Senator Ron Wyden Seeks Greater Transparency on Feds’ Hacking Operations

In a bid to shed light on the US government’s use of hacking tools and spyware, Democratic Senator Ron Wyden has written a letter to the US Government Accountability Office (GAO), requesting a comprehensive review of how federal law enforcement agencies employ these technologies in their investigations.

Wyden’s letter, shared with TechCrunch, highlights the lack of transparency surrounding the government’s use of hacking tools, which have been in use for over two decades. He notes that while wiretaps and pen registers allow authorities to see when a call is placed and to whom, the government does not publish annual reports for hacking operations, leaving the public in the dark about their scope, frequency, and operational safeguards.

The senator is making several requests to the GAO, including an investigation into whether agents have abused hacking tools and spyware for unauthorized or personal purposes, and a review of the technical and oversight measures in place to control and prevent misuse. He also wants the GAO to assess how agencies acquire, store, and secure these tools to avoid dangerous leaks, as well as whether they submit them to a program designed to determine if the US government should report security flaws to help tech companies fix them.

Wyden’s concerns are underscored by high-profile cases, such as the theft and sale of advanced hacking tools by a former executive at the defense contractor L3Harris, which ended up being used by Russian spies against Ukraine and Chinese cybercriminals against cryptocurrency owners.

The earliest documented case of the FBI using spyware dates back to 1999, during an investigation into illegal gambling and loan sharking. In that case, federal agents discovered that a Philadelphia mobster used the program Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) to encrypt a file on his computer, which they believed contained key evidence. To access it, the FBI installed a rudimentary malware designed to record the keystrokes on Scarfo’s computer, which allowed them to decrypt the file.

Wyden’s request for greater transparency is a response to the government’s repeated ignoring of congressional requests for greater oversight. The senator is pushing for an unclassified report with the GAO’s findings and recommendations, highlighting the need for greater accountability and transparency in the government’s use of hacking tools and spyware.

Senator Wyden’s Concerns and Requests

• Investigate whether agents have abused hacking tools and spyware for unauthorized or personal purposes.
• Review the technical and oversight measures in place to control and prevent misuse.
• Assess how agencies acquire, store, and secure these tools to avoid dangerous leaks.
• Examine whether agencies submit these tools to a program designed to determine if the US government should report security flaws to help tech companies fix them.
• Review how the feds inform courts when requesting warrants for the use of these tools, and whether they disclose the risk of affecting unknown or innocent targets.