8/14/2019 FBI System Covertly Searches E-mail

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FBI system covertly searches e-mail

By Neil King Jr. and Ted BridisWSJ Interactive Edition July 11, 2000 6:01 AM PTWASHINGTON -- The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation is using a superfast system calledCarnivore to covertly search e-mails for messages from criminal suspects.Essentially a personal computer stuffed with specialized software, Carnivore represents a new twist in

the federal government's fight to sustain its snooping powers in the Internet age. But in employing thesystem, which can scan millions of e-mails a second, the FBI has upset privacy advocates and some inthe computer industry. Experts say the system opens a thicket of unresolved legal issues and privacyconcerns.The FBI developed the Internet wiretapping system at a special agency lab at Quantico, Va., anddubbed it Carnivore for its ability to get to "the meat" of what would otherwise be an enormousquantity of data. FBI technicians unveiled the system to a roomful of astonished industry specialistshere two weeks ago in order to steer efforts to develop standardized ways of complying with federalwiretaps. Federal investigators say they have used Carnivore in fewer than 100 criminal cases since itslaunch early last year.Word of the Carnivore system has disturbed many in the Internet industry because, when deployed, it

must be hooked directly into Internet service providers' computer networks. That would give thegovernment, at least theoretically, the ability to eavesdrop on all customers' digital communications,from e-mail to online banking and Web surfing.The system also troubles some Internet service providers, who are loath to see outside softwareplugged into their systems. In many cases, the FBI keeps the secret Carnivore computer system in alocked cage on the provider's premises, with agents making daily visits to retrieve the data capturedfrom the provider's network. But legal challenges to the use of Carnivore are few, and judges' rulingsremain sealed because of the secretive nature of the investigations.Internet eavesdropping Internet wiretaps are conducted only under state or federal judicial order, andoccur relatively infrequently. The huge majority of wiretaps continue to be the traditional telephonevariety, though U.S. officials say the use of Internet eavesdropping is growing as everyone from drugdealers to potential terrorists begins to conduct business over the Web.The FBI defends Carnivore as more precise than Internet wiretap methods used in the past. The bureausays the system allows investigators to tailor an intercept operation so they can pluck only the digitaltraffic of one person from among the stream of millions of other messages. An earlier version, aptlycode-named Omnivore, could suck in as much as to six gigabytes of data every hour, but in a lessdiscriminating fashion.Still, critics contend that Carnivore is open to abuse.Mark Rasch, a former federal computer-crimes prosecutor, said the nature of the surveillance byCarnivore raises important privacy questions, since it analyzes part of every snippet of data traffic thatflows past, if only to determine whether to record it for police."It's the electronic equivalent of listening to everybody's phone calls to see if it's the phone call youshould be monitoring," Rasch said. "You develop a tremendous amount of information."

Others say the technology dramatizes how far the nation's laws are lagging behind the technologicalrevolution. "This is a clever way to use old telephone-era statutes to meet new challenges, but clearlythere is too much latitude in the current law," said Stewart Baker, a lawyer specializing intelecommunications and Internet regulatory matters.Privacy and security concernsRobert Corn-Revere, of the Hogan & Hartson law firm here, representedan unidentified Internet service provider in one of the few legal fights against Carnivore. He said hisclient worried that the FBI would have access to all the e-mail traffic on its system, raising dire privacyand security concerns. A federal magistrate ruled against the company early this year, leaving it nooption but to allow the FBI access to its system.

8/14/2019 FBI System Covertly Searches E-mail

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