IP: Antivirus firms deny Magic Lantern backdoor plans

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> From: "Bill Sodeman" <bill () sodeman com>
> To: <farber () cis upenn edu>
> Subject: Antivirus firms deny Magic Lantern backdoor plans
> Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2001 23:47:17 -0600
> X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook, Build 10.0.3311
> Importance: Normal
>
> http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20011210/tc/attack_tech_dc.html
>
> Monday December 10 8:30 PM ET
> Antivirus Firms Say They Won't Create FBI Loophole
> By Elinor Mills Abreu
>
> SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Anti-virus software vendors said on Monday
> they don't want to create a loophole in their security products to let
> the FBI or other government agencies use a virus to eavesdrop on the
> computer communications of suspected criminals.
>
> Under a project code named "Magic Lantern," the U.S. Federal Bureau of
> Investigation is creating an e-mail-borne virus or Trojan horse that
> hides itself on the computer and captures all keystrokes made, including
> passwords that could be used to read encrypted mail, according to a
> report on MSNBC.com in November.
>
> Despite subsequent reports to the contrary, officials at Symantec Corp.
> and Network Associates Inc. said they had no intention of voluntarily
> modifying their products to satisfy the FBI. Spokesmen at two other
> computer security companies, Japan-based Trend Micro Inc. and the U.S.
> subsidiary of UK-based Sophos PLc., made similar statements.
>
> All four anti-virus companies said they had not contacted or been
> contacted by the U.S. government on the matter.
>
> "We're in the business of providing a virus-free environment for our
> users and we're not going to do anything to compromise that security,"
> said Tony Thompson of Network Associates.
>
> "Symantec's first priority is to protect our customers from malicious
> and illegal attacks," Symantec Chief Executive John W. Thompson said in
> a statement. "We have no intention of creating or leaving a hole in our
> software that might compromise that security."
>
> If anti-virus vendors were to leave a hole for an FBI-created Trojan
> horse program, malicious hackers would try to exploit the hole too,
> experts said.
>
> "If you leave the weakness for the FBI, you leave it for everybody,"
> said Fred Cohen, an independent security expert and digital forensics
> professor at the University of New Haven.
>
> >From the industry perspective, leaving a hole in anti-virus software
> would erode public confidence and damage the reputation of the vendor,
> sending customers to competing companies, the vendors said.
>
> The government would have to convince all anti-virus vendors to
> cooperate or the plan wouldn't work, since those not cooperating would
> have a market advantage and since they all share information, said a
> Symantec spokeswoman.
>
> "The thought that you would be able to convince the industry as a whole
> to do this is kind of naive," she said.
>
> All four anti-virus companies said they had not contacted or been
> contacted by the U.S. government on the matter.
>
> The FBI declined to confirm or deny the report about "Magic Lantern,"
> when it was first published by MSNBC.com and a spokesman was not
> available for comment on Monday.
>
> PLAN WOULD ALIENATE OTHER COUNTRIES
>
> Symantec and Networks Associates, both of whom have investments in
> China, would not jeopardize their footings in that market, said Rob
> Rosenberger, editor of www.vmyths.com, a Web site that debunks virus
> hoaxes.
>
> "If (the Chinese) thought that the company was a tool of the CIA (news -
> web sites), China would stop using those products in critical
> environments," Rosenberger said. "It is in the best interest of
> anti-virus vendors not to heed the call of the FBI."
>
> "We always try to cooperate with the authorities when it's appropriate.
> Having said that, our No. 1 goal is to protect our customers," said
> Barbara Woolf of Trend Micro. "I've heard reports that the government is
> upset this got out and is going back to the drawing board."
>
> Appeasing the U.S. government would be difficult for vendors who have
> parent companies and customers outside the United States, they said.
>
> "If the laws of the land were to change to permit this kind of activity
> then we would abide by the law," said David Hughes, president of Sophos'
> U.S. subsidiary.
>
> But "how would a vendor provide protection for customers outside of the
> specific jurisdiction?" Hughes asked. "If we were to do this for the
> U.S. government we'd also have to do it for the government of any other
> nation that would want to do something similar."
>
>
> ==========================
>
> Bill Sodeman
> bill () sodeman com / http://bill.sodeman.com
>
> 1-512-845-0119

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