French telecommunications operator Orange S.A. has been cooperating “closely” with French security services in intelligence gathering operations, according to the most recent Snowden leak, Le Monde reports.
According to an internal document of the British Government
Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) intelligence agency, France’s
General Directorate for External Security (DGSE) has been closely
coopering with “a French telecommunications operator,”
which the French daily concludes is Orange S.A., formerly France
Telecom S.A.
The GCHQ document reveals the DGSE has been working closely with
the telecom giant to help intercept pertinent information and
break the encryption of data flowing through the network. Le
Monde refers to Orange S.A. – in which the government maintains a
27 percent controlling stake –as a major player in France’s
surveillance system.
The document, which was obtained by NSA whistleblower Edward
Snowden, alleges that the DGSE has a major advantage over its
Western intelligence partners, due to the nature of the
cooperation between it and Orange S.A.
Not only does the intelligence agency have legal access to
customer data from the telecom provider’s database, but it shares
information with foreign partners like the GCHQ. The French
operator also appears to be conducting cryptographic research in
concert with French intelligence.
"The relationship between French Telecom and the DGSE is not
the same as that found in the NSA’s PRISM program, which has
contractual relationships with Internet giants,” a former
French intelligence chief told the daily.
There is no formalization of this cooperation between the DGSE
and French Telecom – Orange. “It is within the purview of
those authorized to handle defense secrets within the company,
and has been perpetuated for at least thirty years by engineers
who commute between the two institutions.”
Ironically, Orange threatened in late December to sue the NSA for
hacking into the underwater cable that it jointly owns with 15
other companies.
"We will take legal action in the next few days because we
want to know more about the eventuality that Orange data may have
been intercepted," an Orange spokeswoman said at the time.
She added that Orange had had no role whatsoever in the spying.
Orange reiterated that the privacy of correspondence and
negotiations can be broken only by special court order, and that
the conditions and reasons for such action should be clearly
defined in French law.
“Piracy to intercept data is not possible directly through
the system of Orange, and such intrusion has not been previously
reported," the company said in a statement.
However, according to Le Monde, Orange S.A. has given the DGSE
access to those very underwater cables. Access is also given to
the telecom giant’s mobile subsidiaries abroad, which have been
employed in recent French military interventions in Mali and the
Central African Republic.