German ’Trojan’ Spyware Violates Constitution
a11/ZUMA Press/Newscom
The malware can be used to control hardware such as microphones and cameras for room surveillance as well as upload falsified evidence to the target hard drive.
SECURITY ESSEN 2008 – DIE LEITMESSE F‹R SICHERHEIT: DAS ‹BERWACHUNGSSYSTEM CAM2IP VON GEUTEBR‹CK / 071008 / KAMERA / VIDEOKAMERA / ‹BERWACHUNGSKAMERA / KAMERASYSTEM / VIDEO‹BERWACHUNG / CCTV / ‹BERWACHUNGSTECHNIK / MESSE / STAND / FIRMA / UNTERNEHMEN / AUSSTELLUNG / MESSERUNDGANG / MESSEHALLE / SICHERHEITSBRANCHE / NRW / NORDRHEIN WESTFALEN / DEUTSCHLAND / EUROPA / 2008
PicNr:#31573098.000025# action press/MARQUITAN,R‹DIGER *** Local Caption *** 31573098
The malware can be used to control hardware such as microphones and cameras for room surveillance as well as upload falsified evidence to the target hard drive. Photographer: a11/ZUMA Press/Newscom
SECURITY ESSEN 2008 – DIE LEITMESSE F‹R SICHERHEIT: DAS ‹BERWACHUNGSSYSTEM CAM2IP VON GEUTEBR‹CK / 071008 / KAMERA / VIDEOKAMERA / ‹BERWACHUNGSKAMERA / KAMERASYSTEM / VIDEO‹BERWACHUNG / CCTV / ‹BERWACHUNGSTECHNIK / MESSE / STAND / FIRMA / UNTERNEHMEN / AUSSTELLUNG / MESSERUNDGANG / MESSEHALLE / SICHERHEITSBRANCHE / NRW / NORDRHEIN WESTFALEN / DEUTSCHLAND / EUROPA / 2008
PicNr:#31573098.000025# action press/MARQUITAN,R‹DIGER *** Local Caption *** 31573098
German ’Trojan’ Spyware Violates Constitution
Lex van Lieshout ANP XTRA/ANP/Newscom
Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court in 2008 ruled that the secret infiltration of information technology systems is a grave encroachment on civil rights and can only be justified if there is a danger to a predominantly important interest.
Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court in 2008 ruled that the secret infiltration of information technology systems is a grave encroachment on civil rights and can only be justified if there is a danger to a predominantly important interest. Photographer: Lex van Lieshout ANP XTRA/ANP/Newscom
The German government is using
spying software that violates the country’s constitutional law
because it contains functions beyond the interception of
Internet-based communication, a hacker organization said.
The malware, once installed on a computer, can receive
software and remotely execute it, the Chaos Computer Club said.
It can also be used to control hardware such as microphones and
cameras for room surveillance as well as upload falsified
evidence to the target hard drive, said Hamburg-based CCC, which
calls itself Europe’s largest hacker group.
The Federal Interior Ministry and its units did not employ
the software examined by the CCC, ministry spokesman Markus
Beyer said at a routine press conference today in Berlin.
“That’s what is decisive for us,” said Beyer. He added that
the software is “freely available” and three years old, while
declining to say whether the software was designed by or for the
government.
In 2008, Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court ruled that
the secret infiltration of information technology systems is a
grave encroachment on civil rights and can only be justified in
some criminal investigations. The court laid out strict legal
limitations for such probes.
“This refutes the claim that an effective separation of
just wiretapping Internet technology and a full-blown trojan is
possible in practice — or even desired,” the hacker club said.
“Functions clearly intended for breaking the law were
implemented in this malware.”
A trojan is a software program that appears benign but
performs functions that can be harmful to a computer user’s
system. Unlike viruses, trojans don’t make copies of themselves.
Probe Called
The German government takes allegations about illegal
surveillance software used by investigative authorities “very
seriously” and will examine the claims at every level of its
operations, chief government spokesman Steffen Seibert said at
the same press conference today.
“The government values and defends the privacy of citizens
also in the digital world,” Seibert said.
The Free Democratic Party, coalition partner of Chancellor
Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Party, called yesterday for
an investigation and a ban on the use of the software until the
allegations are cleared.
The spy software contains security weaknesses that make it
possible for third parties to control the target computer once
the trojan is installed, the CCC said. As part of an effort to
conceal the source of the attack, all data is routed through a
data center in the U.S., which could violate “a fundamental
principle of national sovereignty,” according to the CCC.
“It would be a very grave incident and clearly against the
law should the allegation be accurate,” Wolfgang Bosbach,
chairman of the German parliament’s interior-affairs committee
and a member of Merkel’s party, told the public broadcaster
Deutschlandfunk radio today.
To contact the reporters on this story:
Cornelius Rahn in Frankfurt at
crahn2@bloomberg.net;
Brian Parkin in Berlin at
bparkin@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Kenneth Wong in Berlin at
kwong11@bloomberg.net
Article source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-10/german-trojan-spyware-may-violate-constitution.html
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