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Hundreds of Police Agencies Distributing Spyware and Keylogger
realized sends this news from the EFF:
For years, local law enforcement agencies around the country have told parents that installing ComputerCOP software is the "first step" in protecting their children online. ... As official as it looks,ComputerCOP is actually just spyware, generally bought in bulk from a New York company that appears to do nothing but market this software to local government agencies. The way ComputerCOP works is neither safe nor secure. It isn't particularly effective either, except for generating positive PR for the law enforcement agencies distributing it.
As security software goes, we observed a product with a keystroke-capturing function, also called a "keylogger," that could place a family's personal information at extreme risk by transmitting what a user types over the Internet to third-party servers without encryption. EFF conducted a security review of ComputerCOP while also following the paper trail of public records to see how widely the software has spread. Based on ComputerCOP's own marketing information, we identified approximately 245 agencies in more than 35 states, plus the U.S. Marshals, that have used public funds (often the proceeds from property seized during criminal investigations) to purchase and distribute ComputerCOP. One sheriff's department even bought a copy for every family in its county.
As security software goes, we observed a product with a keystroke-capturing function, also called a "keylogger," that could place a family's personal information at extreme risk by transmitting what a user types over the Internet to third-party servers without encryption. EFF conducted a security review of ComputerCOP while also following the paper trail of public records to see how widely the software has spread. Based on ComputerCOP's own marketing information, we identified approximately 245 agencies in more than 35 states, plus the U.S. Marshals, that have used public funds (often the proceeds from property seized during criminal investigations) to purchase and distribute ComputerCOP. One sheriff's department even bought a copy for every family in its county.
this could go two ways - one, the computerCOP software enables the police to spy on people. two, the computerCOP software opens up so many vulnerabilities that malware authors swoop in and scoop up the data. I could see either being plausible, or both even. Any insights here, not just conjecture?
The FBI arrested the CEO of StealthGenie for providing software that can be used for stalking, and here you have a story where Police Agencies are providing stalking software for free.
Does anyone else find this hypocrisy hilarious?
I remember receiving a copy of this stuff years ago to help keep me safe and it had several bugs.
1. The binary wont execute on System V release 4 (it came on a music CD i think.) Out of desparation I tried getting it to run on SGI and my trusty DEC but still, nothing. Wine seemed to be the only software that could get the damn thing working (I had to upgrade to a GNU/Linux personal computer)
2. It didnt work with lynx and curl. Even worse, it never worked as promised with my usenet newsreader NetNews. Slrn and Trn also didnt get protected and i was subjected to horribly lude stories on alt.sysadmin.recovery.
3. Id hoped it would finally keep me safe from that damned pirate radio station on 10 meter, but boy was I ever wrong. those tasteless SSTV scans? you guessed it, my sound card picked them right up! what a piece of junk.
4. my FidoNet dialup? I had to talk to the admins but Ben Baker said it wasnt compatible. can you imagine? not even compatible with FIDONET!
Good people go to bed earlier.