Software Meant to Fight Crime Is Used to Spy on Dissidents

[alp227]

Morgan Marquis-Boire works as a Google engineer and Bill Marczak is earning a Ph.D. in computer science. But this summer, the two men have been moonlighting as detectives, chasing an elusive surveillance tool from Bahrain across five continents.

What they found was the widespread use of sophisticated, off-the-shelf computer espionage software by governments with questionable records on human rights. While the software is supposedly sold for use only in criminal investigations, the two came across evidence that it was being used to target political dissidents.

The software proved to be the stuff of a spy film: It can grab images of computer screens, record Skype chats, turn on cameras and microphones and log keystrokes. The two men said they discovered mobile versions of the spyware customized for all major mobile phones.

But what made the software especially sophisticated was how well it avoided detection. Its creators specifically engineered it to elude antivirus software made by Kaspersky Lab, Symantec, F-Secure and others.

full: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/31/technology/finspy-software-is-tracking-political-dissidents.html

[AdHocSolver]

1. Years ago I read that corporations used software to spy on their employees.

Key loggers and screen grabbers are "old hat".

Antivirus programs have become a joke. They often cause more computer problems than they solve.

Most people have a false sense of security when it comes to computers. If they cannot figure out how their computer can be attacked, they don't believe that it is possible. Some people think that they have so little of value on their computer that no one would bother to "hack" them.