FBI uses spyware with out warrants (wired)

[crockett]

According to US courts you no longer have an "expected" right to privacy on the internet, which now allows the FBI or police I'd guess to use spy ware on your PC. I guess this must be part of the domestic spying program..



Only in America..



http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2007/07/fbi_spyware



FBI agents trying to track the source of e-mailed bomb threats against a Washington high school last month sent the suspect a secret surveillance program designed to surreptitiously monitor him and report back to a government server, according to an FBI affidavit obtained by Wired News.

The court filing offers the first public glimpse into the bureau's long-suspected spyware capability, in which the FBI adopts techniques more common to online criminals.

The software was sent to the owner of an anonymous MySpace profile linked to bomb threats against Timberline High School near Seattle. The code led the FBI to 15-year-old Josh Glazebrook, a student at the school, who on Monday pleaded guilty to making bomb threats, identity theft and felony harassment.

In an affidavit seeking a search warrant to use the software, filed last month in U.S. District Court in the Western District of Washington, FBI agent Norman Sanders describes the software as a "computer and internet protocol address verifier," or CIPAV

Sanders wrote that the spyware program gathers a wide range of information, including the computer's IP address; MAC address; open ports; a list of running programs; the operating system type, version and serial number; preferred internet browser and version; the computer's registered owner and registered company name; the current logged-in user name and the last-visited URL.

The CIPAV then settles into a silent "pen register" mode, in which it lurks on the target computer and monitors its internet use, logging the IP address of every computer to which the machine connects for up to 60 days.

Under a ruling this month by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, such surveillance -- which does not capture the content of the communications -- can be conducted without a wiretap warrant, because internet users have no "reasonable expectation of privacy" in the data when using the internet.

According to the affidavit, the CIPAV sends all the data it collects to a central FBI server located somewhere in eastern Virginia. The server's precise location wasn't specified, but previous FBI internet surveillance technology -- notably its Carnivore packet-sniffing hardware -- was developed and run out of the bureau's technology laboratory at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia.

The FBI's national office referred an inquiry about the CIPAV to a spokeswoman for the FBI Laboratory in Quantico, who declined to comment on the technology.

The FBI has been known to use PC-spying technology since at least 1999, when a court ruled the bureau could break into reputed mobster Nicodemo Scarfo's office to plant a covert keystroke logger on his computer. But it wasn't until 2001 that the FBI's plans to use hacker-style computer-intrusion techniques emerged in a report by MSNBC.com. The report described an FBI program called "Magic Lantern" that uses deceptive e-mail attachments and operating-system vulnerabilities to infiltrate a target system.

[Masherbrum]

Good, bomb threats are no joking matter.    If some idjit wants to go to myspace and type em, he should pay.

[Chairboy]

Same with seditious statements!  Why, the very sanctity of our nation could be shaken by the words of a communist-sympathizer!

The eyes of the constitution must occasionally be shielded from the necessary actions we take to protect ourselves.  When the FBI infiltrates a computer without judicial oversight, it must be allowed no matter what.  When the government stamps out vocal dissent that may cause unrest, it must be allowed so our safety may flourish!  In time of war, you are no citizen if you object to forcibly housing our great soldiers, and if you're honest, you must confess your crimes.  

Guns, too, must be given up on demand when our leaders demand it, and if you put your hobby above the safety of your neighbors, what kind of person are you?  It is also a privilege to be held indefinitely by the state while they determine exactly what your offenses are, any protest should be seen as evidence of guilt obviously.  A jury, too, need not have their busy days bothered by your incarceration, our leaders pick judges that will _get it right_.

Huzzah, say I, huzzah to both those who trade our liberties for comfort, and doubly so to those brave patriots like Masherbrum that support it in the face of hostility!  'Tis but a pebble fighting an avalanche of freedom, but that pebble shall and must stand strong against the forces of "liberty, justice, and the pursuit of happiness".

[crockett]

Originally posted by Masherbrum
Good, bomb threats are no joking matter.    If some idjit wants to go to myspace and type em, he should pay.

Yea because all this will ever be used for, is to target teenagers whom make bomb threats.. I guess that thing called the US Constitution is little more than spam mail that should be deleted.

[Ripsnort]

75% of the 9th circuit rulings are overturned by the SC.

San Francisco, need we say more?

[Masherbrum]

Originally posted by crockett
Yea because all this will ever be used for, is to target teenagers whom make bomb threats.. I guess that thing called the US Constitution is little more than spam mail that should be deleted.

Good, if teenagers acted in an appropriate manner, this wouldn't be necessary.    

This follows the US Constitution, and the 1st Amendment.    The part most forget about the 1st Amendment is you have "free speech" AS LONG AS YOU DO NOT INFRINGE UPON THE RIGHTS OF OTHERS.    Making bomb threats, as is yelling "fire" in crowded place "infringes on such rights".    

Even more amazing is that I was a teenager once, and never made a bomb threat.    To do so, should have repercussions, as it should.

They deserve what they get.   I say bring back Corporal Punishment for these smart arse kids.   Some of em need it.

[Engine]

Disturbing...

such surveillance -- which does not capture the content of the communications -- can be conducted without a wiretap warrant, because internet users have no "reasonable expectation of privacy" in the data when using the internet.

I wonder what the government's reasoning behind this is. Why should I have no reasonable expectation of privacy on the internet?

[crockett]

Originally posted by Masherbrum
Good, if teenagers acted in an appropriate manner, this wouldn't be necessary.    

This follows the US Constitution, and the 1st Amendment.    The part most forget about the 1st Amendment is you have "free speech" AS LONG AS YOU DO NOT INFRINGE UPON THE RIGHTS OF OTHERS.    Making bomb threats, as is yelling "fire" in crowded place "infringes on such rights".    

Even more amazing is that I was a teenager once, and never made a bomb threat.    To do so, should have repercussions, as it should.

They deserve what they get.   I say bring back Corporal Punishment for these smart arse kids.   Some of em need it.

lol never mind.. it went right over your head..

[crockett]

Originally posted by Engine
Disturbing...

 I wonder what the government's reasoning behind this is. Why should I have no reasonable expectation of privacy on the internet?

because govt knows best

[Engine]

Originally posted by Masherbrum
Good, if teenagers acted in an appropriate manner, this wouldn't be necessary.

I don't think anyone's debating that bomb threats should be punished.

The subject is the FBI planting spyware on a computer system and a court backing them up.

[john9001]

crockett, if the threats were real and children died, you would be the first to blame boosh and say "why didn't he doooo something".

[Elfie]

I view the internet as a public place, in much the same way that a shopping mall is public. I also view my computer as private, much the same way I view my home as being private.

I hate spyware and other forms of malware, I think all of them should be illegal and those that write and distribute those programs should be viewed as criminals.

[gpwurzel]

And Elfies reply, sums it up perfectly. Internet = public, pc = private (unless a warrent is requested and signed)


Wurzel

[storch]

Originally posted by crockett
lol never mind.. it went right over your head..

keep in mind he's just a little fellow

[ROC]

Why should I have no reasonable expectation of privacy on the internet?

You are in a public domain.  It is no different than the privacy of your car while on the roads.  You can be watched and tracked, intersection by intersection, by anyone public or private, while you remain private within your vehicle unless you are under investigation and a warrant is issued to open your doors.