Visit the Wrong Website, and the FBI Could End Up in Your Computer

W I R E D ^ | 08.05.14 6:30 am | Kevin Poulsen

[PhiloBedo]

Type the URL fastwing.com

I hope they grab that guy!

[GOPJ]

I’m not a techie - are you saying to unplug the modem for ten minutes?

[Utilizer]

I would not doubt it. I am told they also do this with illicit drugs.

[Utilizer]

How much do you want to bet that the FBI [et al] can set up timers to vary the download times? Or to plant-and-alter when they do their own "investigation"?

It is actually not all that difficult. Your everyday hacker already knows to insert random millisecond breaks between keystrokes when sending on a secure network so the overseeing software can not distinguish it from a 'real' person typing it in, thus enabling a set-timed program to log in with an anonymous username and send the message or software out.

[Utilizer]

TOR users beware. They’re from the government. They are here to ‘help’. (/sarc)

[Utilizer]

Wow. Just wow. So the judge, who admitted to being ignorant of the real methods used to gather the intelligence, just throws out the 4th amendment without ceremony.

The defense should have responded with what I used to, which would inevitably get the judge too upset to speak for a short period of time:

"Objection, your 'honor'. Court may not insert personal opinion in lieu of the facts in this matter."

Be prepared to be threatened with "Contempt", however.

[rarestia]

To be fair, the government is guilty of withholding evidence here. They are not revealing their methodology which is criminal. Is it even legal to use illegal means to do something?

[Utilizer]

Is it even legal to use illegal means to do something?

LEOs do it all the time. Courts have even ruled repeatedly that they can be as disingenuous as they wish if it causes someone to reveal evidence or incriminate themselves, even if circumstantially.

[rarestia]

But in the case of a traffic stop, you have the right to remain silent. How could someone possibly know that they were infected by a government-created virus? I’m not sure how this could be contorted to be considered legal. They’re literally saying that you’re guilty just for going to the website. That’s like arresting someone for looking at a home that’s a known drug dealer’s residence.

[trisham]

"Those who say that we're in a time when there are no heroes,
they just don't know where to look."

~Ronald Reagan

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[Utilizer]

They’re literally saying that you’re guilty just for going to the website.

You mean like being threatened with being arrested for "suspicion of being a drug dealer"?

I happened to stop by a local park while attempting to chat up a lass on the CB (many moons ago) and a local yokel pulled up, searched the car interior, and told Me if he caught Me in the area again he would arrest Me for that very 'crime'.

[rarestia]

That’s it. That’s exactly what it is. This is thought crime stuff here.

[Ken H]

I was thinking in terms of the average Joe surfing the internet.

Wouldn't it be near impossible to visit one of these sites by accident just surfing within conventional domains like .com, .net, .org etc.?

[rarestia]

You’d be surprised. Remember about 10 years ago someone squatted on WhiteHouse.com and turned it into a porn site. People thinking they were going to the White House website were greeted with carnality at its finest.

People using Tor are not your average Internet user, but I’m afraid this is setting a dangerous precedent.

[Paperpusher]

They bugged electric, not manual typewriters.

[expat1000]

Yes

[GOPJ]

Cool. Thanks expat...

[expat1000]

You’re very welcome. Let me know if it helps!