19-11-2013, 08:10 AM
Snowden sparked spy audit
PAUL MALEY
The Australian
November 19, 2013 12:00AM
AUSTRALIA'S peak domestic spy agency, ASIO, conducted an internal audit in the wake of the Edward Snowden scandal to identify sensitive material it had provided to the Americans that could now find its way into the public domain via his leaks.
ASIO's director general David Irvine told a Senate estimate hearing last night his agency had a "good idea" about the information it passed on to partner agencies in the US, and which could now be exposed by Mr Snowden.
"I think it stands to reason that that is something we would do but I'm not going to comment on the nature or the scope at this stage," Mr Irvine said.
The director general said the audit was conducted "as soon as it became clear what sort of information was being put out in the public domain" by Mr Snowden, who is now a fugitive from American authorities and is living indefinitely in Russia.
Mr Irvine expressed his "very great concern" about the Snowden leaks, including disclosures yesterday that the Australian Signals Directorate, formerly the Defence Signals Directorate, had targeted the mobile phones of senior Indonesian government figures, including the President and his wife.
"When that material is Australian material it's obviously of very great concern to the Australian government," Mr Irvine said.
Mr Irvine moved to allay concerns ASIO might fall victim to breaches similar to those perpetrated by Mr Snowden, or WikiLeaks mole Bradley Manning, saying ASIO conducted "rigorous and intrusive" checks of its own people.
Those checks included compartmentalising information, restricting access and ongoing checks of its intelligence officers.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national...IGP7E.dpuf
PAUL MALEY
The Australian
November 19, 2013 12:00AM
AUSTRALIA'S peak domestic spy agency, ASIO, conducted an internal audit in the wake of the Edward Snowden scandal to identify sensitive material it had provided to the Americans that could now find its way into the public domain via his leaks.
ASIO's director general David Irvine told a Senate estimate hearing last night his agency had a "good idea" about the information it passed on to partner agencies in the US, and which could now be exposed by Mr Snowden.
"I think it stands to reason that that is something we would do but I'm not going to comment on the nature or the scope at this stage," Mr Irvine said.
The director general said the audit was conducted "as soon as it became clear what sort of information was being put out in the public domain" by Mr Snowden, who is now a fugitive from American authorities and is living indefinitely in Russia.
Mr Irvine expressed his "very great concern" about the Snowden leaks, including disclosures yesterday that the Australian Signals Directorate, formerly the Defence Signals Directorate, had targeted the mobile phones of senior Indonesian government figures, including the President and his wife.
"When that material is Australian material it's obviously of very great concern to the Australian government," Mr Irvine said.
Mr Irvine moved to allay concerns ASIO might fall victim to breaches similar to those perpetrated by Mr Snowden, or WikiLeaks mole Bradley Manning, saying ASIO conducted "rigorous and intrusive" checks of its own people.
Those checks included compartmentalising information, restricting access and ongoing checks of its intelligence officers.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national...IGP7E.dpuf
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"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass