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Submitted by: Bill Hickey
NCVA List Master
NRT-0257 FBI Spyware Tracks Down Online Criminal:
The FBI used a covert surveillance program to identify and apprehend a teenager who emailed bomb threats against a Washington high school last month, according to an FBI affadavit cited in an online IT journal. The program is known as a computer and Internet Protocol address verifier (CIPAV). According to the affadavit, a CIPAV program gathers a wide range of information, including the computer's IP address; MAC address; open ports; a list of running programs; the operating system type, version, and serial number; preferred Internet Browser type and version; the name of the computer's registered owner and registered company name; the current logged- in user's name and the last-visited URL. The CIPAV then settles into a silent "pen register" mode, in which it monitors the target computer's Internet use, logging the IP address of every computer to which the machine connects. The FBI reportedly delivered the program through MySpace.
(www.wired.com, 18JUL07)