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Australian Police Given Covert Search and Hacking Powers
An anonymous reader writes "The NSW government of Australia has quietly introduced new police powers for covert home searches and covert hacking of computers. The suspect may not be notified of the covert activity for up to three years. These new powers are similar to those given to the UK police earlier this year. The new warrants can only be issued in the Supreme Court for suspected serious offences punishable by at least seven years jail — which includes computer crime offences."
when you are the target of an investigation. When you suspect you are being monitored, you should have on your sacrificial system some tripwires, and of course, a HELLATIOUS amount of virii. Of course, make damn sure your computer is behind multiple firewalls. DO NOT use the fucking ISP-branded browser, as that shit SURELY is riddled with spyware to enable ISPs to facilitate law enforcement snooping, or ISP snooping.
As long as you can rely on standards that say a computer that did NOT initiate any traffic is not supposed to be sending, then if any snoops find your computer and then hammer away at it, it's like a mouse jumping all around a nose-crushing trap while trying to get at the cheese. If the trap fucking crushes the metaphoric cops' skulls, THEY ASKED FOR IT if their computers become infected.
These are ways (and there are others) to find out if you are being sniffed. You might not know WHO is sniffing or surveilling you, but cops come knocking your door, and don't have any ISP complaint letter, (wait, if the ISP feels you are a nuissance, they should first (ideally) warn you, then cut you off, and if you 'trespass', THEN call the cops...), then you know it's the cops trying to punish you for impeding them.
OTOH, if you booby trap your home in anticipation of or in response to ssuspected warrantless or sneak-and-peek operations, then, again, THEY ASKED FOR IT if they get hurt. You don't have to be a criminal to want to punish sneak-and-peek activity. After all, ANYONE in your abode who is not invited is a trespasser, even a paramedic if they insist on remaining present after realizing there is no emergency, no body, no blood, no validity in being present at the address because the address is WRONG due to admittedly a faulty dispatch order...
If I wake up in the middle of the night and somebody is over me, and wasn't invited, they better be ready or able to disable or kill me first. I won't take kindly to coming home to or waking up to strangers or stranglers in the night. These are reasons law enforcement better start making better use of physically touchless surveillance upon people who are not bona fide criminals but who just might take up the torch of making a statement against abuse of the public. Mobsters, tech thieves, and true criminas are not exempt. But spying on those who HAVE NOT committed crimes (there ain't not Star Fleet Temporal Commission...) is tricky business...
Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
...What do the seven people in Australia with Internet access think about all this?
My guess is they're too busy being passed out drunk to comment.
(This is the point where outraged Aussie /.ers post rants about how Strine eenterneet technologeeee is the most advanced in the world...)