Brazil to
protect its electronic mail against espionage
BRASILIA.—Brazilian Communications
Minister Paulo Bernardo has confirmed that beginning
in November of this year, the Presidency of the
Republic and the government are to have a data
protection system to ensure the inviolability of
electronic mail.
President Dilma Rousseff wishes to adopt the
security program developed by Serpro (Federal Data
Processing Service), Bernardo emphasized. He noted
that Serpro is to review the program and introduce a
new version, which will be up and running by next
month.
|
President
Dilma Rousseff has signed
a decree stipulating the utilization
of a program to ensure the
inviolability of electronic mail. |
The Minister stressed that Rousseff
is to sign a decree stipulating the use of this
program to ensure the inviolability of electronic
mail and deter espionage activities. The new system,
which uses free software, is also a money saver,
given that the Presidency utilizes Microsoft and
must pay for licenses, he commented.
He explained that the program, Expresso V3, 100%
Brazilian, is already in use in some ministries, but
the new version will guarantee security for official
electronic mail.
Bernardo stated that in order to give greater
protection to inter-ministry communications, the
government is to utilize the Telebras national
network and other public ones, such as those of
National Education, Information Technology Research,
and Social Security (Dataprev).
"We aim to achieve a combination of networks and
construct a more secure environment for government,"
he stated.
Bernardo confirmed that work has been accelerated
and conditions prepared to ensure total protection
by mid-2014.
This announcement came weeks after the Brazilian
press published information based on reports leaked
by Edward Snowden, former analyst at the National
Security Agency (NSA), revealing interception of
electronic mail and telephone calls made by the
President, the Petrobras oil company and the
Ministry of Mines and Energy.
Brazil spoke out in the United Nations against the
violation of its sovereignty and individual rights
by espionage activities on the part of the U.S. NSA,
which intercepted – according to Snowden – data and
communications from the Brazilian executive, as well
as enterprises and citizens in the country.
Rousseff demanded an explanation from the White
House and even cancelled a visit to the United
States, due to the lack of response from the U.S.
administration.
These actions also generated concern and urgent
calls to activate a data protection system to
guarantee the privacy and inviolability of official
information. (PL)
