Computer Agent Bob iz on yourz computer

[MrScorpio]

FBI using surveillance software to track suspects online

By Eric W. Dolan
Monday, May 2nd, 2011 -- 5:08 pm

Documents recently obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request reveal detailed information about the FBI's electronic surveillance capabilities. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed the FOIA request in 2007 after it was reported that the agency was using "secret spyware."

The documents show that software called the Computer and Internet Protocol Address Verifier (CIPAV) was used by the FBI since at least 2001. The software allows the FBI to collect a variety of information from a computer every time it connects to the Internet, including the IP address, Media Access Control (MAC) address, open communication ports, list of the programs running, URLs visited, and more.

It is unclear how the FBI installs the software on a computer, but it is suspected that the spyware exploits a vulnerability in the user's browser, like other common Internet viruses.

The documents also suggest the FBI frequently uses the software during investigations, including domestic criminal cases and Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) cases.

The the U.S. Air Force, Naval Criminal Investigative Service and Joint Task Force-Global Network Operations, as well as foreign governments, have expressed interest in obtaining the software for their own use.

In February, the FBI urged members of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security to update the Communications Assistance to Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) and make it easier for authorities to eavesdrop on Internet.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/05/02/fbi-using-persistent-spyware-to-track-suspects-online/

[leftstreet]

1. "collect a variety of information" which they probably sell to marketers n/t

[ThomCat]

4. And which they also probably collect routinely without warrants.

[kestrel91316]

2. The only thing they could suspect ME of these days is being a snotty bitch on a

semi-regular basis. And they would be correct.

(waving HI to Agent Mike and Agent Bob)

[woodsprite]

3. It's probably buried in a Microsoft update. n/t

[spin]

5. The problem is that this data could be misused ...

Imagine what a future "Tricky Dick" Nixon could do with this ability.

Somehow, I think the founding fathers would have disapproved of most of the invasions of privacy that we see our government commonly use today in the War on Drugs and the War on Terror.

Many years ago someone said that the terrorists would win if they could cause The United States to sacrifice the freedoms that make us different from the rest of the world in order to achieve a false security. Our freedoms are being steadily eroded so perhaps the terrorists are winning. Will we end up living in a police state? If so the world will no longer view us as a beacon of freedom or a "city on a hill".

"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
Benjamin Franklin