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UK Government Proposes 'License To Hack' As Encryption Proves Hard To Defeat (thetimes.co.uk)

Posted by Soulskill on from the if-you-can't-beat-'em,-dream-up-some-silly-legislation dept.

An anonymous reader writes: The Times reports (paywalled) that the Investigatory Powers Bill promised by the UK government over the summer is likely to be presented to parliament next month, and that it will contain 'dizzying' powers for MI5, MI6 and GCHQ to hack the devices of individuals under investigation, with the permission of the home secretary. An implementation of the Wilson Doctrine will mean that British MPs will not be subject to these powers in the same way as other citizens. According to a digital evidence expert that the Times interviewed, the bill addresses the difficulty that the UK government is sharing with other nations in defeating encryption effectively. "Hacking is different from interception because it allows hackers to take control of the device, using it for surveillance and accessing data from the source, rather than simply intercepting them, which is becoming increasingly difficult."

6 of 80 comments (clear)

  1. So... the ones who need it most won't get it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So if I understand this correctly, the corrupt powers-that-be will be immune to that which is needed the most to clean up their actions that, if they were a common citizen would be criminal?

    hmmm...

    1. Re: So... the ones who need it most won't get it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Sedition wasn't abolished, it was simply folded into the all-encompassing definition of terrorism.

    2. Re:So... the ones who need it most won't get it. by MightyDrunken · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Don't be silly. Of course GCHQ etc won't officially hack British MP's but I'm sure the NSA and friends can lend a helping hand, and vice versa.

      --
      The most dangerous drug
  2. Hmmm .... by gstoddart · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So if governments around the world are giving themselves license to hack into our stuff, do anything they please, and share this with other governments ... then it almost seems like a moral duty that every government server is now fair game.

    Just sayin'. If governments are declaring war on our rights, they have no expectation people won't do this to them.

    Sorry, but governments who are claiming to be defending our rights while taking those rights away have lost an awful lot of moral authority here.

    Especially when they take the stuff they said they'd only use to fight terrorism, and now apply it to every day things.

    Fuck you, Big Brother. Fuck you.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
  3. What's next, privateers? by swb · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's like the UK is reliving it's past, minus the part about the Magna Carta.

  4. And you can place compromising data too! by gweihir · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Like certain pictures that will land the person hacked in jail for a long time. No need to find anything actually bad anymore, you can just easily get rid of anybody you do not like. That is how it is done in any self-respecting police-state or fascist state!

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    Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.