How much lower can phone hackers get?

[gadgetman]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14017661

Totally sickening.

[moley]

+1 Get Murdoch and his news of the world up in court and fine them until they bleed, that might clear some of the national debt.

Everyone should boycott all of Murdoch's products.

[FellyMagic]

What a load of sick, inhumane b@stards. They make me want to vomit!

[Aspman]

They're tabloid journalists. They can get a whole lot lower.

[FellyMagic]

Anything to flog their crappy piles of tat they will do. Tabloid journalists are lower than a snakes belly!

[moley]

Appears to be some more incidents of phone hacking emerging today, plus the Sun & Mirror up in court over their reporting on the Jo Yeates murder suspect, which could have caused trial problems were he charged. Looks like a good time to give the gutter press a good kicking. :yes:

[jlwah]

This is clearly an appalling case in the ongoing phone hacking scandal, but two things spring to my mind:

1. If a private detective can so easily hack into someone’s mobile phone account and listen to potential evidence, why don't the police do it first, particularly in a case like a missing teenage girl?

2. Are the public being two faced over this issue? - they seem to love it (and respond by buying loads of red tops) when a celebrity or footballer is undone over an affair or something equally scurrilous through information obtained through phone hacking, but then they're up in arms (justifiably in my opinion) when something like this Milly Dowler case - how about a bit of consistency on phone hacking - it's wrong when done for media profit FULL STOP, no matter whose phone it is!

And if we, the public, are so outraged by this, why don't we do something about it instead of calling for a public enquiry? If we all stopped buying the newspapers (and, damn it, that means no more Sunday Times for me!) and cancelled our sky subscriptions we might actually reduce Murdochs influence on the British media and then the politicians (of all flavours) would stop cosying up to him and his cronies - simple really - we have the power!

[hertsnminds]

As long as what they print makes folks buy the papers they will keep doing it. It everyone stopped buying the papers they would have to rethink what they do.

[philc]

The thing is, if you don't set a PIN number on your Voicemail, anyone can get into it if they know your number. The intriguing thing is how they got the number. The BBC are saying that some of the 7/7 victims had theirs hacked, too.

As to Police getting into your Voicemail, they can and do. When I worked at a mobile phone company, a heap of intercept requests arrived from the home office every day, and went into the secure Police liason area. (And the even more secure Goverment liason office........)

The point is that the Police have to give reasons and get permission. NOTW journalists slipped a few quid to phone company employees, which is quicker.

Phil

[gadgetman]

The thing is, if you don't set a PIN number on your Voicemail, anyone can get into it if they know your number. The intriguing thing is how they got the number. The BBC are saying that some of the 7/7 victims had theirs hacked, too.

As to Police getting into your Voicemail, they can and do. When I worked at a mobile phone company, a heap of intercept requests arrived from the home office every day, and went into the secure Police liason area. (And the even more secure Goverment liason office........)

The point is that the Police have to give reasons and get permission. NOTW journalists slipped a few quid to phone company employees, which is quicker.

Phil

They can? Every network I've been on you need a pin to access remotely. Or are you saying message security is worthless?

[philc]

They can? Every network I've been on you need a pin to access remotely. Or are you saying message security is worthless?

Most people don't chage their voicemail PIN from the default. According to some reports they had phone company staff in their back pocket, so had master pins that allowed access to most mailboxes anyway.

Phil

[gadgetman]

Most people don't chage their voicemail PIN from the default. According to some reports they had phone company staff in their back pocket, so had master pins that allowed access to most mailboxes anyway.

Phil

That's scary!

Seems NotW think closing down ahead of a clear rebrand will make thinks all better.

I think it's even more of an insult to those they hacked, especially the dead and bereaved!

[gadgetman]

So James Murdock back infront of MP's yet again claiming he knew nothing.

Seriously? If this is true, then who was actually in charge, because that claim suggests he wasnt.

[Can]

Some of his word choices were rather interesting and indicate that he wasn't telling the true truth in the stricktest sence.

In all likely hood we'll never get the realy truth as all the seriously incriminating evidence will have been destroyed long ago if they have any common sence. Though if they'd had a little common decency it would never have got this far in the first place.

[billysbones]

I had to laugh when he told that MP that his comments were innappropriate.

More innappropriate than having your employees hack into people private communications, and deleting the messages of a murdered schoolgirl?

I hope those scum are prosecuted to the highest level of the law. They seem to think that their money and power transend all law.

[gadgetman]

Issue is they'd all have to incriminate each other and all risk jail time.

Jnr, Brookes etc know they're safe unless others decide they fancy being banged up. It's worrying the shareholders arent calling for blood given how out of control the whole organisation appears to be.

[Republic]

They deserved to be beaten to a pulp.

[mbames]

Most people don't chage their voicemail PIN from the default. According to some reports they had phone company staff in their back pocket, so had master pins that allowed access to most mailboxes anyway.

Surely that sort of stuff should be audited/logged within the mobile phone providers computer network, and the guilty "staff" located too.

Hell, most systems I work on are audited, so we know who did what, from where (and maybe what they were eating for lunch too )

[billysbones]

Most people don't chage their voicemail PIN from the default. According to some reports they had phone company staff in their back pocket, so had master pins that allowed access to most mailboxes anyway.

Phil

That doesn't make it right though, does it?

Just because it is possible for me to steal a curly-wurly from the newsagent without being caught, that doesn't mean I do it.

I usually go for cadbury's buttons.

Surely that sort of stuff should be audited/logged within the mobile phone providers computer network, and the guilty "staff" located too.

Hell, most systems I work on are audited, so we know who did what, from where (and maybe what they were eating for lunch too )

Absolutely.

I can't ever remember being asked for a PIN for my voicemail, and wouldn't know what it was if asked.

I would have thought that as we pay for the voicemail service as part of our phone usage/contract, then the phone provider would have a legal requirement to take reasonable steps to keep this sort of thing secure. The credit card companies etc seem to manage it OK most of the time.

[cheezemonkhai]

Would you not think, that when voicemail is turned on for a customer for the first time, they would send a text with a randomly generated PIN code to their customer.

That way, at least there would have to be some real hacking, rather than just dial the number, press a button and then type in the default pin.

[gadgetman]

It hasnt worked for a number of years on most networks.

The PIN access is only enabled if the customer sets remote voicemail access.

[gadgetman]

Well Mr Coulson has been found guilty.

But Rebekah Brooks innocent.

[Clunkclick]

And Mr Juncker and friends will be worse than this ?

 

Seem to recall that Mr Profumo was prosecuted and had to resign when he put an unauthorised person on the distribution list for Top-Secret material.

 

Both Labour and Tories are to blame. In order to give themselves an easy political ride, they both overrelied on Murdoch's press machine to explain away/distract the great British public  from the negative consequences of HMG policy during the last thirty years.

 

Even at my lowly level in HMG,  I've got knowledge of how the normal execution of MOD Commercial policy was compromised, in one instance, as a direct  consequence of an instruction by  the then PM, by virtue of Labour's dependence on Murdoch's  press (The banner headline was saying "We support our brave boys in Iraqistan", but those who were dealing directly with the Murdoch organisation on commercial matters knew differently). There must be hundreds of other instances across government, which will remain undiscovered at pain of the application of the Official Secrets Act

 

 

Postscript

 

That said, the events described in this case, don't do much to enhance the reputation of journalists or editors. You'd have thought in the Mille Dowler case and other instances of personal loss and tradegy that a humane editor, would have backed-off. Clearly, in the journalist to public relationship commercialism (Mr Murdoch's wishes ?)  prevailed over humanity. Luckily  for some today, when the relationship was reversed humanity prevailed.

 

 

Nick

Edited 24 June, 2014 by Clunkclick

[GentleGiant]

Still cant believe ginger walked; I dont think anyone in the trade thinks she is innocent for one tiny microsecond; oh the joys of having a highly paid QC.

[gadgetman]

Coulson will pay her back I'm sure.

I bet he knows something