Media coverage in conjunction with the news media phone hacking scandal unaware of phone hacking. The newspaper was encouraged earlier that year by "The Guardian" to investigate and report on phone hacking. The NY Times reported the disclosures made by "The Guardian" regarding Milly Dowler's hacked phone on the same day "The Guardian" article appeared. The Independent; (5 July 2011) "The Independent" covered "The Guardian's" story about Milly Dowler the same day. The newspaper also followed up with investigative reporting and published an article 22 September 2011 reporting that, within weeks of the arrests of Clive Goodman and Glenn Mulcaire in August 2006, "a senior police officer" advised Rebekah Brooks there
Phone hacking phone companies for relying on outdated encryption techniques in the 2G system, and said that the problem could be fixed very easily. Phone hacking, being a form of surveillance, is illegal in many countries unless it is carried out as lawful interception by a government agency. In the News International phone hacking scandal, private investigator Glenn Mulcaire was found to have violated the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. He was sentenced to six months in prison in January 2007. Renewed controversy over the phone hacking claims led to the closure of the "News of the World" in July 2011.