CCC accuses German Government of running spy trojan
Hacker group the Chaos Computer Club (CCC) has accused the German Government of using a Trojan to snoop on citizens' computers.
The CCC, which calls itself the largest hacker group in Europe, made the claim after reverse engineering a "lawful interception malware program used by German police forces” that it claimed gives the authorities access to end-user computers.
“The malware can not only siphon away intimate data, but also offers a remote control or backdoor functionality for uploading and executing arbitrary other programs,” the CCC said on its English-language site, adding that the design of the snooper also left computers vulnerable to attacks from third parties. The discovery is likely to create a stir in Berlin because the level of probing, the CCC says, goes beyond what is allowed under German law on tapping, which was set up to control only VoIP calls.