Greek PM's phone tapped for a year

[rooboy]

The mobile phones of Greek Prime Minister Costas Caramanlis and top government and security officials were tapped by unknown individuals during the Athens 2004 Olympics and for nearly a year, the government said.

"The people (under surveillance) included the prime minister himself and other members of the government," government spokesman Theodoros Roussopoulos told a news conference.

The list of about 100 people whose telephones were tapped included the ministers of foreign affairs, defence, public order and justice. Most of Greece's top military and police officers were also targeted, as were foreign ministry officials, a US Embassy number and the Prime Minister's wife, Natasha.

The phone tapping "started before the 2004 Olympic Games and probably continued until March 2005, when it was discovered," Roussopoulos said.

But Roussopoulos - backed by Public Order Minister Giorgos Voulgarakis and Justice Minister Anastassis Papaligouras, who also attended the news conference - said it had not been possible to identify who was behind the tapping.

"It was an unknown individual, or individuals, who used high technology," he said.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/greek-pms-phone-tapped-for-a-year/2006/02/03/1138836412940.html

[shraby]

1. Hmmmmmmm. n/t

[mike_c]

2. I would presume that every cell and microwave communication...

...on Earth is monitored by the NSA and at least decrypted and run through key-word filters. That means all long-distance land-line comms as well as cell phone calls-- anything that includes a broadcast component is wide open, and I'd be very surprised if it isn't all tapped and sifted. I doubt there is anywhere on Earth that isn't line-of-sight from at least an orbital platform.

[Renew Deal]

3. Wow

Now who the hell was doing this? And why don't the Greeks seem as alarmed by this as I feel. There is no way state secrets weren't lost if it was happening for so long. There is more going on with the underlings than the PM anyway. So is it a hacker, the CIA, some other intelligence agency, or a Greek? I wonder. Either way, this is frightening. Has anyone noticed our government whining that Blackberry may go down. I wonder what they see get transmitted every day. I carry a blackberry for my company and I wouldn't even want that tapped. I hope the Greeks can figure it out.

[951-Riverside]

4. How would they know?

Its not like have to use physical devices anymore to monitor someone's conversation, they have to know who was tapping them otherwise how would they know to begin with, the story seems like BS.

[rooboy]

5. Did you read the article? n/t

[951-Riverside]

6. I didnt

DOH!

[MrPrax]

7. Different Spin for the Greeks...it's US Embassy

http://ta-nea.dolnet.gr/print_article.php?e=A&f=18455&m=N08&aa=1

Translation from Babelfish of the first four paragraphs


...kaj in the middle the Embassy The aerials "show" the point where they was found the 14 mobile - bugs

H unique report that they made yesterday the ministers of Territory, Justice and Public Order for the American embassy in Athens were the moment where they revealed the list with the mobile telephones which were watched! "One of the telephones of list ypoklopw'n belongs in the American embassy", reported Mr Royso'poylos.

However, the elements that presented the three ministers with regard to the method which followed unknown that made ypoklope's brought the embassy of USA in the "heart of" web with the mobile telephones - traps that it had been set up for enough time.

Concretely, the 14 kartokjnita' telephones - shades that were activated progressively and used as collectors of discussions that ypokle'ptontan by the 100 mobile telephones of Prime Minister, ministers, deputies, businessmen and other citizens took signal from aerials that are installed in distance of breathing round the American embassy!

More specifically, this telephones syne'legan data and discussions from the beehives of aerials of Vodafone that cover triangular Lykavitto's - clinic White Cross (Sjsj'ni and Papadjamantopoy'loy) - Wide Mavj'li, as well as from the aerials that are found in the Tower Athens (Vas. Sofia and Messogias). The same telephones did not make did not accept calls and they promoted the discussions that ype'kleptan for recording in certain digital base.

ta-nea.dolnet.gr/data/D2006/D0203/1el8b.gif
Big Picture from above story link, labelled in Greek, showing the Athens lay out (too big to post)

Let's see...just like the British 'rocks' in Moscow last week, it would seem that the US might have been caught as well...

who knows...