Interception Act now in effect

[rpm]

http://www.mybroadband.co.za/nephp/?m=show&id=865

"The Act also places the onus on Internet service providers (ISPs) and cellular network providers to make it possible to intercept e-mails and cellphone calls... They will have to install the necessary technology and set up data lines to provincial interception centres at their own cost."

 

[ajak]

safe

http://www.softforall.com/Utilities/SecurityEncryption/Invisible_Secrets09130021.htm

 

[Emjay]

Thanks rpm.

Ajak, what does your link have to do the Interception Act?

 

[dominic]

http://www.mybroadband.co.zao /nephp/?m=show&id=865

"The Act also places the onus on Internet service providers (ISPs) and cellular network providers to make it possible to intercept e-mails and cellphone calls... They will have to install the necessary technology and set up data lines to provincial interception centres at their own cost."

this is going to need some serious guidance from the DoC - incredibly complex piece of legislation which has huge implications for isps and cellcos

 

[werner]

this is a big change...it may force some smaller isp's out of business perhaps....or possibly cause prices to rise.....plus it helps creates a nanny state like the UK....isnt anyone making some noise about this?

 

[dominic]

this is a big change...it may force some smaller isp's out of business perhaps...plus it helps creates a nanny state like the UK....isnt anyone making some noise about this?

a lot of noise has been made but forgotten as the Act was finalised and signed on 31 December 2002 but is only coming into force now

the act firstly deals with the right to privacy of communications - it prohibits any monitoring or interception of communications unless authorised by the Act....so this is about giving effect to the fundamental right to privacy set out in the SA Constitution

secondly it sets out when interception and monitoring are permissible - there is nothing particularly radical in the concepts....it can be seen as classic post 9/11 legislation to combat use of electronic comms networks by criminals and terrorists

the worrying bit is that this is open to abuse by the state - the UK, which has similar legislation and a far stronger culture of government accountability publishes an annual summary of interceptions applied for by the cops and authorised by the judiciary & it is clear that there has been abuse

as i recall the first succesful prosecution of an individual for illegally intercepting e-mail was concluded in the UK about 2 weeks ago

accessing someone else's inbox - bad (was a US case where a boyfriend got pinged for looking at girlfriends mail)
looking at sms inbox - bad
etc etc

 

[ajak]

Thanks rpm.

Ajak, what does your link have to do the Interception Act?

it is like this if they do intrcept they cannot read what they intercepted

 

[AntiThesis]

Well that's more than a little worrying...

 

[ajak]

Thanks rpm.

Ajak, what does your link have to do the Interception Act?

o and here is a beta to encrypt sms`s
http://www.fortressmail.net/fortress_sms.htm

 

[LoneGunman]

don't put any trust in so-called 'secret' encryption technologies - especially not the commercially available ones - I would guesstimate that easily >90% of all the major 'secure encryption' apps for consumers, have built in NSA-ready backdoors. And the ones that don't have backdoors, use algorithms that are easily readable and decryted at speed by NSA and other intel groups.

Yes you can hide data from granny or mom, or even semi-savvy business folks - but forget about almost any of the commercial software providing a genuine secure encryption solution - regardless of what the makers may say.

In a world that's advanced beyond using non conductive cement around PC's with classified data on them, (to avoid the electromagnetic radiation from being picked up and deciphered - either through the walls, or via a standard telephone line - look up Tempest technology) - to be thinking that an arb commercial encryption package can secure anything, is to be out of touch with modern forensic intelligence-gathering techniques.

re Tempest, for documentation http://cryptome.org/nsa-tempest.htm

And as for cellphones and sms's - again, easy as pie to track, monitor and if necessary, decipher. It's just a radio, regardless of frequency changing - GSM encryption got hacked a long time back - and that's by 'amateurs'. 'Official' surveillance techniques are always massively ahead of what the public may think is the norm, as with any R&D and military projects..

 

[dominic]

will firm up on this when time allows but pretty sure that under the cryptography provisions of the ECT Act and under RICA it is going to be an offence to use encryption not registered

i.e. govt must have a way of deciphering

 

[LoneGunman]

therefore, ergo - if Gov must have a way of deciphering - (just as in the UK, and the US via their intel agencies) there is in reality, no secure encryption available to the public.

Local NIA and other agencies have undoubtedly got sections that have shared info with US/EU counterparts, a long time ago. So forget any commercial encyption apps if you're doing anything genuinely serious - you have to advance to other methods of data transmission and securing.

The act of even using most commercial appz and their unique algorithms, itself, is an easy 'red flag' for monitoring software to 'see' - which then helps authorities auto-focus on those folks who think that encryption will hide the content of their messages.

Standard email is globally processed via ECHELON - and that's an automatic monitoring method. (If you've sent mail to anywhere in the US or EU, ECHELON has read it, and depending on keywords and context, you've been tagged already.. ( http://cryptome.org/cryptout.htm#Echelon

 

[dominic]

may be way off base but i would imagine that this is why the FCC guys and gals were here to chat to the DoC - they have been involved in this Act for some time

we will probably now score extra points on the US "with us or against us" scale

 

[AntiThesis]

I suppose the idea goes that you shouldn't have anything to hide from the government so you don't really need strong encryption. However, in a country such as ours where corruption seems to be the norm rather than the exception, there's a huge potential for abuse.

 

[Moederloos]

I suppose the idea goes that you shouldn't have anything to hide from the government so you don't really need strong encryption. However, in a country such as ours where corruption seems to be the norm rather than the exception, there's a huge potential for abuse.

On a lighter note, if you simply use words of 3 or more syllables it will be "encrypted" enough to be indeciphrable to most of our officials.

 

[DFantom]

this is a big change...it may force some smaller isp's out of business perhaps....or possibly cause prices to rise.....plus it helps creates a nanny state like the UK....isnt anyone making some noise about this?

Same thing was said when the ECT Act came into effect and not much happened there either. The thing is it's great to have these laws, but without someone checking up on people and forcing people to be compliant it will not ever actually take off. Think of most people (men in particular), would they ever drive the speed limit on the highway if they were guarenteed not to be caught. Of course not, and it's the same here.

don't put any trust in so-called 'secret' encryption technologies - especially not the commercially available ones - I would guesstimate that easily >90% of all the major 'secure encryption' apps for consumers, have built in NSA-ready backdoors

anyone ever tell you, you sound like a Dan Brown novel

http://www.softforall.com/Utilities/SecurityEncryption/Invisible_Secrets09130021.htm

I would rather recommend http://www.pgpi.org/

 

[mbs]

However, in a country such as ours where corruption seems to be the norm rather than the exception, there's a huge potential for abuse.

I tend to view the practical consequences of the Act rather in reverse - makes for the rooting out of corruption much easier.

 

[Raithlin]

On a lighter note, if you simply use words of 3 or more syllables it will be "encrypted" enough to be indeciphrable to most of our officials.

Whatever happened to the days when pig latin was enough...

 

[Obelix]

So now everyone just installs pgp in their mail client with a nice strong key ( 1023 bits long ).

Some yuts is going to spend a coupla years decrypting your message only do find a "hi mom" messgage.

 

[pookfuzz]

So if I read this right only government can spy you or intercept or monitor the data you send but nobody else can.

Perhaps its time to point out to the government that there is this evil device called a packet shaper which not only intercepts data and throws in the rubbish bin, but even worse, some of them even inspect the contents!