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FBI Used Spyware for Online Search

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the not-surprised-here dept.

juct writes "The FBI has used PC spyware for the first time to reveal the identity of an offender who sent bomb threats to a high school in Washington state. According to heise Security, a declaration from the FBI official who applied for the search warrant describes the mode of operation of the spyware which the FBI is using under the abbreviation CIPAV (Computer and Internet Protocol Address Verifier)."

6 of 79 comments (clear)

  1. Are the editors boycotting reading /. again? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    Yet another dupe! (From yesterday!)

  2. Please tell me why I should run Windows? by whoever57 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Of course, the "if you have nothing to hide..." crowd are likely to be out, but what about rogue agents? What about investigations that target the wrong people by accident?

    I suspect that getting such a tool installed on my Linux box would be much harder.

    --
    The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
  3. How long will it be before... by bconway · · Score: 5, Insightful

    the 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?

    --
    Interested in open source engine management for your Subaru?
  4. More Firefighters Needed! by garcia · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It would seem that there's a kink in the Firehose again .

    1. Re:More Firefighters Needed! by jsse · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Now I can see the purpose of Firehose now...

      It's now our fault in voting up a dupe, not /. editors, definitely not...

      Now /. needs to develop another system to penalize those who repeatedly vote a dupe, namely "List of idiotic dupers"

  5. Interesting speculation by bconway · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The Feds would have the $$$ and be able to hire the skilled labor to build some pretty sophisticated spyware tools. On the other hand, I wouldn't be surprised to find out Microsoft included a back door in Windows. That rumor has surfaced before.

    The problem with either of those options is if they get out in the wild. How many people have access to those tools and how is their deployment managed? Who wouldn't be tempted to do a little sideline testing if they had those goodies in their tool chest.

    --
    Interested in open source engine management for your Subaru?