By David E. Sanger and Sheera Frenkel
Washington — The Trump administration (click here) and its closest intelligence partners have quietly warned technology firms that they will demand “lawful access” to all encrypted emails, text messages and voice communications, threatening to compel compliance if the private companies refuse to voluntarily provide the information to the governments.
The threat was issued last week by the United States, Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, the so-called Five Eyes nations that broadly share intelligence. Collectively, they have been frustrated by the spread of encrypted apps on cellphones and the ability to send encrypted messages through social media and, most prominently, on Apple’s iPhones.
The issue flared repeatedly during the Obama administration, with the former F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, warning that law enforcement officials were “going dark” as nefarious actors relied on encrypted channels to discuss or plan criminal activity or terrorist plots. But the Trump administration has said little about the subject, even after the meeting in Australia where the demand was issued in a joint statement by the five nations....
Meng Wanzhou (click here) was unaware she was going to be picked up in Canada. That seems like a success of the intelligence network that China wasn't to find access.
..."Sometimes Chinese (click here) aggression is explicitly state-sponsored and sometimes it's laundered through many of Beijing's so-called 'private' sector entities that are in bed with (President) Xi (Jinping)'s communist party," he added....
I just don't buy the Iran thing. I doesn't make sense to me and this explanation seems to burdened to be the reason. That is a lot of spying in cyberspace for the NSA and/or CIA. It just doesn't smell right to me. The internet security issues are more the problem.
The ministers of foreign affairs of France, Germany, the European Union, Iran, the United Kingdom and the United States as well as Chinese and Russian diplomats announcing the framework for a Comprehensive agreement on the Iranian nuclear program (Lausanne, April 2, 2015)
China was never a part of the Iran talks. China has no real interest in providing an international fellowship with the Permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany. China has no real impediments on developing a relationship with Iran and I can tell you, China sees itself as a real partner for a nuclear free Iran in it's relationship.
The arrest has less to do with Iran so much as the spying on The West by China though a large family run telecommunications company. Not to say the USA isn't annoyed with a relationship between Iran and China, but, it has little reason or leverage to move against China in this way.
China was surprised and caught off guard with the arrest of Meng Wanzhou. It could easily have been a test of Chinese intelligence as well as an annoyance by the USA of China with Iran.
13 December 2018
By Chris Uhlmann
It was a warm evening this past July (click here) when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shared a drink with the world’s most powerful intelligence network.
Spy chiefs from the Five Eyes nations had come to a secure resort in coastal Nova Scotia for an informal evening after intense talks in nearby Ottawa.
Trudeau, who’d spent part of the day pledging to fix a “death trap” highway in the Atlantic province, dropped in on the gathering to share some thoughts about geopolitical threats....
...detailed evidence of the brazen attacks in Salisbury, where Moscow had used a military-grade chemical weapon on UK soil.
In the aftermath the British went public and the Five Eyes coordinated the largest ever expulsion of Russian intelligence officers from NATO and partner states. All agreed this would significantly degrade Russia’s intelligence capability.
That episode reminded everyone that espionage and foreign interference continues to be a pervasive threat. Some believed since 9/11 that mission had been obscured by the fight against terrorism and so at their own pace each had concluded the greatest emerging threat was China’s Communist Party.
They also knew that to contend with this challenge there was no other group of nations that enjoyed such shared knowledge, cultural affinity and technical expertise....
...Since that July meeting there has been a series of rare public speeches by intelligence chiefs and a coordinated effort on banning Huawei from 5G networks. It began with one of Malcolm Turnbull’s last acts as Prime Minister....
