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FBI Hacked Over 8,000 Computers In 120 Countries Based on One Warrant (vice.com)
Joseph Cox, reporting for Motherboard: In January, Motherboard reported on the FBI's "unprecedented" hacking operation, in which the agency, using a single warrant, deployed malware to over one thousand alleged visitors of a dark web child pornography site. Now, it has emerged that the campaign was actually several orders of magnitude larger. In all, the FBI obtained over 8,000 IP addresses, and hacked computers in 120 different countries, according to a transcript from a recent evidentiary hearing in a related case. The figures illustrate the largest ever known law enforcement hacking campaign to date, and starkly demonstrate what the future of policing crime on the dark web may look like. This news comes as the US is preparing to usher in changes that would allow magistrate judges to authorize the mass hacking of computers, wherever in the world they may be located.
seen it?
They had a warrant!
At this point, that's already more than could be expected.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
The FBI, by law, is not permitted to hack computers in other countries.
If that were true, we wouldn't be in a democracy, but a plutocratic oligopoly pretending to be a democracy, living outside the Rule of Law like a Banana Republic ...
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Several orders of magnitude larger? Looks like it's less than one order of magnitude larger.
....as they will have been watching for a while. Typical shoddy journalism,
According to the transcripts, the FBI also hacked OUTER SPACE! (check TFA, it is right there, this isn't a joke)
No, that's not what orders of magnitude means. 1,000 computers -> 8,000 IP's in 120 countries is not "orders of magnitude" by any stretch of math.
But because the warrant was about CP, nobody will want to stand against it because that would seem like he/she is supporting child abuse as opposed to supporting due-process and proper judicial oversight/responsibility.
Warrant? Gee, that is a little bit of an indication of rampant
"well, just an inch, just the tip, ok?"
I cannot fathom the arrogance and purely outlaw nature of this.
Let us hope that some common sense and the constitution infect them........
>1000 becomes >8000 how is that several orders of magnitude?
deployed malware to over one thousand alleged visitors of a dark web child pornography site. Now, it has emerged that the campaign was actually several orders of magnitude larger.
several orders of magnitude... really?
Am I to believe that the FBI hacked over 1,000,000 computers? Oh wait, that's not at all what happened. Why is it that journalists and journalistic websites (people and organizations whose entire livelihood depends upon the written word) can't even perform the most basic of editing reviews? Were I an editor, such a clearly hyperbolic and improperly used statement would never have made it to publication.
Note that my gripe is not with the /. editor, but with Motherboard.
We might as well get the practice in while we can.
Brought to you by Carl's Junior.
after all, HRClinton said this during the 2016 campaign..."As President, I will make it clear that the United States will treat cyberattacks just like any other attack. We will be ready with serious political, economic, and military responses,"
glad she didn't win.
although if this is true i believe the US can't do this without asking all those countries if they can do that.
[quote]the campaign was actually several orders of magnitude larger[/quote]
Swing and a miss! An order of magnitude is 10x. From 1300 IP addresses to 8000 IP addresses is a fraction of one order.
I am afraid it is safe to assume they will never be prosecuted in any of the 119 countries where they did this illegally. The US government can do whatever it wants wherever it wants and the nation where they are breaking the law will often even help them.
Maybe you shouldn't do child porn?
Is the US now again at it or still at it - playing World Police?
Do those laws valid in the US spread out into the whole world?
Or, the other way around, there are countries where some simple things are penalized with death penalty, would those laws over the wire spread as well to here in the same way and then, when one travels there, applied?
Seems people got nothing better to do than abusing whatever is available to them without any reflections on consequences...
I would encrypt their files, ask them to pay a ransom in Bitcoins, and when they pay, delete their files and arrest them if possible.
They can claim they were just looking for child porn....
Of which we know the FBI keeps a huge stash of....
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
Alternate headline: "US to ask permission from itself before hacking entire world on its whim"
Turn the whole internet off and see what we get. Not even a reboot will work. I'm not a Orwellian conspiracy theorist, but it is really down to it isn't it?
Most of those websites are FBI honeypots in the first place. They walk a fine line of morality when they themselves are the distributors of much of the illegal content for which they arrest others of possessing.
no one at the FBI will get even a slap on the wrist as police states take care of their own. The citizens, not so much.
3 orders of magnitude, actually (base 2)
it was targeted to people no one cares about and would celebrate about. as long as it stays in that realm i would be cool but who's to say this wont be used on normal sites just to watch normal users by the state. it "could" be another form of surveillance state and even if known the virus scanners could allow it course something would pop up to counter it and a cycle would ensue but thats not the point. im a optimist and hope it doesnt become evil.
Warrant? So why does anyone/everyone just assume that all >8000 were for child porn?
It would be very tempting to sneak in a few other hacks for other things.
("Oops, this one wasn't for child porn... Oh well, just bag and tag 'em")
And child porn is a pretty good cover story...
( I know - conspiracy theory - LOL )
You said, "Several orders of magnitude larger? Looks like it's less than one order of magnitude larger."
I'm guessing "Several orders of magnitude" is intended to refer to the huge amount of additional taxpayer money necessary to break into computers in 120 countries. Not well written, but that seems to be the underlying issue.
I imagine that there are legal issues in each country. Without following the legal requirements, the FBI would break laws in each country, and there would be a huge international outcry.
Not to undermine the importance of their work. The work or catching these sophisticated criminals is paramount but the methods used are shamefully disturbing. Those sites had been kept alive by the FBI to conduct their sting operation. Yes the FBI ran those CP sites for a period of time This can not be a method of operations or tactic used by law enforcement, its illegal and immoral to have kept the compromised sites up for a nano second longer when the power to shut it down was under their control. In my opinion they continued and contributed to the exploitation of those children to fulfill there mission. It's time to reflect and create a operation policy that would prevent the re-victimization of these children. The ends do not justify the means.
Maybe you shouldn't do child porn?
Or better yet, harden your computer against hacking. As a side effect, it will also help when the bad guys try to hack your computer to get your bank account or credit card info as well. Seriously, the bigger story here shouldn't be the over broad warrant, but the fact that most people are using vulnerable computers. I'm less concerned about the FBI getting a warrant to hack my computer as I am concerned about the fact that my computer is vulnerable to hacking in the first place.
If I can be modded down for being a troll, can I be modded up for being an orc, or a balrog?
You just take the rest of the world's submission for granted.
Thinking about human rights overseas? Thinking about equality? Thinking about the loudly exported (fictional) free and open democracy role model?
ROFLCOPTER
Submiss (and go flushing down the drain), or don't (and do the same, but faster).
If there's so much gap between idol (and stored memory) and (permanent worsening) reality, there's no wonder, you'll meet dissapointed all over the planet.
You just believe, your bad actions never ever worsens your own path.
Wrong.
we all know the cia does drug trafficking around the globe on a daily basis
and now we know the fbi does pedo stuff around the world
i wonder what nasa is doing, but i bet it isnt nice and it somehow involves uranus
Worse: slashdot translated the 8000 ips into having 8000 computers. We don't know how many computers (or ips) were hacked, only that they're in 120 countries.
So much for complaints about government inefficiency. They got a lot of mileage out of just one warrant.
I hear the FBI also economizes in its use of the truth, too. Truth is valuable. They don't use it unless absolutely necessary.
More efficiency. These guys are wizards!
There's no time like the present. Well, the past used to be.