Meyer wrote about the pending FOIA for Carnivore:
>Additionally, I don't believe the source is available, and I would doubt
>the FBI would have the source for it. But, assuming that a) this is the
>same product that the FBI is using, and b) they were given the source
>under the agreement that it not be disclosed, could the FOIA force the
>disclosure of this code?
Only time will tell. And it may be long time, indeed. The FBI is some 5
years behind in some of their FOIA responses.
Still, I disclosure of the Carnivore code is not the most interesting issue
here. Carnivore represents just one of many indicators of a much larger
global trend. While the implementation details vary from country to country,
law enforcement is moving to active monitoring of Internet communications
closer to the targets of interest, but not at the target level. In
particular, the "black box" monitoring device installed at the ISP level
appears to be in the process of becoming the implementation of choice.
Pioneered by Russia, this design has rapidly been adopted by the UK, and now
is used in the US.
There are sound engineering reasons why this design is so popular: unlike a
wiretap order to copy all the emails of a particular interception target,
the black box does not require per-message cooperation from the ISP's staff.
This is of importance, since this cooperation cannot and is not assumed.
C.f. the proposals floating around in some European countries to in the
future require network administrators to obtain security clearances to
increase the likelihood of thorough compliance with wiretap orders. An
interception technology design that reduces the level of active
participation the ISP has to play in the intercepts is more reliable and
cheaper to all parties involved. Few designs require less day-to-day
involvement by the ISP than hooking a black box sniffer to the ISP's
internal network.
The lesson here is simple: encrypt your emails and other private
communications.
--Lucky Green <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
"Anytime you decrypt: that's against the law".
Jack Valenti, President, Motion Picture Association of America in
a sworn deposition, 2000-06-06
