FBI could hack New Zealanders’ computers

More than 400,000 potentially infected New Zealand computers could be searched by the FBI if rule changes approved by the United States Supreme Court come into effect in December 1, 2016.

The changes allow US federal magistrates to issue warrants allowing the remote search of computers if the computer location has been intentionally concealed.

They will also allow a single search warrant to authorise the search of multiple computers if they have been ‘damaged without authorisation’ by malware for example.

The US government says the move is needed to tackle cross-border crime. It has cited examples of botnets, where thousands of malware infected computers are used to commit cyber-crime, and the use of location masking services such as the Tor browser hiding locations of child pornographers.

Malware can be inadvertently installed on a machine by clicking a link or downloading a document and often users are unaware of its presence. Cyber security experts Pandalabs Security estimate 30% of computers worldwide are infected with malware.

Statistics New Zealand figures show New Zealand households access the internet on more than 1.6 million desktop and laptop computers;  potentially 500,000 may be infected with malware.

The rule change has generated widespread concern.

The wording does not specify how the remote searches will be made or what will be accessed, and it is unclear whether the rule change would allow the search of media on a machine or give access to computer microphones or webcams for surveillance.

Google urged that the changes be rejected, saying they raise monumental constitutional, legal, and geopolitical concerns and could mean millions of computers might be remotely searched.

New Zealand born journalist, cyber security expert and special advisor to Amnesty International and the Electronic Frontier Foundation Morgan Marquis-Boire tweeted: “When the government has a cyber hammer, everyone looks like a nail.”

When the government has a cyber-hammer, everyone looks like a nail https://t.co/uZLNx2ou4v by @KimZetter

— Morgan Marquis-Boire (@headhntr) May 5, 2016

Whistle-blower Edward Snowden tweeted the rule changes were “unbelievable”.

Under the amended rule the computers of Edward Snowden and the journalists he communicated with could be accessed by the FBI as they used the Tor network to evade detection.

The Tor network is used by cyber criminals but is also used by journalists, dissidents and activists to communicate securely. Tor estimates almost 4000 New Zealanders use their network daily.

‘Rawshark’, the name chosen by the hacker who released information journalist Nicky Hager published in Dirty Politics, used the operating system Tails to mask the location of the computer he communicated from.

Prime Minister John Key said New Zealand was dealing with “state-sponsored espionage by foreign countries” in his address to the New Zealand Cyber Security Summit on  May 5 but made no mention of the rule change or how New Zealand might cooperate with the FBI in cross-border crime cases.

US politicians have until December 1, 2016 if they wish to reject the changes.