NSA leak suggests Australia had wide-scale access to Indonesia’s telecoms network

A new leak from NSA documents obtained by whisteblower Edward Snowden have cast light on Australia’s national security agency — the Australian Signals Directorate — and its access to Indonesia’s telecoms network.

The New York Times reports that the agency obtained nearly 1.8 million encrypted master keys from Indonesian operator Telkomsel. The agency was apparently able to decrypt almost all of the keys, giving it access to the private communications data that they protect.

Access was apparently used to monitor government communication, and, in particular, contact with an American legal firm that represented Indonesia in trade disputes with the US. Australia’s Prime Minister previously stated that the country did not collect information “to the detriment of other countries” — an NSA leak last year suggested Australia tapped phones belonging to Indonesia’s Prime Minister and other top politicians.

➤ Spying by N.S.A. Ally Entangled U.S. Law Firm [New York Times] | Via Sydney Morning Herald

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