Today, the FBI becomes the enemy of every computer user and every IT security professional worldwide

The U.S. FBI has been sort of a random law enforcement agency somewhere on the planet doing physical law enforcement work, kind of like the Bundespolizei in Germany would appear to an American, or the way the Policía Federal Argentina would appear to a European. Today, the FBI becomes a global adversary and enemy to every security-conscious computer user and to every IT security professional, similar to how the mass surveillance agencies are treated. The FBI has requested, and been granted, the lawful power (in the US) to intrude into any computer in the entire world. In 95% of the world, this makes the FBI no different from a Russian or Chinese criminal intruder, and it will be treated in the same way by people defending their systems; defending their homes.

These “changes to Rule 41” put a lot of people in the FBI’s crosshairs. As usual, most people think new powers for law enforcement can only target criminals – as in actual, violent criminals. This would be the reasonable course of action, but not so in this case, not so at all. Techdirt points out that anybody using encryption, or anybody trying to hide their identity or location, can be presumed to be engaged in crime (having a “guilty mind”, or mens rea in Legalese Latin) and therefore be a valid target.

Actually, let’s take that observation one step further: carrying an electronic ankle shackle is considered equivalent to serving a prison sentence. So when the FBI says out straight that nobody has a right to hide their location, what they’re saying is that they want to reduce everybody’s freedom to the equivalent of being in prison. That’s a remarkable statement no matter how you twist it.

A lot of this comes down to law enforcement’s distorted self-image: since they have the lawful power to enter a residence on its own jurisdiction (a power backed on location by a half-dozen locked and loaded assault rifles with safeties off), they have taken for granted that they can and should enter anywhere they see themselves having a need to enter. In short, law enforcement is used to getting some sort of preferential treatment when breaking and entering using force. But when the FBI tries to break into my firewall in Switzerland, there’s no jurisdiction, and there’s no guns: there’s going to be just me shooting their attempts down with complete prejudice, no remorse, and 100% justification. They’re going to be treated no differently than any other criminal trying to break into my home.

DYI