Besides Malaysia, researchers at Citizen Lab based at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs found that the United States, Singapore, Indonesia and Britain also used the surveillance software known as FinSpy.
“Rather than catching kidnappers and drug dealers, it looks more likely that it is being used for politically motivated surveillance,” security researcher Morgan Marquis-Boire was quoted by NYT as saying.
Martin J. Muench, managing director of Gamma Group — a British company that sells FinSpy — has reportedly said that Gamma Group sold its technology to governments solely to monitor criminals, and that it was most often used against “paedophiles, terrorists, organised crime, kidnapping and human trafficking”.
Marquis-Boire, however, pointed out that the software was open to abuse, saying: “If you look at the list of countries that Gamma is selling to, many do not have a robust rule of law.”
Other countries with servers running FinSpy include Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei, Canada, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Ethiopia, Germany, India, Japan, Latvia, Mexico, Mongolia, Netherlands, Qatar, Serbia, Turkmenistan, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam.
Global human rights group Human Rights Watch said in its 2013 report that Malaysia has yet to ratify core human rights treaties, despite being a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council.
It added that Putrajaya continued to violate the rights to free association and public assembly last year, besides decreasing freedom of expression by amending the Evidence Act.
FinSpy was used in emails targeted at political dissidents in Ethiopia and on Android phones in Vietnam, according to Marquis-Boire’s report published on the Citizen Lab website yesterday.
FinSpy was also found in emails targeting Bahraini activists last July. Turkmenistan’s Ministry of Communications also ran FinSpy off its own computer system, according to the report.
Human Rights Watch called Turkmenistan last month one of the most repressive governments in the world.
“Our findings highlight the increasing dissonance between Gamma’s public claims that FinSpy is used exclusively to track ‘bad guys’ and the growing body of evidence suggesting that the tool has and continues to be used against opposition groups and human rights activists,” said the Citizen Lab report.
NYT
With so many types of malicious software being spread around the Internet, it is important to be aware of what spyware is and what spyware does. Spyware is a general term used to describe software that performs certain behaviors, generally without appropriately obtaining your consent first, such as:
ReplyDeleteAdvertising
Collecting personal information
Changing the configuration of your computer
Its against human rights?
Delete
ReplyDeleteSpyware is often associated with software that displays advertisements (called adware) or software that tracks personal or sensitive information.
Trading tracking for services
That does not mean all software that provides ads or tracks your online activities is bad. For example, you might sign up for a free music service, but you "pay" for the service by agreeing to receive targeted ads. If you understand the terms and agree to them, you may have decided that it is a fair tradeoff. You might also agree to let the company track your online activities to determine which ads to show you.
ReplyDeleteWhat does spyware do
ReplyDeleteKnowing what spyware does can be a very difficult process because most spyware is designed to be difficult to remove. Other kinds of spyware make changes to your computer that can be annoying and can cause your computer slow down or crash.
These programs can change your web browser's home page or search page, or add additional components to your browser you don't need or want. They also make it very difficult for you to change your settings back to the way you had them.
ReplyDeleteHow to prevent spyware
ReplyDeleteThe key in all cases is whether or not you (or someone who uses your computer) understand what the software will do and have agreed to install the software on your computer.
Persetujuan harus didapat terlebih dahulu.
Delete
ReplyDeleteA common trick is to covertly install the software during the installation of other software you want such as a music or video file sharing program.
Whenever you install something on your computer, make sure you carefully read all disclosures, including the license agreement and privacy statement. Sometimes the inclusion of unwanted software in a given software installation is documented, but it might appear at the end of a license agreement or privacy statement.
ReplyDeleteMCMC is investigating the news report issued by local online news portal, The Malaysia Insider, at around 3:00 pm yesterday with the headline stating “Malaysia Uses Spyware against Own Citizens, NYT Reports”.
ReplyDeleteMCMC has also conducted a review of currently available information and we have found that the server that is allegedly hosted in Malaysia also has similar Internet Protocol (IP) addresses linked to a commercial webhosting company called GPLHost which has similar IP hosting in Australia, Singapore and the United States.
ReplyDeleteWe have also found that the server that is claimed to be in Malaysia appears to be registered to a company called Iusacell PCS. Further checking of Iusacell PCS indicates that it could be a Mexican mobile operator.
ReplyDeleteTindakan harus diambil segera.
ReplyDeleteAt this stage of the investigations, MCMC would like to remind the public not to simply believe everything that they read online and to verify all the information that they receive before forming any views or conclusions on the issue.
ReplyDeleteThe public is also reminded that the posting of false information constitutes an offence under Section 211 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 and upon conviction, can be fined for a sum not exceeding RM50,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year.
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