As of December 1 of 2016, the FBI’s ability to remotely hack your computer got a lot easier, and unless you are extremely plugged into the digital privacy realm, you probably heard nothing about it.
The FBI has had the authority to remotely hack computers for the purpose of criminal investigation for years under Federal Rule for Criminal Procedures 41. In its previous iteration, Rule 41 required the FBI to obtain a warrant from the actual jurisdiction in which the computer is physically located. If a case involved, say, a hacker’s installation of botware on computers via the internet, this could mean obtaining thousands of warrants for machines in numerous jurisdictions, assuming the investigators even know where the computers are physically located. So, in the name of expediency, the Department of Justice petitioned the Supreme Court for a change to Rule 41 in April of 2016, and, unfortunately, they got it.
The revision to Rule 41 permits the FBI to obtain a single warrant for multiple computers and to obtain the warrant in ANY jurisdiction if “technological means” have been used to conceal the machine’s physical location.
This may seem innocuous at first glance, but Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Chris Coons, D-Del., and Steve Daines, R-Mont. believed this expansion in authority will be extremely damaging to American’s privacy. Wyden released a statement that read, “These amendments will have significant consequences for Americans’ privacy and the scope of the government’s powers to conduct remote surveillance and searches of electronic devices. Under the proposed rules, the government would now be able to obtain a single warrant to access and search thousands or millions of computers at once; and the vast majority of the effected computers would belong to the victims, not the perpetrators, of a cybercrime.”
The senators introduced bills to prevent or delay enacting the revisions to Rule 41 in November 2016, but Senate did not even hold a hearing to discuss the merits of the bills, let alone vote on them.
The senators were not alone in their fears that this subtle rule change could have a large impact on the privacy of ordinary, law-abiding Americans. Google, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) all filed letters with the Supreme Court urging the justices to deny the rule change. Privacy groups fear that as victims of cybercrimes computers are scoured for evidence without their knowledge, personally embarrassing or incriminating items unrelated to the original crime will be revealed. Worse still, some fear that the revised rule’s specific reference to the use of “technological means” for concealing a computer’s location will be used as a pretense for the FBI to actively target TOR or VPNs users for unannounced, remote searches.
Needless to say, there are numerous of legitimate reasons to want to use TOR or a VPN service, and far more legitimate users than criminals will be rounded up if those services are used as targeting parameters.
The Department of Justice has attempted to reassure us that revision does “not purport” to expand the scope of Rule 41, but that is a weak comfort. Even of the author of the Patriot Act, Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wisconsin), said that Section 215 was never intended to authorize the mass surveillance of American’s phone calls….but that hasn’t stopped the NSA.
Keep an eye on this. And don’t let this stop you from using essential digital privacy and security tools, like VPNs. I recommend Nord VPN or Mullvad VPN. You can pay for either one privately with Bitcoin! And you can support the show by purchasing Bitcoin anonymously from Paxful through my affiliate link. Just click: https://paxful.com/roots/buy-bitcoin?affiliate=bqWkbP3mdAw
https://www.engadget.com/2016/06/24/fbi-no-warrant-hack-computer/
https://www.engadget.com/2016/04/28/supreme-court-approves-rule41-changes/
http://theusualroutine.com/2017/01/22/if-you-use-tor-browser-the-fbi-just-labeled-you-a-criminal/
http://www.newsweek.com/supreme-court-allows-fbi-hack-any-computer-anywhere-if-warrant-454278
https://www.wired.com/2013/09/nsa-abusing-patriot-act/
https://www.cryptotech.solutions/fbi-quietly-expands-power-to-remotely-hack-your-computer/