
The time of parallel security services is over, there is no place in Libya except for regular institutions of the army and police: Aldabaiba
In the aftermath of Monday's still-to-be-confirmed, but widely accepted, killing of the Support and Stability Apparatus (SSA) militia leader, Abdelghani Ghnewa Al-Kikly, Tripoli based Libyan Prime Minister Abd Alhamid Aldabaiba held a high-level security meeting at his Cabinet office yesterday.
The meeting included the Acting Minister of Interior, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Defence, and the Director of the Military Intelligence Department, Commander of the 444th Brigade.
The Tripoli government reported that the attendees gave a detailed briefing on the stages of implementing the plan to secure Tripoli (following state-recognised militia clashes with regular forces).
The Prime Minister began the meeting by stressing that all military camps and installations in the country should be subject exclusively to the Ministry of Defence and the Libyan Army, stressing that there is no legitimacy for any armed entity (militia) outside this framework, and that institutional discipline is the rule from which no one is exempt.
Aldabaiba stressed that the time of the parallel security services (militias) is over, and that there is no place in Libya except for regular institutions of the army and police, pointing out that what has been achieved on this road is a real and pivotal achievement, which contributed to restoring confidence in the state, despite awareness that work still requires a solid will and continuous firmness.
The Tripoli Prime Minister also directed the Acting Minister of Interior to activate the plan to secure institutions and regions exclusively through the Ministry of Interior, reflecting the return of the security authority to its legitimate umbrella.
The meeting also discussed the work plan of the committee formed to follow up on the conditions of prisons, where Aldabaiba stressed the need to end any extrajudicial detention, and that any attack on the rights of citizens or residents through illegal detention is a violation of the prestige of the state and will be faced decisively.
Aldabaiba concluded the meeting by stressing that the government will strike with an iron fist anyone who obstructs state-building or prevents the army and police from being able to perform their duties, in the battle to restore the homeland from chaos to the rule of law.
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Tripoli PM Aldabaiba appoints Mustafa Al-Wahishi as the new head of the Internal Security Agency
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The Guardian
18 hours ago
- The Guardian
Thousands of UK government laptops, phones and tablets have been lost or stolen
Thousands of UK government laptops, phones and tablets worth more than £1m have been either lost or stolen, freedom of information disclosures have revealed, triggering warnings of a 'systemic risk' to the nation's cybersecurity. The Department for Work and Pensions recorded 240 missing laptops and 125 missing phones in 2024; while in the first five months of this year the Ministry of Defence recorded 103 missing laptops and 387 missing phones. The Cabinet Office, which coordinates government activity, lost or had stolen 66 laptops and 124 phones in 2024. The replacement cost of the more than 2,000 missing devices recorded across 18 Whitehall departments and public authorities in the last year for which figures are available is running at about £1.3m annually, according to Guardian analysis of freedom of information responses. The Bank of England, HM Treasury and the Home Office were among other departments where dozens of phones and laptops went missing. Cybersecurity experts said the losses could enable hackers to create backdoors into government systems even if large parts of the hardware were encrypted. One called it 'a huge national security risk', but the government downplayed the danger, saying that encryption prevented access to bad actors. 'These are surprisingly large numbers,' said Prof Alan Woodward, a cybersecurity expert at the University of Surrey. 'When you are talking about so many [it creates] a large attack surface [for hackers]. If 1% were system administrators who had their phones stolen, that's enough to get in.' He said that if devices were open when stolen, as frequently happens with phones snatched on the street, criminals could keep them open and 'drill down into the device and once the phone is open, by design it is readable and accessible'. The Ministry of Defence said it had robust policies and procedures to prevent losses and thefts. It said: 'Encryption on devices ensures any data is safeguarded and prevents access to the defence network.' The Bank of England said it 'takes the security of devices and data very seriously and has suitable protection in place'. A government spokesperson said: 'We take the security of government devices extremely seriously, which is why items such as laptops and mobile phones are always encrypted so any loss does not compromise security.' It added that every loss or theft was investigated. 'The device loss seems quite high,' said Nick Jackson, the chief information security officer at Bitdefender, a cybersecurity firm. 'It only takes one lost [device] to compromise a network. It poses a systemic risk and is something that could potentially be taken more seriously especially given the access and connections that department will have.' Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion He said laptops were likely to have encryption, but tablets or phones presented a greater risk. Jackson said: 'The biggest risk is that the devices themselves will have access to sensitive information and authentication tokens. If someone was able to gain access to those they would be able complete authentication processes on any government application or government website that they shouldn't be able to access.' The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, which is responsible for cybersecurity, recorded 83 phones and 18 laptops lost or stolen in the year to May 2025. In 2024, the Home Office, which oversees policing, had 147 devices go missing at an estimated replacement cost of more than £85,000. An MoD spokesperson said: 'We treat all breaches of security very seriously and we require all suspected breaches to be reported. All incidents are subjected to an initial security risk assessment, with further action taken on a proportionate basis.' David Gee, the chief marketing officer of Cellebrite, a digital forensics and cybersecurity firm that works with the Metropolitan police, said: 'Missing devices pose a huge national security risk, especially coming from public sector departments where they hold vast amounts of sensitive data. From healthcare departments to defence, staff phones and laptops must be protected at all costs, and keeping data safe in these government agencies should be a top priority.'


Times
2 days ago
- Times
Cost of damage by Palestine Action could hit £55m
Activists from Palestine Action are feared to have cost the government and firms making equipment for the British military as much as £55 million. In a five-year campaign Palestine Action has conducted 356 attacks on sites across the UK, culminating in a raid on RAF Brize Norton last week in which two Voyager aircraft were damaged. The attacks have cost the defence industry at least £30 million, according to evidence submitted to the government by several firms that have been affected. But it is also feared that one engine of a plane attacked at Brize Norton is damaged beyond repair and could cost £25 million to replace. While the extent of the damage is still being investigated, it is feared that red paint sprayed in to the turbine of the engine may mean it cannot be safely used again. Other costs are believed to cover repairs to warehouses, research facilities and factories, lost working time from the disruption, and the extra security the firms have been forced to invest in to ward off criminal activity by Palestine Action. The firms have also warned the Ministry of Defence that the group's activities have now extended to smaller firms in their supply chains, which will struggle to afford extra security and repairs. Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, is set to proscribe Palestine Action on Monday, but an influential group of peers wants the law toughened to make it easier for the police to stop all kinds of 'organisations which cause destruction'. There have been growing concerns about the ability of the police to combat extreme protest groups such as Palestine Action. Lord Walney, the government's former extremism adviser, will table an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill, which is currently making its way through the House of Lords, to give the police more powers to stop the activities of groups such as Extinction Rebellion and Youth Demand. An investigation by The Sunday Times in March revealed how activists had switched between protest groups which were also sharing tactics. If implemented the new law would restrict a group's ability to fundraise and its right to assembly in the UK. It could stop them posting on social media and live-streaming actions that they take. An extreme protest group would be defined as an organisation which routinely uses criminal tactics to try to achieve its aims. Although Palestine Action will be proscribed under existing terror laws, Walney's peers believe a new legal mechanism is required to tackle extreme political, environmental and animal rights groups 'who fall just below the threshold of being terrorist organisations'. His 'criminal protest proscription' amendment would represent a major overhaul in how such groups are policed in the UK. Walney plans to table the amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill, which has reached the House of Lords, in coming weeks. 'The police need new powers to be able to tackle and disrupt extreme protest groups like Palestine Action, who have been allowed to cause mayhem and destruction for the past five years,' Walney said. 'Many of these groups fall just below the threshold required to be considered a terrorist organisation. We need a new mechanism to help police disrupt these extreme protests which are causing real harm to hundreds of businesses across the country.' • Melanie Phillips: Palestine Action is a terrorist group, so ban it His proposal is expected to have support from up to 42 peers who have this weekend signed a letter sent to Cooper asking for a meeting to discuss how to 'prevent or disrupt further attacks'. The letter, signed by peers including Baroness Ramsay of Cartvale, a former assistant head of MI6; Baroness Berger, a prominent Jewish peer; Lord Evans of Sealand, a former Labour general secretary; and Lord Cryer, the former chairman of the parliamentary Labour party, says that Palestine Action has been allowed to carry out a 'sustained aggressive broad campaign that undermines the rule of law and Britain's national security'. Research by The Sunday Times reveals there have been 356 direct actions on British-based defence and engineering firms, banks, insurance companies, estate agents and property companies, accountancy firms, universities and local government buildings owing to alleged links to Israel. Some 118 Palestine Action activists were convicted of criminal offences between 2020 and 2024 for attacks on British-based companies linked to Israel, with 33 found not guilty of offences at trial. There are 17 trials continuing relating to direct action protests by Palestine Action. John Healey, the defence secretary, said he was 'really disturbed' by the breach of RAF Brize Norton and has ordered an investigation and wider security review. Counterterrorism police officers are investigating the incident, with Thames Valley police and the Ministry of Defence police. A Palestine Action spokesman said: 'Despite publicly condemning the Israeli government, Britain continues to send military cargo, fly spyplanes over Gaza and refuel US and Israeli fighter jets.'


Telegraph
2 days ago
- Telegraph
RAF base's only defence against Palestine Action was 6ft wooden fence
For almost 80 years, RAF Brize Norton has been one of the country's most important military airfields, serving as an embarkation point for members of the Royal family and senior politicians as they fly around the globe. So one could be forgiven for expecting security around the Oxfordshire airbase to be watertight. In reality, however, things are a little more porous, with sections of the eight-mile perimeter protected only by a six-foot wooden fence that would not look out of place surrounding a suburban garden. In the early hours of Friday morning, two members of the protest group Palestine Action – which will now be proscribed as a terrorist organisation – took advantage of the seemingly lax defences to enter the airfield and attack two military aircraft. Video footage posted by the group showed two people using electric scooters to cross the base's runway. One can be seen approaching an aircraft and spray-painting its engine, before driving away down the empty airstrip. They were then able to disappear into the night, leaving the RAF red-faced and the Ministry of Defence to announce an urgent review of security. Brize Norton serves as the hub for UK strategic air transport and refuelling, including flights to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. It is also where the aircraft used by dignitaries, including the monarch and prime minister, are based. As would be expected, large parts of the base, especially near the gates, are surrounded by high metal fences topped with menacing-looking razor wire. The perimeter in these areas also bristles with security cameras and hi-tech CCTV to monitor the comings of goings of all personnel. Armed guards patrol the gates in a show of strength aimed at deterring anyone who has no lawful business. But just a short stroll along a grass verge, the barbed wire comes to an abrupt end, to be replaced by a panel fence that looks like it could have been purchased from a DIY store. The section in question is plain to see for anyone travelling the four miles between the villages of Carterton and Bampton along station road. Stretching for around 170 metres, it skirts along the end of the runway and is protected from the road by just a small line of wooden and concrete bollards. One resident said: 'I've lived in this area for years and every time I drive past the fence I think: 'That would be easy to break into'.' It is not topped with barbed wire or any other anti-climbing defences, and would provide little resistance to a determined terrorist with a spring in their step. There is even a hole in the fence at one point for anyone who cannot quite manage the climb. Red warning signs attached to the fence declare: 'No unauthorised access. Protected site under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005. Trespass on this site is a Criminal Offence. This site is also regulated by military bylaws.' At one end of the section, kennels belonging to the RAF Police's dog section are located. But, while a number of RAF Police vehicles were parked close by, there were no visible personnel patrols on Friday afternoon during the three hours that reporters from The Telegraph were at the site. On the other side of the fence, and just a short distance from the road, Airbus Voyager aircraft, the air-to-air refuellers targeted by Palestine Action, can be seen on the tarmac. Security for the Brize Norton airfield is the responsibility of the RAF Police and Military Provost Guard Service (MPGS), which secures Army, Navy and RAF bases. But former members have suggested the unit is poorly funded and does not have the resources to effectively secure such large sites. One RAF source told The Telegraph the level of security across all military was not up to standard, and that 'more dogs, more coppers and more money' was needed to properly secure the sensitive sites. 'We have barbed wire around the bases and cameras, but is its perimeter fence completely covered for the miles it takes up?' the source said. 'No, because Brize Norton is f---ing huge.' He added: 'If we could have another 50 coppers and 50 dogs the security at Brize Norton would improve. But is the security as tight at a fast jet base? Not really. 'To have watertight security at a base like Brize Norton, you'd have to invest countless people and god knows the amount of money. But maybe that's what we have to do now if this is the way things are going.' The source added: 'MPGS are responsible for recruiting the right people and getting them in the right places, but they haven't done that. ' It's a symptom of a lack of investment on security. We don't have tens of millions of pounds to put up CCTV across all the bases.' Another former military source added: 'The security at these non-nuclear bases can be very patchy. The perimeter fences are too long to be able to have them under surveillance 24 hours a day. 'But when Glastonbury's fence is harder to breach than RAF Brize Norton, you know you have an issue. 'While it may be challenging to secure an entire eight-mile perimeter, you would think they ought to be able to protect aircraft sitting on the runway. Someone's head is going to have to roll over this.'