The US National Security Agency (NSA) is reported have cracked the security codes which protect data on iPhones, Blackberries and Android devices. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24009342  German news weekly Der Spiegel says documents suggest the NSA and the British GCHQ made joint efforts to gather intelligence. Teams looked at each phone to crack its privacy codes, Der Spiegel said. Saturday saw thousands of demonstrators in Berlin demand that the NSA stop monitoring internet users.
Once the intelligence teams had unlocked the codes, agencies could read a user’s contacts and lists of who had been called.
The BBC’s Steve Evans in Berlin says the reports do seem to indicate that the British and American security agencies have the ability to read private communications beyond what might have previously been thought possible – or desirable by those who fear the intrusion of the state.
According to the documents seen by Der Spiegel, the Canadian manufacturer of Blackberry phones began using a new method to compress the data in May 2009.
Intelligence agents were unable to access some information on BlackBerry phones for about a year afterwards, the Associated Press news agency said.
Der Spiegel’s article said that GCHQ then cracked the problem, too – and analysts celebrated their achievement with the word “Champagne”.