Bluezoo
09-22-2005, 11:49 AM
New EU Anti-Terror Plan Calls for Tighter Telecom Security
By BROOKS TIGNER, BRUSSELS
The European Union unveiled yet another package of measures Sept. 21 to tighten the noose around terrorist threats in Europe. The package’s four components range from new proposals to harmonize retention of telecommunications data and freeze the financial assets of suspected terrorist to media awareness campaigns to counter the appeal of terrorist recruitment.
Presenting the package here to reporters, Franco Frattini, European commissioner for freedom, justice and security policy, said, “We cannot allow safe havens [for terrorists] in Europe.”
Referring to the European Commission’s proposal for harmonized data retention rules, he said terrorists “can escape [the grasp of law enforcement authorities] due to the huge diversity of data retention rules across Europe. Tracking mobile phone traffic is impossible because of this situation and we must harmonize national rules.”
The commission’s draft proposal defines one year as the minimum period for which traffic information regarding fixed and mobile telephone networks and Internet-based telephony communications would have to be retained by electronic communications operators. Traffic data concerns only information about where communication activity begins and ends. It does not cover content, whose surveillance is forbidden by law in most countries without specific court approval.
Web site-surfing activity will not be covered either.
Retention of traffic data varies from zero to three years across the European Union. Telecom operators have traditionally retained such data temporarily for billing purposes, but with the arrival of flat-rate calling packages and cost-free Internet telephony, the rationale for retention is decreasing. That situation is increasingly viewed as a security threat by law enforcement and intelligence agencies, which are pushing hard for mandatory data retention rules.
Elsewhere, the package of measures includes funding for a new pilot project to prevent and respond to terrorist attacks. Its main goals are to help link Europe’s law enforcement community to the European Union’s upcoming program for protecting critical infrastructure against attack, and to encourage a public-private security dialogue on the measures needed to protect critical infrastructure.
For the full text, go to:
http://defensenews.com/story.php?F=1117117&C=europe
By BROOKS TIGNER, BRUSSELS
The European Union unveiled yet another package of measures Sept. 21 to tighten the noose around terrorist threats in Europe. The package’s four components range from new proposals to harmonize retention of telecommunications data and freeze the financial assets of suspected terrorist to media awareness campaigns to counter the appeal of terrorist recruitment.
Presenting the package here to reporters, Franco Frattini, European commissioner for freedom, justice and security policy, said, “We cannot allow safe havens [for terrorists] in Europe.”
Referring to the European Commission’s proposal for harmonized data retention rules, he said terrorists “can escape [the grasp of law enforcement authorities] due to the huge diversity of data retention rules across Europe. Tracking mobile phone traffic is impossible because of this situation and we must harmonize national rules.”
The commission’s draft proposal defines one year as the minimum period for which traffic information regarding fixed and mobile telephone networks and Internet-based telephony communications would have to be retained by electronic communications operators. Traffic data concerns only information about where communication activity begins and ends. It does not cover content, whose surveillance is forbidden by law in most countries without specific court approval.
Web site-surfing activity will not be covered either.
Retention of traffic data varies from zero to three years across the European Union. Telecom operators have traditionally retained such data temporarily for billing purposes, but with the arrival of flat-rate calling packages and cost-free Internet telephony, the rationale for retention is decreasing. That situation is increasingly viewed as a security threat by law enforcement and intelligence agencies, which are pushing hard for mandatory data retention rules.
Elsewhere, the package of measures includes funding for a new pilot project to prevent and respond to terrorist attacks. Its main goals are to help link Europe’s law enforcement community to the European Union’s upcoming program for protecting critical infrastructure against attack, and to encourage a public-private security dialogue on the measures needed to protect critical infrastructure.
For the full text, go to:
http://defensenews.com/story.php?F=1117117&C=europe