UK police investigate after anti-terror hotline 'recorded'
Police are investigating after the UK's anti-terror hotline was apparently "hacked", after a call was recorded and leaked onto the Web.
At least one conversation between anti-terrorism officers at Scotland Yard, home of the Metropolitan Police in London, leaked online. Police confirmed that an investigation is under way.
"We are aware of an issue whereby telephone conversations relating to the anti-terror hotline have been recorded," a spokesperson for the London police said.
But industry experts are already dumbing down the apparent 'hack' as simply a caller-recorded video posted online, playing a prank on UK police.
The UK's anti-terror hotline, run by Scotland Yard, enables members of the public can inform the authorities of potential terrorist activity. Information can be passed on to MI5, the UK's domestic intelligence agency, or local law enforcement.
The call, posted on YouTube, hears two people discussing an earlier attempt in which hackers jammed the hotline by "phone-bombing" it with computer-generated phone calls. The call may have been made from Skype, as its audible chat notifications can be heard in the background on the video.
The leaked phone call was apparently posted by the person on the call. It is not believed to have been leaked by officers working on the anti-terror line.
Hackers TeamPoison are thought to be behind the leak. The group tweeted a link on Twitter to the video.
Ryan Cleary, the alleged LulzSec hacker who faces trial for hacking into a number of government websites, was mentioned on the call. Officers on the line were heard stifling a laugh, up until the point TeamPoison was mentioned.
A female officer on the line told the caller: "Your information and everything about what you've got is being passed to the FBI, and you will be prosecuted for your malicious communication," before the call is terminated.
This comes only a few months since hacking collective Anonymous broke into a conference call between FBI agents and Scotland Yard officers, and the contents were posted online.
Details of the ongoing investigation into LulzSec, an Anonymous offshoot hacking group which ran for 50 days last summer, were detailed and outlined. It is thought Anonymous accessed the call after an email account was breached which contained the login details.
Related:
- Anonymous attacks UK government sites over 'draconian surveillance'
- Anonymous intercepts, records FBI, Scotland Yard cybercrime call
- Anonymous hacks defense contractor: Email data, ’schematics’ stolen
- AntiSec hackers release ‘largest cache yet’ of law enforcement data
- Anonymous hack San Francisco subway website; Mass user data leaked
- CBS News: Hackers intercept FBI, U.K. police call
- CNET: Anonymous: We snooped an FBI cybercrime call