Want Some Spyware?

This is incredible and should remind us all that we are inching closer and closer to living in a police state. And this is not to say that we don’t need good, honest law enforcement, but we are not in favor of the police, the government, private companies, or individuals spying on our children or on us via spyware programs that are so ridiculous that they’re far more likely to be used for evil rather than good.

And we’ve always stood firmly against anyone who uses fear as a sales tactic. We would have never believed this if we hadn’t seen this video. You’ll notice how the law enforcement officials, prosecutors, and even federal agencies are enthusiastically promoting a malware/spyware program called CyberCop.

Watch the video below then read the article below it, written by our friends at Emsisoft. And after you’ve had a chance to watch the video and to read the article – please take a minute to voice your opinion; we’d really like to know what you think.

So now the police are handing out spyware, for free…

Ever vigilant, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has published nothing short of an indictment against the makers of the ComputerCOP Internet Safety software, a program that’s been distributed for free by approximately 245 U.S. law enforcement agencies in 35 states, to help parents keep their children safe online. The kicker? Well, in addition to featuring a near useless search functionality designed to find “bad words,” a browser monitor that only works on Internet Explorer and Safari, and a “bad image” finder that has a hard time discerning between desktop icons and boobs, premium versions of ComputerCOP come fully loaded with a keystroke recorder – that transmits logged information to third party servers… in plaintext form.

What this means is that anyone who wants to computer-spy on anyone else need only walk on down to the local police station and obtain the tool to do it, for free. Oh, and when you use it, you may also unknowingly be sharing what you find with your friendly neighborhood hacker, if they happen to be bored that day and are sniffing local networks for unencrypted goodies.

But wait! There’s more…

Got an extra $42,000 in cash laying around from that last drug bust? Why not send a copy of ComputerCOP to every parent in the county, and why not print the most photogenic portrait of the county sheriff you have right smack dab on the label of the disc?!

Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation

Yeah. That’s actually happening, too. And the icing on the cake is that ComputerCOP is actively marketing its product to law enforcement agencies as the “perfect election and fundraising tool,” using fraudulent endorsements from the U.S. Dept. of the Treasury, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).

As of today, the EEF estimates anywhere from a few hundred thousand to more than a million copies of ComputerCOP have been purchased by law enforcement agencies across the United States. Emsisoft does not endorse setting fire to any of these copies that you might find, but if you happen see ComputerCOP in use we trust you’ll know what to do.

For the full story, see the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Deep Links Blog.

Have a great (subsidized-spyware-free) day!

SOURCE: Emsisoft Blog