Suspicion of Espionage at Iceland’s Parliament

[Magda Hassan]

20.01.2011 | 11:30

Suspicion of Espionage at Iceland's Parliament
Employees of the Icelandic parliament, Althingi, called the police to report a computer found in an empty room in the parliamentary building in February last year. The computer is believed to have been part of an espionage mission, as confirmed by Althingi's office manager Helgi Bernódusson yesterday.

Althingi. Photo by Páll Stefánsson.

"All identifiers had been wiped off the computer, all numbers and such, so it couldn't be traced back to the owner. It was a very suspicious computer but we just couldn't figure it out and neither could the police," he told Morgunbladid.
They suspected that the computer had been placed there to break into the computers of MPs and Althingi's computer system, download information and send it to a different computer, possibly by Wikileaks hackers.
It appeared as if professionals had placed the computer and programmed it, which further supported theories of espionage, and when the computer was disconnected a program automatically started which deleted all data on the hard drive.
Althingi's security system has been reviewed and improved since the incident.
http://www.icelandreview.com/icelandrevi..._id=372760

[Magda Hassan]

Says the debate on intelligence computer comical

Margrét Tryggvadóttir segir umræður um tölvuna hjákátlegar.

Margaret Tryggvadóttir says discussions about computer comical.

Karen D.

Karen D.

Kjartansdóttir skrifar:

Kjartansdóttir writes:

Margrét Tryggvadóttir, þingmaður Hreyfingarinnar, segir að hún hafi oft tengt tölvu sína með sama hætti og svokölluð njósnatölva var tengd við netið.

Margaret Tryggvadóttir, MP Movement, said that she was often linked to his computer the same way as so-called spy computer was connected to the network.

Í tilkynningu sem hún setti á vefsíðu sína í morgun segir hún að að sér þyki hjákátlegt að hafa fylgst með fréttum af aðskotatölvunni sem fanst í skriftstofuhúsnæði Alþingis í febrúar í fyrra, á hæð þar sem Hreyfingin og Sjálfstæðisflokkur deila.

The announcement that she put on their website this morning says she is deemed to be a comical to have watched the news of aðskotatölvunni which was found in the writing room house of Parliament in February last year, the hill where the Independence movement and sharing.

Segist Margrét ekki hafa vit á njósnum en sé viss um að það hljóti að vera til árangursríkari njósnaaðferð en að tengja tóma tölvu við net þingsins.

Margaret says that she does not have a sense of intelligence, but is sure it has to be more effective intelligence process is to link a computer with an empty net session.

Þá fer hún fram á afsökunarbeiðni vegna ásakanna um að tölvan tengist þingmönnum hreyfingarinnar og félögum þeirra í Wikileaks, og vísar til orða Stefáns Eiríkssonar, lögreglustjóra höfuðborgarsvæðisins, um að lögreglan hefði ekkert í höndunum sem benti til þess að nokkuð glæpsamlegt hefði farið fram.

Then she goes out in apology for allegations that the computer linked to the Movement Members of Parliament and members of the Wikileaks, and refers to the words of Stephen Terminal, Capital Police, the police had nothing in hand that indicated that anything criminal had taken place.

Segir hún engar vísbendingar hafi verið settar fram um að forsvarsmenn Wikileaks hafi sjálfir stolið gögnum þótt þeir hafi tekið við gögnum frá heimildarmönnum.

She says no evidence has been presented to representatives Wikileaks has stolen documents themselves if they were to receive data from heimildarmönnum.

Auk þess sem þeir hafi ekki verið á landinu þegar tölvan fannst.

In addition, they have not been on the land when the computer was found.

Lýkur hún bréfi sínu á því að fullyrða að Hreyfingin eða þingmenn hennar aldrei verið grunaðir um njósnir eða njósnatengda starfsemi.

She finishes her letter that asserted that the movement or its members never been suspected of espionage or intelligence-related activities.

Annað megi segja um þann flokk sem deilir með hreyfingunni húsnæði, en með þeim orðum vísar hún til nýrrar ævisögu um Gunnar Thoroddsen eftir Guðna Th.

Else can be said for that category who share housing with movement, but with those words, it refers to a new biography of Gunnar Thoroddsen by Gudni Th.

Jóhannesson, þar sem fjallað er um persónunjósnir á vegum sjálfstæðismanna.

John, as discussed by persónunjósnir Independence.

Spyr hún því næst hvort Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn gæti upplýst hvenær flokkurinn lét af þeim njósnum.

She then asks whether the Independence Party may at any time had informed them of espionage.
http://www.visir.is%2Fsegir-umraedur-um-...1829590798

[Peter Lemkin]

Doubt very much it was anyone associated with Wikileaks. They had friends in Altingi who could tell them what they needed to know. More likely a spy agency....most likely the American kind....wanting to know who was for and who against the IMMI proposals for a media/information haven.

[Magda Hassan]

No, not wikileaks. There was no one in the country at that time connected to WL and as you say they have friends there anyway. The US comes to mind of course or a NATO spy. It was in the office next to Birgitta Jonsdottir so perhaps she was the target. She is one of the main people behind the IMMI but she is also on the Icelandic government NATO oversight committee. NATO hate her because she is a peacenik.

[Peter Lemkin]

It occurs to me that IMMI is not the only perceived threat in Iceland. They have enough geothermal energy, if harnessed correctly, to compete - even out-compete the major oil producers and oil companies! Currently, they only use the geothermal energy for internal purposes. What if they were to sell to and supply all of Europe, say...or a substantial part of the USA. Undersea cables or even satellite technology could transfer the energy - there are other ways, as well. I think part of the reason Island was brought to its knees was to forestall any such ideas and make it possible for foreign companies to come in and try to buy up the geothermal assets. They are sitting on an energy 'goldmine' many times larger than the entire Middle East.

Albert Albertsson, the deputy chief executive officer at Iceland's Resource Park, which includes the Blue Lagoon hot springs and one of the country's largest geothermal power stations, says that while no one knows how much energy could be eventually harnessed, it could be possible that all the energy needs of the northern hemisphere could be met by Iceland.

[Magda Hassan]

Yes, there is a Canadian company run by some shonky mine owner wanting to do a deal for the geothermal there. He has a bad reputation in South America. I sent some info on this to our lovely friend Otto from Inca Kola blog about a month ago who published it. I'll see if I can find it.

[Magda Hassan]

http://incakolanews.blogspot.com/2010/11...beaty.html
http://incakolanews.blogspot.com/2010/11...-sure.html