Posted on 07/20/2007 10:11:40 AM PDT by LibWhacker
It's well known that organizations with nefarious and often criminal goals support and distribute malware and spyware that allows them to snoop on and/or manipulate people's computers. However, what is less well-known is that some of the people behind spyware are ostensibly the "good guys"—law enforcement officers who install the software on suspects' computers to assist them with their investigations.
The existence of "policeware" is not well-known, but the US government has used this sort of software before. In 2001, federal agents obtained permission from a judge to enter a suspect's home and install keylogging software on his computer. The rationale for this unusual mode of investigation was to get around encryption software such as PGP and the web e-mail service, Hushmail, that the suspect was using. More recently, FBI agents used a virus to bust a bomb threat hoaxer.
So, given the fact that federal investigators and possibly other law enforcement personnel are using spyware to monitor suspect's computers, what happens when said suspects run antispyware programs?
A fascinating CNET survey of top antispyware vendors found that of 13 software companies, all of them stated that it is currently their policy to detect police spyware. When asked if they had ever received a court order to stop detecting police spyware, nine of the companies denied having received such a request. Computer Associates said they were not sure, and both Microsoft and McAfee declined to comment on the question.
Sounds good, right? Notably, a few companies admitted that they would whitelist policeware if it were requested, including the maker of ZoneAlarm, a popular firewall app. More interesting, CNET said that when asked flat-out if they would whitelist for the police when asked, the question was sometimes ignored.
The issue of checking for police spyware has come up before. After the Hushmail incident, an article was released about the FBI developing a new form of spyware delivered as a virus called Magic Lantern that could be installed on users' computers without a agent having to be physically present at the computer. According to an Associated Press article from 2001, McAfee Corporation contacted the FBI after the Magic Lantern story broke to "ensure its software wouldn't inadvertently detect the bureau's snooping software and alert a criminal subject." McAfee later denied that such contact had taken place.
The issue of whether or not the government should be allowed to electronically snoop in this way is a contentious one. Many people would agree that if a search warrant has been previously obtained for a suspect's house as part of a criminal investigation, the installation of snooping software would be an acceptable extension of that search.
However, the recent NSA wiretapping scandal shows that the federal government is not always going to bother obtaining search warrants in the first place, and considers casting a wide net of surveillance to be an acceptable method of counter-terrorism, despite the fact that it is of dubious value as such. As for court orders to anti-spyware companies to not detect policeware, no such orders have been confirmed and Kevin Bankston, an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told CNET that "the government would be pushing the boundaries of the law if it attempted to obtain such an order." However, this too could be circumvented by using the Wiretap Act.
If such an order is given to stop detecting federal government snoopware, savvy criminals could simply turn to open-source software such as ClamAV and OpenAntiVirus.org that can be audited to see that there are no backdoors or workarounds installed at the request of the government.
If big brother could be in your brain, he would be. Warrants = OK in my book, but white listing = HIGHLY NOT GOOD
I use Google a lot, and lately (a week maybe?), instead of going to the link I've selected, I go to some other page ... about 50/50 advertising/porn.
When I right click my back button, I see the Google search page, then a 'jump' page and the 'jumped' page I ended up in.
Where do I look to find this aggravating program (virus?) so I can delete it?
Never had this problem before ... I run Win98SE.
Most of the time...it nessecitates a full wipe / reformat of the hard drive.
Great ... find the recover disc and all that?
Yep. Usually. Most of the time...I just let it go till I can’t stand it any longer than then I wipe. Firewall, anti-spyware, ect. Doesn’t matter. break.com and collegehumor.com are bad on computer software.
I am installing a second drive next time (when I get time, I already have it) and doing a dual boot sector with WinXP on one and Linux (whatever version) on the other. I’m tired of having to back up to reformat the Win disk.
Go into add/remove programs, look for Google desktop, if found, uninstall.
Try Adaware before you go formatting your disk. The adware that you have might be curable.
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/products/ad_aware_free.php
APf
If you're running Internet Explorer as your browser, try FireFox instead.
“AdAware” and “Spybot Search and Destroy” — run both of these and that should do the trick ...
also Hitman Pro is fantastic ... it bundles a bunch of the best spyware/adware/webroot removal together ... use the free trial
http://www.hitmanpro.nl/hitmanpro/
Check This out ...
Sandboxie
http://www.sandboxie.com/
Run your Web browser inside the sandbox most of the time. This way any incoming, unsolicited software (spyware, malware and the like) that you download, is trapped in the sandbox. Changes made to your list of Favorites or Bookmarks, hijacking of your preferred start page, new and unwanted icons on your desktop — all these, and more, are trapped in and bound to the sandbox.
You could also try a new toolbar add-on, browser extension or just about any kind of software. If you don’t like it, you throw away the sandbox, and start again with a fresh sandbox. On the other hand, if you do like the new piece of software, you can re-install it outside the sandbox so it becomes a permanent part of your system.
Sandboxie intercepts changes to both your files and registry settings, making it virtually impossible for any software to reach outside the sandbox.
Sandboxie traps cached browser items into the sandbox as a by-product of normal operation, so when you throw away the sandbox, all the history records and other side-effects of your browsing disappear as well.
You’ve got a spyware problem that has infected/changed your registry. I went through this about 4 months ago. None of the spyware (Adaware, spybot, etc...) could fix it.
I located a site that helped.
Join in and/or do a search on hijackthis.exe They have people on that website that can walk you through the process. It is free, but it is a little slow and tedious.
You will have to download Hijackthi.exe and another program, then run them on your computer. Then you will have to save a copy of the file it generates and send the file to them. They will tell you what to delete/change in you registry to fix it.
The existence of "policeware" is not well-known, but the US government has used this sort of software before. In 2001, federal agents obtained permission from a judge to enter a suspect's home and install keylogging software on his computer.
I have no problem with this, so long as they have to get a warrant.
Sounds good, right? Notably, a few companies admitted that they would whitelist policeware if it were requested, including the maker of ZoneAlarm, a popular firewall app. More interesting, CNET said that when asked flat-out if they would whitelist for the police when asked, the question was sometimes ignored.
This is not acceptible. Companies ought not have the ability to sign away my rights. At the very least, they should have the decency to disclose this to their customers.
I would think they would have considerable difficulty getting an administrative account on the suspect’s computer.
Sure, you can run a password cracker, but they may run for several hours, and it would be kind of hard to explain what you’re doing if the suspect came home unexpectedly.
Also, some secure packages do not use the default OS keyboard handler, but supply their own. This is pretty easy to implement if you know what you’re doing.
Microsoft Media Player reports back to Microsoft the names of files watched. No word of what they do with all the information Microsoft collects. I would guess that if someone uses Microsoft Flight Simulator to fly jets into buildings they get reported to Homeland Security. The 9/11 terrorists practiced this way.
If you trade stocks or have a cell phone you have already signed away your right to a jury trial.
Signing away rights is now part and parcel of the adhesion contracts we use just as a matter of day to day living.
http://www.pctools.com/registry-mechanic/
Check out all the awards it's won. It's the first registry cleaner I've found that's idiot proof. Keeps my registry clean as a whistle. The only drawback is the annual licensing fee is $30. Worth it to me. Might not be to someone else.
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