Someone here mentioned that Carnivore is just
another public relations diversionary tactic, and
while I am not willing to grant that theory 100%, I
suspect it has become one anyway.
Think about this for a moment ...
If the FBI plays this right, most Congress critters
will say, "Okay, they are being totally honest, and
I can see why they will not allow source to be 100%
public. An univeristy review is probably good
enough ... I guess I'll trust them." Chances are,
they will not convince the harshest critics like
Bob Barr, but the majority will get off their
backs.
But of course, there are basic flaws no matter how
"good" this review gets ...
1. Every time the FBI walks into an ISP with a box
labelled "CARNIVORE - FBI USE ONLY", no one really
knows what kind of software is being used. After
all, it is suppose to just sniff packets passively.
No one gets to review each USE of this box. This
comes down to the, "You can sue us if you find us
in violation, but there is a law that says you may
not know what we are doing ..." Official Secrets
Act, take two.
2. The ISP will still have to route all the target
packets to this box, hence defeating the
effeciency of switched architectures, unless the
FBI gets to install this damn thing anywhere it
feels like (probably still not sufficient for huge
dial-in banks).
In the mean time, once the FBI has earned back the
trust of Congress critters, they will once again be
Feinstein-esque and blindly trust everything scare
story the FBI feeds them.
"Yes, Director Freeh, you're right! We need to let
you take over Echelon! Here are the keys to the
kingdom ..."
Ern
