http://www.dailyrotten.com/articles/archive/189387.html
December 17, 2001
FBI wants access to worm's pilfered data
A ROTTEN.COM EXCLUSIVE
The FBI is asking for access to a massive database that contains the
private communications and passwords of the victims of the Badtrans
Internet worm. Badtrans spreads through security flaws in Microsoft
mail software and transmits everything the victim types. Since
November 24, Badtrans has violated the privacy of millions of Internet
users, and now the FBI wants to take part in the spying.
Victims of Badtrans are infected when they receive an email containing
the worm in an attachment and either run the program by clicking on
it, or use an email reader like Microsoft Outlook which may
automatically run it without user intervention. Once executed, the
worm replicates by sending copies of itself to all other email
addresses found on the host's machine, and installs a keystroke-logger
capable of stealing passwords including those used for telnet, email,
ftp, and the web. Also captured is anything else the user may be
typing, including personal documents or private emails.
[...]
Last week the FBI contacted the owner of MonkeyBrains, Rudy Rucker,
Jr., and requested a cloned copy of the password database and
keylogged data. The database includes only information stolen from the
victims of the virus, not information about the perpetrator. The FBI
wants indiscriminant access to the illegally extracted passwords and
keystrokes of over two million people without so much as a warrant.
Even with a warrant they would have to specify exactly what
information they are after, on whom, and what they expect to find.
Instead, they want it all and for no justifiable reason.
[...]
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Received on Dec 17 2001
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