snowden, has laid bare the UK's surveillance capabilities, showing it to be an "intelligence superpower" that rivals even the US. Here's a short and concise roundup of everything you need to know.
Spy programme: According to leaked documents, GCHQ developed a programme called Karma Police designed to track internet usage across the entire web
What is GCHQ and what have they been up to?
GCHQ, full name Government Communications Headquarters, is the UK spy agency dedicated to intelligence and information gathering. It's the UK equivalent of the NSA in the United States.
On 21 June the Guardian reported that GCHQ had placed data interceptors on fibre-optic cables that carry internet data in and out of the UK. These UK-based fibre optic cables include transatlantic cables that carry internet traffic between the US and Europe, meaning that GCHQ is able to directly access large amounts of global internet data. The programme is called Tempora.
They're taking data straight from the tubes?
That's right. Interceptors have been placed on around 200 fibre optic cables where they come ashore. This appears to have been done with the secret co-operation, voluntary or forced, of the companies that operate the cables, potentially giving GCHQ access to 10 gigabits of data a second, or 21 petabytes a day.
Access: The media was allowed to film in the secretive GCHQ headquarters in Cheltenham, which is home to one of the three UK Intelligence and Security Agencies, along with MI5 and MI6
That's a lot of bytes…
GCHQ wasn't exaggerating when it used the phrase "Mastering the Internet" in the documents.
What do they do with all that data?
Around 300 GCHQ and 250 NSA operatives are tasked with sifting through the data, which can be stored for up to three and 30 days for content and meta content respectively.
They use a technique called Massive Volume Reduction (MVR). Peer-to-peer downloads, for example, are classed as "high-volume, low-value traffic" and discarded by an initial filter. This reduces the volume of data by 30 percent. They use specific searches, which can relate to trigger words, email addresses of interest, or targeted persons and phone numbers. GCHQ and the NSA have identified 40,000 and 30,000 triggers respectively.
So this isn't 'British eyes only'?
Nope. The data is shared with the NSA. In fact, 850,000 NSA contractors have access to the data, according to the documents reported on by the Guardian. It's possible that the UK and US intelligence agencies co-operate in order to bypass domestic restrictions on intelligence gathering -- the NSA isn't bound by UK restrictions on surveillance of UK citizens and GCHQ isn't bound by US restrictions on surveillance of US citizens.
GCHQ identifies cyber espionage activity targeting UK industry and individuals, and gathers intelligence to better understand new and emerging threats
How long has it been running?
It was first trialled in 2008 and by the summer of 2011 GCHQ had placed interceptors on over 200 fibre optic cables. By late 2011, the Tempora programme had been fully launched and shared with the Americans on a three-month trial basis. The Americans, on their best behaviour, suitably impressed GCHQ and passed the test, reports the Guardian.
What's the legal justification for this programme?
Under the 2000 Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (Ripa), defined targets can be tapped if there's a signed warrant. The warrant must be signed by the Home or Foreign Secretary. However, paragraph four of section eight of Ripa allows the Foreign Secretary to issue a certificate for broad interception of categories of material relating to terrorism or organised crime, for example. It appears that GCHQ is using that clause to justify the broad interception of web traffic.
GCHQ claims that its operatives behave within the law, including the Human Rights Act, which says that searches must be necessary and proportionate, meaning that there must be cause for looking at the data. GCHQ says that it doesn't snoop on ordinary citizens data, but targets bad guys like terrorists and criminals, and that the programme has prevented terrorist attacks on British soil.
How does this compare to what the NSA has been doing?
According to the documents, GCHQ's surveillance gives it the "biggest internet access" out of the "five eyes", which consist of spy agencies in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Canada and the US.
'The Doughnut': The Government Communication Headquarters base in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
News cameras have been allowed unprecedented access to a top secret Government spy agency as it announces eight in every 10 of the biggest British companies have suffered a serious cyber attack.
The media was allowed to film in the secretive GCHQ in Cheltenham, which is home to one of the three UK Intelligence and Security Agencies, along with MI5 and MI6.
The visit comes after staff at the HQ, known as The Doughnut due to the shape of the building, were involved in the response to last week's terrorist attacks in Paris.
Last night, the Prime Minister warned internet firms they must work with security agencies to stop their networks becoming a 'safe haven' for terrorists.
He used a press conference in the White House in the U.S. to insist the likes of Facebook and and WhatsApp cannot be used as a secret way for extremists to plot atrocities away from the glare of MI5 and the FBI.
Revealed: This map show where Britain is fighting terrorism and foreign spies and potential flashpoints
Mr Cameron insists the security agencies must be able to intercept communications between extremists and terror suspects who use encrypted messaging services and social media sites to plot atrocities.
He said: 'I take a very simple approach to this, which is ever since we've been sending letters to each other or making telephone calls to each other or mobile phone calls to each other or, indeed, contacting each other on the internet, it has been possible in both our countries in extremis, in my country by signed warrant by the Home Secretary, to potentially listen to a call between two terrorists, to stop them in their activity.
POLITICS
10 December 15 by KADHIM SHUBBER
GCHQ in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
Ministry of Defence/Wikipedia
Revelations about the extent of the US government's ability to snoop on the private data of ordinary people have rocked the world. The Prism programme, which former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden leaked to the Guardian and Washington Post, has brought into relief the extent of surveillance in the digital age.
Now the Guardian, using documents leaked by Snowden, has laid bare the UK's surveillance capabilities, showing it to be an "intelligence superpower" that rivals even the US. Here's a short and concise roundup of everything you need to know.
Spy programme: According to leaked documents, GCHQ developed a programme called Karma Police designed to track internet usage across the entire web
What is GCHQ and what have they been up to?
GCHQ, full name Government Communications Headquarters, is the UK spy agency dedicated to intelligence and information gathering. It's the UK equivalent of the NSA in the United States.
On 21 June the Guardian reported that GCHQ had placed data interceptors on fibre-optic cables that carry internet data in and out of the UK. These UK-based fibre optic cables include transatlantic cables that carry internet traffic between the US and Europe, meaning that GCHQ is able to directly access large amounts of global internet data. The programme is called Tempora.
They're taking data straight from the tubes?
That's right. Interceptors have been placed on around 200 fibre optic cables where they come ashore. This appears to have been done with the secret co-operation, voluntary or forced, of the companies that operate the cables, potentially giving GCHQ access to 10 gigabits of data a second, or 21 petabytes a day.
Access: The media was allowed to film in the secretive GCHQ headquarters in Cheltenham, which is home to one of the three UK Intelligence and Security Agencies, along with MI5 and MI6
That's a lot of bytes…
GCHQ wasn't exaggerating when it used the phrase "Mastering the Internet" in the documents.
What do they do with all that data?
Around 300 GCHQ and 250 NSA operatives are tasked with sifting through the data, which can be stored for up to three and 30 days for content and meta content respectively.
They use a technique called Massive Volume Reduction (MVR). Peer-to-peer downloads, for example, are classed as "high-volume, low-value traffic" and discarded by an initial filter. This reduces the volume of data by 30 percent. They use specific searches, which can relate to trigger words, email addresses of interest, or targeted persons and phone numbers. GCHQ and the NSA have identified 40,000 and 30,000 triggers respectively.
So this isn't 'British eyes only'?
Nope. The data is shared with the NSA. In fact, 850,000 NSA contractors have access to the data, according to the documents reported on by the Guardian. It's possible that the UK and US intelligence agencies co-operate in order to bypass domestic restrictions on intelligence gathering -- the NSA isn't bound by UK restrictions on surveillance of UK citizens and GCHQ isn't bound by US restrictions on surveillance of US citizens.
GCHQ identifies cyber espionage activity targeting UK industry and individuals, and gathers intelligence to better understand new and emerging threats
How long has it been running?
It was first trialled in 2008 and by the summer of 2011 GCHQ had placed interceptors on over 200 fibre optic cables. By late 2011, the Tempora programme had been fully launched and shared with the Americans on a three-month trial basis. The Americans, on their best behaviour, suitably impressed GCHQ and passed the test, reports the Guardian.
What's the legal justification for this programme?
Under the 2000 Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (Ripa), defined targets can be tapped if there's a signed warrant. The warrant must be signed by the Home or Foreign Secretary. However, paragraph four of section eight of Ripa allows the Foreign Secretary to issue a certificate for broad interception of categories of material relating to terrorism or organised crime, for example. It appears that GCHQ is using that clause to justify the broad interception of web traffic.
GCHQ claims that its operatives behave within the law, including the Human Rights Act, which says that searches must be necessary and proportionate, meaning that there must be cause for looking at the data. GCHQ says that it doesn't snoop on ordinary citizens data, but targets bad guys like terrorists and criminals, and that the programme has prevented terrorist attacks on British soil.
How does this compare to what the NSA has been doing?
According to the documents, GCHQ's surveillance gives it the "biggest internet access" out of the "five eyes", which consist of spy agencies in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Canada and the US.
'The Doughnut': The Government Communication Headquarters base in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
News cameras have been allowed unprecedented access to a top secret Government spy agency as it announces eight in every 10 of the biggest British companies have suffered a serious cyber attack.
The media was allowed to film in the secretive GCHQ in Cheltenham, which is home to one of the three UK Intelligence and Security Agencies, along with MI5 and MI6.
The visit comes after staff at the HQ, known as The Doughnut due to the shape of the building, were involved in the response to last week's terrorist attacks in Paris.
Last night, the Prime Minister warned internet firms they must work with security agencies to stop their networks becoming a 'safe haven' for terrorists.
He used a press conference in the White House in the U.S. to insist the likes of Facebook and and WhatsApp cannot be used as a secret way for extremists to plot atrocities away from the glare of MI5 and the FBI.
Revealed: This map show where Britain is fighting terrorism and foreign spies and potential flashpoints
Mr Cameron insists the security agencies must be able to intercept communications between extremists and terror suspects who use encrypted messaging services and social media sites to plot atrocities.
He said: 'I take a very simple approach to this, which is ever since we've been sending letters to each other or making telephone calls to each other or mobile phone calls to each other or, indeed, contacting each other on the internet, it has been possible in both our countries in extremis, in my country by signed warrant by the Home Secretary, to potentially listen to a call between two terrorists, to stop them in their activity.
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