Pulse2 Technology and Social Media News » Federal Bureau of Investigation

FBI Now Has Surveillance Unit That Monitors Skype and Other Internet Communications

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 23 May 2012 16:24:22 +0000

This past January, Bangladeshi terrorist Rajib Karim filed a complaint for not being able to use Skype so that he can make low cost calls to contact his family while he is in Jail. Terrorists are known for using Skype for conspiracy purposes. This is one of the biggest reasons why the FBI is getting ready to launch a surveillance unit that is capable of spying on Skype conversations and other Internet communications. The Domestic Communications Assistance Center (DCAC) is a collaboration between the FBI, the U.S. Marshals, and the DEA. All three agenices are building customized hardware to enable wiretapping on Internet conversations if they get a court order request. The DCAC will also be available for state, local, and federal police. The FBI is also working on an initiative to develop an automatic mass-monitoring computer application to analyze Facebook for crime-related comments.

FBI Fears Bitcoin As Target For Money Laundering

Amit Chowdhry — Thu, 10 May 2012 18:28:40 +0000

Bitcoins are a virtual currency that was created by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009. Bitcoin is also the name of the open source software that the currency was built on and the P2P network used to run the software. Millions of dollars of Bitcoin transactions take place every year. The FBI fears that the Bitcoin payment network could be a way to launder money and other criminal activity like hackers stealing from fellow Bitcoin users. According to a leaked FBI report, it would be difficult to track and identify anonymous Bitcoin users.

The leaked report is titled “Bitcoin Virtual Currency: Unique Features Present Distinct Challenges for Deterring Illicit Activity.” Here is a copy of the report from Wired: [link]. The document was dated April 24th. Bitcoin combines cryptography and a P2P architecture to avoid a central authority.

The FBI is confident that authorities can still find suspects that use Bitcoin services that require customers to submit valid information or banking information in order to convert Bitcoins into real-world currency. Using offshore services that don’t require valid IDs can throw off law enforcement agencies though.

To generate Bitcoins, a user has to download and install free a Bitcoin software client to their computer. The software generates Bitcoin addresses or accounts, which is a unique 36-digit string of numbers. The currency is then stored in a virtual “wallet.”

To send Bitcoins to each other, the send needs to enter the recipient’s address and the amount of Bitcoins that they want to transfer to the address. As of last month, there were over 8.8 million Bitcoins being circulated at a value of about $4 to $5 per Bitcoin.

“If Bitcoin stabilizes and grows in popularity, it will become an increasingly useful tool for various illegal activities beyond the cyber realm,” said the FBI in the report. “For instance, child pornography and Internet gambling are illegal activities already taking place on the Internet which require simple payment transfers. Bitcoin might logically attract money launderers, human traffickers, terrorists, and other criminals who avoid traditional financial systems by using the Internet to conduct global monetary transfers.”

DVDs and Blu-Rays Will Now Have Two Government Warnings

Amit Chowdhry — Thu, 10 May 2012 16:39:21 +0000

The U.S. government will now have two copyright notices in DVDs and Blu-rays being sold. Everyone knows the first label that warns people about how the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of copyright work is illegal and criminal copyright infringement is investigated by federal law enforcement, which can be punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. The second label will be used for “educating” people that copyright infringement is not a victimless crime. Above is what the new message looks like (credit: Ars Technica).

The FBI has shown limited interest in going after individual websites, but the Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been extremely proactive about it. ICE has seized 750 domain names after receive complaints from rights-holders.

ICE’s logo will now appear in both notices as well. Both messages will be shown back-to-back for 10 seconds each and will be unskippable. They will appear after the previews once you hit the play button on the DVD.

FBI Shuts Down MegaUpload.com As Swizz Beats Emerges As CEO

Amit Chowdhry — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:12:45 +0000

Kasseem “Swizz Beatz” Dean is best known for working with some of the best hip hop artists and producing some of the best hits. It turns out that he is also presently the CEO of Megaupload and was responsible for enlisting celebrities like Diddy, Kanye West, will.i.am, Alicia Keys, and Kim Kardashian to appear in a song called “Mega Song.” He filed a lawsuit against Universal Music Group for having the video taken down from YouTube. Now it appears that the FBI has shut down MegaUpload.com and four people have been arrested as suspects for being online pirates.

Seven people were charged with online piracy crimes and four of them are already in custody. These four people were arrested in New Zealand. Federal agents and other law enforcement agencies moved simultaneously to search bank records and server farms across the globe. The indictment against MegaUpload claims that the website is responsible for $500 million in losses for the copyright owners. Investigators claim that MegaUpload has earned $175 million from pirated content. MegaUpload is currently incorporated in Hong Kong.

[WSJ]

The FBI May Have Inadvertently Agreed To Being Involved With Carrier IQ

Amit Chowdhry — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 04:00:15 +0000

The FBI used the Freedom of Information Act to inadvertently admit somehow being involved with Carrier IQ. Carrier IQ created network diagnostic software that was accused of collecting personal information. Government transparency blog MuckRock has filed for an FOIA release on the FBI’s use of Carrier IQ. The FBI said no and said the following:

The material you requested is located in an investigative file which is exempt from disclosure…

MuckRock had originally requested for “manuals, documents or other written guidance used to access or analyze data gathered by programs developed or deployed by Carrier IQ.” So did the FBI admit to having a partnership with Carrier IQ. Sure seems like it.

[MuckRock]

The FBI’s First Official App Helps Parents ID Missing Children

Riley Kennysmith — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 17:49:56 +0000

The FBI has launched Child ID, its first ever mobile app, as a way to “provide a convenient place to electronically store photos and vital information about your child.” TechCrunch reports that the app is currently available for iPhones and that other OS versions are on the way, and the FBI reminds everyone that a child goes missing in the US about every 40 seconds. The free app not only gives parents a quick way to show authorities the relevant information about their missing children, but also allows the parents to contact the appropriate authorities through the app. Current feedback on the new app complains that it isn’t password protected, but the FBI has been quick to update and will likely have a password lock on the app in the near future.

FBI Raids Apartment Of SAG Member Wes DeSoto For Allegedly Uploading The King’s Speech and Black Swan To The Pirate Bay

Amit Chowdhry — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 17:32:01 +0000

The Federal Bureau of Investigation raided the apartment Wes DeSoto, a member of the Screen Actors Guild. THe FBI believes that he was the first one to upload the movies The King’s Speech and Black Swan to The Pirate Bay in January. The FBI is also looking into whether DeSoto is part of The Pirate Bay pre-release movie-uploading group that is known as TiMPE.

By raiding DeSoto’s apartment, the FBI was looking for “records, documents, programs, applications or materials relating to ‘TiMPE’ and ‘thepiratebay.org.’” DeSoto said that he is nobody in the online file sharing world and that this investigation is a waste of tax dollars. The FBI got involved in the case in February when Larry Hahn, director of content protection for the MPAA had advised to the FBI that 5 feature motion pictures were uploaded to The Pirate Bay days before the release.

DeSoto is rumored to have a username called mf34inc on The Pirate Bay. The affidavit being used by the FBI refers to the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act of 2005, which is punishable up to 3 years of prison. The reason why they believe it was DeSoto is because the screeners he viewed had a unique watermark on them. Another reason why DeSoto was believed to be the movie leaker is because SAG snail mailed traceable iTunes codes to members. The members could use the code to access the screeners. “SAG now sends out iTunes download codes for screens,” commented the mf34inc username. “I’m a SAG member and thought I’d share these.”

[Wired]

Yasir Afifi Suing FBI For Placing Tracking Gadget In His Car

Amit Chowdhry — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 15:14:01 +0000

A lawsuit by the Council on America-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has been filed on behalf of Yasir Afifi against the FBI. Afifi is a Muslim-American student that is of Egyptian descent. Last year Afifi found a strange gadget underneath his car when getting an oil change. He was scared that it was a pipe bomb so his friend posted photos of it on Reddit. The Reddit community confirmed that it was a GPS tracking device placed there by the FBI without a warrant. FBI agents learned that Afifi discovered the device and they demanded it back from him before he destroyed it since it is expensive. Below is a video discussing the lawsuit:

[BoingBoing]

FBI Raids The Houses Of Pro-Wikileaks Operation Payback Activists

Amit Chowdhry — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 17:59:28 +0000

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has executed over 40 search warrants for those involved with Operation Payback. Operation Payback was a group of hackers that took down the Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal websites using DDoS attacks out of Wikileaks retaliation. Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal had dropped financial support for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange shortly after he released confidential government cables. The group behind Operation Payback is known as “Anonymous.”

The FBI raided a server farm in Texas for hosting Anonymous chat rooms and there were five Anonymous members arrested in the U.K. Georgia Tech freshman Zhiwei Chen posted a copy of the warrant and the business card of an FBI agent on Reddit (picture above). Chen wrote “They came in the dorm room bustin in @ 7:00, and pushed everyone out of bed. They searched the place and questioned all people involved.” Chen was a former administrator of the Operation Payback chat room where the hack meetings took place. DDoS crimes are punishable for up to 10 years in prison.

FBI Raids A Texas Hosting Company Believed To Be Involved In Hack Attacks Against PayPal

Amit Chowdhry — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 20:02:16 +0000

The FBI raided a hosting company based in Texas as part of investigation to find out who was behind the hack attack against PayPal. The FBI took a computer server and a couple of hard drives. PayPal officials “reported that an Internet activist group using the names ‘4chan’ and ‘Anonymous’ appeared to be organizing a distributed denial of service (“DDoS”) attack against the company” to the FBI. The attack against PayPal was part of a project called “Operation Payback.” Operation Payback was an organized attack to hack companies that froze or suspended WikiLeaks accounts. The FBI traced an IP address to Tailor Made Services, a firm based in Dallas that provides dedicated server hosting. [The Smoking Gun]