Judge rules internet spying illegal

Judge rules internet spying illegal
New blow to the Patriot Act

Iain Thomson, vnunet.com 07 Sep 2007

A US judge has ruled that the FBI cannot spy on people's internet and telephone use without a warrant.

Judge Victor Marrero, of the District of Columbia, determined that the rules under the Patriot Act that allowed the FBI to secretly request telephone, internet and email logs without applying for a warrant were barred by the constitution.

The Patriot Act was passed 43 days after the terrorist attacks in the US on 11 September 2001.

Judge Marrero found that the practice offended constitutional principles of checks and balances, and violated the guarantee of free speech.

In a 24-page summation the judge concluded that the government would also have to hand over evidence requested on under the Freedom of Information act or explain why it would not.

The case was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Security Archive and the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

"Today's ruling deals a blow to the administration's sweeping and often unfounded secrecy claims," said Nasrina Bargzie, an attorney with the National Security Project at the American Civil Liberties Union.

"When documents are withheld under the Freedom of Information Act, the government must have a better excuse for keeping the documents secret than 'because we said so'."

The judge found that the government's reasons for not releasing documents were "too vague and general" and that the FBI's justifications were "wholly inadequate".

The case will now go to the appeal courts and the government has until 12 October to respond.

Source : pcmag.co.uk

BlackBerry 'spyware' can steal secrets

BlackBerry 'spyware' can steal secrets

Brett Winterford and Munir Kotadia, ZDNet Australia

03 July 2007 06:30 PM

Research in Motion's (RIM) BlackBerry which is popular with corporate users due to its secure management of mobile e-mail is vulnerable to 'legal' spyware that has been classified as a Trojan by several security vendors.

RIM's BlackBerry has won significant market share in the corporate sector due to a perception that it is impervious to security attacks.

But an updated version of the FlexiSPY application, considered a security threat by most IT security vendors, enables a remote attacker to tap into phone calls and e-mails sent to and from a Blackberry-enabled device.

"This is the first [Trojan] for a BlackBerry we have ever seen," said Patrik Runald, senior security specialist with F-Secure.

Marketed as a spyware device for BlackBerry phones, the FlexiSPY application by Bangkok-based manufacturer Vervata is sold on the premise that it can "spill BlackBerry secrets."

Once physically installed on a mobile device, a remote user is given complete monitoring and access control.

This includes bugging voice calls, logging mobile e-mail messages and SMS, tracking the location of the user, or even remotely switching on the phone's microphone to bug a user regardless of whether they are on a call.

While FlexiSPY also works on Windows Mobile and Symbian-based devices, and is sold on the premise of catching a cheating spouse, 'disloyal' employee or for the monitoring children, there can be no doubt that a BlackBerry targeted version is aimed squarely at corporate espionage.

Its use in a boardroom, for example, could have catastrophic implications for any organisation.

RIM, manufacturer of the BlackBerry, was unavailable for comment by press time.

The full artcle can be found HERE