Oh no, you're thinking, yet another cookie pop-up. Well, sorry, it's the law. We measure how many people read us, and ensure you see relevant ads, by storing cookies on your device. If you're cool with that, hit “Accept all Cookies”. For more info and to customize your settings, hit “Customize Settings”.

Review and manage your consent

Here's an overview of our use of cookies, similar technologies and how to manage them. You can also change your choices at any time, by hitting the “Your Consent Options” link on the site's footer.

Manage Cookie Preferences
  • These cookies are strictly necessary so that you can navigate the site as normal and use all features. Without these cookies we cannot provide you with the service that you expect.

  • These cookies are used to make advertising messages more relevant to you. They perform functions like preventing the same ad from continuously reappearing, ensuring that ads are properly displayed for advertisers, and in some cases selecting advertisements that are based on your interests.

  • These cookies collect information in aggregate form to help us understand how our websites are being used. They allow us to count visits and traffic sources so that we can measure and improve the performance of our sites. If people say no to these cookies, we do not know how many people have visited and we cannot monitor performance.

See also our Cookie policy and Privacy policy.

This article is more than 1 year old

GCHQ gros fromage stays schtum on Snowden and snooping

No tech firms are leaving and we've read up on bread and circuses

Infosec 2015 A top GCHQ official opened the Infosecurity Europe trade show in London with an on-message keynote that focused on promoting best practice rather than dealing with Edward Snowden and the ongoing controversy over the so-called Snoopers’ Charter.

Ciaran Martin, director general of cyber-security at GCHQ, gave a broad overview of the threat landscape before going on advise delegates to focus on getting the basics right and promoting government schemes, such as the Cyber Essentials programme.

Martin started off his presentation with a suggestion that the denial of cyber-security is the Y2K bug of this generation. A variety of hackers motivated by either “money, power or propaganda” stand ready to ransack corporate systems, he told a packed audience at London’s Olympia.

Martin said GCHQ "reluctantly" takes on the role of top scarer, comparing GCHQ's role to a character in Pixar’s Monsters Inc. GCHQ – now 96 years old – has always had an information assurance role, but its function as a signal intelligence agency has always had a higher public profile.

This intelligence role has been the source of privacy controversy since the revelations of Edward Snowden. Martin, in best civil servant mode, said the balance between security and privacy is a matter for debate in parliament, which is due to discuss the Investigatory Powers Bill. The senior GCHQ official made no mention of Snowden, beyond suggesting that reports of overarching surveillance were well wide of the mark and that GCHQ’s intelligence role helped in defence.

Martin said GCHQ doesn't talk about who it helps. "Infosec 2115 might have a historical talk on our files,” he joked, during a speech that touched on the centuries-old debate among historians about the fall of the Roman Empire.

Martin’s well-drilled presentation was punctuated with only one question from the audience. A delegate asked if GCHQ could be considered a threat actor due to its promotion of backdoors in products. Are its activities encouraging UK tech firms to leave the country?

The two-part, commendably forensic question made reference to the call by law enforcement and intel agencies to leave encryption backdoors in products and services – a demand fiercely resisted by IT giants. It also related to reported plans by some UK tech firms – ind.ie and most recently Eris Industries – to quit Blighty over the Snoopers’ Charter.

Martin didn’t answer the question directly in his own capacity, instead referring to comments by business leaders that surveillance was having no effect on the growing UK IT industry. ®

 

Similar topics

TIP US OFF

Send us news


Other stories you might like