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Let's not jump to conclusions. What is more likely? That this is generating test data for a forensics tool, or that this is planting child porn on a dissident's
by compbio 11y ago
Let's not jump to conclusions. What is more likely? That this is generating test data for a forensics tool, or that this is planting child porn on a dissident's computer (with fixed file names and directories)?
I think it is rather cheeky (and dangerous) to accuse companies of doing such horrible stuff, when all we have is a few leaks (without context) to go on.
See for instance: https://github.com/hackedteam/rcs-common/blob/master/lib/rcs-common/evidence/chat.rb https://github.com/hackedteam/rcs-common/blob/master/lib/rcs... which generates test keystrokes, test users and test programs for chat. The file names of the "planted" evidence is far too obvious, and they generate a hash for it. In short there is nothing in this code that implies this is used to plant evidence.
- beedogs 11y agoUh, in case you hadn't heard, Hacking Team has been accused of doing heaps of terrible stuff already. How would this be "beyond the pale" for them?
- compbio 11y agoI think it is a bit ironic that some seem to have no qualms accusing a company of creating fake child porn accusations. It follows the exact same reasoning for planting evidence: How would child porn be beyond the pale for a dissident? Even if they have a terrible track record, this code implies nothing that they are currently accused of. It is not like the code is heavily obfuscated or missing other parts. Let's not forget these leaks were "planted" too and we have no idea about its integrity.
- palmer_eldritch 11y agoYeah, I think it's the responsibility of the user to bring his own child porn to plant on his victim's computer. Any tool you can use to upload files on a remote system can be used for that. Hacking Team's tools certainly allow that but I very much doubt they have a tool specialized for planting child porn/evidence on a computer. But then... we're so used of seeing child porn used as a straw man to increase surveillance that's it's pretty fun to see it used against one of the companies making tools to help with said surveillance. Even if it's wrong.
- Lawtonfogle 11y agoMost anyone interested in this story immediately jumped on the code thinking it was inserting files. Then a few software engineers took a look at the code and realize the file names were pretty much jokes. Now, everyone thinks it a joke that the tool inserts such material, when in reality it allows any user to insert any file they have, so the government (who has a collection of illegal files) can still use this to frame someone but any outrage over it has been dissipated. I'm not saying it was intended to happen like this but it is sad it did.
- carlom 11y ago"pippo" and "pluto" are used in Italian as "foo" and "bar" are used in English, see http://www.outpost9.com/reference/jargon/jargon_28.html#TAG1136 http://www.outpost9.com/reference/jargon/jargon_28.html#TAG1... .
- Eyght 11y agoAssuming this was created with malicious intent (however unlikely), the motive would not be to plant false evidence but rather to create an excuse for probable cause (search and seizure). It would give law enforcement a legitimate reason to hold you and search your devices.
- josteink 11y agoSo something like a parallel construction[1] then? It's obviously not exactly the same, but it's the same type of scummy if not worse. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_construction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_construction
- Lawtonfogle 11y agoAt which point planting evidence becomes very easy as long as the one doing it is smart enough to not leave traces that it was planted.
- socket0 11y agoLooking at the code, it's clear the strings are merely tests, and not used when a proper string is defined. However, the fact that their tests and examples use these strings, makes it clear what they thought a good application of their product was.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]