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The FBI's 'Magic Lantern'
The government's next-generation electronic surveillance tool can reportedly break encryption. See what experts are saying about Magic Lantern.
By James Hamilton
Its been more than six months since the news broke about the FBI's new high tech spying device named "Magic Lantern." The government,
understandably, wants to keep the Magic Lantern technology under wraps. But that didn't stop "CyberCrime" from getting the inside scoop on this high tech surveillance device from experts, which we'll show you on this week's episode.
The Magic Lantern technology began as part of a broad FBI project called "Cyber Knight" -- the same project that spawned the notorious Carnivore email monitoring device. Magic Lantern goes much farther than Carnivore, though. If initial reports are correct, it will allow investigators to secretly install software that records every keystroke on a person's computer, steal passwords, and
read encrypted messages.
With many encryption programs available on the Internet, the FBI has been frustrated in efforts to break open encrypted messages, and officials are increasingly concerned about their ability to read encrypted messages in
criminal or terrorist investigations.
Magic Lantern also resolves another important problem with the FBI's existing computer monitoring technology -- the "key logger system." In the past, investigators had to break into a target's residence armed with a warrant and physically attach a device to a computer. Magic Lantern, however, can be
installed over the Internet by tricking a person into opening an email attachment. It is unclear whether Magic Lantern would transmit keystrokes it records back to the FBI over the Internet or store the information to be seized later in a raid.
Once up and running, it can reportably records all keystrokes, peer into file,
and even translate encrypted words into readable text.
How it works
Based on media reports, Magic Lantern is essentially a trojan program. This is
a software application that sits on a computer and runs without the user
knowing that it's there. Trojan programs usually come disguised as an email
attachment or an innocuous software download. For example, one popular trojan came hidden in a downloadable game called "Whack a Mole."
Trojans thought to be similar to Magic Lantern include Netbus and Back Orifice. These trojans allow other people to control your computer via the Internet. When you run a program that contains the trojan, it will copy itself to the Windows or WindowsSystem directory and add itself to the system's
Registry.
Once the program is completely installed onto a computer, it tries to hide itself
on the task list. It doesn't show any icon or indication that it is running. The
person who is controlling your computer uses a program that lets them record keystrokes, copy files, or basically do whatever they want.
A threat to civil liberties?
When news of Carnivore first hit, there was an uproar in the privacy community
because the program seemed to scan the emails of many people, not just emails sent by people under suspicion. With Magic Lantern, privacy advocates are concerned for a different reason.
On "CyberCrime," we interview Washington privacy advocate Mikal Condon, who is leading the charge to get more details about Magic Lantern out of the FBI. She believes the secrecy surrounding the technology is a serious threat to public privacy. Here's some commentary from around the Web examining
the privacy concerns prompted by Magic Lantern. Stories supportive of the project are hard to come by as of yet since all the FBI has revealed so far is that Magic Lantern exists and is in development. The FBI repeatedly denied requests for comment by "CyberCrime."
The government's next-generation electronic surveillance tool can reportedly break encryption. See what experts are saying about Magic Lantern.
By James Hamilton
Its been more than six months since the news broke about the FBI's new high tech spying device named "Magic Lantern." The government,
understandably, wants to keep the Magic Lantern technology under wraps. But that didn't stop "CyberCrime" from getting the inside scoop on this high tech surveillance device from experts, which we'll show you on this week's episode.
The Magic Lantern technology began as part of a broad FBI project called "Cyber Knight" -- the same project that spawned the notorious Carnivore email monitoring device. Magic Lantern goes much farther than Carnivore, though. If initial reports are correct, it will allow investigators to secretly install software that records every keystroke on a person's computer, steal passwords, and
read encrypted messages.
With many encryption programs available on the Internet, the FBI has been frustrated in efforts to break open encrypted messages, and officials are increasingly concerned about their ability to read encrypted messages in
criminal or terrorist investigations.
Magic Lantern also resolves another important problem with the FBI's existing computer monitoring technology -- the "key logger system." In the past, investigators had to break into a target's residence armed with a warrant and physically attach a device to a computer. Magic Lantern, however, can be
installed over the Internet by tricking a person into opening an email attachment. It is unclear whether Magic Lantern would transmit keystrokes it records back to the FBI over the Internet or store the information to be seized later in a raid.
Once up and running, it can reportably records all keystrokes, peer into file,
and even translate encrypted words into readable text.
How it works
Based on media reports, Magic Lantern is essentially a trojan program. This is
a software application that sits on a computer and runs without the user
knowing that it's there. Trojan programs usually come disguised as an email
attachment or an innocuous software download. For example, one popular trojan came hidden in a downloadable game called "Whack a Mole."
Trojans thought to be similar to Magic Lantern include Netbus and Back Orifice. These trojans allow other people to control your computer via the Internet. When you run a program that contains the trojan, it will copy itself to the Windows or WindowsSystem directory and add itself to the system's
Registry.
Once the program is completely installed onto a computer, it tries to hide itself
on the task list. It doesn't show any icon or indication that it is running. The
person who is controlling your computer uses a program that lets them record keystrokes, copy files, or basically do whatever they want.
A threat to civil liberties?
When news of Carnivore first hit, there was an uproar in the privacy community
because the program seemed to scan the emails of many people, not just emails sent by people under suspicion. With Magic Lantern, privacy advocates are concerned for a different reason.
On "CyberCrime," we interview Washington privacy advocate Mikal Condon, who is leading the charge to get more details about Magic Lantern out of the FBI. She believes the secrecy surrounding the technology is a serious threat to public privacy. Here's some commentary from around the Web examining
the privacy concerns prompted by Magic Lantern. Stories supportive of the project are hard to come by as of yet since all the FBI has revealed so far is that Magic Lantern exists and is in development. The FBI repeatedly denied requests for comment by "CyberCrime."
