In order to overcome the dilemma of privacy on internet, FBI has requested an amendment in the Rule 41 of Federal rules of criminal procedure.According to the proposed amendment, FBI will have more control over overseas computer in an attempt to safeguard user’s anonymity in the world of internet.FBI will also enjoy seizure of any target whose identity is concealed by any technological means (TOR, VPN technology, proxies or hosted somewhere on darknet).
Some Extract from the amendment :
“Authority to Issue a Warrant. At the request of a federal law enforcement officer or an attorney for the government: (6) a magistrate judge with authority in any district where activities related to a crime may have occurred has authority to issue a warrant to use remote access to search electronic storage media and to seize or copy electronically stored information located within or outside that district if: (A) the district where the media or information is located has been concealed through technological means; or (B) in an investigation of a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1030(a)(5), the media are protected computers that have been damaged without authorization and are located in five or more districts”.
By this amendment FBI are not allowed to issue any warrants for search in any foreign countries.But it will be the widest expansion in the exercised powers by FBI, as its about cyber-crimes
One of the greatest arguments of this proposal could be the effects on NSA if the proposal gets a g ahead from the court, when a security expert was asked this he said:
“Uncoordinated unilateral ‘cyber’ ops by FBI may interfere with US foreign affairs (or covert ops)”.
But, this will be not be the first time when NSA will be involved in tracking down cyber criminals. FBI has previously used Malware to track down the criminals that were using child abuse images to spam user’s computers.