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Reuters reports that according to the Sunday Times Britain has pulled out agents from live operations in "hostile countries" after Russia and China cracked top-secret information contained in files leaked by former US. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. According to Rupert Murdoch's Sunday Times unnamed officials at the office of British Prime Minister David Cameron say China has also cracked the encrypted documents, which contain details of secret intelligence techniques and information that could allow British and American spies to be identified "Western intelligence agencies say they have been forced into the rescue operations after Moscow gained access to more than 1m classified files (paywalled) held by the former American security contractor, who fled to seek protection from Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, after mounting one of the largest leaks in US history."
However David Davis, the Conservative MP who is one of the leading campaigners for privacy, says: "We have to treat all of these things with a pinch of salt." Davis says the use of an anonymous source to create scare stories was a typical tactic and the timing was comfortable for the government. "You can see they have been made nervous by Anderson. We have not been given any facts, just assertions." Andrew Mitchell, a former cabinet minister, says he is sure the Sunday Times got the story because of the Anderson report and added "I think we have to be very careful of the argument 'listen sonny, we know what you don't know and therefore you should do what we say'. That is not a good argument; we need to have a proper debate about all of this. I don't approve of what Snowden did, but I have to say having been to Washington recently that there has been a massive change of view in the United States, not just people like Rand Paul and so on, there's a massive change of view about the debate and that has resulted from Snowden, whether you like it or not."
[Editor's Comment: There is media interest in the UK regarding this story. It originated from an unnamed source and is without any corroboration.]
Original Submission
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 15 2015, @08:55PM
who fled to seek protection from Vladimir Putin
I do not remember the story that way. Russia was not Snowden's planned final destination and he would have left if his passport had not been revoked.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by bob_super on Monday June 15 2015, @09:38PM
> I do not remember the story that way.
Well, there's your problem right there. Gotta get that memory problem fixed, have another fix of Kardashian-infused deflategate.
Next thing you're gonna claim to remember that Saddam and his pal Osama misplaced their WMDs, that we armed and trained both of them against the villain-country-du-jour, or other silliness about our Freedom requiring that Vietnam be kept safe from evil Chinese commies...
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 15 2015, @09:43PM
Sorry. Fled to the protection of the Chinese government.
Yes, that sounds much better. We should give Snowden a pass because them Chinese are just regular Joes.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 15 2015, @09:51PM
Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. That's why people can hold pro-democracy protests there without being shot up.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 16 2015, @12:10AM
Yes, China clearly has no influence there. I'm sure there were no representatives of the Chinese government present to meet him.