FBI Trolled Bomber

In 2007 some kid in Washington State was making a lot of bomb threats to his high school. To find this anonymous threat, the FBI created a fake Seattle Times article about bomb threats which contained malware, sent it to his Myspace Inbox, waited for him to click on it, and then tracked him down via his IP address. News of this law enforcement technique has pissed off Kathy Best, Editor of The Seattle Times.

“We are outraged that the FBI, with the apparent assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, misappropriated the name of The Seattle Times to secretly install spyware on the computer of a crime suspect. Not only does that cross a line, it erases it.”

The FBI claims it only conducts this illicit appropriation type behavior when there’s an imminent threat to public safety, as in the case of a bomb threat or obviously college students trading pot brownie recipes. I don’t blame the newspaper for being upset. How many suburbanite Jihadis or healthy fathers of five have clicked a Times article about a dog who befriended a porcupine only to see their computers destroyed? Best to visit the New York Times which everyone knows is owned and operated by terrorists and hence only trafficked by amateurs. I sleep well at night knowing the FBI is posting bugged bukkake videos to RedTube so they can track viewers to see if they’re praising a vengeful Allah while stroking.

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