New Zealand Reconsiders Mass Surveillance

Former Prime Minister and  the current New Zealand National Party, Simon Bridge (pictured) said in a live television interview on Friday 25th March that it might be time to revisit an internet surveillance programme canned by the previous National-led Government. 

Back in 2017 Edward Snowden said new evidence shows former Prime Minister John Key lied to New Zealand about mass surveillance plans.

"A Lie, a Cover-Up, and a Stolen Election: @nzherald's new evidence shows former PM of New Zealand John Key lied to his country about mass surveillance plans in the final days before the vote -- and won,"

In September 2014, Snowden and journalist Glen Greenwald said the GCSB and NSA were working together on a mass surveillance project called Speargun. Speargun is a mass surveillance programme, which Mr Snowden and Mr Greenwald claimed would allow the Government to tap into the communication of New Zealanders.

Project Speargun, which was revealed by the US National Security Agency’s whistleblower Edward Snowden in 2014, was cancelled in 2013, according to then-Prime Minister John Key for being too intrusive.

"It was set too broadly," he told NZME in 2017. "What we ultimately did, when it comes to Speargun, in my opinion, I said it's set too far. I don't even want to see the business case."

Snowden claimed Project Speargun would have allowed the Government to tap into New Zealanders' communications.
Bridges has called for a royal commission of inquiry into the security and intelligence failings that allowed a white supremacist to amass an arsenal and shoot 100 people in Christchurch earlier this month, killing 50 of them. The alleged gunman wasn't on any watch lists here or in his native Australia.

There, has also been criticism as intelligence agencies have been too focused on the potential threat from Islamist extremists, and blind to that posed by the far-right.

Bridges said that he's not sure if a mass surveillance programme like Speargun would have uncovered the killer's plans.

"But I think what we can say is what I think is that we were overly cautious, and I think we need to revisit that."
He said at present, our intelligence agencies, the domestic-focused SIS and foreign spying GCSB, are "doing their work with both hands tied behind their back".

"Speargun was really about going on the highways and getting the traffic. What we've done is just gone down a few driveways... I can't say hand on heart it would have changed this, of course I can't, but I can say it would have made New Zealanders safer that we should be thinking more about our cybersecurity settings. At the moment we went down a few driveways. I reckon we need to go wider than that."

Speargun's replacement, Cortex, has a much narrower focus - protecting key institutions from cyberattack.

"The risk profile of New Zealand has changed, right?" said Bridges. "We've gone from low terrorist risk, to high risk. 

“You've got ISIS out there threatening, you've got a Turkish President showing this and inflaming crowds, you've got the risk of copy-catting. So we do need to look at these things. I'm not saying it's easy, but I think we need to think about change."

NewsHub NZ      NewsHub NZ

You Might Also Read:

US Surveillance System Exposed By Snowden Goes Dormant:


 

 

« Facebook Removes Suspicious Accounts For 'inauthentic behavior'
How Can Boardrooms Effectively Manage Cyber Risk? »

CyberSecurity Jobsite
Perimeter 81

Directory of Suppliers

ManageEngine

ManageEngine

As the IT management division of Zoho Corporation, ManageEngine prioritizes flexible solutions that work for all businesses, regardless of size or budget.

DigitalStakeout

DigitalStakeout

DigitalStakeout enables cyber security professionals to reduce cyber risk to their organization with proactive security solutions, providing immediate improvement in security posture and ROI.

ZenGRC

ZenGRC

ZenGRC - the first, easy-to-use, enterprise-grade information security solution for compliance and risk management - offers businesses efficient control tracking, testing, and enforcement.

Practice Labs

Practice Labs

Practice Labs is an IT competency hub, where live-lab environments give access to real equipment for hands-on practice of essential cybersecurity skills.

BackupVault

BackupVault

BackupVault is a leading provider of automatic cloud backup and critical data protection against ransomware, insider attacks and hackers for businesses and organisations worldwide.

Protenus

Protenus

Protenus provide a solution to proactively monitor and protect patient privacy in the electronic health record (EHR).

Riscure

Riscure

Riscure is a global test lab and tools leader for device security. Core expertise in side channel analysis, fault injection and embedded device software.

Trusted CI

Trusted CI

Trusted CI, the NSF Cybersecurity Center of Excellence is comprised of cybersecurity experts who have spent decades working with science and engineering communities.

Informer

Informer

Informer provides an Attack Surface Management SaaS platform alongside penetration testing services. We combine machine learning and human intelligence to reduce cyber risk.

Stanley Reid & Company (SRC)

Stanley Reid & Company (SRC)

Stanley Reid & Co is an Executive and Technical Search Firm serving the commercial market and the US Intelligence & Defense community. Our areas of expertise include Cybersecurity.

Research Institute in Verified Trustworthy Software Systems (VeTSS)

Research Institute in Verified Trustworthy Software Systems (VeTSS)

The main purpose of VeTSS is to support program analysis, testing and verification, to achieve guarantees of software correctness, safety, and security.

Police CyberAlarm

Police CyberAlarm

Police CyberAlarm is a free tool to help members understand and monitor malicious cyber activity. This service is made up of two parts; monitoring and vulnerability scanning.

ShardSecure

ShardSecure

ShardSecure Microshard technology eliminates data sensitivity, providing security, privacy and compliance beyond encryption.

Raxis

Raxis

Raxis is a cybersecurity company that hacks into computer networks and physical structures to perform penetration tests, assessing corporate vulnerability to real-world threats.

CyberCatch

CyberCatch

CyberCatch provides an innovative cybersecurity Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform designed for SMBs.

Digistor

Digistor

Digistor is a leading manufacturer of industrial-grade flash storage products, secure storage products, and Removable Secure Data Storage.

Indian Cyber Security Solutions (ICSS)

Indian Cyber Security Solutions (ICSS)

Indian Cyber Security Solutions is an Enterprise Cyber Security Platforms company offering Cyber Security & Technical Education and Compliance & Penetration Testing Services.

AddSecure

AddSecure

AddSecure is a leading European provider of secure IoT connectivity and end-to-end solutions.

BreakPoint Labs

BreakPoint Labs

BreakPoint Labs is dedicated to providing the methods and means for sustainable, measurable, and effective cybersecurity operations.

Aura Information Security

Aura Information Security

Aura Information Security consists of a team of highly-skilled and renowned information security professionals spanning Australia and New Zealand.

SecuLore

SecuLore

An innovator in public-safety-focused cybersecurity, SecuLore is dedicated to protecting critical infrastructure from cyber attacks.