Intelligence, N. 384, 14 May 2001, p. 13 USA FBI TRIES TO LEGALIZE ITS HACKING ABROAD During the last week of April, in Seattle, two Russian hackers were indicted on charges of breaking into the networks of banks, Internet service providers and other companies. The somewhat routine charges contrast with the unprecedented methods the FBI used to nab the pair: breaking into their two Russian-based servers remotely and downloading data from them. Some high-tech lawyers are concerned that the precedent may be used to justify indiscriminate, cross-border hacking ... in the name of the law. According to court documents filed in the case, the FBI and the Department of Justice lured two suspected Russian hackers to Seattle with job offers at a fictitious security company. After monitoring the duo's connection to two servers in Russia, the FBI used the suspects' passwords to download incriminating data from those servers before arresting the pair on 10 November. The tactic is likely to be challenged in court; if it is deemed lawful, the precedent could allow domestic and foreign law enforcement and intelligence services free rein to hack computers abroad. ...(cut)... -------------------
