Tuesday, November 04, 2014

Britain's Spy Chief Says US Tech Firms Aid Terrorism

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: New GCHQ director Richard Hannigan accuses some Silicon Valley companies of becoming 'the command and control networks of choice' for terrorists

Technology giants such as Facebook and Twitter have become "the command and control networks of choice" for terrorists and criminals but are "in denial" about the scale of the problem, the new head of GCHQ has said.

Robert Hannigan said that Isil terrorists in Syria and Iraq have "embraced the web" and are using it to intimidate people and inspire "would-be jihadis" from all over the World to join them.

He urged the companies to work more closely with the security services, arguing that it is time for them to confront "some uncomfortable truths" and that privacy is not an "absolute right".

He suggested that unless US technology companies co-operate, new laws will be needed to ensure that intelligence agencies are able to track and pursue terrorists. » | Steven Swinford, Senior Political Correspondent | Monday, November 03, 2014