F***, Now The FBI Can Legally Hack Everywhere Around the World
Satellites stare down directly at your house, your phone is tapped and recorded all the time, and it's mandatory for all ISP’s (ISP means Internet Service Provider) to save everything you do for 90 days.
Feeling uneasy yet?
Hang in there, there’s more. Your license plate is scanned at every toll booth, your face is scanned and filmed at just about everywhere you go (yeah, sorry to say, even that Taco Bell you went last Saturday might just have been recording you), your Facebook, Gmail, Snapchat and your phone are all cross linked with your location data which is pretty much easy for anyone to find.
Now why am I telling you this?
It’s because pretty much nowadays your privacy is something hard to get, and that uneasiness and anxiety that someone is watching us every step we take is restricting and scary. Now the next thing what I am about to tell you is something you might not going to like..
The U.S. Department of Justice recently made some new controversial amendments with the Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure which regulates when and under what particular circumstances, judges can issue warrants for searches and seizures.
What did they do?
The new amendments that were made with the Rule 41 now allows the FBI to legally search multiple computers, phones and other devices across the country, and even overseas, just on a single warrant.
What is Rule 41?
Officially, the amendments read as follows:
41(b): At the request of a federal law enforcement officer or an attorney for the government:
6): a magistrate judge with authority in any district where activities related to a crime may have occurred has authority to issue a warrant to use remote access to search electronic storage media and to seize or copy electronically stored information located within or outside that district if:
(A) the district where the media or information is located has been concealed through technological means; or
(B) in an investigation of a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1030(a)(5), the media are protected computers that have been damaged without authorization and are located in five or more districts.
Why now?
One of the reasons why the U.S. Department of Justice did this is because, up until now, the old Rule 41 only allowed the magistrate judges to sign warrants for searches within their own district.
Take a look at the Playpen case where it was supposedly should have only been the Eastern District of Virginia, instead, the FBI went against what the magistrate judge authorized, and went on to hack some 8,700 computers in 120 countries.
The aftermath was ugly, as plenty of courts found that the Playpen warrant breached the old Rule 41, with attempts to authorize searches outside of the respective district without permission.
Heck even some of the judges even threw out their evidence because of the rule violation.
It was a complete mess and the FBI found themselves having to spend more time going through their judicial system rather than actually carrying out their operations.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell wrote in a blog post, adding that
“We believe technology should not create a lawless zone merely because a procedural rule has not kept up with the times,”
How this new amendment would have changed past attacks
The new Rule 41 hopes to not repeat what happened with the Playpen case, and instead, provide a much more effective strategy for the FBI to carry out their operations.
Take a look at these two recent hacking events which might help you give an insight into how these rules come into play.
Where’s the controversy, man?
If you haven't read the link, its alright, I'll get to the gist.
So far you know, that the new Rule 41 would let the judge issue a warrant allowing federal agents to search, seize and copy all of the information.
Now, let’s say you are a victim of a massive hack, and all your internet connected devices (IoT) are affected, with this new Rule 41, there’s a pretty high chance that the FBI will do a digital search and seizure on you too.
Unfair? Unethical? You’re not the only one who thinks the same way.
This potential scenario worries privacy advocates like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) where they wrote in a blog post explaining their concern that
“Government access to the computers of botnet victims also raises serious privacy concerns, as a wide range of sensitive, unrelated personal data could well be accessed during the investigation. This is a dangerous expansion of powers, and not something to be granted without any public debate on the topic.”
The prospect of the FBI abusing this power like how it did with the Playpen case, which they went on to hack 120 countries, is something to be concerned about.
The People Who Would Not Put Up With This
Well it was bound to be controversial, and a few notable senators have already released a bill called the Stopping Mass Hacking Act.
See here what they have had to say about this.
The Positives to Look Forward To
Nevertheless my dear friend we got to accept that, amending the rules is both necessary for law enforcement agencies and deeply concerning for digital privacy advocates but rest assured with the new amended Rule 41, law enforcement can be more effective now, especially in this day to day digital age.
But don’t ever think that the Rule 41 is the end of the conversation about cyber security and privacy.
Because it’s not.
Further Reading
Rule 41
Magistrate Judges
Dark Web
What do you think about this new obscure rule by the U.S.?
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