Libyan Spies Got Help From Western Tech Firms

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It’s not exactly as exciting and sexy as a James Bond adventure, but espionage has rather taken the form of eavesdropping on Internet conversations. In Libya, ousted dictator Muammar Gaddafi is said to have been listening in for the past few years with the help from a few friends.

The Wall Street Journal recently ran a report on how the former Libyan government has been gaining information by accessing conversations done via the Internet. In the wake of the civil war, journalists have been given access to facilities in which Libyan citizens have been monitored for so many years. To date, Narus — a Boeing subsidiary — and French company Amesys have been found to be providing surveillance equipment, training and documentation to the Libyan government.

The dealings with western security contractors were said to have started when trade restrictions were lifted in the late 20th century. With the growing popularity of the Internet in the rest of the world, Gaddafi’s government turned to online means of spying on potential detractors and political opponents, even with only a small percentage of Libyans getting online (less than 1%). With high-tech spying equipment, the Libyan government has been able to intercept communications done through Yahoo!, Gmail, MSN and other networks. Operatives are said to have access to powerful systems that they can simply type in keywords, email addresses, names or file names, and relevant matches will pop up in real time.

Meanwhile, mobile communications have not been spared from spying, as surveillance installations have been found with equipment from VASTech, which produces technology that can intercept phone conversations and messages.

Neither company involved has provided a statement explaining their involvement, citing confidentiality agreements and the private nature of business dealings. However, VASTech says they only deal with UN-sanctioned nations, and only for counterterrorism measures. Meanwhile, Narus says they have had no sales in Libya.

This begs the question — are we truly secure and safe in our online dealings? Even with supposedly secure and encrypted interfaces, will our email and IM exchanges with friends and colleagues truly private? Gaddafi’s spies reportedly had access to emails from UK-based activists, and so anyone can theoretically be a target. In the meantime, the former Libyan government’s surveillance efforts seem to be moot, with rebels succeeding in taking over in the Tripoli endgame. Maybe updating our browsers against SSL security breaches is just not enough.