Superintendent Trojan

Found on Heise on Monday, 09 October 2006
Browse Legal-Issues

Whilst listening in on normal telephone calls over landlines or mobile phone networks has become a routine procedure, Voice over IP connections frequently present a problem for investigators, especially when the persons being monitored use Skype via foreign servers or call direct from PC to PC and encrypt their data. The Swiss Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (UVEK) is therefore examining the use of spy software to allow it to listen in on conversations on PCs.

Installation of the software wiretap is to be carried out on the instructions of a judge only. The ISPs of the persons under investigation will then slip the program onto their computers. The program will save overheard conversations and send them to a server in small, inconspicuous packets. If the computer is turned off before all the data has been transmitted, the program will continue transmission when it is restarted.

The wiretap has some additional functions. For example, the built in microphone on a laptop can be turned on to monitor a room or webcams can be activated. As the latter is usually indicated by an LED, this is unlikely to be useful in practice. Once wiretap activities have been completed, the software can be programmed to uninstall itself at a given time.

It's pretty questionable if the usage of a trojan is legal. The ISP cannot simply install software on a computer if the user doesn't rely on their bloated piece of access software. Most people simply use the dialup connection. In those cases, the trojan has to be installed using flaws in browsers and/or the operating system. Those usually get patched pretty quick, so it won't be a reliable choice. And what's with the users who run Linux or Mac systems? Firewalls, unlike stated, might also be a problem once the IP of the logging server is known.