The Hacking Team, RCS, Qatif Today, and Lawful Interception Malware

[Terry Ganzi]

Content source

http://blog.emsisoft.com/2014/07/01/the-hacking-team-rcs-qatif-today-and-lawful-interception-malware/?ref=newsbox_news140709&utm_source=software&utm_medium=newsbox&utm_content=news140709&utm_campaign=newsbox_news140709

Is malware still malware if it’s used by legal authorities to track down criminals? How about when it’s used by governmental agencies to monitor citizens’ computers and keep an eye on political dissent? Is it malware if it’s sold by a legitimate software development company and marketed strictly for use in instances of lawful interception?What if there are currently no clear-cut, legal guidelines to determine exactly what lawful interception is? New research from University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab begs all of these questions, and reveals that present-day Internet activity monitoring technology is much more comprehensive, affordable, and user-friendly than any Big-Brother-fearing netizen had ever feared or thought.

They Call Themselves The Hacking Team
And they have a website, too. The Hacking Team is a legitimate software development company based in Italy that makes a product called RCS – Remote Control System. RCS is a full blown computer and mobile device monitoring kit, capable of infecting, controlling, monitoring, and exfiltrating data from a target device. How is this legal? Well, it is legal mostly because it is unprecedented (at least in the commercial sector) – and also because The Hacking Team enforces a strict user policy:

We will refuse to provide or we will stop supporting our technologies to governments or government agencies that:

• We believe have used HT technology to facilitate gross human rights abuses.
• Who refuse to agree to or comply with provisions in our contracts that describe intended use of HT software, or who refuse to sign contracts that include requirements that HT software be used lawfully.
• Who refuse to accept auditing features built into HT software that allow administrators to monitor how the system is being used.

However – and this is a big however – recent research from academics at Citizen Lab has revealed that The Hacking Team’s technology may be being used by the Saudi Arabian government to monitor and suppress political activists who utilize social media to voice their dissent. Of course, there is really no way of ever proving this, as one of RCS’s most potent capabilities is a remote wipe module that allows users to permanently remove the application from an infected device and leave no trace – more on this later – but the evidence presented by Citizen Lab is strong; and, even if it is circumstantial it raises important questions that the future of Internet Security must ask.

 

[Dima007]

Thanks Terry Ganzi

 

[Terry Ganzi]

Thanks Terry Ganzi

Welcome Champ

 

[Oxygen]

"They Call Themselves The Hacking Team"


Never knew you had to call yourself a hacker to be one.