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back to article Stop selling spyware to despotic regimes, beg MEPs

The EU’s laws on snooping technology exports must be updated in light of the Regin breach, according to some MEPs. It has recently been been revealed that Regin super-spyware was used to successfully hack Belgian telco company Belgacom as far back as 2010. Belgacom counts the European Parliament and the European Commission …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    Our potential future

    "UKIP-per William Dartmouth said that national governments should decide on what can and cannot be exported and that it should not be “farmed out” to the Commission."

    Yup because the the UK has such a good record on this.

    Now, where did I put that form to send some combat jets to Saudi?

    10 0 Reply
  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    How is this related to Regin?

    Is someone the EU Parliament suggesting Regin was an EU state export? Either the article or the MEP is missing something.

    1 0 Reply
    1. SolidSquid
      Reply Icon

      Re: How is this related to Regin?

      Apparently the finger was pointed at GCHQ and the NSA as the most likely candidates for developing it early on, although what evidence there was of this I don't know

      2 0 Reply
    2. Khaptain Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: How is this related to Regin?

      >Is someone the EU Parliament suggesting Regin was an EU state export? Either the article or the MEP is missing something.

      I think that what they are worried about is that they know how good it is and that it is being used against them, ironic if the creators really are the GCHQ..

      2 0 Reply
    3. Bloakey1
      Reply Icon

      Re: How is this related to Regin?

      Well it now appears that strings found in Regin appeared in the malware that GCHQ injected into Belgacom (does that ring bell from Symantec report) and other malware on EU Parliament machines during operation Socialist. The attack used spear phishing and social engineering on Belgacom engineers.

      So it looks like GCHQ is part of it.

      0 0 Reply
  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Does this include ...

    Banning the sale to say the UK (know history of mass spying on its own population), the US or especially the EU a un-elected and un-electable bunch of despots if ever there was one.

    (Yes I know the European parliament is elected, but the commision actually holds power and they aren't, and it most consists of politician that have finally proved too much of an embarrassment to their party at home and have be exiled as a way of getting rid of them. Such as Neil Kinock, a man so stupid he held an victory party before the population actually got to vote and so unpopular that he couldn't even win against John Major. Talking to friends from other European countries, they all tell similar stories about "their" commissioners).

    3 2 Reply
    1. Hans 1
      Reply Icon
      Boffin

      Re: Does this include ...

      >(Yes I know the European parliament is elected, but the commision actually holds power and they aren't, and it most consists of politician that have finally proved too much of an embarrassment to their party at home and have be exiled as a way of getting rid of them.

      BS!

      ###Source: Wikipedia

      What is the EU commission, how is it formed:

      The Commission operates as a cabinet government, with 28 members of the Commission (informally known as "commissioners"). There is one member per member state, though members are bound to represent the interests of the EU as a whole rather than their home state. One of the 28 is the Commission President (currently Jean-Claude Juncker) proposed by the European Council and elected by the European Parliament. The Council then appoints the other 27 members of the Commission in agreement with the nominated President, and then the 28 members as a single body are subject to a vote of approval by the European Parliament.

      European Council (the body that "elects the commission"):

      The European Council is the institution of the European Union (EU) that comprises the heads of state or government of the member states, along with the council's own president and the president of the Commission.

      ###

      So, the members of the commission are elected by the council, which itself is comprised of elected officials of the member states. Much like the senate in France, where members are elected by other elected officials.

      You should stop listening to Nigel Farage, that guy is a cretin! I know they have "we are not racist" on their website, but when you listen to what they have to say, the way they say it and their proposed "solutions" tick all boxes for xenophobia on my books.

      As for the article ... it is obvious that the threat was made by the 5 eyes axis.

      1 2 Reply
      1. Hans 1
        Reply Icon
        Joke

        Re: Does this include ...

        Ohhh, I forgot ... I often hear Brits claim that the commission is not elected ... and I think it is very silly of them to complain, since they have the house of Lords^H^H^H^H^HScum.... and a monarch.

        God shave the Queen.

        2 2 Reply
    2. Looper
      Reply Icon

      Re: Does this include ...

      The EU commission is subject to more rigorous vetting than the British House of Lords, and many other senate type governing bodies.

      Heads of state on the EU council, who we all voted for, propose each state's commissioner, who are all vetted by the EU commission president, then further vetted by EU parliament MEPs, who we also all voted for.

      The main power of the EU is neither with the EU commission nor the EU council, but with the Council of Ministers, which has a rotating presidency and ministers from member states, all of whom we voted for.

      Your understanding of separation of powers is way off track. The UK has the least separation of powers of any European state. The EU splits the executive across three governing bodies, splits the legislative across three bodies.

      0 0 Reply

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