Mozilla accuses Finfisher makers of 'hiding' under name. 1 May 2013Last updated at 12:39 ET Mozilla accuses Gamma International of using Firefox as a cover for its surveillance software The Mozilla Foundation has accused UK software group Gamma International of falsely associating one of its products with the Firefox name.
Finfisher is legitimate surveillance software thought to be used by governments to covertly obtain data. It is installed unknowingly by its target computer user, often by disguising itself as an update to a well known programme such as Firefox. Gamma International has not responded to emailed requests for comment. University of Toronto research group The Citizen Lab said it believed Finfisher command and control servers were currently active, or had been present, in 36 countries. FinFisher Spyware Presentation Details Leaked. Precise details of the FinFisher range have been difficult to find since it is, according to Gamma Group, sold only to bona fide law enforcement and government agencies who do not tend to admit that they use it.
Now Mikko Hypponen, CRO at security firm F-Secure, has published a series of slides from FinFisher sales brochures and presentations that "were leaked on the net. " The first slide gives clues on its origin. The "research starting point was the most government used intrusion tool worldwide: Backtrack. " The founder of Backtrack was recruited to the company; that is, says Hypponen, a reference to Martin Johannes Münch. Other slides provide details on some of the FinFisher components: FinIntrusion Kit, FinUSB, FinFly (USB, Web and ISP) and FinSpy Mobile.
Governments Using FinFisher Disguised as Firefox to Spy. Surveillance software FinSpy discovered in 25 countries. Intrusion and surveillance software FinSpy has been found to be in use in 25 countries, including many with dubious human rights records.
Researchers from The Citizen Lab found command and control servers for FinSpy — also known as FinFisher — across the globe after beginning analysis on a suspicious email targeting Bahraini activists. The software can capture information such as passwords and audio from Skype calls, which it then sends back to a server. The FinSpy software is made by Gamma Group International in Munich, Germany, but is sold through a subsidiary in the United Kingdom.
The surveillance tool is marketed for law enforcement, but has been used to target opposition groups and activists, something that has drawn concern over the software's distribution to select governments. As the report notes, an unregulated market for selling surveillance software globally presents significant risks to cyber attack, as US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper discussed yesterday. Spying and diplomacy. Josh Hong It has been nearly a month since it was revealed that Singapore has been helping Australia and the United States to spy on Malaysia and Indonesia, the two major Muslim countries in South-East Asia.
Edward Snowden, the now world-renowned whistle-blower, reportedly told the media that Washington had long put Singapore at the centre of a spy network that taps undersea cables. Meanwhile, the New York Times reported early this year that Gamma Group, a British company, had supplied the spyware FinSpy to 25 countries, including Malaysia and Singapore. The software is said to be able to “grab images off computer screens, record Skype chats, turn on cameras and microphones and log keystrokes”. Now, one may cite the Latin phrase tu quoque and argue that governments around the world have been caught monitoring one another secretly through various means, so there is nothing new.
Pleading ignorance on a hot issue. FBI Can Turn On Your Webcam Without You Knowing It. The FBI apparently has the ability to take over your computer’s webcam and your smartphone’s camera and use them to spy on you, according to recent reports.
To make matters worse, you probably wouldn’t realize that you are under surveillance via your own devices, because the agency also can watch without your webcam light even turning on. The FBI has had the ability to take over webcams, microphones and camera phones for several years, The Washington Post discovered. The Post’s reporters stumbled upon the bureau’s capabilities when they were working on a story about the bureau’s search for a man in Iran who was making threats against Americans.
The story uncovered some frightening FBI capabilities euphemistically called “network investigative techniques.” The techniques utilize software that enables the bureau to turn computers and smartphones into surveillance devices. What the FBI’s network investigative techniques can do Discover The Only Way Back To True Freedom And Liberty In America…