Ford car wrests control of steering

9 October 2013 Last updated at 11:01 ET By Leo Kelion Technology reporter

A car that takes control of the steering wheel when it detects the risk of a collision is being tested at a research facility in Germany.

Ford said the Obstacle Avoidance system first warned the driver of danger and then took charge if they did not react.

The firm said the equipment had been fitted to one of its Focus-branded vehicles as part of a project involving other carmakers and suppliers.

One analyst said it was a staging post on the route to "driverless cars".

The system scans up to 200m (650ft) ahead by using three radars, a number of ultrasonic sensors and a camera, which are all installed in the vehicle.

An additional built-in display shows a warning sign and sounds a chime. Then, if necessary, it applies the brakes, scans for a gap in the road ahead, and steers to avoid a crash.

"You're driving down the road and a pedestrian or something comes out from either side of your vehicle from your peripheral vision where you don't have a good look at it," said Bard Samardzich, vice-president of product development at Ford's European division.

"Obstacle Avoidance can sense that the pedestrian or that object is coming across the front of your vehicle. If it doesn't sense you responding accordingly in your vehicle by braking or manoeuvring, it will take over."

The firm showed off the tech at a facility in Lommel, Belgium, earlier this week.

Safety race

The new technology builds on safety features already offered by Ford.

Last year it introduced Lane Keeping Alert, a feature that vibrates the wheel - but does not take control - if it detects the driver is drifting out of a lane without using an indicator.

Ford's existing Active City Stop facility also aims to reduce the severity of collisions by applying the brakes if it detects an object in front of the vehicle. But it works only if the object is static or travelling less than 30km/h (19mph) faster than the car.

By contrast, the company said the new tech was being tested at speeds of over 60 km/h (38mph).

Other manufactures involved in the project at Aachen include BMW, Fiat, Daimler, Volvo and Volkswagen. They will share data from the tests to develop systems of their own.

Volvo - which is owned by China's Geely - has already introduced its own pedestrian and cyclist alert system, which sounds an alarm and applies the brakes. The firm told the BBC in March that it was now adapting the system so it would soon be able to recognise animals.

'Significant step'

There may be resistance from some to the idea of a car taking control from its driver.

But Ford points out that fewer than one-third of all drivers involved in rear-end collisions had attempted to steer clear of the accident, according to data collected by Germany's Federal Statistical Office.

With that in mind, one independent analyst said it should not be too hard for manufacturers to convince motorists of the innovation's benefit.

"The logic behind the technology is impeccable - anything that can avoid a potentially dangerous situation that can cause injury or death sounds like a good piece of equipment," said Tim Urquhart, senior analyst at consultants IHS Automotive.

"Obviously it will come at a price. But there will be less resistance to a piece of technology like this than there will be to the concept of totally driverless cars.

"But autonomous vehicles are already being tested by Google, Daimler and others, and taking steering control in an emergency situation is obviously a pretty significant step along the road."

Ford said more tests were needed and it was not yet ready to announce a launch date for its Obstacle Avoidance system.

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Samsung launches curved-screen phone

9 October 2013 Last updated at 07:56 ET

Samsung Electronics, the world's best-selling smartphone maker, has launched a handset with a curved display screen.

Called the Galaxy Round, the smartphone will feature a 5.7in (14.5cm) display.

The launch comes just days after rival LG said it would begin production of curved-screen phones next year.

Digital display technology has been progressing towards curved screens. Both Samsung and LG already offer curved organic light-emitting diode (OLED) television sets.

Continue reading the main story

Leo Kelion Technology reporter

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Samsung's launch of a curved phone gives it bragging rights.

The South Korean firm has beaten its rival LG by at least a few months to offer a handset featuring flexible-screen tech.

LG had previously pipped its competitor to the post by being the first to sell a curved TV.

However, the question remains why consumers should want this tech.

One of the big appeals of using a flexible display is that it should be less prone to damage than the rigid version in a traditional handset.

But because the battery in the Galaxy Round remains stiff, the device has a fixed shape and it is not yet clear whether it will in fact be less vulnerable to drops or pressure.

So it may be the case that an announcement on Tuesday by LG's chemicals division could ultimately prove more significant.

It said that it had begun mass production of both curved batteries and ones that come in the form of flexible cables.

The age of the bendy phone still awaits us.

Samsung said the curved screen display would help consumers use some of the features on the phone, including those that enable users to check information such as date, time and missed calls when home screen is off, with more ease.

At the same time, users can also change music tracks on their phone, even while its display is off.

The Galaxy Round will initially be launched only in South Korea. The firm gave no indication of its plans for a global launch.

'Internet of Things'

The global smartphone market has been growing rapidly.

According to research firm CCS Insight, worldwide smartphone sales will hit nearly one billion in 2013 - accounting for more than half the total of 1.7 billion mobile phones sold.

As as result, smartphone manufacturers have been keen to offer new products to win consumers.

With display technology moving towards flexible and bendy screens, it is one area that companies have been looking at.

Some analysts said that while the initial offering of curved-screen phones may not see huge sales, the segment of flexible displays was one to keep an eye on.

"These phones may not be a game-changer today, but they are definitely an indication of things to come," Manoj Menon, managing director of consulting firm Frost & Sullivan, told the BBC.

"Flexible displays have a huge role to play as the market place for 'internet of things' grows."

This refers to the idea that many things in homes or offices - not just typical computers - will soon be connected to the internet.

The sector is tipped by many to be a major industry in the near future.

Mr Menon said that as flexible screens became more advanced and cost-effective to make, it was likely to speed up growth in the sector.

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Four arrested over Silk Road links

8 October 2013 Last updated at 05:57 ET

Four men have been arrested in the UK over their role in illegal online marketplace Silk Road.

Three men in their early 20s were arrested in Manchester while a fourth man, in his 50s, was detained in Devon.

The men were initially arrested on suspicion of drug offences. More arrests are expected in the coming weeks.

Such sites would be a "key priority" for the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA), its director general said.

The Silk Road, one of the world's largest websites selling illegal drugs, has now been closed down.

Ross Ulbricht, the alleged operator of the site was arrested in San Francisco by the FBI at the beginning of October.

Last week 40-year-old Steven Lloyd Sadler was arrested in Seattle. He is alleged to be one of the most prolific sellers on the Silk Road.

Clear message

Continue reading the main story

Silk Road took its name from the historic trade routes spanning Europe, Asia and parts of Africa.

News reports and other internet chatter helped it become notorious. However, most users would not have been able to stumble upon the site as the service could only be accessed through a service called Tor - a facility that routes traffic through many separate encrypted layers of the net to hide data identifiers.

Tor was invented by the US Naval Research Laboratory and has subsequently been used by journalists and free speech campaigners, among others, to safeguard people's anonymity.

But it has also been used as a means to hide illegal activities, leading it to be dubbed "the dark web".

Payments for goods on Silk Road were made with the virtual currency Bitcoin, which can be hard to monitor.

Court documents from the FBI said the site had just under a million registered users, but investigators said they did not know how many were active.

Earlier this year Carnegie Mellon University estimated that over $1.22m (£786,000) worth of trading took place on the Silk Road every month.

The site operated on Tor, a so-called "dark web" service that anonymises users, making it much more difficult for authorities to track locations. Such areas of the internet are not covered by standard search engines.

The site sold a range of items, but was most famous for offering a host of illegal drugs, paid for using virtual currency Bitcoin.

Keith Bristow, the NCA's director general, warned that users who think they can hide their identity on the internet need to think again.

"These arrests send a clear message to criminals; the hidden internet isn't hidden and your anonymous activity isn't anonymous. We know where you are, what you are doing and we will catch you."

"It is impossible for criminals to completely erase their digital footprint. No matter how technology-savvy the offender, they will always make mistakes."

Exeter-based officers worked closely with American law enforcement officers to identify significant UK users of the Silk Road.

It is hoped that the investigation will give them insights into how criminals use the dark net.

"These criminal areas of the internet aren't just selling drugs; it's where fraud takes place, where the trafficking of people and goods is discussed, where child abuse images are exchanged and firearms are traded," said Andy Archibald, head of the NCA's national cybercrime unit.

The Silk Road may now be defunct but it seems that users are planning to resurrect the service.

Technology news site TechCrunch reports that Silk Road version 2 could be "ready to launch".

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Disney tests 'tactile' touchscreen

8 October 2013 Last updated at 07:30 ET

Disney researchers have found a way for people to "feel" the texture of objects seen on a flat touchscreen.

The technique involves sending tiny vibrations through the display that let people "feel" the shallow bumps, ridges and edges of an object.

The vibrations fooled fingers into believing they were touching a textured surface, said the Disney researchers.

The vibration-generating algorithm should be easy to add to existing touchscreen systems, they added.

Developed by Dr Ali Israr and colleagues at Disney's research lab in Pittsburgh, the vibrational technique re-creates what happens when a finger tip passes over a real bump.

"Our brain perceives the 3D bump on a surface mostly from information that it receives via skin stretching," said Ivan Poupyrev, head of the interaction research group in Pittsburgh.

To fool the brain into thinking it is touching a real feature, the vibrations imparted via the screen artificially stretch the skin on a fingertip so a bump is felt even though the touchscreen surface is smooth.

The researchers have developed an underlying algorithm that can be used to generate textures found on a wide variety of objects.

A video depicting the system in action shows people feeling apples, jellyfish, pineapples, a fossilised trilobite as well as the hills and valleys on a map.

The more pronounced the feature, the greater the vibration is needed to mimic its feel.

The vibration system should be more flexible than existing systems used to give tactile feedback on touchscreens, which typically used a library of canned effects, said Dr Israr.

"With our algorithm we do not have one or two effects, but a set of controls that make it possible to tune tactile effects to a specific visual artefact on the fly," he added.

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BBC plans to help get UK coding

8 October 2013 Last updated at 08:01 ET

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BBC director general Tony Hall outlines his plans to get Britain coding in 2015.

The BBC's director general, Tony Hall, has announced plans to "bring coding into every home, business and school in the UK".

It comes 30 years on from a BBC push to make computing mainstream by putting BBC Micro computers in the majority of schools.

In a speech to staff, Mr Hall said that the initiative would launch in 2015.

"We want to inspire a new generation to get creative with coding, programming and digital technology," he said.

Government and technology experts are becoming increasingly worried that vital computing skills are no longer being taught in schools.

Meanwhile interest in higher-education IT and computing courses is falling, giving rise to fears about a massive skills gap.

Continue reading the main story

From September 2014 children in schools in England will start learning computer coding from the age of five, so today's announcement from the BBC is timely.

After mounting criticism of ICT as a subject concentrating on office skills rather than anything more in-depth, the government acted to scrap the curriculum in search of something better.

From Codecademy to Raspberry Pi to CoderDojo, all kinds of initiatives are springing up with the aim of transforming the way children understand computers.

But there's a problem - many teachers feel they lack the skills and the materials needed to teach coding.

Exactly how the BBC's year of coding will work is still to be decided - but there may be a role in acting as the glue to bring all these different initiatives together.

The Corporation will have to be careful that it doesn't tread on anyone's toes - one previous educational venture BBC Jam had to be cancelled after complaints from commercial companies.

But if the BBC can use its creativity to make coding cool that could have a big impact, giving the UK skills that are vital for a modern economy.

This term a new computer science curriculum has been introduced to schools in England, and Education Minister Michael Gove has made it clear that he wants to see coding taught as a priority.

Ralph Rivera, director of future media at the BBC, said: "The BBC has played a hugely important role in inspiring a generation of digital and technology leaders in the past, and now it's time to reignite that creativity."

"We want to transform the nation's ability and attitude towards coding," he added.

Modern geek

Details of the programme were limited, but the BBC said that it would partner with government, educators and technology companies.

"From working with children and young people, to stimulating a national conversation about digital creativity, the BBC will help audiences embrace technology and get creative," the corporation said in a blog post.

A range of tools would be made available to give people "the skills to solve problems, tell stories and build new business in the digital world", it added.

Experts appearing in a video to accompany the speech, agreed that action was needed.

Martha Lane Fox, charged with getting more people online via her organisation Go on UK, said: "We are going to need a million more people who can work in the technology sector over the next 10 years. We don't have them. We've got to help to encourage people to go into that sector."

Meanwhile, Eben Upton - founder of the Raspberry Pi budget computer project - said he looked forward to seeing how the scheme developed.

"A generation of UK developers got their start thanks to the original BBC Computer Literacy Project and the BBC Micro," he said.

"This initiative represents a welcome return to computing education from the organisation that was responsible for my interest in the subject."

Competition

However, the comparison of the project to the BBC Micro raises potential controversy.

The broadcaster's decision to partner with Acorn Computers three decades ago angered Sir Clive Sinclair as he prepared to launch a rival machine, the ZX Spectrum.

"They are marvellous at making programmes and so on, but by God they should not be making computers, any more than they should be making BBC cars or BBC toothpaste," he told Practical Computing magazine in 1982.

"They were able to get away with making computers because none of us had sufficient power or pull with the government to put over just what a damaging action that was. They had the unmitigated gall to think that they could set a standard - the BBC language. It is just sheer arrogance on their part."

However, Apps for Good - an organisation which has helped students research, design and make software for three years - was not concerned by the new scheme.

"The BBC is entering a market where there's a number of players, but players who already work quite collaboratively," said Debbie Forster, the organisation's chief operating officer.

"Because there is such a big issue at stake and it is so important to so many different organisations what we are finding is that partnerships are formed more easily and more positively.

"Obviously the devil is in the detail in making it work - it always is - but it's a fascinating space and we look forward to hearing more and would be delighted for the BBC to join forces with everyone who is in here doing something."

Learning Tree International - a firm which makes money from running programming training courses - was also unworried about the idea of the BBC becoming a competitor.

"From the point of view of getting people more inspired about IT and into that world, as such, it can only be a positive thing," said the firm's marketing director Christian Trounce.

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Jony Ive designs one-off camera

9 October 2013 Last updated at 05:48 ET

If you've ever wondered what an iCamera might look like, a Jony Ive-designed Leica might offer a few hints.

Apple's feted design chief teamed up with industrial designer Marc Newson to create the device as a bespoke item for a charity auction.

While some may want to see it go into wider production, the amount of work that went into it means that the price would be out of reach for most.

It is expected to fetch between $500,000 (£312,000) and $750,000.

The special edition Leica M camera features an anodised aluminium case with tens of thousands of individual perforations.

The camera took 85 days and more than 735 hours to manufacture.

During that time more than 550 models and 1,000 prototype parts were made and tested; 55 engineers worked on the process.

As for the specifications under the bonnet, it is similar to the standard $7,000 Leica and features a 24-megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor and comes with a 50mm f/2 aperture lens.

The RED charity, founded by U2's Bono, will host the auction in New York on November 23. All proceeds will go to the Global Fund to fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Other items to be auctioned include a grand piano picked by the two designers, gold Apple earbuds and a cosmonaut suit.

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BBC Playlister service goes live

9 October 2013 Last updated at 07:30 ET

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Senior executives from YouTube, Spotify and Deezer explain why the companies have decided to collaborate on the BBC's new Playlister service

A beta version of the BBC Playlister, a new digital service that allows listeners to tag any piece of music they hear on the BBC and listen to it later, has gone live.

BBC Radio 1's Zane Lowe claimed the project puts the BBC "at the heart of what is happening now".

"The whole essence of radio is to communicate: To be able to say 'I love this song'.

"Now we can really listen to what [the audience] is into and what they love."

The aim of Playlister is to give audiences an easy way to find out what music is being played on BBC Radio networks (and, later, on BBC TV shows) and to listen to it again.

From Wednesday, every song played on BBC radio will be made listed on the relevant programme website.

Anyone with a BBC account can click an "add this" button to add tracks to a personal playlist, and export them to a outside streaming service, such as YouTube, Deezer and Spotify, where they can be played back in full.

The homepage of the Playlister website also lists the BBC's most recently-played songs, as well as the most popular or most searched-for music.

Mark Friend, BBC controller for multi-platform radio and music, said the service was "easy to use [and] accessible for everyone", adding that it would "join up your BBC experiences with the music experiences you have on the rest of the internet".

Presenter playlists

The launch comes one year on from the launch of BBC iPlayer radio, which "brought together all of the music and the radio from the BBC into one online product... and transformed the BBC's role in digital music," he said.

Following the initial Playlister launch on Wednesday, further developments will include the launch of the same functions within the iPlayer radio app, broadening the Playlister to include number of TV programmes - such as Strictly Come Dancing and The Voice - and the introduction of presenter playlists.

The presenter playlist will allow BBC DJs and presenters "to be able to curate their own chosen music and present that to the audience" within the Playlister function.

"It's about enhancing people's music experience," explained Mark Foster, of Deezer, one of the BBC Playlister's commercial partners.

"A service like ours has 25 million tracks... being able to use trusted curators, like Zane, is all about building trust, building confidence and helping people navigate through this fantastic selection of music that we have."

"The ability to discover music and follow people whose musical taste has really shaped yours is going to add a really level of texture to our services," echoed Chris Maples, of fellow commercial partner Spotify.

Playlister "will influence the way we make radio," said Lowe, adding, "the traffic goes both ways; communication between presenters and the audience becomes very direct.

"Playlister gives the BBC a chance to do that globally, which is a big part of what the BBC's future."

"People want to keep up-to-date," added Maples. "What's really cool about this is that I can take the perceived cool of Zane and add it to my playlist."

Statistics suggest that last year, more than 26 million people listened to music on the BBC radio network every single week and nearly 50 million watched some music from the BBC.

"Audiences want an easy way to find out and remember the music they hear on our programmes and to get good music recommendations," said Mr Friend

"Playlister presents a huge creative opportunity, not just to the audience, but also to us the programme-makers."

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Malware mastermind suspect arrested

9 October 2013 Last updated at 08:00 ET

Russian police have reportedly arrested a man on suspicion of masterminding two infamous hacking tools.

He is suspected of being the man behind the alias Paunch - the nickname used by the creator of the Blackhole and Cool exploit kits, sold to cybercriminals to infect web users with malware.

The Russian authorities have not confirmed the details.

But security firms said they had already detected a decline in the programs' use.

A spokesman for the law enforcement agency Europol told the BBC: "Europol and the European Cybercrime Centre has been informed that a high-level suspected cyber criminal has been arrested.

"We can only refer you to the Russian authorities, they are the ones who should speak about this topic."

The Russian police's press office said it had nothing to add at this time.

However, Alexander Gostev, chief security expert at the Moscow-based internet protection provider Kaspersky Lab, said the arrest had been confirmed to him by "anonymous sources".

Spreading malware

The Blackhole kit, released in 2010, dominated the crimeware market throughout 2012 and the start of 2013, according to Fraser Howard, a researcher at the anti-virus company Sophos.

He said the code had been sold for an annual licence of $1,500 (£940) or could be rented from its creator for $200 (£125) for one week's use, among other price plans.

The software targeted a range of vulnerabilities in the Java programming language, Adobe's Flash media player, Windows software and PDF files.

It had two ways of doing this:

• adding malicious code to hundreds of thousands of legitimate websites, which then copied malware to visitors computers
• creating links in spam messages to specially created sites that infected PCs

Among the malware downloaded was:

• fake anti-virus software that falsely claimed the PC was infected and urged the user to pay a fee to remove viruses
• Trojans that attempted to steal financial records stored on the PC
• the ZeroAccess rootkit, which downloaded other software that hijacked the PC for use in a botnet - a facility used to overwhelm websites with traffic and force them offline
• key loggers that took a record of what was typed on the PC
• ransomware that attempted to blackmail the PC owner

Although Mr Howard said Blackhole was once the biggest threat of its kind, he added that in recent months it had been overshadowed by rival kits, including Sweet Orange and Neutrino.

According to the researcher, the Blackhole and Cool kits put together were only involved in about 4% of all malware detected by Sophos in August, down from 28% the previous year.

The figure had since dropped to 2% in recent days, he added.

Another independent security blogger stressed that the arrest was still significant.

"If it's true that the brains behind the Blackhole has been apprehended it's a very big deal - a real coup for the cybercrime-fighting authorities, and hopefully cause disruption to the development of one of the most notorious exploit kits the web has ever seen," said Graham Cluley.

"However, it's worth remembering that nature abhors a vacuum, and there would surely be other online criminals waiting to take their place, promoting their alternative exploit kits and malicious code."

Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at F-Secure, agreed.

"If indeed it is Paunch that they arrested, that is a major arrest - he is a big deal," he told the BBC.

"He was clearly the biggest player in providing exploit kits - not just by selling them, but also renting and leasing them to online criminals.

"Both Blackhole and its successor Cool have been very popular.

"Users didn't have to be very technical to operate them - there was a manual that came with them - they just had to get them running and be able to break into a high-profile website, or create a new one from scratch, to install something bad on your computer."

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Panasonic 'to quit' plasma TV sector

9 October 2013 Last updated at 09:46 ET

Panasonic, the Japanese electronics company, is to stop production of plasma TV screens in 2014, according to reports.

The company will close its plasma screen factory in Amagasaki and put it up for sale next year, Nikkei business daily and Reuters have said.

Panasonic's plasma TV division made huge losses in recent years.

But a Panasonic spokesman told the BBC: "Nothing has been decided at this stage."

Other electronics companies, such as Hitachi and Pioneer, have already pulled out of the sector.

In its last financial year, Panasonic's plasma screen division made a loss of 754bn yen (£4.85bn), following a 772bn yen loss the previous year.

This is despite the fact that its plasma TVs are critically acclaimed, with the European Imaging Sound Association voting Panasonic's Viera TX-P60ZT65 European home cinema TV of the year 2013-2014.

Underperforming

Plasma screens, which use electrically charged ionised gases, are praised for their brightness, deep blacks, and rich colour displays, but tend to use more electricity than other screen technologies.

"In the last two or three years plasma TVs have lost most of the advantages they had to LCD [liquid crystal display] TVs," said Tom Morrod, senior director of consumer electronics at research company IHS.

"We're forecasting that they will be gone completely by 2018."

Panasonic president Kazuhiro Tsuga's is focused on jettisoning underperforming divisions and concentrating on higher-margin products in a bid to return the group to profitability.

Panasonic, along with its domestic rivals Sharp and Sony, have all struggled to cope with falling electronics prices and stiff competition from South Korean and Taiwanese manufacturers.

Meanwhile, new screen technologies, such as LCD, organic light emitting diode (OLED), and the most recent ultra-high-definition 4K standard, may have hastened plasma's demise.

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Guardian plans more Snowden leaks

9 October 2013 Last updated at 12:01 ET

Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger says he plans to publish more revelations from Edward Snowden despite MI5 warning that such disclosures cause enormous damage.

Mr Rusbridger insisted the paper was right to publish files leaked by the US intelligence analyst and had helped to prompt a necessary and overdue debate.

His comments come after criticism from the new head of MI5, Andrew Parker.

Making public the "reach and limits" of intelligence-gathering techniques gave terrorists the advantage, he said.

Mr Snowden, a former CIA contractor, fled to Russia with a wealth of secret data including some 58,000 files from GCHQ, Britain's electronic eavesdropping agency.

The stories that followed in the Guardian newspaper, based on material provided by Mr Snowden, revealed the huge capacity of British and US intelligence agencies - GCHQ and NSA - to monitor communications.

Mr Rusbridger said more stories would be published in the future as the leaked documents were "slowly and responsibly" worked through.

Continue reading the main story

If Parliament's not going to have this discussion and if the courts can only do this in private then I think absolutely it falls to the press to stimulate a discussion"

End Quote Alan Rusbridger Guardian editor

In his first public speech since his appointment to director general in April, Mr Parker said intelligence gathered by GCHQ had played a vital role in stopping many UK terrorist plots over the past decade.

Without mentioning Mr Snowden by name, he said ''it causes enormous damage to make public the reach and limits of GCHQ techniques".

He warned that terrorists now had tens of thousands of means of communication "through e-mail, IP telephony, in-game communication, social networking, chat rooms, anonymising services and a myriad of mobile apps".

Mr Parker said it was vital for MI5 to retain the capability to access such information if it was to protect the country.

Mr Rusbridger said those on the security side of the argument wanted to keep everything secret and did not want a debate.

"You don't want the press or anyone else writing about it. But MI5 cannot be the only voice in the debate," he told BBC Radio 4's World at One.

He added that his newspaper had revealed the "extent to which entire populations are now being potentially put under surveillance".

"I just spent a week in America where everybody is talking about this, from the president down."

He added: "It's quite surprising to me that the number of MPs in this country who have said anything at all in the last four months can be counted on one hand - Malcolm Rifkind, Tom Watson, David Davis.

"So, if Parliament's not going to have this discussion and if the courts can only do this in private then I think absolutely it falls to the press to stimulate a discussion, which as I say, throughout America, throughout Europe, is one that the public are intensely interested in."

Asked about Mr Parker's suggestion that publishing the documents was helping terrorists, Mr Rusbridger said: "They will always say that. You read histories of intelligence and you go back to the 1990s and the security people were saying the same."

The independent MP Patrick Mercer said intelligence data should not be published if it compromised public security.

"If in any way our security is compromised by revealing too much, that's a mistake. Just imagine if we had revealed the whole Enigma secret during the Second World War.

"That might have been in the public's interest - but we'd have lost the war."

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