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Cyber Attacks On Activists Traced To Gamma Group's FinFisher Spyware
Sherloqq sends this quote from a Bloomberg report:
"FinFisher, a spyware sold by U.K.- based Gamma Group, can secretly take remote control of a computer, copying files, intercepting Skype calls and logging every keystroke. For the past year, human rights advocates and virus hunters have scrutinized FinFisher, seeking to uncover potential abuses. They got a glimpse of its reach when a FinFisher sales pitch to Egyptian state security was uncovered after that country's February 2011 revolution. In December, anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks published Gamma promotional videos showing how police could plant FinFisher on a target's computer. ... Researchers believe they’ve identified copies of FinFisher, based on an examination of malicious software e-mailed to Bahraini activists, they say. ... The findings illustrate how the largely unregulated trade in offensive hacking tools is transforming surveillance, making it more intrusive as it reaches across borders and peers into peoples’ digital devices. From anywhere on the globe, the software can penetrate the most private spaces, turning on computer web cameras and reading documents as they are being typed."
What the hell does your blabbering have to do with anything? This isn't about people running software they choose. It is abut a UK comany exporting malware to what was a dictatorial regime to spy on political dissidents.
Want to trample activists? Stop dangerous ideologies like Democracy in its tracks? Trust Gamma Group as much as you don't trust your citizens. "We'll help you spy on your people(tm)".
If ever there was a company aching for a PR disaster...
There are plenty of free software out there that does the same job, and you guys don't get all worked up about shit like Back Orrifice. This "news" is just some emails showing up with a new flavor of eavesdropping software attached.
Tell me you were _honestly_ concerned about the prospect of "bad people" using these old hat tools.