According to a recent ruling by a US federal judge, the FBI can
legally without a wire tap order send software to an unwitting
suspected criminal which will record every keystroke subsequently
made by that suspect and return the results to the FBI – giving the
FBI access to passwords needed to decrypt the suspect's secret
files.
The question over the legality of the key-logging software arose
in a case over its use by the FBI to decrypt certain files of
Nicodemo Scarfo Jr., a suspected mobster facing charges of gambling
and loan-shark activities. FBI agents apparently installed the
key-logging software on Scarfo's machine when they gained physical
access to his computer as part of a search warrant.
US District Judge Nicholas Politan rued in his Newark, New
Jersey court that not only was no wiretap order required, but also
that the FBI was not required to disclose the specifics of the
technology.
Lawyers for Scarfo argued that details of the technology were
required to determine if its use was improper. If it accessed
on-line transmissions, they said that the FBI should have obtained
a wiretap order instead of the search warrants actually used. The
FBI denied that the system was used to collect information while a
modem was on. However, the prosecution successfully argued that,
under the Classified Information Privacy Act, it did not need to
disclose full details of the system's operation because to do so
would jeopardise ongoing and future investigations and undermine
national security.
Scarfo's lawyers say they will appeal the ruling.
