KARACHI, July 12: The Intelligence Bureau has been monitoring the country’s Internet traffic for the past eight months. Sources told Dawn that the IB has set up an Internet monitoring device on the fourth floor of the Gateway Exchange in December 2004. “Theoretically, the key intelligence outfit can read all the emails sent or received by Internet users in the country. Similarly it can also keep a record of websites accessed by users,” said a senior official of the PTCL on condition of anonymity. Pakistan has over eight million Internet users.

The PTCL source said the IB personnel did not have to operate the remote-controlled monitoring device at the gateway exchange. The entire information was made available to the intelligence outfit by the PTCL, he said.

“Millions of emails are generated everyday and an even greater number of websites are accessed by Internet users. Practically speaking, it is not possible for the IB to scan all emails and websites. They employ a filtering technique which enables them to read emails with pre-designated content. Similarly, they trace the hits on websites which are thought to contain dangerous material,” he explained.

He said that monitoring of the Internet traffic enabled the intelligence outfit to determine the IP number of a hit on a pre-designated website.

“Now, IP numbers are allotted by Internet service providers to users dynamically. But they find at what time a certain IP number accessed the pre-designated website. They then approach the ISP and ask for the user address of the IP number at that time,” said the PTCL official.

The president of the Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan, V.A. Abidi, said it was obligatory for the 100-odd ISPs of the country to keep a log of one month.

“Law-enforcement agencies ask for the log as and when they need it. The log helps them to trace a user’s address (his/her phone number) with the help of an IP number,” he said.

He said that ISPs had not been asked to give their logs following recent bomb explosions in London.

British police on Sunday asked mobile phone and Internet companies to store the content of voicemails, emails and SMS text messages that were in their systems on the day of the London bombings.

The PTCL source said currently there were two Internet transit providers: Pakistan Internet Exchange (PIE) and Flag.

He added that at the moment the IB could monitor the Internet traffic flowing through PIE only.

“Some time back the IB asked Flag — which is owned by an Indian company, by the way — for permission to monitor the Internet traffic flowing through their transit mechanism. Flag has given them permission and the IB will soon set up a monitoring device for Flag,” he disclosed.

According to a list obtained by Dawn, most ISPs opt for PIE. Flag is used by around 30 ISPs in the country. Only a handful of ISPs use Internet Private Lease Circuits.

When contacted, the chairman of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, Shahzada Alam, said that he could not comment.