Phone Hacking Scandal Dials Up Pressure on News International
The phone hacking scandal that has enveloped the British tabloid paper, the News of the World, has taken even more twists this week as new revelations emerge about the phone hacking of Milly Dowler, a girl who was murdered in 2002.
The phone hacking scandal has been rumbling on for months now as it emerges that the News of the World newspaper hacked into the voicemail of celebrities and other prominent public figures.
This week it took a much more sinister turn as it has emerged that one of the victims of the phone hacking may have been the schoolgirl Milly Dowler, who was abducted and murdered in 2002. There are also police investigations into whether victims of the 7/7 London bombings were also targeted by the paper.
The latest revelations have really hit a nerve with the public, shifting the story from one prominently about ethics (public sympathy for celebrities and politicians is not always generous), to one of disgust and revulsion.
It already seems to be causing a backlash against News International, the owner of the paper and owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation. Advertisers are reconsidering their relationship and twitter is buzzing with people who are switching papers in protest.
In another twist, the police are said to be investigating whether payments were made and accepted by police officers at the time. The case first came to light about 6 years ago but was only concerned with hacking of the Royal Family phones. Many people have wondered why the initial investigation did not show up any of the recent evidence that is only now being investigated.
The private investigator at the centre of the controversy, Glenn Mulcaire, had until this week remained silent on the issue but felt compelled to make a statement to the Guardian newspaper after what he said had been the vilification of him and his family over the past 24 hours.
In it he apologized to “anybody who was hurt or upset by what I have done”. Mulcaire has already served prison time in 2007 for his involvement in the hacking of the voicemail of members of the Royal family when the case first came to light.
What is Phone Hacking?
Although ‘phone hacking’ suggests some sort of computer expert spending hours locked in a room programming a way into telephone operators systems, the truth is much simpler.
Most people’s voicemail never had the default pin code changed or had one that was very simple to guess. Voicemail services often have an external number where you can call and then enter the mobile number and pin code, or alternatively it seems a practice was used whereby they called the phone on one line and then made a second call getting them automatically diverted to voicemail.
Fundamentally it was a flawed design of the system which seems to be being overlooked, some phone companies have since taken action to change their processes but we should be asking the phone companies why was is so easy? And for those that haven’t changed their ways, why not?
It is illegal under British law to gain access to another persons phone or voicemail without permission although, inevitably, the UK’s security services can apply for warrants to do just that.
0 Comments
Trackbacks/Pingbacks