Tapping could happen again
The phone-tapping scandal which rocked Greece earlier this year could happen again, this time endangering national security, the independent privacy watchdog investigating the affair said yesterday. The head of the Communications Privacy Protection Authority (ADAE) Andreas Lambrinopoulos said that unless network security was stepped up, hackers could strike again as they did between 2004 and 2005 when they eavesdropped on 106 mobile phones. Lambrinopoulos said that next time national security could be at stake and gave the example of hackers breaking into the Public Power Corporation’s network and causing an electricity blackout. On Thursday, ADAE fined mobile-phone company Vodafone an unprecedented -76 million for its conduct in connection to the phone tapping. Lambrinopoulos indicated that technology firm Ericsson, which supplied Vodafone’s operating system, could also face sanctions at the beginning of next year.
