government spying

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UK Spy Agency's New Recruiting Tool: 'Silent Courier'

MI6 rolls out portal on the dark web to bring in spies from Russia, elsewhere

(Newser) - Britain's MI6 is taking an unconventional step to bolster its intelligence ranks, rolling out a secure dark-web portal aimed squarely at attracting would-be spies—especially those inside Russia. Dubbed "Silent Courier," the platform is designed to make it easier for potential recruits, wherever they may be,...

Report: Russian Drones Are Tracking Supplies to Ukraine

Surveillance flights raise alarms over potential sabotage on European routes used by US

(Newser) - US and European officials say Russian surveillance drones are being flown over key military supply routes in eastern Germany, gathering intelligence that could help Moscow's sabotage efforts in its war in Ukraine. The activity along routes used by the US and its allies, described as "straight-up espionage"...

MI6 Could Get Its First Woman Spy Chief

It seems that the James Bond series got there a lot faster than the real-world British spy agency

(Newser) - Real-life spies say their world is nothing like that of James Bond, but the AP reports that in one way, truth may soon follow fiction: MI6 could be about to get its first woman leader. Britain's foreign intelligence agency launched a search for its next chief on Tuesday, and...

Someone Really Wanted to Listen to Poland's Cabinet Meet

Eavesdropping devices discovered in Cabinet meeting room

(Newser) - Someone planned to listen in as Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk met with his Cabinet on Tuesday, according to security officials, who say they found and "dismantled" bugging devices in the meeting room. "The State Protection Service, in cooperation with the Internal Security Agency, detected and dismantled devices...

Ex-US Ambassador Pleads Guilty to Spying for Cuba

Victor Manuel Rocha, former diplomat to Bolivia, is said to have helped communist nation for decades

(Newser) - For more than four decades, a diplomat working in the US State Department secretly funneled information to Cuba's communist government. That's according to prosecutors, and now to Victor Manuel Rocha himself, a former ambassador to Bolivia who on Thursday switched his initial plea of not guilty to guilty...

US Sailor Sold Secrets to China, Gets 2 Years

Thomas Zhao will do 27 months for taking bribes, stealing intel from his California base

(Newser) - A US Navy sailor has been sentenced to just over two years in federal prison for transmitting sensitive US military information to a Chinese intelligence officer. Wenheng Zhao, who is also known as Thomas Zhao, of Monterey Park, was sentenced Monday to 27 months by a federal judge in Los...

China: Let's Stay Calm About This Alleged Spy Balloon

It still hasn't confirmed the United States' allegations of the orb floating over Montana

(Newser) - The giant white object spotted drifting over Montana earlier this week is a spy balloon sent by China, at least according to the United States government. China, however, is urging everyone to take a deep breath and not pass judgment "before we have a clear understanding of the facts....

FBI Director: China's Spying Has 'Reached a New Level'

Country has stolen more data 'than every other country combined'

(Newser) - FBI Director Christopher Wray says China's economic espionage campaign is more damaging than ever, which is saying something, considering the scale of the Chinese government's spying stunned Wray when he became FBI director in 2017. "This one blew me away. And I'm not the kind of...

New Details Emerge on Carlson's NSA Controversy

Axios reports his texts may have been 'incidentally collected' by agency

(Newser) - Last week, Tucker Carson of Fox News caused a stir by accusing the National Security Agency of spying on him and trying to get his show off the air, allegations the NSA denied . Now, a report from Jonathan Swan at Axios appears to shed light on the controversy. It seems...

NSA: No, We're Not Spying on Tucker Carlson
NSA Responds
to Tucker Carlson's
Spying Claims
THE RUNDOWN
Jun 30, 2021 10:30 AM CDT

NSA Responds to Tucker Carlson's Spying Claims

Fox News host said he'd 'confirmed' that was happening, but agency says nope

(Newser) - Tucker Carlson is claiming the US government is reading his private emails in an attempt to take his show off the air. "The Biden administration is spying on us," the host of Fox News' Tucker Carlson Tonight said on Monday's show. "We have confirmed that."...

Report: Russian Spies Posed as Plumbers in Davos

Though Russia raises some questions about the report

(Newser) - It sounds like the plot of a movie: Police in Davos, Switzerland, believe Russian spies attempted to infiltrate this week's World Economic Forum by posing as plumbers, according to a local report and the Financial Times . Suspicion first arose when police questioned two Russian men back in August, after...

Judge: No, Your Cellphone Can't Be Used to Track You

First time a federal judge has thrown out evidence culled thanks to 'stingray' device

(Newser) - A surveillance device that "tricks" cellphones into revealing their location has been a civil rights concern since it debuted. Now, for the first time, a federal judge agrees that using such a tool to ID a suspect's home without a warrant is an "unreasonable" violation of the...

France Fumes Over 'Unacceptable' US Spying

Summons US ambassador to Paris amid emergency meetings

(Newser) - Surprise: France isn't thrilled by claims that the US spied on its past three presidents , including current leader Francois Hollande, and has now summoned its US ambassador to the foreign ministry in Paris, reports the AP . Hollande, who calls the US spying an "unacceptable" security breach, held two...

The NSA Just Got Sued by a Whole Bunch of Groups

Wikimedia, ACLU, Amnesty on same side of suit vs. 'dragnet surveillance'

(Newser) - The NSA and the Justice Department made an impressive and diverse list of enemies this morning, via a lawsuit filed over its spying. Not surprisingly filing the suit: the ACLU. But as Reuters reports, it filed Wikimedia v. NSA on behalf of: Amnesty International, the Global Fund for Women, Human...

Germany to Top US Spy: Leave
 Germany to Top US Spy: Leave 
Jul 10, 2014 8:59 AM CDT

Germany to Top US Spy: Leave

Merkel: US, Germany have 'different approaches' to spying

(Newser) - Germany took the dramatic step today of asking the top US intelligence official in Berlin to leave the country, following two reported cases of suspected American spying and the yearlong spat over eavesdropping by the National Security Agency. The move reflects growing impatience in Germany at what is perceived as...

Snowden: Our Kids Will Never Have an 'Unrecorded Thought'

NSA whistleblower has Christmas message for anyone feeling happy

(Newser) - On the off chance that the NSA was taking an eggnog break from listening to you rip open your Christmas gifts, Edward Snowden has a new Christmas message out. And it's not exactly chock full of rainbows and unicorns, notes Politico . Speaking in a YouTube video with British Channel...

Tech Rivals Unite to Nag World About Spying

Google, Microsoft lead charge

(Newser) - What's big enough to bring together such competitors as Google and Yahoo, Microsoft and Apple, Facebook and Twitter, plus AOL and LinkedIn for good measure? The NSA spying drama. Those companies are publicly asking the world's governments to limit such spying, and have detailed their ideas on a...

In 30 Days, NSA Grabbed 70M French Phone Records
In 30 Days, NSA Grabbed
70M French Phone Records
new report
Oct 21, 2013 7:24 AM CDT

In 30 Days, NSA Grabbed 70M French Phone Records

Furious France summons US ambassador for explanation of latest report

(Newser) - Brazil and Mexico have some company: The NSA spied on France, too, according to a new report in Le Monde co-authored by Glenn Greenwald, and let's just say France isn't too happy about it. The report reveals that the NSA copied French text messages and recorded certain...

New Snowden Leak: NSA Hacked Al Jazeera

Accessed and read broadcaster's internal communications system

(Newser) - The latest Snowden document release reveals that the NSA spied on Arab news broadcaster Al Jazeera, hacking into its internal communications system, reports Der Spiegel . A document from 2006 says the NSA's Network Analysis Center accessed and read communication by "interesting targets" at the Qatar-based news network, then...

If NSA Trusted This Guy, Why Should We Trust It?

Farhad Manjoo: Edward Snowden seems like poor choice for security clearance

(Newser) - Forget the constitutional questions surrounding the NSA program for a second, and ask yourself this: Can we trust our secrets in the hands of an agency that would trust the likes of Edward Snowden? Snowden "sounds like a thoughtful, patriotic young man," Farhad Manjoo allows in Slate . But...

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