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posted by on Thursday April 27 2017, @02:01PM   Printer-friendly
from the don't-you-believe-it dept.

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.


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  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 27 2017, @04:34PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 27 2017, @04:34PM (#500768)

    botnets are interfering with some big company or gov service so instead of going after the manufacturers they hack people's shit? fuck the fbi. bullies and traitors.

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