Britain’s new chief of GCHQ claims that US technology companies aid terror groups


Sam Jones and Murad Ahmed report in the Financial Times that Robert Hannigan the new chief of the UK electronic spying agency, GCHQ, has accused US technology companies of becoming  “the command and control networks of choice for terrorists”.

Hannigan says:

“However much they may dislike it, they have become the command and control networks of choice for terrorists and criminals, who find their services as transformational as the rest of us”.

However,  his remarks were rejected by many in the industry, with one US tech group executive criticising the suggestion that technology companies should circumvent current legal process and asking:

“What should we do if the Saudi or Russian government also demand information be handed over on the spot?”