Mass hacking seems to be all the rage currently. A vigilante hacker apparently slipped secure code into vulnerable cameras and other insecure networked objects in the "Internet of Things" so that bad guys can't corral those devices into an army of zombie computers, like what happened with the record-breaking Mirai denial-of-service botnet. The Homeland Security Department issued alerts with instructions for fending off similar "Brickerbot malware," so-named because it bricks IoT devices.
And perhaps most unusual, the FBI recently obtained a single warrant in Alaska to hack the computers of thousands of victims in a bid to free them from the global botnet, Kelihos.
On April 5, Deborah M. Smith, chief magistrate judge of the US District Court in Alaska, greenlighted this first use of a controversial court order. Critics have since likened it to a license for mass hacking.
General warrants were a key reason cited by the Founding Fathers for their rebellion against King George.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by DannyB on Thursday April 27 2017, @03:39PM (2 children)
General warrants, like every other abuse of power will start out as something acceptable to most people. Something that is for everyone's good. Like RICO. Like militarized police departments. Like the war on some drugs when used by certain classes of people.
Every performance optimization is a grate wait lifted from my shoulders.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Ethanol-fueled on Thursday April 27 2017, @05:00PM (1 child)
1. NSA mass-plants "Russian" malware on anything they can, particularly those who have been flagged as political enemies.
2. FBI mass-hacks all computers with malware, and oh lookie-here what did we find, let's pay them a visit.
3. ???
4. Profit!
Because, son, American laws, and the physical and mental gymnastics used to get around them, are just weird like that. You wouldn't believe the shit people go through to justify their budgets.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Thursday April 27 2017, @05:24PM
A budget is always looking for expenses to justify next years budget. ;-)