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☆ Britain's Cyber Spies Mark 80th Anniversary of Secret Code-Breaking Computer
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-17 | by ( Jan. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's GCHQ spy agency celebrated the 80th anniversary of Colossus on Thursday, putting the spotlight on a code-breaking computer which helped defeat Hitler's Germany and was so significant it was kept secret for decades. Colossus, which was still being used by the spy agency in the early 1960s, was developed by Tommy Flowers. The new images released on Thursday include a blueprint of Colossus and a photograph of Women's Royal Naval Service workers operating it. The first Colossus was delivered to Bletchley Park, then the home of the top secret Government Code and Cypher School, on Jan. 18 1944. The unit was renamed in 1946 as the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), a Cheltenham-based agency that eavesdrops on the world to protect British security.

Persons: Hitler's, Hitler, Colossus, Anne Keast, Butler, Tommy Flowers, Alan Turing's, Sarah Young, William Maclean Organizations: Allied, Royal Naval Service, Cypher, Government Communications Headquarters Locations: Hitler's Germany, Bletchley, Cheltenham

[1/2] Former Bombe operator Jean Valentine touches a British Turing Bombe machine in Bletchley Park Museum in Bletchley, central England, September 6, 2006. - Bletchley Park was the site where the world's first programmable digital computer Colossus was developed by British codebreakers. - Notable Bletchley Park codebreakers include mathematician Alan Turing who played a key role in cracking the Enigma code and is often considered the 'father of computer science'. The unit, called the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS), moved to Bletchley Park in 1938. - Bletchley Park staff began to disperse after Victory in Europe Day (VE Day) and Victory over Japan Day (VJ Day) with some continuing to work with GC&CS while many others went back to civilian life.

Persons: Jean Valentine, Alessia, Alan Turing, Turing, Irving John, Jack, Good, Donald Michie, Farouq Suleiman, William Maclean Organizations: Bletchley Park Museum, REUTERS, Bletchley, Bletchley Park, Cypher, CS, Victory, Japan, GC, Government Communications Headquarters, MI5, Secret Intelligence Service, Thomson Locations: Bletchley, England, Britain, Milton Keynes, London, British, Europe, Victory

"In an increasingly volatile and interconnected world, to be a truly responsible cyber power, nations must be able to contest and compete with adversaries in cyberspace," GCHQ director Jeremy Fleming said. The statement was published alongside a 28-page paper designed "to illustrate aspects of how the UK is being a responsible cyber power". The paper accompanying the statement did not say which disinformation-spreading states British hackers had worked to counter. It noted, however, that "countries such as Russia and Iran routinely carry out cyber operations of different kinds in order to spread disinformation". Indeed the intent is sometimes that adversaries do not realise that the effects they are experiencing are the result of a cyber operation," GCHQ said.

☆ Iran imposes sanctions on U.K. institutions, individuals for 'inciting riots'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DUBAI, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Iran designated several British people and institutions on Wednesday for their "deliberate actions in support of terrorism, incitement of violence, and human rights violations," Iran's foreign ministry said. "The listed natural and legal persons have, among other things, carried out activities that have led to unrest, violence and terrorist acts against the Iranian nation," the ministry said. BBC Persian, the intelligence organisation Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), and people such as Conservative politicians Stephen Crabb and Tom Tugendhat appear on Tehran's list of sanctions. On Oct. 10, Britain placed sanctions on senior Iranian security officials and the "Morality Police", saying the force had used threats of detention and violence to control what Iranian women wear and how they behave in public. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Dubai Newsroom; editing by Grant McCoolOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.K. spy chief warns China’s use of technology threatens global security
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Dan De Luce | Dan De Luce Is A Reporter For The Nbc News Investigative Unit. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Fleming is due to deliver his warning on Tuesday in London at the Royal United Services Institute, a defense and security think tank. According to excerpts from his speech, Fleming will cite several examples of how China seeks leverage from key technologies or tries to rewrite international standards. And there are fears the technology could be used to track individuals,” Fleming will say. Underlying China’s belief in one-party rule and tight state control is “a sense of fear,” Fleming will say. “Far from the inevitable Russian military victory that their propaganda machine spouted, it’s clear that Ukraine’s courageous action on the battlefield and in cyberspace is turning the tide,” the excerpts say.

☆ Chinese Tech Threatens Future Global Security, Warns U.K. Spy Chief
▼ + stars: | 2021-10-08 | by ( Dustin Volz | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

LONDON—Beijing’s efforts to exert vice-like control over technology both internationally and within China’s borders threatens future global security and freedom, the chief of the U.K.’s electronic intelligence agency said. Jeremy Fleming, the director of Britain’s Government Communications Headquarters, said Beijing was aiming to use an array of existing and emerging technological means, including digital currency and satellites, to control markets and people, extend surveillance and censorship and export its authoritarian system around the world.

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