February 3, 2006
Furor continues over unprecedented mobile phone-tapping case
An unprecedented mobile phone-tapping conspiracy targeting Greece's top political leadership is being investigated (cf yesterday's post Mobile phone-tapping plot uncovered in Greece). Charges have already been filed by a relevant prosecutor, while the judicial probe will also consider espionage charges, reports Athens News Agency .
"The government on Thursday said the entire phone-tapping plot was discovered when some type of glitch was detected in Vodafone's systems on March 4, 2005, with the suspect software pinpointed by software experts from multinational Ericsson on March 7, 2005. An order to disable the "ghost program" was given the next day, March 8, 2005, whereas the government was notified by the company two days later.
One of the primary questions that swirled around the east Mediterranean country since Thursday morning is why Vodafone disabled the "ghost programme", an action that reportedly made tracing the perpetrators difficult.
... Back in Athens, when asked about an even more "cloak-and-dagger" aspect of the ongoing investigation, namely, the suicide of Vodafone's network design department manager during the period when the phone-tapping was discovered, Roussopoulos said the incident is "real" and is being investigated by police.
... One of the 46 individuals whose mobile phones were tapped was, in fact, identified as an employee of the US embassy in Athens."
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