Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

SoylentNews is powered by your submissions, so send in your scoop. Only 17 submissions in the queue.

Facebook Paid for a Tails Zero-Day Exploit to Help the FBI Catch a Predator

posted by Fnord666 on Sunday June 14 2020, @11:22PM   Printer-friendly
from the Zero-day-for-sale-sold! dept.

Halibut writes:

Motherboard reports that Facebook hired a cybersecurity firm to develop a zero-day exploit for the video player in Tails (The Amnesic Incognito Live System). Facebook provided this exploit to the FBI to aid in the apprehension of a predator using Facebook to harass victims. This exploit was not disclosed to the Tails developers.

Also covered by Gizmodo, as seen on Schneier's blog.

[Ed Note - The zero day was provided to the FBI via a third party, not directly from Facebook.]

Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Facebook Paid for a Tails Zero-Day Exploit to Help the FBI Catch a Predator | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 15 comments | Search Discussion
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 15 2020, @02:14AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 15 2020, @02:14AM (#1007976)

    If the software isn't secure for criminals, it isn't secure for anyone. Exploits should be reported directly to the software projects, not to the FBI or NSA. Facebook should be burned to the ground.

    Starting Score:    0  points
    Moderation   +5  
       Insightful=4, Informative=1, Total=5
    Extra 'Insightful' Modifier   0  
    Total Score:   5  

  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by Username on Monday June 15 2020, @02:42AM

    by Username (4557) on Monday June 15 2020, @02:42AM (#1007984)

    Yeah, having some large corporation running exploits on my computer when I visit their website doesn't sit right with me. I'm sure there is some law against this sort of shit. They'll probably get away with it too since they pay off the politicians. Which pisses me off even more.

    If I paid someone to create an exploit and used it against facebook, pretty sure I'd go to prison.

  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 15 2020, @04:24AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 15 2020, @04:24AM (#1008016)

    What kind of shitty protection does Tails provide, if surreptitious traffic can leave the node in the clear?