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FBI can spy on you through your webcam without triggering the indicator light... and has had the technology for several years
The US government has been able to secretly spy on its citizens through their computer’s webcams for several years, it has been revealed.
The FBI has long been able to activate a computer’s camera without triggering the ‘recording light’ to let the owner know the webcam is on, a former assistant director of its tech division has said.
Their usage of remote administration tools (RATs) comes to light as the world's most powerful technology firms call on Barack Obama to curb government spying on internet users.
The FBI have been able to use the spyware technology for years and have put it in place in terrorism cases or the most serious criminal investigations, Marcus Thomas, former assistant director of the FBI’s Operational Technology Division in Quantico, told the Washington Post.
Although the FBI reportedly uses 'ratting' sparingly, they have been rejected remotely activating video feeds on at least one occasion, in Houston, Texas, in December last year.
The FBI were investigating a suspect in a bank fraud case, but the presiding judge ruled that the risk of accidentally obtaining information of innocent people was too great.
Hacking into webcams using remote administration tools, also known as ‘ratting’, to spy on women and ‘enslave’ them by controlling their computers and secretly filming and taking pictures is not a new phenomenon but has grown in the past year.
Earlier this year, tech site Arstechnica revealed that one of the 'slave forums' had 23 million total posts, where ‘ratters’ boasted about their ‘slaves’ posting pictures, mainly of women, unaware that they were being watched.
The FBI team use the same technique as ratters, by infecting the computer with a malicious software – ‘malware – through phishing.
By sending an email with a link, which could be to a website, an image or a video, the user is tricked into downloading a small piece of software onto their machine.
Once installed, the malware allows the FBI to take control of the computer and the webcam at any time, working similarly to the system large corporations use to update software and fix IT problems.
‘We have transitioned into a world where law enforcement is hacking into people’s computers, and we have never had public debate,’ Christopher Soghoian, principal technologist for the American Civil Liberties Union told the Post.
‘Judges are having to make up these powers as they go along.’
Read more: FBI can spy through your webcam without triggering the indicator light | Mail Online
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
- FBI has had secret webcam spying technology 'for several years'
- Technique activates a webcam without turning on the recording light
- The same malware has been used illegally by 'ratting' hackers
The US government has been able to secretly spy on its citizens through their computer’s webcams for several years, it has been revealed.
The FBI has long been able to activate a computer’s camera without triggering the ‘recording light’ to let the owner know the webcam is on, a former assistant director of its tech division has said.
Their usage of remote administration tools (RATs) comes to light as the world's most powerful technology firms call on Barack Obama to curb government spying on internet users.
The FBI have been able to use the spyware technology for years and have put it in place in terrorism cases or the most serious criminal investigations, Marcus Thomas, former assistant director of the FBI’s Operational Technology Division in Quantico, told the Washington Post.
Although the FBI reportedly uses 'ratting' sparingly, they have been rejected remotely activating video feeds on at least one occasion, in Houston, Texas, in December last year.
The FBI were investigating a suspect in a bank fraud case, but the presiding judge ruled that the risk of accidentally obtaining information of innocent people was too great.
Hacking into webcams using remote administration tools, also known as ‘ratting’, to spy on women and ‘enslave’ them by controlling their computers and secretly filming and taking pictures is not a new phenomenon but has grown in the past year.
Earlier this year, tech site Arstechnica revealed that one of the 'slave forums' had 23 million total posts, where ‘ratters’ boasted about their ‘slaves’ posting pictures, mainly of women, unaware that they were being watched.
The FBI team use the same technique as ratters, by infecting the computer with a malicious software – ‘malware – through phishing.
By sending an email with a link, which could be to a website, an image or a video, the user is tricked into downloading a small piece of software onto their machine.
Once installed, the malware allows the FBI to take control of the computer and the webcam at any time, working similarly to the system large corporations use to update software and fix IT problems.
‘We have transitioned into a world where law enforcement is hacking into people’s computers, and we have never had public debate,’ Christopher Soghoian, principal technologist for the American Civil Liberties Union told the Post.
‘Judges are having to make up these powers as they go along.’
Read more: FBI can spy through your webcam without triggering the indicator light | Mail Online
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
