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Unsealed Court Docs Show FBI Used Malware Like 'A Grenade' (vice.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Motherboard: In 2013, the FBI received permission to hack over 300 specific users of dark web email service TorMail. But now, after the warrants and their applications have finally been unsealed, experts say the agency illegally went further, and hacked perfectly legitimate users of the privacy-focused service. "That is, while the warrant authorized hacking with a scalpel, the FBI delivered their malware to TorMail users with a grenade," Christopher Soghoian, principal technologist at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), told Motherboard in an email. The move comes after the ACLU pushed to unseal the case dockets in September. The Department of Justice recently decided to publish redacted versions of related documents. In 2013, the FBI seized Freedom Hosting, a service that hosted dark web sites, including a large number of child pornography sites and the privacy-focused email service TorMail. The agency then went on to deploy a network investigative technique (NIT) -- a piece of malware -- designed to obtain the real IP address of those visiting Freedom Hosting sites. According to the new documents, the NIT was used against users of 23 separate websites. As for TorMail, officials have maintained that the government obtained a warrant to deploy the NIT against specific users of the service. Now, we do know that to be true: recently unsealed affidavits include a total of over 300 redacted TorMail accounts that the FBI wanted to target. All of these accounts were allegedly linked to child pornography-related crimes, according to court documents. Importantly, the affidavits say that the NIT would only be used to "investigate any user who logs into any of the TARGET ACCOUNTS by entering a username and password." But, according to sources who used TorMail and previous reporting, the NIT was deployed before the TorMail login page was even displayed, raising the question of how the FBI could have possibly targeted specific accounts.
the next President of the United States?
From the director to the janitors, the FBI needs to be cleaned up. It's gotten to a point where J. Edgar is looking like a boy scout.
You'd think the government would team with vendors to patch every exploit so our computers are more secure and less likely to be hacked by bad guys. It is perfectly logical that the sheriffs across the USA do not have a master key to everyone's backdoor. If that key got out, the crooks could enter everyones house too. Why is it so hard to see backdoors for computers is just as bad and the same thing? With the government wanting to exploit computers, the bad guys can exploit them too.
The various LEAs would love a master house key as you suggest. First things first, however, The other thing you're missing is that all too often these days the "bad guys" *are* the government, so of course they'd love easy access, to your computer/phone and/or to your house. They simply realize that they need to have the former before they can achieve the latter.
Strat
Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
It is perfectly logical that the sheriffs across the USA do not have a master key to everyone's backdoor. If that key got out, the crooks could enter everyones house too. Why is it so hard to see backdoors for computers is just as bad and the same thing?
Remember we live in an era where TSA certified luggage does have master keys, and as one would expect, they were eventually leaked.
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
Kind of helps to understand why they won't go after politicians who do illegal things. In other words, *What do they call it when the assassin accuses the assassin?* This is a good example of 'Capoeira'. Everybody remains untouchable, but the spectacle is supreme.
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Correct, all those years stuffing about with ipchains and iptables were wasted since the cheapest and nastiest *DSL: router lets you have almost as much control just ticking a few boxes on a web form. Going from zero knowledge to a decent firewall takes minutes now.
Don't trust the world with your PC or vice versa, stop it where the line comes in.
FBI: We want to hack a ton of computers belonging to people who are probably innocent.
Judge: Sorry, I can't issue a warrant for that.
FBI: We need to do this in order to catch monsters who sexually abuse children.
Judge: Fucking scum like that have no rights! You have my warrant, do whatever it takes!
Do you have to pile anarchist shit on everything?
Wanting a government that obeys it's constitution and it's laws is "anarchist shit"? Just...wow. Extreme, much?
Yes your enemy built your roads, supplies clean water and...
Wrong. Government builds nothing, buys nothing, sells nothing, and owns nothing. The people do, have, and own all that. Those things you mention were all done by the people despite government greed, incompetence, corruption, cronyism, and general ham-handedness, not because of it. Government makes laws, collects taxes, and directs large armed men to imprison, kill, and/or destroy enemies of the nation and lawbreakers. That is all.
Guns won't free you.
Guns have freed every people who have thrown off a government since guns became widespread. Of course, guns alone won't overthrow a government but they are essential when it does become necessary. They also act as a deterrent to overreaching authority attempting to go too far. As the warning WW2 Japan's Emperor received from his generals regarding a possibly invasion of the US and being met with 'a rifle behind every window...and blade of grass' demonstrates, they are also a deterrent to foreign aggression and thus prevent war and promote peace.
If you want to ban guns change the Constitution, there's a procedure in it to do that. By using the sort of tactics that have been employed to 'end-run' around 2nd Amendment protections, you legitimize the very same tactics being used against other Amendments, some of which you may actually care about.
Strat
Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
Of course you fixated on the least important bit instead of the most important bit that was mentioned TWICE.
You do have a say in your own destiny without being a sad red stain on the ground next to a gun you never had a chance to fire - VOTE.