Cryptome Note, 8 March 2000:
Julie-ann Davies (her spelling) telephoned today to say:
That she and her attorney are attempting to learn what charges underlay her arrest and computer equipment seizure by Special Branch.
That she is dismayed by the published accounts of official accusations which have not been documented to her or her attorney, and by the inaccuracies of media reports on circumstances of her arrest and her personal activities.
That none of the published accusations of unlawful activity are true.
That she found arrest and jail extremely disturbing for she had never engaged in unlawful activity and would never do so.
That she is immensely grateful for outspoken support from her university, from investigative journalists and from members of the public.
8 March 2000. Thanks to anonymous.
http://www.the-times.co.uk/news/pages/tim/2000/03/08/timnwsnws02046.html
The Special Branch officers who arrested a university student under the Official Secrets Act are investigating how a classified MI6 document appeared on a California-based website last month.
Julie Ann Davies, 35, a mature student studying manufacturing engineering at Kingston University in Surrey, was arrested by two Special Branch officers in the middle of a lecture on Monday. Her computer was later seized.
She was informed that she was being investigated under Section 5 of the Official Secrets Act 1911, although according to her solicitor, Neil O'May, yesterday, the officers asked her only "superficial" questions while being held at Kingston police station. Ms Davies was detained for 12 hours and released on police bail at 3am yesterday.
She has to report to the police for further questioning on June 20.
The MI6 document branded CX95/53452, which is the subject of the investigation, revealed what was known about a plot to assassinate Colonel Muammar Gadaffi, the Libyan leader, by a group of dissident Libyan army officers. The contents of the document, which had been sent by MI6 to the Foreign Office, were seized on by David Shayler, the former MI5 officer, to back his claim that Britain's Secret Intelligence Service had been involved in the failed plot in 1996. His claim has been officially denied.
However, when the MI6 document appeared on the website, Special Branch, which had already been inquiring into suspected breaches of confidential information by Mr Shayler, began investigating who might have been involved in acquiring the report and placing it on the Internet.
Ms Davies is understood to be sympathetic to Mr Shayler's cause. He would face prosecution under the Official Secrets Act if he returned to Britain from his self-imposed exile in Paris.
Ms Davies, who was said to be "shocked and appalled" by her arrest, was once part of a group that stuck notes on the wall of a zone in the Millennium Dome calling for "amnesty for David Shayler".
When she was arrested on Monday, she was escorted out of the lecture room under the astonished gaze of her classmates and taken to her halls of residence a short drive away, where Special Branch officers produced warrants enabling them to search her computer, which they then took away for examination. Mr O'May said there were "back-up police" accompanying the two Special Branch officers.
From: "Caspar Bowden" <cb@fipr.org>
"Ukcrypto \(E-mail\)" <ukcrypto@maillist.ox.ac.uk>
Subject: Times 7/3/2000: "How secure is your e-mail?"
Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2000 09:33:50 -0000
http://www.the-times.co.uk/news/pages/tim/2000/03/07/timnnfnnf01001.html?1007000.html
Questions & Answers
The arrest of Julie-Ann Davies in connection with an alleged breach of the Official Secrets Act warns us that e-mails may not be as private as we assume.
Ms Davies, a mature student at Kingston University, Surrey, who was released on police bail today, was traced by police who gained access to her computer at the university. We expect an envelope not to be opened by the Post Office but can we expect e-mails not to be opened by anybody else?
Questions & Answers
Q. Is my e-mail secure?
A. In a word, no. They are about as secure as postcards. E-mails can be read by Internet Service Providers (ISPs), hackers and, potentially, the State.
Q. The State?
A. Yes. The Regulation of Investigating Powers Bill, was debated in the House of Commons on Monday. If enacted, it will give the Security Services and police the power to read your e-mails and hand over your passwords. Refusal to do so could carry a two-year prison sentence.
Q. How can I make my e-mail secure?
A. The most effective way is to buy an encryption system. Two good ones are available from www.pgpi.com and www.freedom.net. Both of these encode your e-mails, making it hard for others to hack into them.
Q. What if I don't really mind who reads my e-mails?
A. You should. Most people use e-mail to correspond about their business and personal lives. Such information could be dynamite in the hands of say, a business rival or a divorce lawyer. Private detectives can and do hire hackers to gain access to a target's e-mails.
Q. How about my e-mail address at work?
A. Unless your company uses an encryption system it is unsafe. Most companies do not. Of course, many companies reserve the right to have access to their employees' e-mails.
Q. Are free mail providers such as Yahoo and Excite secure?
A. Not really. Again, it is best to use an encryption system.
Q. What is Echelon and what does it have to do with security?
A. Echelon is the codename for a global electronic surveillance network run by the USA, the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Originally designed to sweep up every signal on the planet, it was used to monitor every piece of Iron Curtain traffic during the Cold War, right down to the radio phone inside a Zil limousine in Moscow.
It is now online and it has been alleged that it is used for industrial espionage by the United States and the UK on other EU countries. If you find the police knocking on your door after an e-mail session with David Shayler it is likely that somebody has been watching you via Echelon.
Q. Are there any good pressure groups who deal with e-mail security?
A. Have a look at www.fipr.org. The Foundation for Information Policy Research is an independent body that studies the interaction between information technology and society. Its goal is to identify technical developments with significant social impact, commission research into public policy alternatives and promote public understanding and dialogue between technologists and policy-makers in the UK and continental Europe.
From: Ian Miller <ian@scientia.com>
To: ukcrypto@maillist.ox.ac.uk
Subject: Re: Times 7/3/2000: "How secure is your e-mail?"
Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2000 11:09:03 +0000
On Wed, 08 Mar 2000, the-times.co.uk wrote:
> The arrest of Julie-Ann Davies in connection with an alleged breach
of the
> Official Secrets Act warns us that e-mails may not be as private as
we
> assume.
Does anyone know if Ms. Davies' e-mails were encrypted? There is a PGP key for David Shayler [0x863c8c24] (or at least what purports to be one) on the public servers. If I were e-mailing him, I would encrypt.
I had rather assumed when they wanted to go after her computer that they were looking for the plaintext. If the are going after everyone who exchanges any e-mails with him, he clearly needs far more people exchanging e-mail with him.
Ian