Fanatics are using secret message apps says anti-terror tsar
ISLAMIST fanatics are using encrypted computer software to avoid detection by the security services, the Government’s terror expert will warn today.
A landmark 300-page report by David Anderson QC will pave the way for a ferocious battle between the Government and internet giants such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter.
Ministers will seize on the comments by the independent reviewer of terror laws to justify the introduction of a ‘turbo-charged snoopers’ charter’.
In addition to sweeping surveillance powers, the legislation will force internet firms to hand over to MI5, MI6 and GCHQ messages sent on apps and other encrypted services. Officials insist that, to keep the country safe, terrorists should not be able to hide behind software which security officials struggle to decode.
But the move will trigger a huge backlash from internet firms, which have become reluctant to co-operate with the Government in the wake of the leaks by US security contractor Edward Snowden.
Many of the encryption services were devised in response to Snowden’s revelations about the ability of British and US spies to monitor internet histories, emails, text and call records and passwords. Two firms are already believed to have threatened to quit the UK if the law on encryption is changed.
Last month, the Mail revealed how encrypted messaging apps such as Kik, Surespot, Wickr and Telegram were being used by Islamist extremists to recruit vulnerable British youngsters. The apps – hugely popular with teenagers – claim to offer total privacy, with digital encryption so strong that it cannot be hacked even by secret services. Such devices were used to lure a 16-year-old British girl to Syria to become a jihadi bride – a plot foiled by police after the Daily Mail raised the alarm. Mr Anderson, who was commissioned by the Government to investigate whether there were ‘ gaps’ in the Government’s surveillance capabilities, will say he has seen evidence of terrorists using the services to avoid detection.
His report, due to be released by the Prime Minister later today, will also say that advances in technology make it hard for the security services to keep up.
But the QC will say that any new powers must be accompanied by greater oversight of the surveillance activities of MI5, MI6 and GCHQ. Most controversially, he is understood to back the idea that judges – not a Cabinet minister – should sign off interception warrants.
Currently, the Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary or Northern Ire- land Secretary gives approval for an intrusive surveillance operation, such as bugging a phone.
Handing the power to a judge instead would bring the UK into line with the US, Australia and Canada. It would also make the likes of Google and Facebook more likely to comply.
But senior Cabinet ministers are understood to have reservations – arguing that judges, unlike politicians, are not directly accountable to the public. There could also be problems making sure judges were available in the middle of the night to sign a warrant.
Ministers are expected to spend a few weeks studying the Anderson report before publishing the Investigatory Powers Bill. In addition to forcing companies to hand over data from encrypted websites, it will also require internet firms to store details of a person’s every internet visit, text message and phone call for up to 12 months.
Lib Dem ex-leader Nick Clegg called the plans a ‘turbo-charged snoopers’ charter’.
EXPOSED: PLOT TO LURE GIRL, 16, AS JIHADI BRIDE From the Mail: May 22