The topic of clandestine surveillance was once again thrust into the spotlight over the weekend as it has emerged that the offices of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC), the complaints office for an Garda Síochána, was being spied upon, through compromised telephones and Wi-Fi networks.
In a story broken by The Sunday Times, yesterday (9 February), it was reported that a phone in a room used for various sensitive meetings, had been configured to eaves drop, a Wi-Fi network had been compromised and, according to the Irish Independent, a bogus Wi-Fi network had been set up to capture traffic that was forwarded to a UK IP address. It was also reported that a storage device belonging to the commission was also compromised.
The surveillance came to light after the GSOC asked for a report from a security consultant. The consultant carried out an investigation and provided a report which the Independent said found that the technology was “restricted technology” that was “not commercially available or sold to non-government agencies”.
The revelations have led to a storm of controversy, with Justice Minister Alan Shatter TD being called upon from various opposition parties to make a full statement on the matter.
The Irish Times is reporting today (10 February) that the Justice Minister will brief cabinet on the situation.
Sinn Fein TD Pádraig Mac Lochlainn, head of the Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions, said he will be calling the GSOC to appear before the committee, as its oversight falls within his committee’s remit.
The office the Minster for Justice released a statement: “Please be advised that Minister Shatter has sought a full report from GSOC on the matter and that he won’t be making any comment until the report has been received and considered”.
Speculation is now rife as to who might be behind the incidents.
However, security experts have already come out with warnings for all organisations in the aftermath.
In a blog post, security guru Brian Honan, warned of the need to ensure that Wi-Fi in particular is closely monitored for security and integrity, to ensure that they cannot be easily hacked but also to ensure that there are no bogus access points that could allow hackers to collect information.
“How confident are you that there are no unauthorised Wi-Fi routers on your network allowing access to your systems?” asks Honan. “You should regularly review your network ports to determine what devices are active on your network and which of those are not authorised devices. This can be a physical review or using network scanning tools to inventory what systems are on your network.”
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