News of the World 'hacked Milly Dowler phone'

[4me2]

News of the World 'hacked Milly Dowler phone'


Schoolgirl Milly Dowler went missing nine years ago



An investigator working for the News of the World newspaper allegedly hacked into the mobile phone of murdered girl Milly Dowler, a lawyer has said.
Mark Lewis, who represents the Dowler family, said her parents were told by police that Glenn Mulcaire hacked into her phone while she was missing.
The Guardian has claimed he intercepted messages left by relatives and said the NoW deleted some it had listened to.
NoW parent company News International said the news was of "great concern".
Mr Lewis said the hacking dated from 2002 when the News of the World was under the editorship of Rebekah Brooks (nee Wade) - now News International's chief executive.
In a statement he said: "Sally and Bob Dowler have been through so much grief and trauma without further distressing revelations to them regarding the loss of their daughter.


'Despicable and evil'

"It is distress heaped upon tragedy to learn the News of the World have no humanity at such a terrible time.
"The fact that they were prepared to act in such a heinous way that could have jeopardised the police investigation and gave them false hope is despicable."



It quotes one source as saying that this gave false hope to friends and family, who mistakenly believed that Milly herself had cleared her message inbox and that therefore she was still alive.
By that time, she had been murdered by a nightclub doorman, Levi Bellfield, who was convicted of the killing last month.
The Guardian also alleges that the News of the World employed another private investigator, Steve Whittamore, to illegally obtain ex-directory numbers for families called Dowler living in Walton-on-Thames, where Milly and her family lived.
A News International spokesman said it had been co-operating fully with the police inquiry into hacking since News International's "voluntary disclosure in January restarted the investigation into illegal voicemail interception".
He said: "This particular case is clearly a development of great concern and we will be conducting our own inquiries as a result.
"We will obviously co-operate fully with any police request on this should we be asked."

Reacting to the story, Tom Watson MP told the Commons it was a "despicable and evil act that will shock parents up and down the land".
He also said it strongly suggested that parliament was misled in the press standards inquiry that was held by the Department for Culture Media and Sport last year.
The claims about Milly Dowler are significant in the overall phone hacking inquiry, which has until now focussed largely on the intrusion into the private lives of celebrities.
In January, the High Court will hear claims from five test cases involving public figures who say their phones were hacked into.
They are former footballer Paul Gascoigne, actor Jude Law, sports agent Sky Andrew, interior designer Kelly Hoppen and MP Chris Bryant.
The cases arise out of the disclosure of information by the Metropolitan Police relating to material forfeited by Mulcaire.
He and former News of the World royal editor Clive Goodman were jailed in 2007 over tapping the phones of members of the royal household.
Five alleged victims have reached out-of-court settlements with the newspaper, including celebrity publicist Max Clifford, who received a reported £1m.
Five journalists have been arrested over the allegations.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14017661

[4me2]

Seriously Murdoch and his set of cunts should be sent to prison for a very long time.

At the very least close down his Newspapers.

Won't happen though as he has Cameron and his party on his payroll.

[JonEp]

Deleting the voicemails of a missing girl so they can clear the inbox ready for more messages.

I hope they get sent back to prison.

[flypitcher]

Agreed

[KevinJB88]

Yup, I echo the posts already.

When it happened to celebs or politicians, we didn't care as we all have that small anarchist side to us.

But this....surely no one can agree that by any terms, that this is not punishable in any shape or form.

Shut them down and criminal action taken...

Kev

[Over Carl]

I agree totally with the above. Was watching the news for a moment and apparantly loads of big money names have or are talking about not advertising with them anymore.

[KevinJB88]

I agree totally with the above. Was watching the news for a moment and apparantly loads of big money names have or are talking about not advertising with them anymore.

Ford, the car manufacturer, announced that it was suspending all advertising with the Sunday newspaper - owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News International group - pending the outcome of inquiries into the claims.

Other firms including Currys, PC World, T-Mobile, Npower and Halifax are all considering whether to pull their advertisements from future editions of the paper.

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...r-scandal.html

Got a feeling a lot of companies are holding back till tomorrrow to see the true backlash though...

Kev

[DJ OD]

While I agree this is a terrible thing to do, I do feel tho this whole phone "hacking" thing is a bit fucking stupid.

Phones of celebs and MP's etc weren't hacked as such, it pisses me off saying that. All the investigator did was call up the networks voicemail number, enter the phone number of the person and used the default pin to gain access to the mailbox.

I'll re-iterate in the case of the missing girl this is totally out of order, but people should be more aware of setting up a pin number for their voice mail to prevent this happening.

You have also got to wonder where the investigators get the phone numbers from.


DJ OD

[koola2]

All the investigator did was call up the networks voicemail number, enter the phone number of the person and used the default pin to gain access to the mailbox.

I was curious to how much "hacking" was involved.

[pumpman]

I found it equally ironic that the mp in the house of commons suggesting they have an emergency session in Westminster on the subject was flipping homes to the value of £90,000 and yet kept a straight face when calling the News of the World worker out on what they had done. What the NOTW have done, and other titles have done similar is despicable , but I expect a lot of other news that they wish to bury , coming out too.

Interesting article I read on the "phone hacking "

http://www.annaraccoon.com/uncategor...your-password/



Odds are that I can guess your PIN in ten attempts.
It will be one of the following

1. “1234” – I can’t be bothered to think about my password
2. “0000” – I can’t even be bothered to count
3. “2580” – I can go down the key pad
4. “1111” – I can count to one!
5. “5555” – I’m very clever and can count to 5
6. “5683” – I do txt spk. (work it out)
7. “0852” – I do stuff vertically up
8. “2222” – I can’t be bothered to move my fingers when I press keys
9. “1212” – Testing testing 12 12
10. “1998” – Yeah, I’m about 13 years old

Out of a sample of over 200,000 PIN numbers it was found that nearly 9000 used the number 1234 for their PIN number for the application on the iPhone that gathered the data.
Now there are issues about the secret gathering of personal information but that’s a different post. Also bear in mind that this was for an iPhone app, not a banking app nor an ATM PIN. So the users might have chosen simple numbers because they didn’t feel the need to secure the app. But there probably is a grain of truth in the general trend for the top ten PINs as the author of the app tried to make his password screen look like the iPhone’s own password screen.
Common numbers

When you take into account that certain ranges of numbers occurred regularly in the top 50 you can easily build the impression that many people don’t think much about their PIN numbers. The most common range being 1990-1999, followed by 1980-1989 and 2010-2011, 1970-1979 and then 2000-2009. From this you can see that given the median age for iPhone users that they often use their birth year as their PIN number. If they are older surfers then they either use their children’s which explains the 2000-2011 range or their own.
So if you find a lost mobile phone, then given that the 15% of all PINs are represented by 10 different numbers you’ve got a 1 in 7 chance of breaking into the phone. No wonder it was so easy for certain private investigators hired by journalists to break into the voice mail accounts of certain celebs.
Now if you do use one of the above PINs don’t worry too much. So long as you don’t use the same PIN for every account, website, card then you’re not going to get your accounts cleared out.
Bear in mind that if you use the same password on Facebook and to log into your hobby forum and to access your work account, it won’t need much background info to work out your password. The advice here is to use a different password for different parts of your life; your financial part, your personal family part, your hobbies and other interests part, your work part, etc. For certain aspects of your online life use a unique password only used on that site. For instance your GMail password should be unique because the information in your emails would be a gold mine to someone who got in.
Create a complex password

To make a really hard password to guess, a suggestion would be to use the following guide.
Start with a sentence or two (about 10 words in total). Make it something meaningful to you. As a starter for ten, I’ll use the example “Long and complex passwords are safest. I keep mine safe.”
Turn the sentences into a row of letters using the first letter of each word. The phrase becomes “lacpasikms”. At this stage this password should be usable on many unimportant websites.
Add a bit of complexity by changing the case of some of the letters. Either make the letters A-J lower and the rest upper, or make odd letters (a,c,d, etc.) lower and the rest upper. Up to you. You can use this level of password on accounts like your work one.
Some sites insist on numbers and punctuation. Add the digits of a meaningful number and punctuation symbols to either end of the password or in the middle. Your password is now be “lACpAs56IKMs”. This should be secure enough for your banking apps.
Final advice

One final word of advice. Keep your passwords on a piece of paper. Yep, that sounds counter productive, but so long as the passwords are encoded in your own secret way then you can keep track of the umpteen dozens of passwords modern life requires you to have.
Don’t give your password out to anyone, no bank will ever ask for it. If you forget your password and the website lets you ask for it, then if it doesn’t give you a new one don’t trust it because it means it’s stored your password “in the clear” rather than a one way code based on your password.
Finally recognise phishing attempts and learn to avoid them.

[Geko]

While I agree this is a terrible thing to do, I do feel tho this whole phone "hacking" thing is a bit fucking stupid.

Phones of celebs and MP's etc weren't hacked as such, it pisses me off saying that. All the investigator did was call up the networks voicemail number, enter the phone number of the person and used the default pin to gain access to the mailbox.

I'll re-iterate in the case of the missing girl this is totally out of order, but people should be more aware of setting up a pin number for their voice mail to prevent this happening.

You have also got to wonder where the investigators get the phone numbers from.


DJ OD

Yep. I thought this was the case. I used to do this myself to people I knew. Was always fun to change their voicemail.

[big-paul]

Doesn't matter how they did it, this is f*cking hideous. These cvnts deserve to be flogged as a minimum. I don't mind volunteering to be the one who delivers it

[4me2]

News of the World 'hacked 7/7 family phones'


The father of David Foulkes, who was killed in the Edgware Road blast, said police had contacted him




Families of 7/7 bombing victims may have had their phones hacked by the News of the World, it has emerged.
A solicitor for some of the relatives said one family had been told their phone may have been hacked in 2005.
The paper has also passed to police e-mails which allegedly show payments by it to the police were approved by the then editor Andy Coulson.
Meanwhile, the journalist who sanctioned hacking murdered girl Milly Dowler's phone has been identified.
BBC's political editor Nick Robinson said News International executives found the information after a trawl of their documents.
He said the information has yet to be handed to police although it was thought likely that they would already know it.
News International said it was determined to get to the bottom of this and that it would keep going until people viewed them in a "favourable" light.


'Very transparent'

Graham Foulkes, whose son David died in the Edgware Road blast, told the BBC he was contacted by officers on Tuesday after his details were found on a list as part of the police inquiry in hacking claims.
Mr Foulkes, of Oldham, Greater Manchester, recalled how his family had waited for a week after the 2005 attacks for news of David.
"My wife and I were kind of all over the place, we were chatting to friends on the phone, in a very personal and deeply emotional context - and the thought that somebody may have been listening to that just looking for a cheap headline is just horrendous."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14040841

[corskey]

Bet the NOTW still sell as many copies this weekend as they did last weekend - Good to see big names taking away advertising.

[4me2]

Murdoch: Phone Hacking Claims 'Deplorable'

Rupert Murdoch has said allegations News Of The World staff hacked phones and paid police were "deplorable and unacceptable".


Mr Murdoch has backed Ms Brooks to continue as News International chief executive



The chairman of News Corporation - the parent company of News International (NI), which publishes NOTW - also backed the tabloid's former editor and current NI chief executive, Rebekah Brooks.
His comments came after an emergency MPs' debate on the issue, which was highly critical of Ms Brooks and NI.
Labour MP Tom Watson even demanded the suspension of James Murdoch, Mr Murdoch's son and chairman of NI.
Earlier David Cameron ordered a public inquiry into the scandal and the original police investigation into phone hacking by NOTW journalists.
In a day of dramatic developments, Scotland Yard also launched a separate investigation over allegations officers took money from reporters at the paper.

"Recent allegations of phone hacking and making payments to police with respect to the News Of The World are deplorable and unacceptable," Mr Murdoch said in a statement.
"I have made clear that our company must fully and proactively co-operate with the police in all investigations.
"That is exactly what News International has been doing and will continue to do under Rebekah Brooks' leadership."
More hacking allegations against the tabloid have emerged, with claims the parents of murdered Soham schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman were targeted, as well as Milly Dowler and her parents.



Milly Dowler's voicemail was allegedly accessed by the paper


Relatives of 7/7 London terror attack victims may also have had their phones hacked by the NOTW as they waited for news after the bombings.
"We do need to have an inquiry, possibly inquiries, into what has happened," Mr Cameron told MPs at Prime Minister's Questions.
"We are no longer talking here about politicians and celebrities. We are talking about murder victims, potentially terrorist victims, having their phones hacked into."
Mr Cameron added: "It is absolutely disgusting, what has taken place.
"And I think everyone in this House and indeed this country will be revolted by what they have heard and what they have seen on their television screens."

Urged by Labour leader Ed Miliband to launch a public inquiry sooner rather than later, the PM said it was not possible to start "any form of investigation" until the latest Scotland Yard investigation is completed.
But he said: "It may be possible to make a start on other elements."
Speaking about the initial police investigation, former home secretary Alan Johnson told Sky News: "They were being dishonest, evasive or lethargic."
Mr Miliband called for the appointment of a senior figure to lead the public inquiry and said Ms Brooks should stand down as chief executive of NI.
Labour MP Chris Bryant, who initiated the Commons debate, echoed Mr Miliband's comments and said the scandal revealed an organisation which had "completely lost sight of any idea of decency".


"I believe that if Rebekah Brooks had a single shred of decency she would now resign," he said.
Ms Brooks, who was editor of the Sunday tabloid at the time of the alleged Milly Dowler phone hacking, has said she is "appalled and shocked" by those hacking claims but has refused to resign, and denied any knowledge of impropriety.
Simon Greenberg, head of corporate affairs for News International, told Sky News Radio that his company supports cross-party calls for a public inquiry.
He also said demands for Ms Brooks to stand down were "totally unfounded" and was "surprised" the leader of the opposition would base his calls on allegations and not facts.
Earlier, NI said it "has uncovered new evidence and was very close to establishing who commissioned Glenn Mulcaire to conduct particular activities".


Britain's top policeman has said NI gave Scotland Yard documents indicating "inappropriate" payments were made to officers.
Sir Paul Stephenson, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, said evidence handed over by the newspaper publisher last month suggested a "small number" of officers were involved.
His statement follows allegations that former Downing Street communications chief Andy Coulson "condoned" payments to police while he was editor at the News Of The World.
News International said in a statement: "Full and continuing co-operation has been provided to the police since the current investigation started in January 2011.




Ex-tabloid editor Andy Coulson earlier stepped down from Downing Street


"Well understood arrangements are in place to ensure that any material of importance to which they are entitled is provided to them. We cannot comment any further due to the ongoing investigations."
Sue Akers, the police officer in charge of Operation Weeting, the investigation that began in January into phone hacking, has been asked to appear before the Home Affairs Select Committee next Tuesday.
And two former senior officers, Andy Hayman and Peter Clarke, have also been invited.
Graham Foulkes, father of 7/7 victim David, told Sky News he had been contacted by the Metropolitan Police who said they had discovered a file containing his phone number and address during their investigations.


He said: "In the last six years I have spent all my efforts focusing on the response of the emergency services, the police and MI5."
Mr Foulkes added: "So to realise that possibly without doubt the darkest point of anybody's life, the thought that the press was listening in to those conversations is beyond description.
"I would like to see News International (publishers of News Of The World) hung, drawn and quartered."
Sky News understands Mr Foulkes has requested a meeting with Rupert Murdoch, head of News International's parent company News Corporation, over the claims.




Police spoke to parents of murdered Soham girls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman


Private investigator Mulcaire, who was convicted in 2007 for phone hacking for the paper, issued a statement on Tuesday in which he apologised "to anybody who was hurt or upset" by his practices.
Faced by reporters on Wednesday morning, he said he would not be commenting further.
Mulcaire has sought to mitigate his actions by blaming demanding work schedules, and said he was now suffering "vilification" as a result of widespread condemnation.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-...ims_Deplorable

[4me2]

The fact that that CUNT Murdoch has kept quiet up until now when his News Corps is expecting a reply on his BSkyB takeover bid speaks volumes.

[corskey]

It just gets fucking worse

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14052909

'Dead soldiers' families 'hacked by newspaper'

Phones owned by relatives of dead UK soldiers were allegedly hacked by the News of the World, a national newspaper reports.
The Daily Telegraph claims the phone numbers of relatives of dead were found in the files of private investigator Glenn Mulcaire.
This comes after Prime Minister David Cameron said he would set up a public inquiry into alleged phone hacking.
Rupert Murdoch, the paper's owner, has called claims of hacking "deplorable".
Speaking after earlier claims of phone hacking, he said: "Recent allegations of phone hacking and making payments to police with respect to the News of the World are deplorable and unacceptable."
In a statement, Mr Murdoch, chairman of News Corporation, News International's parent company, said: "I have made clear that our company must fully and proactively co-operate with the police in all investigations and that is exactly what News International has been doing and will continue to do under Rebekah Brooks's leadership.
'Shocked and appalled'"We are committed to addressing these issues fully and have taken a number of important steps to prevent them from happening again."
After details of the Telegraph story emerged, a senior source at News International told BBC political editor Nick Robinson: "The military is a cause central to the heart of News International. If this story is correct we are absolutely shocked and appalled that that tradition has been besmirched".
"The News of the World and the Sun have prided themselves on their support for Help the Heroes, campaigns for the military covenant and other military causes."
Meanwhile, Scotland Yard has told George Osborne that his name and home phone number appeared on notes kept by Mulcaire and former News of the World reporter Clive Goodman, a spokesman for the chancellor said.
He said there was no suggestion that his phone had been hacked.
The prime minister has expressed disgust at claims that the voicemail of murdered girl Milly Dowler was hacked, and some messages deleted.

[Zippeyrude]

people need to go to jail over this!

[baggy13]

while i think any phone hacking is utterly bad i cant help thinking why were some of the latest people hacked, what did they think they could get out of the info gained

[CzarJunkie]

There's a lot of hypocrisy going on in this thread, across the internet and with Politicians. The whole reason the NOTW and other tabloids acted in this way is because of our insatiable appetite for sleaze, our love of reading about celebrities fucking and our morbid fascination with paedophilia and child murders. We buy these papers and in doing so give them license to get up to all kinds of tricks on our behalf. How did you think these unscrupulous wankers get their stories?

If you truly are appalled by this then do something about it. Cancel your sky subscription, sky broadband etc. and stop reading his papers. Murdoch only gets his power through consumption of his media. If we stop consuming his media his power evaporates overnight.

As for politicians condemning it, thats the biggest hypocrisy of them all. For one thing Murdoch controls the political discourse in this country and has done for decades. He's had every Prime Minister in his pocket for the last 30 years.

Another thing that also seems to be overlooked is that we're all being tapped, all of the time, by GCHQ and the US's NSA. Every webpage you visit, email you send, sms or voice call is monitored. No one has any privacy in this country.

If you are outraged at Milly Dowler being hacked or the families of dead soldiers, then be outraged that every communication you make with your loved ones is also being monitored by your fucking government and they are letting other governments monitor it too.