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...
Except that's not what the summary's saying. TFS says that police agencies are distributing and/or promoting an insecure and not particularly useful piece of software to parents under the guise of "protecting their children". I'm sorry but the police's job isn't to be doing software advocacy, and it especially isn't to promote a specific piece of commercial software, let alone actually buying it for other people without them requesting it. That it's bad at its job and can compromise personal information is just icing on the cake.
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?