CCC cracks State Trojans

CCC cracks State Trojans
Chaos Computer Club (CCC ) claims to the government spying software had been leaked, which became widely known under the term "Federal Trojan" or country-specific versions in Germany, for example, as a "Trojan Bavaria". The state investigators used Trojans to the so-called sources in Germany is currently the telecommunications interception (source telecommunication surveillance) to listen to voice over IP calls at the station before their encryption or after decryption at the receiver.
"The Dredge examined Trojans can not only highly intimate information, but also offer a remote control function for loading and executing any other malicious software," reads the CCC. "Due to arise from rough design and implementation errors also glaring security gaps in the infiltrated computers that can also take advantage of third parties", accuses the CCC from the investigating authorities.
A spokesman for the Interior Ministry confirmed to dpa that software solutions for the telecommunications interception sources are available for both the federal and at state level. "For the use of this software is it legal principles that must be followed when using," said the spokesman. For investigations at the federal level here as the BKA-law was relevant. There are also regulations in some states, including the use of source-monitoring center. Especially in Bavaria did it out yet, the Bavarian Justice Ministry had admitted mid-year that the "Trojan Bavaria" has already been used several times.
The efforts of secret online searches on the computers of suspects back to the year 2005, in the tenure of former Federal Interior Minister Otto Schily (SPD). Then put under the heading "Federal Trojan" A vigorous debate about the acceptability of such interventions in the privacy of the personal computer. The Federal Constitutional Court in February 2008 continued high legal hurdles for online searches. With the ruling, the court also created a new "computer fundamental right", the "fundamental right to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of information technology systems."
The Constitutional Court took not only the fishing operations of IT systems is very narrow limits, but also the first time put the dominion of the user about its information technology equipment from Park. They made it clear that should be changed in this private sphere, no data and only under very strict regulations about eavesdropping. The Basic Law describes a comprehensive system of protection that goes far beyond the information users published.
By the end of 2008 analyzed Mark Hansen of the Independent Centre for Privacy Protection Schleswig-Holstein and Dresdner computer science professor Andreas Pfitzmann also to erode the provisions on remote searches with the so-called federal Trojans not only data protection. The Federal Trojan could also provide no usable evidence in court.
The CCC emphasized the so-called source-monitoring center should be used exclusively for the interception of Internet telephony. This is ensured by technical and legal measures. The software enables analyzed but a much broader attack. It has been shown that "in practice an effective separation of the exclusive telecommunications monitoring and sniffing the big attack by Trojans is possible or even desired only".
The analysis of the code have shown that the functions far beyond the interception of communications and violated the explicit provisions of the Constitutional Court. The software can download some of the network more programs and controlled remotely run, the extensibility of the full function of the Federal Trojan can be provided from the start, could it simply be browsing, reading, writing and manipulating files on the computers operated by alleged suspects . "Even a large digital eavesdropping and Spähangriff is possible by remotely accessing the microphone, the camera and the computer's keyboard is" stressed the CCC.
In addition to the monitoring functions of the CCC revealed by the analysis but also serious security gaps that are torn by the infiltration of the Trojan on to search computers and be listened. "The amounts derived screenshots and audio data are encrypted on incompetent manner, the commands of the control software at the trojan unverschlüssselt even completely," reads the CCC. Neither the commands to the Trojan horse whose answers are still protected by some form of authentication or integrity assurance only. "Thus, not only unauthorized third party remote control over the Trojans, but only moderately skilled attacker already present themselves as the authorities on a specific instance of the trojan and deliver bogus data. There is even an attack on the regulatory infrastructure possible."
The consequences to be drawn are, according to the CCC to see: "The secret infiltration of information technology systems by state authorities must be stopped." The Hackers Club also calls "all the hackers and those interested in technology" to analyze the binaries of the trojan on. In addition, we gladly accept additional copies of the Trojan state.