Computer Weekly and Byline Times uncovered a shocking secret campaign this year by right-wing Brexit supporters against the prominent science journal, Nature. The group, with high-level connections in politics, business, and intelligence, attempted to put Nature and its editor under surveillance and investigated by intelligence agencies for alleged “extreme Sinophile views”.
The Home Office has been preoccupied with surveillance this year, as the government seeks to revise the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 to make it easier for police and intelligence agencies to access large databases on the population, and controversially to require tech companies to inform the government in advance if they make changes to their platforms that could impact surveillance capabilities.
Pressure against tech companies offering encrypted messaging and email services intensified with the passing of the Online Safety Act in October. The act gives regulator Ofcom powers to require tech companies to scan encrypted services for illegal content, a move that threatens to undermine the security of technology platforms. The act has become law, but it is yet to be seen how – or if – Ofcom will enforce it.
Electronic evidence has been another significant theme this year, as Computer Weekly reported on a dispute by an NHS whistleblower and health trust over the authenticity of emails that relate to patient safety concerns. Another NHS employee deleted thousands of emails before being due to give evidence at an employment tribunal. The courts have also yet to decide whether messages obtained from the police hacking of the EncroChat encrypted phone network are admissible. If they are not, people who have been convicted solely on the basis of EncroChat messages may have their cases overturned.
1. Top science journal faced secret attacks from Covid conspiracy theory group
An investigation by Computer Weekly and Byline Times revealed that the science journal, Nature, had been the target of sustained secret attacks by extreme Brexit supporters with high-level political, commercial and intelligence connections. The group, which included former MI6 chief Sir Richard Dearlove, attempted to put members of staff at Nature under surveillance and investigated by intelligence services in the UK, Israel, Japan and Australia for alleged “extreme Sinophile views”.
2. New revelations from the Edward Snowden archive
Ten years after they were first leaked by former US National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Edward Snowden, Computer Weekly revealed new, unpublished, details from the Snowden archives. They include revelations that the NSA had compromised central processing units widely deployed by datacentres and cloud computing suppliers.
The processors were supplied by American semiconductor manufacturer Cavium. The company was listed as “a successful SIGINT enabled CPUs vendor” in unreleased Snowden documents, according to a PhD thesis by security researcher and journalist Jacob Appelbaum. Now owned by Marvell, Cavium told Computer Weekly it does not implement “back doors” for any government.