“...
there are already methods to bypass encryption, thanks to
off-the-shelf digital implants readily available to the smallest
national agencies and the largest city police forces — easy-to-use
software that takes over and monitors digital devices in real time,
according to documents obtained by The Intercept.”
“We’re
publishing in full, for the first time, manuals explaining the
prominent commercial implant software 'Remote Control System,'
manufactured by the Italian company Hacking Team. Despite FBI
director James Comey’s dire warnings about the impact of widespread
data scrambling — 'criminals and terrorists would like nothing
more,' he declared — Hacking Team explicitly promises on its
website that its software can 'defeat encryption.'”
“The
manuals describe Hacking Team’s software for government technicians
and analysts, showing how it can activate cameras, exfiltrate emails,
record Skype calls, log typing, and collect passwords on targeted
devices. They also catalog a range of pre-bottled techniques for
infecting those devices using wifi networks, USB sticks, streaming
video, and email attachments to deliver viral installers. With a few
clicks of a mouse, even a lightly trained technician can build a
software agent that can infect and monitor a device, then upload
captured data at unobtrusive times using a stealthy network of proxy
servers, all without leaving a trace.”
“The
company has made at least some sales to American entities, according
to comments its outspoken co-founder and CEO David Vincenzetti made
in l’Espresso in 2011. 'We sell Remote Control System to
institutions in more than 40 countries on five continents,' he told
the Italian newsmagazine. 'All of Europe, but also the Middle East,
Asia, United States of America.'”
“Turnkey
solutions like RCS effectively multiply the online threats faced by
activists, dissidents, lawyers, businessmen, journalists, and any
number of other computer users.”
“What
is clear is that large nations with well-funded intelligence
establishments have long been capable of the kind of surveillance
Hacking Team offers.”
“Hacking
Team and the German firm FinFisher have taken over another niche, as
the most prominent purveyors of user-friendly, off-the-shelf spyware
for less moneyed customers, says Ben Wagner, director of the Center
for Internet and Human Rights at the European University Viadrina. A
recent leak of FinFisher data showed customer service communications
between the company and Bahrain, Pakistan, Estonia, and a regional
police department in Australia, among other clients.”
“Activists
in Bahrain and Ethiopia have found FinFisher spyware on their
computers.”
More:
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete