From Metro TV News:
The Australian Government Taps Palapa Satellite
The The U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) and the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) are collaborating to monitor and intercept communications in a number of countries in the Asia Pacific.
The main target of these intelligence services is Indonesia’s own Palapa satellite which provides cellular telephone services and radio communications in the Asia Pacific region; including Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Papua New Guinea.
Monitoring is done via the U.S. Embassy and the Australian Embassy in Jakarta.
‘Australia has used a number of its foreign embassies to eavesdrop. These activities were parts of an operation codenamed Reprieve.
We use our embassies in the region to monitor the local communications, especially micro corrugated telephone conversations,’ said an Australian intelligence expert, Des Ball, to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Professor Des Ball is also a researcher at the Centre for Defence and Strategic Studies, Australian National University (ANU), and he emphasizes the importance of tapping Palapa.
The co-operation between the Australian Secret Intelligence Services and the U.S NSA Agency is possible because ‘the Kangaroo state’ is inside the ring ‘FVEY’ (5-Eyes) or five countries which have an important teamwork role with U.S. intelligence.
Ball explained that Australia is being used as a base by the U.S. to monitor the traffic of data, information, and telecommunications within the Asia Pacific rim.
Australia Embassy in Jakarta
Ball explained that to accomplish those actions, “the land of kangaroos” has to rely on four super advanced facilities which are part of the X-Keyscore program, an NSA-owned computer system capable of monitoring almost all types of internet user activities, including emails, virtual world explorer and social media.
Ray Marcello, a media spokesman for the Australia Embassy in Jakarta, declined to comment on the intelligence operations when asked about Ball’s comments.
Comments from Kaskus:
n.t.r:
Since our satellite is tapped, we should tap their satellites too!
knight.templar:
Does Indonesia still have any secrets?
raivano:
Wow, I think I’ll switch my communication method to sending letters via doves. Untraceable, Haha.
muslim.cinak:
Well, Indonesia is well-known for being a friendly country. Maybe it will remain friendly despite being tapped, similar to the way the corruptors [people engaged in corruption] are treated.
Suto223:
What kind of top secret information does Indonesia have that is worth tapping?
j-tro:
This is crazy. Everything is being bugged but our government can only express their concern without doing anything!
Rotyyu:
This must mean that the NSA knows who amongst our public officials are corruptors, porn collectors or have mistresses. Haha
Shigeamat:
The president should replace our communication devices with Walkie-Talkies instead. Haha.
Adhityadelly:
Will they also tap my SMS sent to my girlfriend?
Taipan73:
You can even use owls to send letters. Harry Potter is able to do it! =)
arbykTBFFH:
Indonesia will not dare to do anything, especially with the current leaders. =(
jureadam:
Where the hell are all our Indonesian hackers? Hack their satellite too!
Emyouel:
Well, what else can we do? This happens because we cannot develop our own satellite.
Ganimaolana:
World War III will begin soon!
What do you think? Does this ‘surveillance’ violate any human privacy rights?
See Also: Anonymous Indonesia Attacks Australian Websites
