Once upon a time, you could sign on to Silk Road and buy everything from LSD to Moon Rock molly with Bitcoin. That time is now over because the FBI along with a few other federal agencies have seized the domain and shutdown the drug-dealing site. The only question is, what took them so long?
     |
It’s tempting to write off all this drone hysteria
| |
Just over a month after reports of a malware attack on the anonymous Tor network, the FBI told an Irish court that it was behind the shenanigans. But don’t worry, it was for a good cause.
| |
Last week left cybersecurity nerds scratching their heads after traffic to Tor, the free software suite that enables anonymity online
| |
After startling news that someone—probably a government agency
| |
This week the folks out there looking to be entirely anonymous (not to be mistaken for the Anonymous hacker collective) have been greeted by a message through the Tor web browser. Tor is a fork of Firefox – based in Firefox’s code, recreated as a web browser here to allow entirely anonymous web browsing. According […]
That custom-built malware that’s tracking down Tor network users? Turns out it might not be the FBI behind it after all. It looks like it might be the NSA.
| |
Over the weekend, security researchers noticed some strange activity happening on the Tor network, an anonymous "darknet" used for everything from private browsing to selling drugs
| |
With all that hullabaloo regarding the government’s PRISM program, it seems that the FBI could soon be getting their fair share of the flack as well thanks to a new report by The Wall Street Journal, in which the publication alleges that the FBI has been secretly turning our smartphones into microphones in which they can listen in to. (more…)
Report Reveals FBI’s Hacker Techniques To Wiretap Your Android Phone original content from Ubergizmo. 
| |
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the FBI employs a number of high-tech hacker tactics in its efforts to round up information on suspects, including the ability to remotely activate microphones on Android devices and notebook computers, according to one of its sources who is described as a “former U.S. official.” These and other tools are brought to bear in cases related to organized crime, counterterrorism or child pornography, according to the WSJ report.
The tools it uses are both internally and externally sourced, with some coming from the private sector. Hacking at the FBI under court order has gradually increased, as law enforcement officials try to find ways to circumvent new communication tech that’s more resistant to traditional surveillance methods like wiretapping. The specifics of its methods are not generally brought to light in public, but a warrant from earlier this year revealed that one request involved using a computer’s built-in camera to take photos of a suspect without their knowledge. The request in that case was denied.
According to the WSJ’s source, the FBI resorts to these tactics when they’re out of options, and “don’t have any other choice.” The tools used to gather the data are often installed remotely, using essentially phishing style links that injects essentially Trojan software when clicked by a suspect under surveillance. They can also be installed via physical access and a USB drive, the report says, and in all cases the FBI tries to ensure only “relevant data” are gathered by its hacking efforts, through the use of a screening team that checks for relevancy before handing information off to investigators working the case.
The news that the FBI employs hacker tactics on occasion to gather data about potential suspects is not new, but the specifics of how it goes about it, and how it might be able to employ a user’s own hardware to record conversations remotely is definitely going to raise some eyebrows, especially in light of the attention now focused on digital rights and privacy thanks to the leaks around the NSA’s PRISM and XKeyscore programs. In theory, the devices could even be activated to eavesdrop on an in-person conversation with a potential suspect who doesn’t even own an Android device, perhaps from the pocket of a friend who does. PRISM reportedly involves a number of prominent Internet companies, and Xkeyscore seems to allow the U.S. security agency unprecedented access to information about emails, chat history and more, according to information leaked by former U.S. government security contractor Edward Snowden.
In this case, it sounds like the FBI’s tools might involve Android and desktop PC malware, so Google wouldn’t need to be complicit for claims about using Android device mics remotely to be accurate. We’ve reached out to both the FBI and Google for comment, but have yet to hear back as of press time.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
