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FBI Remotely Installs Spyware to Trace Bomb Threat
cnet-declan writes "There have been rumors for years about the FBI remotely installing spyware via e-mail or by exploiting an operating system vulnerability from afar — and now there's confirmation. Last month, the FBI obtained a federal court order to remotely install spyware called CIPAV (Computer and Internet Protocol Address Verifier) to find out who was behind a MySpace account linked to bomb threats sent to a high school near Olympia, Wash. News.com has posted a PDF of the FBI affidavit, which makes for interesting reading, and a summary of the CIPAV results that the FBI submitted to a magistrate judge. It seems as though CIPAV was installed via e-mail, as an article back in 2004 hinted was the case. In addition to reporting the computer's IP address, MAC address, and registry information, it also gave the FBI updates on which IP addresses the user(s) visited. But how did the FBI get the spyware activated and past anti-virus defenses? Two obvious ways are for the Feds to find and exploit their own operating system backdoors, or to compromise security vendors..."
... FBI (and some if-it-will-save-one-child-it-is-worth-it legislators) demand all the OS vendors to install backdoors so that it can come in and install whatever spyware it wants to be installed?
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
My guess is that nothing quite so sophisticated was necessary since the user downloaded and ran an unknown attachment from an email message
Would it even be necessary to compromise security vendors? While heuristics and malware detection has been something long promised, it is my understanding that the vast majority of security software works purely by comparing against their dictionary of known attacks. If the police have highly specialized, very limited deployment spyware, it seems that most security software wouldn't have any inkling that it's malware in the first place.
I have no doubt that organized crime and government agencies are aware of and abusing exploits. Given that they don't blast it to the world like a giddy teenager looking for attention, no one knows what to look for.
"Thank you. You just made hacking a whole lot easier."
The Germans already proposed something like that. It was retracted when they realized that it pretty much opens the door to any kind of espionage, and that this could quickly turn AGAINST them.
No backdoor is secure. Word will get out and it will be abused. Worse yet, if you force AV and firewall manufacturers to keep that hole unplugged, you open yourself and all the businesses in your country to industrial sabotage and espionage.
Think the feds are THAT stupid? Even if, do you think their lobbyists will allow them to?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Something seems fishy about the whole story, though. This guy was apparently savvy enough to use a proxy in Italy to send his Gmail bomb threat emails, so he was at least trying to cover his tracks... But he was dumb enough to open a random email attachment? It strikes me as more likely that the CIPAV is deployed through a browser exploit (or perhaps even "legitimately" as an ActiveX control or BHO, people will install anything).
Thanks to the War on Drugs, it's easier to buy meth than it is to buy cold medicine!
We have: A teenager who used his computer to send bomb threats through myspace.
Assumption 1: He doesn't know jack about computer security like 99% of the users out there and simply clicks everything sent to him.
Assumption 2: The FBI keeps a hole open in Windows that only they know about.
Assumption 3: AV vendors are forced to keep holes open, as well as firewall vendors and everyone else who could technically find it.
Assumption 2 and 3 bear a heavy load. Assumption 2 implies that EVERY Windows OS can be remotely exploited. Now, it IS possible to reverse Windows. And since there are Windows emulators out there that can handle calls to functions most people don't even know exists, it's safe to assume that quite a few people already reversed some parts of Windows. A hole would have been found by now. More important, such a hole could easily be used against US companies when, say, China finds them and uses it to eavesdrop on confidential data. If such a hole existed, the first thing the FBI would do is make sure that no US company dealing with critical or sensitive information (nuclear, biological, you name it) uses Windows as their main operating system.
Thus I consider it rather unlikely.
Assumption 3 includes that every AV vendor on this planet knows about the hole/malware and keeps his mouth shut. Now, a good deal of such AV vendors sit in countries that are not the US, worse, some of those countries are economical competitors to the US. Think they'll keep silent? Or that they would include it into their software? Hardly likely.
I'd stay with assumption 1: He was careless, clicking on everything and running no AV kit.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Neither. In the current security climate most security vendors will bend over straight away and turn a blind eye on an "authorised" Troyan. In fact at least one of the US ones is known to have done so and that was leaked to the press around 2004 (sorry forgot which one). Even further, I would not be surprised if some of them go as far as "facilitating" its installation.
Baker's Law: Misery no longer loves company. Nowadays it insists on it
http://www.sigsegv.cx/
You are wrong about constitutionally protected speech when it can cause harm or mass hysteria. That is NOT protected.
At the Federal level it surely is, regardless of what the Supreme Court wrongfully interpreted. Let us read a very simple part of the Constitution, a document written specifically to declare what the Federal Government can do, and what it is restricted from doing:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
As you can see, no law means no law. Harm, mass hysteria, are issues that have been with man since the dawn of man. They were nothing new to the Founding Fathers who knew that government uses the idea of "mass hysteria" to harm natural rights. They left those issues to the People and the Individual States.
I'm curious how the 2nd would protect against airline hijacking though.
Airplanes are private property. Private owners should be free to allow, or disallow, armed passengers. In fact, the United States airlines DID allow armed passengers until the Federal Government unconstitutionally prevented people from carrying their weapons on-board planes. Show me one terrorist who would dare to threaten hijacking on a plane where half the passengers are armed and trained and protecting themselves. In all the years people armed themselves on airliners, we had no issues with terrorism in the States.
I know this site is a big echo chamber but the simple fact of the matter is Federal law enforcement coordinates very closely with every computer vendor that has anything of interest to them. The coordination efforts are expressly for purposes like this. I seem to recall photochop will throw an error if you try to scan U.S. currency. It's like that, only everywhere and no error messages.
/. moral outrage rings very hollow because no one will fight for anything different.
Law enforcement is very deep into every aspect of computer activity. It's been this way for more than a decade.
The
http://www.maxineudall.com/2010/02/should-economists-be-sued-for-malpractice.html
The warrant isn't really the point. The point is that they have the tech to get past firewalls and antivirus software, and can plant spyware on your machine. This time it was legal, because the FBI got the warrant. But what about the CIA/NSA/RIAA using the same tech to spy on you? Some government agencies don't need warrants.
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
Reduce, reuse, cycle
But what if you (as any sensible person would do) simply block anything that is executable from being received via mail?
After Sept 11. the FBI etc have PR issues trying to convince the world that they are on the ball and protecting Joe Citizen. These sorts of statement are not necessarily true. They could just be "feel good" measures like making you take your shoes off at airports.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
But posts like this really irk me.
What exactly do you want?They got a warrant. Isn't that kind of oversight what we want? I don't understand why you think making a comparison to the Gestapo (and did they really have warrants?) adds a single thing to the conversation.
Please tell me what your solution is, so I can put your comment in some kind of context. I've seen it and its like from several other posters, but not a single one of them goes on to make a coherent argument after making it, and neither did you.
The FBI has a job, in this case it seems a job that we'd all like them to be proficient at, that of preventing bombings. They pursued evidence through the correct channels, got a warrant, set up an operation, and did their jobs. In light of that, doesn't the "Gestapo" comment seem a bit reactionary and irrational?
So what the hell is with the specious Gestapo comparison? Do you think someone's rights were violated somehow, or the FBI overstepped their authority, or what exactly? Or is it vogue here to toss out inflammatory comments for no reason other than to provoke a reaction? I thought that's what the "troll" mod was for?
Lastly, the Gestapo also pandered to the fears and insecurities of the populace, so I'd be careful throwing around such comparisons if I were you.
I only go to buffets for the unlimited soft serve.