• German government to use Trojan spyware to monitor citizens
    40 replies, posted
[quote]Intelligence agencies in Germany can now use malware to track computers of people under suspicion. The Trojan will be able to track user chats and conversations on smartphones and PCs. A spokesman for the German interior ministry announced on Monday that the government had approved the usage of Trojans to monitor suspected citizens. The interior ministry spokesman defended the government's decision, saying "basically we now have the skills in an area where we did not have this kind of skill." The program was already endorsed by members of the government in autumn 2015, the ministry said. ... In order to use the malware, government officials will have to get a court order, allowing authorities to hack into a citizen's system. The approval will help officials get access to the suspect's personal computer, laptop and smartphone. Once the spyware installs itself on the suspect's device, it can skim data on the computer's hard drive and monitor ongoing chats and conversations.[/quote] [url]http://www.dw.com/en/german-government-to-use-trojan-spyware-to-monitor-citizens/a-19066629[/url]
Go to hell, German government.
Apparently the Stazi never disappeared after the fall of the GDR.
who the hell came up with this? come on, I know my country can do better than this I'll have to look into the reliability of this source, it's unbelievable that this could happen
im always curious about people suggesting to use malware to spy on citizens it will be caught quickly, im sure Antivirus software (at least some of them) will remove said malware, and its a pain to develop malware if you use linux or some lesser used OS. Even from the governments point of view, its too much of a hassle
Wouldn't be surprised if this gets used for the wrong purposes Well, just a few more years and I'm gone
apparently some people are wayyyyyy too concerned about security
I was potentially going to live in Germany for a few years at least, this stuff was one of my main concerns. When it comes to technology the German government is awful, somehow even moreso than the US.
The only other news source reporting this is Breitbart, on top of this there's EU laws and shit that completely stop this from being signed into legislation, im taking the tinest pinch of salt
[QUOTE=cartman300;49798289]Go to hell, German government.[/QUOTE] I'm not cool with the invasion of privacy but if it is targeted specifically and requires a court order isn't it just like phone tapping? Seems like quite responsible use of surveillance not that different from measures implemented by other nations, definitely not to be confused with widespread malware distribution. Though could be definitely be abused and court orders could be brought against someone who is innocent etc. Ie someone in a fringe political party in germany might have it used against them despite them posing no actual threat, I guess that would be like the watergate scandal.
This is the electronic equivalent of bugging someone's house, phone, or car, which most people don't seem to categorically object to when sanctioned by warrant, so I'm not understanding where the outrage comes from. Having a court order to authorize and document it is key, it's what separates targeted surveillance as part of a criminal investigation from blanket monitoring. Although it is somewhat amusing to see criticism of a German electronic surveillance program. I remember back in late '13 when Germany was angry about the NSA, and everyone seemed to buy Merkel's indignant 'we would NEVER do such a thing!' protests. Pretty much every Western country does this kind of stuff.
[QUOTE=MaximLaHaxim;49798360]who the hell came up with this? come on, I know my country can do better than this I'll have to look into the reliability of this source, it's unbelievable that this could happen[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=fruxodaily;49798484]The only other news source reporting this is Breitbart, on top of this there's EU laws and shit that completely stop this from being signed into legislation, im taking the tinest pinch of salt[/QUOTE] Jesus christ SH just because you don't like a news story doesn't mean there's anything wrong with the fucking source. Nearly every thread nowadays has people freaking out accusing the source of bias. Europe isn't some magical place that is immune to criticism. The refugee situation is and has been handled poorly, and there are going to be negative consequences to it. Germany's government is definitely stepping way out of bounds with some of the anti-freedom of speech and surveillance policies they've been pushing. [url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Welle[/url] Deutsche Welle is Germany's public broadcaster for fucks sake.
A reliable source of information is important, as is [I]multiple[/I] sources. I don't follow German news, I don't know if this is a good source or not so I won't comment on that in specific. But I don't even see what you're getting at. No one is saying these things really aren't or are happening. No one is saying Europe is a magical immune to criticism land, no one is talking about anything you've gone on about. All people have said is they want more sources and more reliable ones at that. Do you just blindly follow things said to you? I have faith you do not, and thus you should understand why people are being critical of news given to them.
[QUOTE=elfbarf;49798516]Jesus christ SH just because you don't like a news story doesn't mean there's anything wrong with the fucking source. Nearly every thread nowadays has people freaking out accusing the source of bias. Europe isn't some magical place that is immune to criticism. The refugee situation is and has been handled poorly, and there are going to be negative consequences to it. Germany's government is definitely stepping way out of bounds with some of the anti-freedom of speech and surveillance policies they've been pushing. [url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Welle[/url] Deutsche Welle is Germany's public broadcaster for fucks sake.[/QUOTE] Sorry for asking and making sure that this isn't some false bullshit? All I had was doubts, no need to be so rude man but like most of this shit that gets posted in SH has one questionable source or multiple sources which are controversial or questionable I know DW is a public broadcaster but public broadcasters have gotten it wrong in the past
Guys, don't worry about the source, the thing is legit Here are some more, both left and right, but all in German: [url]www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/datenschutz-bka-setzt-nun-bundestrojaner-ein-1.2875170[/url] [url]https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/bundestrojaner-109.html[/url] [url]https://jungefreiheit.de/politik/deutschland/2016/innenministerium-gibt-freigabe-fuer-bundestrojaner/[/url] [url]www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/netzpolitik/bundestrojaner-innenministerium-gibt-spaehsoftware-frei-a-1078656.html[/url]
Germany is becoming fascist state, cool.
[QUOTE=Fourier;49798685]Germany is becoming fascist state, cool.[/QUOTE] Did they even stop being one?
Man, they should just find a way to convert every monitor to a telescreen already [editline]23rd February 2016[/editline] The interior ministry would probably love that
How the fuck is this fascist and fucked up if you need a court order to get the evidence? Just because we're capable of silent conversations now doesn't mean that governments should be denied access to them even with fair suspicion.
[QUOTE=TG2;49798802]How the fuck is this fascist and fucked up if you need a court order to get the evidence? Just because we're capable of silent conversations now doesn't mean that governments should be denied access to them even with fair suspicion.[/QUOTE] ya, the feds don't need a warrant to do exactly this in the US
[QUOTE=TG2;49798802]How the fuck is this fascist and fucked up if you need a court order to get the evidence? Just because we're capable of silent conversations now doesn't mean that governments should be denied access to them even with fair suspicion.[/QUOTE] Because they suddenly have the power to tap into people private lives at will. Malware shouldn't be consideret, ever, at all. There are too many things that can go wrong
The article claims you need a court order and prior suspicion. Makes sense to me, it's just a wiretap for the digital age. You'd need to be suspected and court-approved to be monitored.
[QUOTE=KillerLUA;49798896]The article claims you need a court order and prior suspicion. Makes sense to me, it's just a wiretap for the digital age. You'd need to be suspected and court-approved to be monitored.[/QUOTE] It totally does make sense, and in an ideal society that would be a pretty cool thing. Though with things like the NSA, it makes me really suspicious basically giving the government a back door into people private lives
[QUOTE=KillerLUA;49798896]The article claims you need a court order and prior suspicion. Makes sense to me, it's just a wiretap for the digital age. You'd need to be suspected and court-approved to be monitored.[/QUOTE] A wiretap is a poor comparison; when you're talking on the phone you're talking to someone, your expectation of privacy is inherently lower. People do a lot of stuff on their computers and they inherently have a higher expectation of privacy (even when that isn't the case, e.g. going to a non-social-media website). This is more akin to setting up cameras in a person's home in my view.
[QUOTE=thelurker1234;49798469]I was potentially going to live in Germany for a few years at least, this stuff was one of my main concerns. When it comes to technology the German government is awful, somehow even moreso than the US.[/QUOTE] You are joking right?
[QUOTE=Killuah;49799103]You are joking right?[/QUOTE] Eh, it probably wrong to be honest to call it worse than the US. But there's things like the GEMA (though easily trumped by VPNs), messing with Google and wikipedia search results, there's been very high profile attempts to flat out stop violence in video games, and just the general censorship. But honestly, the Google stuff is just for holocaust deniers AFAIK and that ban did fail quite horribly.
You Germans should do a major protest about this
Ostalgie seems to be a big thing in the German government now days
[QUOTE=Killuah;49799103]You are joking right?[/QUOTE] You are familiar with "german mode" with games, right? Germany's stance on censorship is worrying.
my main concern about this is if it is given any capability to spread
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