Europe’s politicians are outraged about alleged US monitoring of EU telephone and computer communications. But when it comes to building and exporting spy equipment, few are as capable as Europe.
That much was evident last month when the world’s leading sellers of electronic surveillance technology gathered in Prague at the ISS World trade show. Police and spy agency officials listened to closed-door presentations by a succession of European companies about their sophisticated internet and telephone interception wares.
Hacking Team, a Milan-based maker of eavesdropping software, demonstrated its remotely controlled spyware that can tap encrypted communications, Skype calls and instant messenger chats.