FBI’s Search For ‘Mo,’ Suspect In Bomb Threats, Highlights Use Of Malware For Surveillance
” The FBI has been able to covertly activate a computer’s camera — without triggering the light that lets users know it is recording — for several years, and has used that technique mainly in terrorism cases or the most serious criminal investigations, said Marcus Thomas, former assistant director of the FBI’s Operational Technology Division in Quantico, now on the advisory board of Subsentio, a firm that helps telecommunications carriers comply with federal wiretap statutes.
The FBI’s technology continues to advance as users move away from traditional computers and become more savvy about disguising their locations and identities. “Because of encryption and because targets are increasingly using mobile devices, law enforcement is realizing that more and more they’re going to have to be on the device — or in the cloud,” Thomas said, referring to remote storage services. “There’s the realization out there that they’re going to have to use these types of tools more and more.”
Between the NSA being able to track you wherever you go through your cell phone and the FBI being able to turn on your camera and listen to your private conversations privacy in the US is dead . This goes a long way towards explaining why the government has had such an interest in refusing to allow the legal unlocking of cell phones .
Don’t be misled by Obama’s feigned support for a change in the DMCA law that established the ban on unlocking cell phones . It’s a smoke screen made to make him look reasonable , but in reality accomplishing a two-fold goal … goal number one is to continue and increase government surveillance through technology and number two to pander to the major corporate cell service providers .
It’s a win – win situation for the government as they can prevent people from removing unwanted software from their phones and reward carriers with higher profits from the forced purchase of new phones in order to switch carriers . It also allows he government to say to the service providers that they helped their bottom line and in return the carriers must help the State spy on your customers .
As an added bonus the whole scam can be laid at the feet of the Library of Congress who is charged with the enforcement of the DMCA act which affords both the president and Congress “plausible deniability”.
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