SA spooks hampered by advances in technology

AN OFFICIAL report paints a picture of South Africa’s spy agencies as increasingly powerless against changing technology and cyber criminals‚ as well as being hobbled by communication interception laws that have fallen behind the times.

The latest annual report of the joint standing committee on intelligence‚ released recently in parliament‚ provides a peek into the country’s intelligence agencies‚ which have been besieged by scandal and controversy in recent years.

However‚ the report – which includes the annual report on the “interception of private communications” by Judge Yvonne Mokgoro – suggests tech-savvy citizens may have less to fear from being spied on by the state than many might have previously thought.

The judge’s report‚ which covers the 2014-15 year‚ shows a significant year-on-year increase in interception applications from intelligence agencies‚ which she is required by law to approve.

Her report showed:

● A nearly 68% increase in applications from 453 in 2013-14 to 760 the following year;

● Not all of those involved actual interceptions – a third of those from the State Security Agency (SSA)‚ for example‚ involved applications for information under the Regulation of Interception of Communication Act (Rica);

● The expansion of agencies applying for interception warrants‚ and;

● Only four “entry warrants” – described by the judge as the “most invasive of all interceptions” – were approved. All were applied for by the State Security Agency.

But even as the judge’s report outlined the scope and scale of intelligence agencies’ interception operations‚ the joint standing comm report raised significant questions about their efficacy.

The committee reported on how it had visited the Office of Interception Centres (OIC) and the National Communications facility in January this year.

The OIC is responsible for interceptions under Rica and can only act once a warrant has been obtained from a designated judge like Mokgoro.

The warrant needs to be sent to a telecommunications service provider‚ which will then route the communications of their customer through the OIC.

The office did not have the capability to intercept on its own without a warrant or rerouting by the service provider‚ the committee’s report said.

Further‚ the committee was told‚ rapid technological change had resulted in them being left behind.

At the National Communications facility the committee learned how it too was being left behind in the technology race.

Judge Mokgoro’s report went further in explaining the challenges the agencies faced.

She noted that internet-based services like Skype and others like BlackBerry Messenger were not able to be intercepted.

Mokgoro also called for the Rica law to be revised‚ especially since it emerged that people had registered SIM cards in their name and then sold them on to others without changing the associated information about the identity of the new user. — TMG Digital