[kictanet] Vodafone admits that some governments have a direct link to their network for snooping

Sun Jun 8 13:10:31 EAT 2014

Of what value are wars and militarisation to a country?

Does it add more ugali to our table?

Sweden and Japan have toned down on their military aggression to focus on
their economy.

Switzerland voted in a referendum to determine if the state should buy
military jets.

What's with African countries, militarism and the urge to maintain secrecy
in security projects?
 On 8 Jun 2014 10:04, "Ali Hussein via kictanet" <
kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

> Ngigi
>
> There is a fundamental issue here in question. Is the government working
> at cross-purposes with itself?
>
> *Ali Hussein*
>
> +254 770 906375 / 0713 601113
>
> Twitter: @AliHKassim
>
> Skype: abu-jomo
>
> LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim
> <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim>
>
> Blog: www.alyhussein.com
>
> "I fear the day technology will surpass human interaction. The world will
> have a generation of idiots".  ~ Albert Einstein
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> On Jun 7, 2014, at 6:29 PM, Ngigi Waithaka <ngigi at at.co.ke> wrote:
>
> Ali,
>
> I understand Secrecy, but if something is secret enough that you can't
> even trust your own AG, then its 100% bound to be criminal!
>
> And if you look at how the US procures and builds secret networks and
> technologies, they will have restricted tenders to say Boeing, Lockheed,
> GE, Airbus et.al and most often than not, the first phase tends to be a
> paid-for PoC from the various vendors, then a selection is made based on a
> set criteria.
>
> If time is of the essence and for other factors including *secrecy*, then
> you can actually single-source, but even in such a case there are certain
> procedures to be followed.
>
> I can't for once imagine in any of these negotiations leaving the AG
> Office out of it. That *stinks* to high heavens...
>
> When I heard of this the first time, I was actually very pro it, but as
> these details emerge, then it quickly becomes very clear where this is
> heading...
>
>
> On Sat, Jun 7, 2014 at 4:50 PM, Ali Hussein <ali at hussein.me.ke> wrote:
>
>> :)
>>
>> Ngigi, my thoughts exactly. However, I think some of these things need to
>> go into the preserve of NIS as part of their budget. Imagine if the US Govt
>> (read CIA et al) announced that they are building a super secret network to
>> curb terrorism...Where is the secrecy then?
>>
>> Just saying..
>>
>>
>> *Ali Hussein*
>>
>> +254 770 906375 / 0713 601113
>>
>> Twitter: @AliHKassim
>>
>> Skype: abu-jomo
>>
>> LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim
>> <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim>
>>
>> Blog: www.alyhussein.com
>>
>> "I fear the day technology will surpass human interaction. The world will
>> have a generation of idiots".  ~ Albert Einstein
>>
>> Sent from my iPad
>>
>> On Jun 7, 2014, at 4:29 PM, Ngigi Waithaka <ngigi at at.co.ke> wrote:
>>
>> There is also something which is not clear on the proposed Network, is it
>> an Intelligence Network, Law Enforcement Network or both? Normally
>> Intelligence would have a lot more sway as the last thing we would want is
>> to wake up and find Al-Shabaab Tanks right in the middle of town.
>>
>> Then, the other side of the coin rears its ugly side once again.... The
>> AG says he was never consulted in drafting this deal (
>> http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/mobile/?articleID=2000123884&story_title=my-advice-was-not-sought-says-ag
>> ).
>>
>> Picture this, you are about to strike a Ksh 15B deal and you don't
>> consult your Lawyer? Is that not what you would want to do as the first
>> thing?
>>
>> "...And so the wise men sat together, came up with a wise plan to have a
>> security network and an even smarter plan that the country will not have to
>> pay anything for now as the single-sourced contractor will finance the
>> whole project and for good measure, keep the Governments Legal adviser at
>> bay...."
>>
>> Seriously, I would have thought Anura Pereira had a copyright on this
>> scheme?
>>
>>
>> On Sat, Jun 7, 2014 at 1:11 PM, Ali Hussein <ali at hussein.me.ke> wrote:
>>
>>> Ngigi
>>>
>>> I like your thinking and the paradigm you have brought forth.
>>>
>>> My real sense of all this is that we are taking this transparency thing
>>> too far. If the govt really needs to build this network to safeguard our
>>> borders we need to rethink how the rules of engagement are going to be
>>> going forward.
>>>
>>>
>>> *Ali Hussein*
>>>
>>> +254 770 906375 / 0713 601113
>>>
>>> Twitter: @AliHKassim
>>>
>>> Skype: abu-jomo
>>>
>>> LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim
>>> <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim>
>>>
>>> Blog: www.alyhussein.com
>>>
>>> "I fear the day technology will surpass human interaction. The world
>>> will have a generation of idiots".  ~ Albert Einstein
>>>
>>> Sent from my iPad
>>>
>>> On Jun 6, 2014, at 2:47 PM, Ngigi Waithaka <ngigi at at.co.ke> wrote:
>>>
>>> Ali,
>>>
>>> This is the way I see it:
>>> 1. It's almost a forgone conclusion that Governments will listen in on
>>> communications between citizens; if the NSA could collect Americans private
>>> communications without court-orders and this with all the Bills of Rights
>>> in place, then what chance do other countries & Angela Merkel have?
>>>
>>> 2.What worries me more about the Vodafones of this world is that, their
>>> primary allegiance is not to the countries where they do business, but to
>>> their motherland, UK. Who would like to bet whether #G#H#C#Q# listens in on
>>> private communications from the Safaricom/Vodafone Network? Every
>>> Government Officials communication including our President's is fair game.
>>>
>>> 3. If then we contract the same Safaricom/Vodafone to build for us a
>>> 'Secure' Communications Network, you can bet that every router, switch, and
>>> Server that will be deployed with have pre-built backdoors just in-case
>>> they will need to be used in the future.
>>>
>>> So, if indeed we know all the above, why go ahead and contract
>>> Safaricom/Vodafone to build our security network? Is it the lesser evil?
>>>
>>> 4. One of the reasons cited by GoK to single-source with Safaricom is
>>> that it is the only organization that is affliated to GoK that can do this.
>>> Which is exactly not true as I believe we do have a pretty significant
>>> shareholding in Orange and there is nothing as good as a competing offer to
>>> get you best value.
>>>
>>> And a different angle to this, does our police really need an
>>> independent network (which also happens to be the bulk of the Ksh 15B that
>>> we'll be paying for?). Instead of building a single network and putting all
>>> our anti-terrorism 'eggs' in it, would it not have been more prudent and
>>> less expensive to use the already existing networks but with an added
>>> security layer and achieve the exact same result?
>>>
>>> Rent the networks from anyone who has capacity (Safaricom, Orange, Yu
>>> etc) build your layer on top and you don't have to worry about 4G, 5G,
>>> 6G... As they upgrade, you upgrade.
>>>
>>> Regards
>>>
>>>
>>> On Fri, Jun 6, 2014 at 12:46 PM, Ali Hussein via kictanet <
>>> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Listers
>>>>
>>>> In view of the debate about the security tender awarded to Safaricom
>>>> and now in contention within the parliamentary committee responsible for
>>>> this its incumbent upon all of us in the industry that we understand this
>>>> issue deeper.
>>>>
>>>> See below:-
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> http://www.businessinsider.com/r-vodafone-says-governments-have-direct-access-to-eavesdrop-in-some-countries-2014-06
>>>>
>>>> I'm also curious to know what the TOR for this tender was. I'm all open
>>>> to the government securing our borders against our enemies but we also must
>>>> know what these parameters of 'snooping' are.
>>>>
>>>> *Ali Hussein*
>>>>
>>>> +254 770 906375 / 0713 601113
>>>>
>>>> Twitter: @AliHKassim
>>>>
>>>> Skype: abu-jomo
>>>>
>>>> LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim
>>>> <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim>
>>>>
>>>> Blog: www.alyhussein.com
>>>>
>>>> "I fear the day technology will surpass human interaction. The world
>>>> will have a generation of idiots".  ~ Albert Einstein
>>>>
>>>> Sent from my iPad
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>
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>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> *Regards,*
>>>
>>> *Wait**haka Ngigi*
>>> Chief Executive Officer | Alliance Technologies | MCK Nairobi Synod
>>> Building
>>> T + 254 (0) 20 2333 471 |Office Mobile: +254 786 28 28 28 | M + 254 737
>>> 811 000
>>> www.at.co.ke
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> *Regards,*
>>
>> *Wait**haka Ngigi*
>> Chief Executive Officer | Alliance Technologies | MCK Nairobi Synod
>> Building
>> T + 254 (0) 20 2333 471 |Office Mobile: +254 786 28 28 28 | M + 254 737
>> 811 000
>> www.at.co.ke
>>
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> *Regards,*
>
> *Wait**haka Ngigi*
> Chief Executive Officer | Alliance Technologies | MCK Nairobi Synod
> Building
> T + 254 (0) 20 2333 471 |Office Mobile: +254 786 28 28 28 | M + 254 737
> 811 000
> www.at.co.ke
>
>
>
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>
> Unsubscribe or change your options at
> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/dmbuvi%40gmail.com
>
> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>
> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>
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