4 ms·

FBI’s search for bomb threat suspect highlights use of malware for surveillance

27 points by RockyMcNuts 13y ago

vezzy-fnord 13y ago
FBI has been using malware for ages. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnivore_%28software%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnivore_%28software%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Lantern_%28software%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Lantern_%28software%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_and_Internet_Protocol_Address_Verifier https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_and_Internet_Protocol... Other governments as well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FinFisher https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FinFisher Entire (legitimate) businesses are dedicated to selling malware for use by governments and law enforcement agencies.
- bediger4000 13y ago
  Carnivore (a.k.a. DCS3000 and DCS6000) isn't exactly "malware" - it's the system that resides in phone company/ISP machine rooms to do CALEA "lawful intercepts" of email headers. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DCSNet http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DCSNet There have been rumors to the effect that the DCS systems run on Solaris, and have been hacked and cracked so that other than FBI can monitor things using it (http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a2003dcsnethack#a2003dcsnethack http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a2003dcs...). Also, calling a business that sells malware to Law Enforcement is something of a stretch. If you mean "legitmate" as "lawful", then you're strictly correct. If you want "legitimate" to also encompass "ethical", or "upstanding" or something of that sort, then I don't see it.
  - vezzy-fnord 13y ago
    Are you sure Carnivore and DCSNet are presently related? I had thought DCSNet and ISP-bound traffic monitors like Carnivore were separate. That's interesting. Though I had always been stuck with the impression that FBI technology primarily made use of Windows as an OS and Perl as a scripting language. I meant legitimate as in lawful.
enkephalin 13y ago
>> The FBI’s elite hacker team designed a piece of malicious software that was to be delivered secretly when Mo signed on to his Yahoo e-mail account, from any computer anywhere in the world, according to the documents. i have to ask; could this secret delivery actually be anything else than an executable file attached to an email? edit: ok, they seem to use phishing attacks for this sort of thing. but both methods definitely do not deliver anything just because you log in to your yahoo account, as the article states.
- dobbsbob 13y ago
  If yahoo sends you FBI made tracking and demasking cookies instead of a regular one that would work though they claim they didn't help. Could also have found out what vpn this guy used and had them redirect Iran originating traffic to the FBI fake yahoo MITM login full of java exploits or sent him a malware image and turned on image preview on his account. So turns out this guy is just trolling on cruise control because why not, not like he's going to be extradited for harassing Americans. Likely there's a work station at every Iranian military base in the cafeteria that says 'troll FBI here'

27 points by RockyMcNuts 13y ago

FBI has been using malware for ages. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnivore_%28software%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnivore_%28software%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Lantern_%28software%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Lantern_%28software%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_and_Internet_Protocol_Address_Verifier https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_and_Internet_Protocol... Other governments as well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FinFisher https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FinFisher Entire (legitimate) businesses are dedicated to selling malware for use by governments and law enforcement agencies.

bediger4000 13y ago
Carnivore (a.k.a. DCS3000 and DCS6000) isn't exactly "malware" - it's the system that resides in phone company/ISP machine rooms to do CALEA "lawful intercepts" of email headers. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DCSNet http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DCSNet There have been rumors to the effect that the DCS systems run on Solaris, and have been hacked and cracked so that other than FBI can monitor things using it (http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a2003dcsnethack#a2003dcsnethack http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a2003dcs...). Also, calling a business that sells malware to Law Enforcement is something of a stretch. If you mean "legitmate" as "lawful", then you're strictly correct. If you want "legitimate" to also encompass "ethical", or "upstanding" or something of that sort, then I don't see it.
- vezzy-fnord 13y ago
  Are you sure Carnivore and DCSNet are presently related? I had thought DCSNet and ISP-bound traffic monitors like Carnivore were separate. That's interesting. Though I had always been stuck with the impression that FBI technology primarily made use of Windows as an OS and Perl as a scripting language. I meant legitimate as in lawful.

enkephalin 13y ago

>> The FBI’s elite hacker team designed a piece of malicious software that was to be delivered secretly when Mo signed on to his Yahoo e-mail account, from any computer anywhere in the world, according to the documents. i have to ask; could this secret delivery actually be anything else than an executable file attached to an email? edit: ok, they seem to use phishing attacks for this sort of thing. but both methods definitely do not deliver anything just because you log in to your yahoo account, as the article states.

dobbsbob 13y ago
If yahoo sends you FBI made tracking and demasking cookies instead of a regular one that would work though they claim they didn't help. Could also have found out what vpn this guy used and had them redirect Iran originating traffic to the FBI fake yahoo MITM login full of java exploits or sent him a malware image and turned on image preview on his account. So turns out this guy is just trolling on cruise control because why not, not like he's going to be extradited for harassing Americans. Likely there's a work station at every Iranian military base in the cafeteria that says 'troll FBI here'