Home Office allows police to routinely remote search PCs

[kakariko81280]

I did consider posting this one in security:

Open Rights Group : Home Office allows police to routinely remote search PCs

When I read stories like this and the Sony rootkit, I wonder where the Anti-virus companies are in all of this, I even wonder what Microsoft is doing.

Now in theory I don't have to concern myself with this at all, I am a largely law abiding citizen, but then accepting something I don't like because it doesn't affect me personally sounds ethically dodgy. Also, once the tool is in place the guy on the trigger may change for the worse.

Choosing Free Software protects me rather more robustly. I would expect them to have a version of their spyware for Linux but I think it would be rather harder for them to email it to me successfully. I use WPA on my home network and can use OpenVPN to connect back home if I'm using a public hotspot.

Physical access seems to be the only option. Maybe I should buy some tamper evident strips.

This isn't the first time Free Software has helped out. I use off-the-record with pidgin, just because I think it's a good solution, but the key handling protocol means I never have access to the key used to encrypt a message, therefore I can't be compelled to give it up on demand (see RIP act).

I've done some searching on TheyWorkForYou.com and I can only find one reference to it in a written statement from Jacqui "id cards" Smith from a few months ago. I'm wondering what has changed to make it news now.

What do you guys think?

Chris...

[MikeTbob]

Fear not, if you ever get in trouble with the law, they can get inside your Linux machine just as fast as any Windows machine, just keep your nose clean and the rest will take care of itself.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnivore_(FBI)

[Freston]

Now in theory I don't have to concern myself with this at all, I am a largely law abiding citizen, but then accepting something I don't like because it doesn't affect me personally sounds ethically dodgy.

Being a law abiding citizen has nothing to do with being ethically correct. I think it was our own Linus who said that you are morally corrupt if you need to ask a lawyer whether what you want to do is ok.

I am not of the sort that mistrusts people. But I do think we should be careful with how much of your personal details leak out to a centralized database or government institutions. I think my current government, although I don't always agree, is basically well intentioned. But info gets leaked, social engineers can steal, and a next government can be less trustworthy. I'm not trying to invoke a political discussion, just saying that granting access to a trustworthy and well intentioned person now in order to help them fight crime or the other thing may prove later on to be a foundation on which malevolent persons base their relationship of power over you.

I think we should help the police in every way we can, but we should not give them powers we might later regret. That includes back doors in operating systems.

[questio verum]

Not very good. Not very good at all. But to be honest, it doesn't shock me after all that has occurred on this little dirtball since the turn of the millenium. I hope for the sake of the Brits, as well as for the rest of us, that this doesn't go unchallenged.

[dandart]

Unacceptable. I will do all in my power to stop this blatant hacking.
Upgrade all the time, and never ever ever ever ever ever use non-OSS.
I'm paranoid with Flash now...I'm very very paranoid in everything...
I'm checking milw0rm.com and Metasploit regularly for any exploits, and if I can hack, the government can. And of course, I don't want them to. Encryption of everything using extreme encryption is now necessary.

Tsch, can't the government do anything right?

[kakariko81280]

Encryption of everything

Sadly encryption would not solve anything for a good reason and a bad one.

First of all if any kind of spyware is running on your computer it can see everything you can see, including accessible files/encrypted partitions.

Secondly, if the police have reason to believe you have access to encrypted data relevant to their investigation they can compel you to hand over the key. I have been led to believe that the law doesn't actually require you to hand over the key, just the data in cleartext. However, like in the case of off-the-record, sometimes you can encrypt things usefully without ever needing to know or store the key.

There is a bit more about this on the BBC which indicates this is Europe wide, although we seem to have been doing it for a while anyway.

Chris...

[SkittleLinux18]

This is bull ****! I'm going to load my computer up with the best porn on Earth so that the FBI is too busy jacking off to search my damn computer.

P.S. and they wonder why people stab other people....

[MikeTbob]

This is bull ****! I'm going to load my computer up with the best porn on Earth so that the FBI is too busy jacking off to search my damn computer.

P.S. and they wonder why people stab other people....

HEH, simmer down skittle, I agree, it is an outrage.
Lets keep in mind folks, we have a no politics rule on the forums....I don't know if this thread has crossed the line yet but let's keep it civil anyhow. Thanks.

[SkittleLinux18]

Alright, let's make it more Linux-based and computer-based. How can we protect our computers from things like this- regardless of who it's coming from? Does Linux offer and software that can guard against it? What about other software in general? Will encryption methods of certain folders work?

[MikeTbob]

Generally speaking my own opinion, there is nothing you can do really, to protect yourself from something like this. I guess the best way to defend yourself against the goverments and police agencies is to protect yourself with your votes. I have nver really bothered with Encryption and I don't understand a whole about it, but I'm thinking you can be ordered to produce encryption keys in a courtroom so I don't feel that encryption is a sure fire thing either. Like I posted earlier in this thread, keep your nose clean and you *shouldn't* have to worry about anything.
That might have been more than .02 cents, keep the change.