Thursday, April 23, 2015

Mass surveillance is driven by the private sector...

Yet another report has surfaced describing how tools created by the malware-industrial complex are being deployed by U.S. security services. While the coverage surrounding this story focuses primarily on federal agencies it’s important to step back for a moment and view the big picture. In particular, looking at who builds, operates, and profits from mass surveillance technology offers insight into the nature of the global panopticon.

A report published by Privacy International as well as an article posted by Vice Motherboard clearly show that both the DEA and the United States Army have long-standing relationships with Hacking Team, an Italian company that’s notorious for selling malware to any number of unsavory characters.

Federal records indicate that the DEA and Army purchased Hacking Team’s Remote Control System (RCS) package. RCS is a rootkit, a software backdoor with lots of bells and whistles. It’s a product that facilitates a covert foothold on infected machines so intruders can quietly make off with sensitive data. The aforementioned sensitive data includes encryption keys. In fact, Hacking Team has an RCS brochure that tells potential customers:

“What you need is a way to bypass encryption, collect relevant data out of any device, and keep monitoring your targets wherever they are, even outside your monitoring domain” Full story...

Related posts:
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  2. France wants to fight terrorism by spying on everyone...
  3. Paradise stolen: The myth of terrorism...
  4. A demand for net neutrality roils India, campaign reaches crescendo...
  5. U.S. secretly tracked billions of calls for decades...
  6. Facebook 'tracks all visitors, breaching EU law'
  7. The privacy app that's taking on Google...
  8. The Internet killed privacy: Our liberation, and our capture, are within the same tool...

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