SIS security report slips onto internet

By MICHAEL FOREMAN

A report by the Security Intelligence Service (SIS), Securing Our Nation's Safety, which may be used to soften public resistance to proposed internet surveillance, inadvertently appeared on the Prime Minister's website but has now disappeared.

The Business Herald discovered the report while researching an article on the Crimes Amendment Bill No 6.

Information Technology Minister Paul Swain has maintained that police were the main lobbyists for the electronic surveillance provisions that have been tacked on to the original anti-hacking Bill.

However, the Crimes Amendment Bill would also allow other agencies, including the Security Intelligence Service, to tap the internet.

The SIS document was returned with 11 others when the keywords "electronic surveillance" were entered on the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet search page.

Unfortunately, the document could not be downloaded as it was protected by a password.

But a few clues as to its contents were gleaned by altering the search criteria. For example, when specifying the exact phrase "electronic surveillance," the search engine displayed the SIS document alone, with a 58 per cent confidence level that the contents matched our query.

Adding the words "terrorist" and "threat" to the search string caused the confidence level to jump to 84 per cent. Including the keywords "organised crime" yielded a further 6 per cent rise, while "protest" increased the confidence level to 92 per cent.

Minutes after the Business Herald spoke to an irritated official who said the report had "absolutely nothing to do with the Crimes Amendment Bill," the document was removed.

It is understood that the report was lodged with the Domestic and External Security Secretariat, a department which acts as the interface between the cabinet and security services, and is intended for release in several weeks.

Links:

www.dpmc.govt.nz

www.isocnz.org.nz