17 July 2011. Thanks to A for pointing to the Telegraph report.
FRU Computer Hacking Claims Linked to Murdoch
Cryptome offers documents on the FRU and people involved this investigation,
the latest in April 2011:
HMG Indicts Former FRU Member:
http://cryptome.org/0003/fru-indict/fru-indict.htm
And more on the murderous FRU and Freddie Scappatici (Stakeknife) and their
victims
via
Google.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/phone-hacking/8642649/Police-investigate-new-computer-
hacking-claims-linked-to-News-International.html
Police investigate new computer hacking claims linked to News
International
By Jason Lewis, Investigations Editor
9:00PM BST 16 Jul 2011
A police investigation is taking place into claims private investigators
working for News International were involved in computer hacking. The probe
was prompted by allegations that Martin McGuinness, the Sinn Fein MP, was
a British spy
The investigation is being carried out by detectives from Scotland Yard's
Specialist Crime Directorate. It is separate from the phone hacking
investigation.
The team of officers from Operation Tuleta are looking at the activities
of individuals who were paid by News International, including a firm of private
detectives offering "ethical hacking".
Officers are understood to be collecting evidence about the activities of
a former Army intelligence officer who is said to have offered hacking services
to the journalists.
The probe was prompted by allegations that Martin McGuinness, the Sinn Fein
MP, was a British spy. They first surfaced in Irish newspapers five years
ago and were vehemently denied by Republicans.
Unpublished documents relating to the claims have now been unearthed by Scotland
Yard.
The allegations focus on the use of "Trojan" emails. These involve a hacker
sending a computer virus to the target's computer. The virus then allows
full access to the computer's contents.
The investigation will examine allegations that information was then written
up into memo form and faxed to the News of the World.
It is understood that some of this information was allegedly sent to the
News International bureau in Dublin, although it is not known who it was
sent to there. The private detectives, including a former member of the Force
Research Unit (FRU) of the British Army, cannot be named for legal reasons.
Two of those targeted are believed to be Kevin Fulton, an alleged former
British agent within the IRA, and Martin Ingram, a former British army
intelligence officer. Mr Ingram, who was a member of the FRU, is the co-author
of a book, Stakeknife, in which he disclosed details of the most highly placed
British spy in the IRA, saying he was a man called Freddie Scappaticci. Mr
Scappaticci denies he was an intelligence source.
The Sunday Telegraph has learnt that Mr Fulton met detectives last week and
was asked if information from his computer had ever appeared in print without
permission.
Mr Fulton told detectives of material relating to Mr McGuinness that had
been stored on his computer.
Mr Fulton had believed that some of the information had been leaked by police
who had seized his computer in a raid on this home in 2005. This alleged
leak led Mr Fulton to complain to the Police Ombudsman in Northern Ireland,
but his complaint was rejected due to lack of evidence.
The new discoveries apparently exonerate the police and suggest the information
may have been stolen from his computer by a hacker. Mr Fulton wrote to the
police in April alleging that some of his emails had been intercepted in
2006 by people acting on behalf of News International. In response, the
Metropolitan Police replied to him: "As a result of the new inquiry being
conducted by the [Met] into the unlawful interception of voicemail messages
(Operation Weeting) and the various court actions relating to News International,
the [Met] has received a large number of inquiries and allegations relating
to access to private data that are broader than voicemail interception ...
"The [Met] has set up a small team in order to assess the various allegations
that have been made with a view to establishing whether there is available
evidence and if it would be appropriate to conduct any further investigation
into these activities."
The latest disclosures follow a BBC Panorama investigating into the computer
hacking claims.
The programme named Alex Marunchak, a former News of the World executive,
as having obtained the emails. He denies any involvement.
In the programme, Mr Ingram said: "The BBC has shown me documents which contained
parts of emails exchanged between me and a number of other people while I
was living in France and some of these were later faxed to the Dublin office
of the News of the World.
"The irony of the illegal procurement of information from my computer is
that it was obtained by someone who also once worked for the Force Research
Unit in the British Army. This person was being paid by News International
to hack into my computer."
It is understood that the officers investigating the computer hacking claims
have had no contact with News International.
News International declined to comment.
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