Carnivore Update

A reader writes: "Yahoo has a news item about the continued use of DCS-1000 AKA Carnivore. Looks like it's being used more than ever, and some privacy groups are still fighting in court for more disclosure about its use."

Comments

Re:Huh?

[knulleke]

> How does that work, exactly? Does Earthlink force you to use military-grade encryption prior to subscribing?

Yes. Earthlink will assess if your computer can do 100Mhz push-ups.

Don't trust 'em

[visualight]

"While EarthLink had resisted Carnivore deployment on its network prior to the attacks, an EarthLink spokesperson told NewsFactor shortly afterward that he assumed every large ISP in the country had been contacted by the FBI and that all of them were cooperating."

"Carnivore is not deployed on our network," Shaw said. "We certainly do comply with law enforcement, but we do so in a way that does not compromise our users' privacy."

I have to wonder if "cooperating" with law enforcement means not only allowing access to the FBI and Carnivore but also making the public statement "Carnivore is not deployed on our network".

I wouldn't make any assumptions of privacy no matter what ISP you use.

Mostly Harmless

[Alien54]

Speaking of Carnivore: for 3 months, just after September 11th. I noticed that all of my traffic was being routed through Arlington VA. This stopped about two months ago. Now my packets travel normally, (no Arlington node in every traceorute). Was that Carnivore? If it was, doesn't that violate Free Speech?

It was probably the NSA, until they put you into the category of "Mostly Harmless"

Which is what I think they did with most the geek community.

Classify it as "Mostly Harmless"

Carnivore is doomed....

[twoslice]

Just use ROT13 to encrypt your messages and your messages will be safe from prying eyes...

Re:Carnivore is doomed....

[Maran]

"Just use ROT13 to encrypt your messages and your messages will be safe from prying eyes..."

Here's a (potentially dumb-ass) thought: If you did that, could you sue the FBI for breaking your encryption, under the DMCA?

Watching the secret-paranoid-government and the corporate-money-government going at each other sounds like fun ^_^

Maran

Re:Carnivore is doomed....

[Tackhead]

> Unfortunately, no, you can't. Law enforcement is specificially exempted from the DMCA.

If CBDTPA has a similar exemption, that sounds like the beginning of a great recruitment campaign for the FBI!

"Were you good with computers? Remember how much fun it was to have a real computer on your desk? Want to use a computer again? The FBI is recruiting people who were good with computers. The pay ain't great, but the fringe benefits are great. Imagine having a real computer on your desk again. No other organization can offer that! Send your resume today!"

Keywords

[Captain Large Face]

FBI Headquarters, Director's Office, Present:

DATA ANALYST: Good Afternoon, Sir. Here is the latest report from Carnivore.

FBI DIRECTOR: Who the fuck is this Bernard Shifman?

DATA ANALYST: He's a moron spammer, sir. We're trying to get his e-mails excluded as we speak.

Re:Huh?

[billcopc]

"Carnivore is not deployed on our network,"

Actually, we just have an FBI agent sitting at a desk looking for kiddie pr0n 10 hours a day. It turns out the coffee and donuts cost less than a bunch of hard drives changed weekly. Who would have guessed?!

Re:my packets

[Tackhead]

> Also, the NSA and FBI don't have millions of people on staff to do this. They've been paying lots of overtime in the past six months, and they're still way behind in the work.
>
> Why don't you send them a resume?

"The NSA is now funding research not only in cryptography, but in all areas of advanced mathematics. If you'd like a circular describing these new research opportunities, just pick up your phone, call your mother, and ask for one."

- Seen in a .sig on USENET ;-)