ComputerCOP: the dubious “Internet Safety Software” given to US families

  • 2 October 2014
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245 police agencies in 35-plus states distribute a security program that's not so secure.

by Dave Maass, for the EFF Oct 1 2014
 
http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Screen-Shot-2014-09-30-at-5.19.12-PM-640x419.pngThis post originally appeared on the Electronic Frontier Foundation's website. The author, Dave Maass, is a media relations coordinator and investigative researcher for EFF. For years, local law enforcement agencies around the country have told parents that installing ComputerCOP software is the “first step” in protecting their children online.
Police chiefs, sheriffs, and district attorneys have handed out hundreds of thousands of copies of the disc to parents for free at schools, libraries, and community events, usually as a part of an “Internet Safety” outreach initiative. (You can see the long list of ComputerCOP outlets here.) The packaging typically features the agency’s official seal and the chief’s portrait, with a signed message warning of the “dark and dangerous off-ramps” of the Internet.
As official as it looks, ComputerCOP is actually just spyware, generally bought in bulk from a New York company that appears to do nothing but market this software to local government agencies using shady information.
 
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Author: Zeljka Zorz HNS Managing Editor/ Posted on 02 October 2014.
 
A few days after the creator of the StealthGenie application has been indicted in what is the first-ever criminal case concerning the advertisement and sale of a mobile device spyware app,
EFF's investigative researcher Dave Maas warns that police and sheriff departments around the US have been giving out spying software (ComputerCOP) for free to families at schools, libraries, and community events.

The idea was to help families keep an eye on what their children are doing online and protect them against lurking dangers such as sexual predators and bullying.

But, as Maas found out, the way ComputerCOP works is not safe, secure and isn't very effective.

"As security software goes, we observed a product with a keystroke-capturing function, also called a 'keylogger,' that could place a family’s personal information at extreme risk by transmitting what a user types over the Internet to third-party servers without encryption. That means many versions of ComputerCOP leave children (and their parents, guests, friends, and anyone using the affected computer) exposed to the same predators, identity thieves, and bullies that police claim the software protects against," he explained.

 
 
Help Net Security/ Article/ http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=17444
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He also says the EFF is “interested in protecting predators and pedophiles.”

by Megan Geuss - Oct 4 2014
 

A county sheriff from Limestone, Alabama is sticking by his department's endorsement of ComputerCOP, a shady piece of software given to parents to monitor their kids online. Other law enforcement agencies, it appears, have followed that example.
Earlier this week, the Electronic Frontier Foundation published an investigation into software called ComputerCOP which approximately 245 agencies in more than 35 states, plus the US Marshals, have been distributing to parents to use to monitor their children. The software is essentially spyware, and many versions come with a keylogger, which in some cases transmits unencrypted keystrokes to a server.
 
In addition to ComputerCOP's security issues, the EFF discovered misleading marketing materials that wrongly claimed endorsements from the US Department of the Treasury and the ACLU. “Law enforcement agencies have purchased a poor product, slapped their trusted emblems on it, and passed it on to everyday people. It’s time for those law enforcement agencies to take away ComputerCOP’s badge,” Dave Maass of the EFF wrote in an article that was republished on Ars on Wednesday.
 
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Shame on the authorities for distributing this software. PR hype for their benefit and could cause serious damage to the end user.
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I agree totally Antus, given a choice I would not have it either.

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