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Espionage In Icelandic Parliament

Posted by timothy on from the maybe-it's-just-the-porn-server dept.

bumburumbi writes "An unauthorised computer, apparently running encrypted software, was found hidden inside an unoccupied office in the Icelandic Parliament, Althingi, connected to the internal network. According to the Reykjavik Grapevine article, serial numbers had been removed and no fingerprints were found. The office had been used by substitute MPs from the Independence Party and The Movement, the Parliamentary group of Birgitta Jonsdottir, whose Twiiter account was recently subpoenaed by US authorities. The Icelandic daily Morgunbladid, under the editorship of Mr David Oddsson, former Prime Minister and Central Bank chief, has suggested that this might be an operation run by Wikileaks. The reporter for the Reykjavik Grapevine, Mr Paul Nikolov is a former substitute MP, having taken seat in Parliament in 2007 and 2008."

7 of 274 comments (clear)

  1. Hang on a second... by AceCaseOR · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So, Wikileaks is SPECTRE now?

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    Zagreus sits inside your head, Zagreus lives among the dead, Zagreus sees you in your bed and eats you in your sleep.
  2. Wikileaks == scapegoat by presspass · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The Icelandic daily Morgunbladid, under the editorship of Mr David Oddsson, former Prime Minister and Central Bank chief, has suggested that this might be an operation run by Wikileaks.

    If nothing else, wikileaks will be valuable to governments as a convenient scapegoat.

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    pass

    1. Re:Wikileaks == scapegoat by Dunbal · · Score: 5, Insightful

      former Prime Minister and Central Bank chief, has suggested that this might be an operation run by Wikileaks.

            This, brought to you by the mind that collapsed Iceland's economy.

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      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  3. Re:Rogue servers by digsbo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    does anyone have any about Wall Street or Congress?

    Why bother? They steal openly now.

  4. Recovery Fairy Tales again by scdeimos · · Score: 5, Insightful
    From TFA:

    Stephen Christian, a computer expert at Oxymap ehf, told the Grapevine that ... "Information written to disk can be recovered by experts even after being overwritten several times unless you let the computer run for a few hours constantly 'covering up' its information. Computer hackers know this."

    I laugh whenever I see comments like this. Lest we forget that nobody ever accepted The Great Zero Challenge, let alone beat it.

  5. Re:so ? by icebike · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Certainly possible.

    But but planting a computer on someone's network is pretty much amateur hour don't you think? Unless it was done for "once you find this you will stop looking" purposes.

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    Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
  6. Wikileaks must have hired the CIA to do it by 7-Vodka · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Let's see, there are two possibilities that come to mind since this was done in the proximity of the female Icelandic MP with connection to wikileaks:

    1. The member of parliament who is a friend of wikileaks is in on this and wikileaks conducted the spying as is being ignorantly claimed
    2. Agents on behalf of the US government conducted this in order to spy on the icelandic MP and others nearby because of her connection to wikileaks

    Obviously we can throw out #1 because it does not at all fit with wikileaks modus operandi and cannot be carried out by their infrastructure. They're set up to anonymously accept documents and disseminate them, they're not spies. Moreover the icelandic MP in question would be risking much to do this only to access documents she probably already has access to.

    So #2 becomes the most obvious culprit.

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    Liberty.