Thread by @cr0ft0n

Tough talk from UK regulator @Ofcom around surveillance actors' access to phone networks - notable because it highlights the UK as one of world's most dangerous conduits for global location tracking and account cracking ofcom.org.uk/phones-and-bro…

The report looks at "GT leasing": what happens when phone companies rent out their "Global Titles", the mobile network access nodes allocated to them by the regulator. As many revelations over the years have shown, GT leasing is a cesspool, and the Ofcom report acknowledges this

Clear finding: UK GTs “are one of the most significant and persistent sources of malicious signalling traffic affecting mobile networks globally”

Why does this matter? Again, clear finding: real use cases with real associated harms

What might be surprising to some is just how high the UK scored in the threat index compiled by security specialist @EneaGovBodies: the 6th most dangerous country in the world by "relative volume and types of malicious signalling observed"

As the report highlights, one reason UK GTs are attractive to threat actors is the presumption of trust: in my view some other not so distant countries like Sweden and Switzerland should have a think about this too

The report also notes how volatility in the market creates an accountability vacuum for leased GTs: companies get bought or go bust and soon no one knows who's using the old leased nodes or for what

Industry body @GSMA has been trying to get operators around the world to act more responsibly around GT leasing but Ofcom isn't impressed and is calling for a ban

I'd advocate saying the quiet part of the report out loud: sloppy commercial practices by global north companies (leasing GTs for a bit of cash on the side) are especially harmful in the global south (less secure networks, greater risks to people)

Ofcom highlights investigations from @LHreports and our colleagues @IrpiMedia @citizenlab @guardian among others

It's commendable that @Ofcom is having an open conversation about what has long been a murky problem. Other regulators esp in places like Sweden and Switzerland need to wake up tho if this dark market is to be cleaned up any time soon

I get the impression from some of these regulators that security = their security; Ofcom report is important in highlighting worldwide nature of threat and significant role of UK as an enabler within this

Anyway a few links to end with: earlier this year @LHreports and @IrpiMedia exposed a UK-based location tracking firm using leased GTs from UK, Switzerland, Cambodia and Pacific Islands irpimedia.irpi.eu/setelefonando-…

In our "Ghost in the Network" collab with @haaretzcom @derspiegel @tagesanzeiger @Mediapart last year we examined a whole host of activities worldwide including account cracks by UK GTs lighthousereports.com/investigation/…

Coordinated efforts to track fleeing princess Latifa al-Maktoum in 2018 included UK GTs from offshore dependencies Jersey and Guernsey thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2020-1…