Surprise, surprise!

The FBI wants to snoop inside people's computers, and it doesn't want to go to the trouble to go to court for a search warrant or bust down doors, since then the objects of investigation might swallow the evidence.

So they'll use the same tactics that computer hackers -- and probably foreign governments' spy agencies -- have been using, sending out Trojan horses in e-mail.

Two questions:

1. Will Congress take action to rein in the FBI before it has reverted to the secret police force of Hoover's directorship?
2. Will the FBI lean on the various anti-virus software outfits as it has the telephone companies so they will, in the name of national security, omit any checks for "Magic Lantern," which is, after all, a non-reproducing virus?

Oops sorry I thought it said high-tech massages...

This will be a wonderful asset to crack down on domestic terrorists.

We will now have only one Party and we will all vote unanimously for the candidates selected for us.

Which party? The libertarians?

The FBI added that its research is "always mindful of constitutional, privacy and commercial equities," and that its use of new technology can be challenged in court and in Congress.

liar liar pants on fire, with the 'patriot' act of 2001 all your rights are belong to the feds.

I'm sure these FBI snoops will be fair-minded enough to understand the relevant privacy issues when their private conversations are intercepted and publicized; better yet, when nekkid pictures of their wives and daughters are captured in dressing rooms and public restrooms (or motel rooms), and published on the net. More unintended consequences.

On another thread on this topic, someone claimed that Magic Lantern is already installed in Windows XP.

Does anyone know if this is true?

Anyone give a citation corroborating this claim?

--Boris

That's news to me, but I'm stuck in Win-95 for the foreseeable future anyway and doubt I'll be upgrading.

Who knows what spyware lurks in the heart of men?

We've already seen evidence that RealNetworks and Netscape aren't beneath spying on their customers. Perhaps Microsoft is following their lead, or perhaps there was a secret deal with the DOJ to drop the ant-trust action.

Anything's possible.

The existence of Magic Lantern was first disclosed by MSNBC

Its not exactly rocket science. Why would they have to spend money for something that is easily available on the internet.

The bureau has been largely frustrated in efforts to break open such messages by trying random combinations, and officials are increasingly concerned about their inability to read encrypted messages in criminal or terrorist investigations.

Anyone caught with this lame-o encryption busting is too stupid for words to describe.

Work around... and this should be your common practice if you use encryption tools.

1. Obtain old(er) computer cheap.

make a boot disk...  click on start, settings, control panel, add/remove programs, startup disk, create disk. (you need a 3.5" floppy disk, 1.44 MB capacity) Use this to boot your cheap computer untill you reinstall "winders."

2. Repartition HDD to 100% usage (don't do this with a Compaq, as in don't do ANY of this with a Compaq) with fdisk.  If ya don't know how, read some instructions... you should know these things.  Plus you are dealing with a "spair" computer.   If it messes up, just try again.

REBOOT

3. Delete Master Boot Record via the following method...

    at a DOS prompt...   (   C:\>   or    A:\> )  enter the following,

fdisk/mbr      press enter key, then

fdisk/mbr      press enter key, then

fdisk/mbr      press enter key.        (yea, you do it three times)

REBOOT

at  DOS prompt C:\>  or  A:\>  enter the following... format c:/u

format complete.... REBOOT.

Now install the OS, WindyHoles 95, 98....

Now install your encryption software.

Use the "encryption computer" to encrypt your file... try to keep it down to what will fit on a floppy disk.  Copy encrypted file to floppy disk and transmit on the "main computer" (the one hooked up to internet).

No need to whine about "helping the terrorists" as they worked this out about a DECADE ago. This is a way to keep the feds at bay as our gubbermunt has decided "it's ok" to violate the CONSTITUTION.  I suggest a modern version of Blowfish or some such for the encryption tool.  If you know of something better, let er rip.

Thanks for those instructions.

I have a question regarding PGP that maybe you can answer. I thought that you generated a "private key" one time, by entering a "password" from the keyboard. But from then on you just hit the "encrypt" button on the screen and never again had to type the public key again.

Or do you?

All the hysteria surrounding eavesdropping, airport security etc while our borders and immigration policies are a complete "free for all". Our borders have become a national disgrace, and now a complete national security nightmare.

Will Congress take action to rein in the FBI before it has reverted to the secret police force of Hoover's directorship?

What do you mean "revert"? It never really changed. Flight 800, OKC, etc are examples of the secret police mentality. These new powers scare me. This is a very, very slippery slope.

I could not find the thread regarding Magic Lantern and Windows XP, but there is some "interesting" software that comes with the latest upgrades of Instant Messenger. See this link to begin Link or do a Google search on "Loadqm".

And consider downloading Zone Alarm.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have Zone Alarm, and I don't use Instant Messenger.

I do not seem to have "loadqm" on my system.

--Boris