Organizations ranging from nonprofits to trade associations have come out in support of legislation that proponents say would prevent law enforcement agencies from engaging in mass hacking schemes. The groups were highlighted in a Friday press release from the legislation’s author, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.
Some of the nonprofits included the American Civil Liberties Union, Demand Progress, Access Now, and New America’s Open Technology Institute, all hailing from the liberal side of the political spectrum. The conservative end included the nonprofit Niskanen Center, while trade groups included the Internet Association and CCIA, both representing companies like Facebook and Google.
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The “Stop Mass Hacking Act,” proposed on Thursday by Wyden and a bipartisan group of his colleagues, is aimed chiefly at preventing the FBI from hacking thousands of computers via so-called “botnets” using a single warrant. The Supreme Court granted the Justice Department permission to change Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 41, which would permit the practice, effective Dec. 1, unless Congress takes action.
“Before the government is allowed to hack, we should have a robust public debate around the risks involved,” the ACLU said in its statement on the issue, posing some hypothetical scenarios. “Should the FBI be allowed to hack the computers of innocent cybercrime victims in order to search for evidence? What standards and protections should apply when third parties that have nothing to do with a given investigation are likely to be affected?”
The issue arose as the result of a case in which the FBI hacked thousands of computers in order to investigate a child pornography operation. In a statement, the department said the change was both necessary for criminal investigations and for technical aspects related to the prevention of cybercrime.
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“In certain circumstances, the government may need to seek a warrant to take action online to clean up botnets,” said spokesman Peter Carr. “For example, by preventing the bot code from operating or otherwise severing its connection to the criminals who control it. This rule change would permit agents to go to one federal judge, rather than submit separate warrant applications to each of the 94 federal districts. That duplication of effort makes no sense.”
Carr added that a botnet deployed as part of one recent investigation resulted in the rescue of 38 children.
In a statement on Thursday, Wyden said the permanent authorization of the practice would amount to a “dramatic expansion of the government’s hacking and surveillance authority,” adding that it should not be permitted to pass “through an obscure bureaucratic process.”
