back to article UK Home Office re-bans cheap call gateways because 'terrorism'

Security minister Ben Wallace has signed a direction banning commercial multi-user phone gateways in the UK over terrorism fears – barely a week after the only ever prosecution for operating one flopped following years of Kafkaesque wrangling. The direction to Ofcom (PDF, 1 page), made under section 5(3)(a) of the …

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    1. Lysenko

      Re: All you need is . . .

      I believe you are thinking of Signal or Wire.

      Telegram isn't secure and it isn't supposed to be since the "secret chat" feature is not the default and depends on an unproven algorithm. You use Telegram (or not) because you happen to like its other features, like easy to customise bots.

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Data Retirement Home

    Am looking to raise venture capital for a start up where we store all of this data that noone is ever going to look at again, ever..

    On a side note we also have plans for a virtual quantum data store where we store your bits (and bobs if you are so inclined) in a quantum state that we like to call Schrödingers rack.. fnaar, or not.

  2. JustSomeBloke

    Contention woes.

    Putting aside the alleged terrorism angle, I worked overseas in a country where these were plentiful for a while.

    The companies set the gateways up with a big bank of SIM cards that quickly ate most of the capacity of the local tower.

    Then ensued a cat and mouse game of moving them around and swapping SIMs as the mobile operator tried to stop the gateway companies who were apparently ‘stealing’ their revenue.

    All I can say Is that when the gateway was switched on my already limited mobile data was utterly hopeless.

    Can’t see any business case to run the things now.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    that those charged with keeping families and communities safe

    can spy on them

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Red Herring alert!

    Don't believe this rubbish as mobiles don't call COMUGS and all CLI information has to be captured to have access to the GSM Gateway. All mobile network Call Detail Records (CDRs) recorded the calling CLI from the SIM.

    Are all other VoIP and end top end encrypted voice and text services being banned too for the same security reason? It doesn't seem so. Why not?

    If the Home Office has now issued this Section 5 notice at the behest of Ofcom, what date did COMUGS become illegal?

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Home Office dirty tricks

    Having been caught out in the past as was reported by The Register, one would believe that the Home Office would want to ensure their position is watertight on this subject.

    If so why did the Home Office not issue the Section 5 notice before now and press ahead with the case against Mr Mahony?

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Utter nonsense

    Who does Wallace think he's kidding? What terrorist would use an unencrypted landline to call another terrorist and chat about who, how and when they'll attack? Does he really think we're that stupid?

    All terrorist incidents involve mobile - mobile communication, most of it over encrypted messaging services. The Westminster Bridge attacker was on WhatsApp 3 minutes before he drove across the bridge. He wasn't at his mum's house using her landline to correspond with his co-consiprators.

    Mobile - mobile communications do not use GSM gateways. It is uneconomical to do so, and do you really think a mobile network will connect their services through a GSM gateway company or through a direct interconnect with another mobile network? Of course not. They all have a well-documented hatred of GSM gateways.

    Wallace should be concentrating on regulating encrypted services rather than a 30-year old technology that isn't used in the way he suggests. Unless, of course, the all-powerful mobile networks are influencing Ofcom and the Home Office behind the scenes to protect their commercial interests. But that could never happen here, could it...?

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