Slashdot Mirror
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.
Only for some
http://www.wired.com/2014/10/s...
This is a misleading story and summary.
I got the impression the police were distributing this as some kind of internet filter, and secretly using it to monitor your computer.
It's not.
The are advertising it for what it is. A keylogger... so you can spy on your kids.
It's a crappy piece of software, and the company that produced it made some disreputable marketing claims.
The police are not using it to spy on you.
I have a 6yr old. The way I monitor his internet activity is simple. The computers in the living room right next to the couch. I can see everything he's doing, any time hes on it. I have the password so he can't log on without me entering it for him. Every game he plays or site he visits I go checkout myself. Btw, Adventure Time Battle party is his favorite and it's actually pretty fun for adults to.
I did not RTFA of course, but another possibility is to give the ability to dump kiddie porn on a target's computer to create more suspicion and give them leverage and a PR boost. I used to think the Police were above such things and that the "plant a gun" meme was rare, but as we have seen in St. Louis and making public records available that show the victim might not be a great guy... maybe this happens more than we think.
It comes down to knowing your kid.
I have a 6 yr old too. If she sees me looking at something on the computer, she'll come up, looking away and say "Daddy, is that kid appropriate?" before looking. I have no concerns that she'll break the rules, so I don't feel the need for any preventive controls. If I had a child with a different temperament I would react differently of course. For what its worth, my day job involves ensuring that people employed by my company are safe on the internet. Generally my 6 yr old is better behaved :)
On the whole, I find that I prefer Slashdot posts to twitter ones because I don't get limited to 140 chars before
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've had law enforcement officers plant "something" in my car during an anything-but-routine traffic stop. In the end, no arrests were made, and the law enforcement officers settled for merely assaulting one of my passengers.
Disclaimer: The corruption of this municipal police force was documented by CBS News' program 60 Minutes in the year 2000, which is right around the time of the incident I described. They may not be representative of law enforcement officers elsewhere.
Chuuch. Preach. Tabernacle.