Spyware

Among the reams of papers released in response to Wired’s request (largely composed of internal emails and technical documents) are affidavits submitted by the FBI to the FISC star chamber to use the CIPAV package. The German government is reportedly in the process of hiring coders to develop “white hat” malware capable of covertly hacking into PCs ahead of plans to change German law to allow the practice. Anti-virus firms that accede to law enforcement demands to turn a blind eye to state-sanctioned malware risk undermining trust in their software, as evidenced by the fuss created when similar plans for a “Magic Lantern” Trojan for law enforcement surfaced in the US some years ago. It would only require one security vendor (or indeed individual) to write a program which detects the authority’s spyware and the idea of convincing the world to turn a blind eye to detecting would fall down like a house of cards, Cluley concluded. More Spyware News

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