Ghost phone call -- Telefonata fantażma

 

I have lately found myself take more interest than usual in news from Malta, especially those on criminal justice.  As you might guess, the subject piquing this interest is the macable killing of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia three years ago next month.  There has been plenty of activity in these last months, with a public enquiry on the assassination, a constitutional case by the accused Jorgen Fenech against the principal inpector Keith Arnaud, and the compilation of evidence against Fenech.

 

Who knows how many films and TV series will in future be inspired by this drama, with household names in Maltese politics and other complete unknowns being named under oath, with previously unknown connections coming to light, leading to ministerial and other resignations, the principal witness allegedly attempting suicide, and you could go on and on.

 

A real telenovela, in real life.

 

Just a few days ago, something really curious happened, which raised an uproar, or rather raised another uproar.  It was revealed that Fenech's wife, Marlene Fenech, on 28th August this year received a call from her husband's mobile number, the phone having been confiscated when arrested on his boat when allegedly about to escape the country in November 2019.  This mobile phone was being held for analysis by Europol, the law enforcement agency of the European Union.

 

Naturally one would ask how is it possible for Fenech's mobile phone to make phone calls when it should be being held securely by authorities.  The media certainly asked this question, as did Fenech's defence team.1

 

If you assume the phone call really did occur, one has to say it is certainly possible that the call did occur in this way, perhaps by mistake, although this would mean a serious lack of enforcement of security protocols around evidence handling in criminal cases.

 

However I waited a bit more to find out if there were any further developments, and was surprised that the story did not shift, that is everybody (at least publicly) assuming that the alleged phone call was made from Jorgen Fenech's mobile phone.

 

In fact there is another possibility of how this phone call may have came about.

 

Today there are many companies offering voice services that terminate on a conventional telephone or a mobile phone service, but which are initiated over the internet.  This service is called VOIP (VOice over IP).  This kind of organisation, upon client registration, often offer the facility that when calling somebody else, the called party be able to see a conventional phone number that follows the international standard by the ITU (International Telecommunications Union) referred to as E.164, which would be a series of digital numbers, the first few representing the country (Malta having the number 356) followed by the local phone number everybody is used to.

 

These VOIP companies, if trustworthy, verify that their clients in fact own the numbers they want to use (by for example phoning them back, or sending them an SMS text message), before accepting to display this number in outgoing calls to be made over their VOIP system.

 

So one could easily envisage a scenario where this particular phne call to Mrs Fenech being able to be undertaken.  For example, Jorgen Fenech might already have an account with a VOIP organisation and had registered his own number with it, and someone used this account (with or without his permission) to make this phone call.

 

Another scenario is the existence of some other VOIP organisation which does not do any number verification, and someone maliciously registered Fenech's mobile number and proceeded to make the phone call to his wife.

 

In normal cases, the most efficient way of resolving the mystery of whether Fenech's mobile phone had in fact initiated the ghost call would be that the service provider for Jorgen Fenech identify if his service had made the call, from information held for each phone call (call data records - CDRs).  The problem in this case is that the mobile phone set is held by Europol, and therefore if the mobile had the SIM card inserted and was switched on, this would be operating outside of its home network (roaming) and CDRs are therefore generated by some telecommunications provider in Europe.  In this case, the earliest that Fenech's provider would find out that a phone call had taken place was upon receiving CDRs from Europe (enabling it to bill Fenech), which does not happen immediately.

 

The complication is even bigger, as Mrs Fenech did not in fact answer the call, and so the relative CDR may not have been kept or generated.

 

Another way of shedding light on what happened would be if the mobile phone provider for Mrs Fenech retains the signalling messages that are exchanged to initiate, maintain and terminate phone calls, and identify where the incoming call came from, if this is not already shown in some CDR.

 

It would be interesting if this little mystery be resolved.

 

It would be more useful that all those held criminally responsible for the assassination be identified in a way that inspires confidence in the Maltese population.

 

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Dan l-aħħar, sibt ruħi nieħu ħafna iktar interess mis-soltu fl-aħbarijiet minn Malta, speċjalment dawk fuq ġustizzja kriminali.  Bħalma forsi tistgħu tobsru, is-suġġett li kkawża dan l-interess huwa l-qtil makabru tal-ġurnalista Daphne Caruana Galizia tliet snin ilu x-xahar id-dieħel.  Attività kien hemm kemm trid f'dawn l-aħħar xhur, b'inkjesta pubblika fuq l-assassinju, każ kostituzzjonali mill-akkużat Jorgen Fenech kontra l-ispettur prinċipali Keith Arnaud, u l-kumpilazzjoni tal-evidenza kontra l-imsemmi Fenech.

 

Dan huwa dramm li min jaf kemm se jinħadmu films u serje televiżivi fuqu 'l quddiem, b'ismijiet magħrufa fil-ħajja politika ta' Malta u oħrajn li qatt ma ssemmew qabel jinstemgħu taħt ġurament, b'konnessjonijiet li ma kinux magħrufa jitilgħu għad-dawl, li jwasslu għal riżenji ta' ministri u oħrajn, ix-xhud prinċipali allegatament jipprova jagħmel suwiċidju, u tista' tibqa' sejjer.

 

Telenovela sħiħa, fil-ħajja ta' vera.

 

Ftit biss ġranet ilu, ġrat ħaġa kurjuża ħafna, li qajmet furur, ċioe qajmet furur ieħor.  Ġie żvelat li l-mara ta' Fenech, Marlene Fenech, fit-28 ta' Awwissu ta' din is-sena, irċeviet ċempila min-numru tal-mowbajl ta' żewġha, wieħed li kien konfiskat meta kien arrestat fuq id-dgħajsa tiegħu meta kien allegatament se jaħrab mill-pajjiż f'Novembru tal-2019.  Dan il-mowbajl kien qiegħed jinżamm għall-analiżi mill-Europol, l-aġenzija tal-infurzar tal-liġi tal-Unjoni Ewropeja.

 

Il-mistoqsija naturalment tqum kif huwa possibbli li dan il-mowbajl ta' Fenech qed jagħmel telefonati meta suppost qiegħed jinżamm b'mod sigur mill-awtoritajiet.  Il-midja ċertament staqsiet din il-mistoqsija, u d-difiża ta' Fenech għamlet l-istess.1

 

Jekk tassumi li hu minnu li din it-telefonata saret, wieħed irid jgħid li huwa ċertament possibbli li dan sar b'dan il-mod, forsi bi żball, għalkemm dan ikun ifisser nuqqas serju ta' l-infurzar tal-protokolli ta' sigurtà tal-evidenza f'każijiet kriminali.

 

Però bqajt nistenna ftit ieħor biex nara jekk kienx hemm iktar żviluppi, u bqajt sorpriż li l-istorja baqgħet fuq dan il-livell, jiġifieri li kulħadd (talinqas fil-pubbliku) jassumi li din l-allegata telefonata saret mill-mowbajl ta' Jorgen Fenech.

 

Għax fil-fatt hemm possibiltà oħra kif setgħet saret din it-telefonata.

 

Illum hawn ħafna kumpaniji li joffru servizz ta' vuċi li jiġi tterminat fuq telefown konvenzjonali jew mowbajl, imma li jkun inbeda minn fuq l-internet.  Dan is-servizz jissejjaħ VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol).  Kumpaniji ta' dan it-tip, meta klijent jirreġistra magħhom, aktarx joffru l-faċilità li meta ċċempel lil ħaddieħor, dak li jirċievi t-telefonata jkun jista' jara numru konvenzjonali tat-telefown li jsegwi standard internazzjonali tal-ITU (International Telecommunications Union) rreferut bħala E.164, li hija sensiela ta' numri diġitali, l-ewwel ftit jirrappreżentaw il-pajjiż (Malta għandha n-numri 356) imbagħad jiġi n-numru tat-telefown lokali li kulħadd imdorri bih.

 

Dawn il-kumpaniji tal-VOIP, jekk huma serji, jivverifikaw li l-klijenti tagħhom fil-fatt huma s-sidien tan-numri li jridu jużaw (billi per eżempju jċemplulhom lura, jew jibgħatulhom messaġġ SMS), qabel ma jaċċettaw li juru dan in-numru f'telefonati 'l barra li jkunu saru fuq is-sistema VOIP.

 

Allura wieħed jista' faċilment jara xenarji oħra fejn din it-telefonata partikolari lis-Sinjura Fenech setgħet saret.  Per eżempju, Jorgen Fenech seta' diġà kellu kont ma' kumpanija tal-VOIP u kien irreġistra n-numru tat-telefown tiegħu magħha, u xi ħadd uża dan il-kont (bil- jew mingħajr il-permess tiegħu) biex issir din it-telefonata.

 

Xenarju ieħor hu li hemm xi kumpanija tal-VOIP li ma jivverifika l-ebda numru, u xi ħadd malizzjożament irreġistra n-numru tal-mowbajl ta' Fenech u pproċeda billi jagħmel din it-telefonata lill-mara tiegħu.

 

F'każijiet normali, l-iktar mod effiċjenti sabiex jinqata' l-misteru ta' jekk fil-fatt kienx il-mowbajl ta' Fenech li beda t-telefonata fantażma ikun li l-kumpannija li tipprovdi s-servizz ta' Jorgen Fenech tidentifika jekk is-servizz tiegħu kienx għamel is-sejħa, mill-informazzjoni miżmuma ta' kull telefonata (call data records - CDRs).  Il-problema f'dan il-każ hija li mowbajl huwa miżmum mill-Europol, u għalhekk jekk il-mowbajl għandu is-SIM Card ġo fih u nxtegħel, dan ikun qed jopera barra minn daru (roaming) u s-CDRs jiġu ġġenerati minn xi kumpannija tat-telekomunikazzjoni fl-Ewropa.  F'dan il-każ, il-kumpannija ta' Fenech issir taf li saret telefonata biss ladarba tirċievi s-CDRs mill-Ewropa (sabiex tibgħat il-kont lil Fenech), ħaġa li ma ssirx immedjatament.

 

Il-kumplikazzjoni hija ikbar, għax is-sinjura Fenech fil-fatt ma kinetx irrispondiet is-sejħa, u allura s-CDR mhux bilfors inżamm jew ġenerat.

 

Mod ieħor li jista' jitfa' dawl fuq x'ġara huwa jekk il-kumpannija tal-mowbajl tas-Sinjura Fenech iżżomm il-messaġġi (signalling) li jiġu mibdula sabiex jinbdew, jitkomplew u jispiċċaw it-telefonati, u tidentifika minn fejn it-telefonata ġiet, sakemm dan ma jidhirx diġà f'xi CDR.

 

Ikun interessanti jekk dan il-misteru żgħir jiġi solvut.  

 

Ikun iktar utli li dawk kollha meqjusa kriminalment responsabbli għall-assassinju jkunu identifikati b'mod li jispira fiduċja mill-popolazzjoni Maltija kollha.

 

 

1https://lovinmalta.com/news/yorgen-fenechs-confiscated-mobile-phone-made-phone-call-to-his-wife-this-weekend/, retrieved 7/9/2020

1https://lovinmalta.com/news/yorgen-fenechs-confiscated-mobile-phone-made-phone-call-to-his-wife-this-weekend/, retrieved 7/9/2020

We're tired -- Għajjejna

 

What a year!  Towards the end of the previous, we had started hearing about a new infectious and deadly virus, with reports coming only from one place in the world - Wuhan in China.  Perhaps some of you, and I likewise, thought or foolishly hoped that the effects would manage to be limited to that geographical location.

 

It didn't take us long to realise that not only reports were coming out of that location, and perhaps some other locations we're as yet unaware of.  This is because in today's world, or yesterday's to be precise), communications and transport are truly global, and at the same time many people were flying around with the virus but not necessarily displaying symptoms, from there to all corners of the globe, directly or indirectly.

 

Today we are where we are, with millions infected, and hundreds of thousands dead, and amazingly, the highest number of infections and deaths can be found in the country strongest economically, technologically and militarily, that is the United States of America.  The leaders of this country are to this day patting themselves on the back and boasting of their success in dealing with the disease.  We don't need to put a name to these idiots.

 

Many countries have passed through a first barrage, then the second wave arrived.  Most countries shut off substantial parts of their economies so that community transmission of COVID-19 would be minimised, and in the absence of a vaccine, this together with basic precautionary measures such as social distancing, hand washing, mask wearing and isolation are the only weapon we have to avoid becoming infected, or else if already infected avoiding infecting others.

 

Work on coming up with a vaccine is proceeding in many laboratories and medical institutes around the world.  Up to 25th August 2020, there were 31 vaccines in some clinical trial stage, that is being tested on humans, 6 of which being in the third stage, where the candidate vaccine is used on a large number (thousands) of volunteers to establish if they are effective and whether they pose any danger.1

 

Apart from these, there are another 142 candidates that are in the preliminary phase, that is in animal testing.

 

With all this work, there is the hope that at least one of the vaccines is found effective and can be given safely, but this is not guaranteed.  HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), first reported in 1981,2 is to this day without a vaccine, though a therapy exists (ART - antiretroviral therapy)3 that permits infected people to continue living, while a cure is still being researched4, almost 40 years later!

 

It would be extraordinary if a vaccine is found even one year only after the discovery of COVID.  Vladimir Putin, Russia's President, didn't hold back from teasing the Americans when naming the the Gamaleya Research Institute's vaccine candidate Sputnik V, an obvious reference to the fact that the Russians (more precisely, the Soviets) had beaten the Americans into space with their first satellite.  There is a fear that this vaccine hasn't yet passed through sufficient tests before being widely used in the general Russian population.5

 

People are tired.  They're tired of being careful.  They're sick of holding back, locking themselves at home or in their suburbs, working from home (if they have a job).  Some are defying orders made in the interests of public health, even when risking their own personal health and the fear of getting slapped with a fine.

 

Attention is more or less shifting towards the one thing that can give some light onto today's darkness, that is a vaccine.  Some polemics have already started about whether a recommended vaccine should be taken or otherwise.  There are naturally people who are against any type of vaccine (anti-vaxxer).  There are also those against a vaccine developed using some cell line that in the past was part of an abortion, as is the case with the vaccine from Oxford University, one of the 6 most advanced in testing and the one on which the Australian (and Maltese) governments have an agreement for.

 

The objection was made by the Anglican, Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches, in a letter to Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, although it is not clear that they will prohibit their faithful from being vaccinated if the vaccine is 'morally compromised' and ask them to wait for another that isn't.6

 

We, the ones living in this period, will not forget it in a hurry!

 

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X'sena qed ngħaddu minnha, hux?  Lejn tmiem ta' qabilha, konna bdejna nisimgħu b'virus ġdid, infettiv u qattiel, bir-rapporti joħorġu biss minn post wieħed fid-dinja - Wuhan fiċ-Ċina.  Forsi wħud minnkom, u jien ukoll, ħsibna jew ittamajna b'mod fieraħ li l-effetti jirnexxielhom ikunu mrażżna f'dak il-post ġeografiku.

 

Ma tantx domna biex indunajna li mhux ir-rapporti biss kienu ħerġin minn dak il-post, u forsi minn xi postijiet oħra wkoll li ma nafux bihom.  Dan għaliex fid-dinja tal-lum, (jew tal-bieraħ biex inkun preċiż), il-komunikazzjoni u t-trasport huma verament globali, u fl-istess żmien kienu qed itiru ħafna nies bil-virus imma mhux neċessarjament b'sintomi, minn hemm għal kull rokna tad-dinja, direttament jew indirettament.

 

Illum wasalna fejn wasalna, b'miljuni ta' nies infettati, u mijiet tal-eluf mejtin, u ħaġa tal-għaġeb, l-ikbar numru ta' infezzzjonijiet u mwiet jinsabu fl-iktar pajjiż b'saħħtu ekonomikament, teknoloġikament u militarment, jiġifieri l-Istati Uniti tal-Amerka.  Il-mexxejja ta' dan il-pajjiż għadhom sal-ġurnata mqaddsa tal-lum itaptpu lilhom infushom fuq daharhom u jiftaħru x'suċċess qed ikollhom fit-trażżin tal-marda.  M'hemmx għalfejn insemmuhom b'isimhom dawn l-idjoti.

 

Ħafna pajjiżi għaddew mill-ewwel burraxka, imbagħad ġiet it-tieni mewġa.  Il-maġġoranza tal-pajjiżi tfew partijiet sostanzjali mill-ekonomiji tagħhom sabiex it-tifrix komunitarju tal-COVID-19 jitrażżan, u f'nuqqas ta' vaċċin, din flimkien ma' miżuri ta' prekawzjoni bażiċi bħad-dbegħid minn xulxin, l-ħasil tajjeb tal-idejn, l-ilbies tal-maskri u l-iżolament huma l-uniku arma li għandna biex nippruvaw ma nitteħdux, jew jekk aħna infettati ma ninfettawx lil ħaddieħor.

 

Xogħol fuq il-vaċċini qed isir f'ħafna laboratorji u istituti tal-mediċina madwar id-dinja.  Sal-25 ta' Awwissu 2020, kien hemm 31 vaċċini li kienu f'xi istadju kliniku, jiġifieri li qiegħdin jiġu ttestjati fuq in-nies, 6 minnhom qiegħdin fit-tielet stadju, dak fejn il-vaċċin kandidat jintuża fuq numru kbir (eluf) ta' voluntieri biex jiġi stabbilit jekk humiex effikaċi u jekk mhumiex perikolużi.1

 

Apparti minn dawn, hemm ukoll 142 kandidat ieħor li għadhom fl-istadju preliminarju, jiġifieri fejn it-testijiet isiru fl-annimali.

 

B'dan ix-xogħol kollu, hemm it-tama li talinqas wieħed mill-vaċċini jinstab effettiv u li jista' jingħata b'siġurtà, imma dan mhux garantit.  Il-virus tal-HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), li rapporti fuqu ssemmew għall-ewwel darba fl-1981,2 għadu sal-lum m'għandux vaċċin, imma teżisti terapija (ART - antiretroviral therapy)3 li tippermetti lil dawk infettati li jkomplu jgħixu, filwaqt li l-kura għadha qed tiġi riċerkata4, kważi 40 sena wara!

 

Ikun straordinarju jekk jinstab vaċċin imqar sena biss wara s-sejbien tal-COVID.  Vladimir Putin, il-President tar-Russja, ma qagħadx lura milli jinki lill-Amerikani meta semma lill-vaċċin kandidat mill-Istitut ta' Riċerka Gamaleya, wieħed mill-31 kandidat imsemmi qabel, bħala Sputnik V, referenza ovvja għall-fatt li r-Russji (iktar preċiżament, is-Sovjetiċi) kienu għaddew lill-Amerikani fl-ewwel satellita li kienet ittellgħet fl-ispazju.  Hemm il-biża' li dan il-vaċċin għadu ma għaddiex minn biżżejjed testijiet qabel ma jibda jintuża b'mod wiesgħa fil-popolazzjoni ġenerali Russa.5

 

In-nies għajjew.  Għajjew jiftakru li jridu joqogħdu attenti.  Xebgħu joqogħdu lura, wħud jissakkru ġod-dar u/jew fis-subborgi tagħhom, jaħdmu mid-dar (jekk għad għandhom impjieg).  Hemm min jisfida l-ordijiet li jsiru fl-interess tas-saħħa pubblika, anke b'riskju għal saħħithom personalment u anke l-biża' li jlaqqtu xi ċitazzjoni sħuna sħuna.

 

L-attenzjoni xi ftit jew wisq bdiet iddur fuq dik il-ħaġa li tista' tagħti xi xaqq ta' dawl fid-dlam tal-lum, ċjoe vaċċin.  Diġà bdew il-polemiċi fuq jekk vaċċin li jkun rakkomandat, għandux jittieħed.  Hemm naturalment dawk li huma kontra kull vaċċin (anti-vaxxer).  Imbagħad hemm dawk li huma kontra vaċċin li ġie żviluppat minn xi linja ta' ċelluli li kienet parti minn abort, bħal ma hu l-vaċċin tal-Università ta' Oxford, wieħed mis-sitta l-iktar avvanzati fit-testijiet u li l-gvern Awstraljan (u dak Malti) għandu ftehim għalih.

 

L-oġġezzjoni saret mill-knejjes Anglikani, Kattolika u Ortodossa Griega, f'ittra lill-Prim Ministru Awstraljan Scott Morrison, għalkemm mhux ċar li se jipprojbixxu lill-fidili tat-twemmin milli jkun vaċċinati jekk il-vaċċin ikun 'moralment kompromess' u jitolbuhom jistennew ieħor li ma jkunx.6

 

Aħna li qed ngħixu f'dan il-perjodu, m'aħniex se ninsewh kif ġieb u laħaq!

 

 

1https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/draft-landscape-of-covid-19-candidate-vaccines, retrieved 27/8/2020

2https://npin.cdc.gov/pages/hiv-and-aids-timeline#1980, retrieved 27/8/2020

3https://www.contagionlive.com/publications/contagion/2020/june/how-close-are-we-to-a-cure-for-hiv, retrieved 27/8/2020

4https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/26/health/hiv-cure.html, retrieved 27/8/2020

5https://theconversation.com/russias-coronavirus-vaccine-hasnt-been-fully-tested-doling-it-out-risks-side-effects-and-false-protection-144347, retrieved 27/8/2020

6https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-25/sydney-archbishop-questions-ethics-of-potential-covid-vaccine/12591286, retrieved 27/8/2020

1https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/draft-landscape-of-covid-19-candidate-vaccines, retrieved 27/8/2020

2https://npin.cdc.gov/pages/hiv-and-aids-timeline#1980, retrieved 27/8/2020

3https://www.contagionlive.com/publications/contagion/2020/june/how-close-are-we-to-a-cure-for-hiv, retrieved 27/8/2020

4https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/26/health/hiv-cure.html, retrieved 27/8/2020

5https://theconversation.com/russias-coronavirus-vaccine-hasnt-been-fully-tested-doling-it-out-risks-side-effects-and-false-protection-144347, retrieved 27/8/2020

6https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-25/sydney-archbishop-questions-ethics-of-potential-covid-vaccine/12591286, retrieved 27/8/2020