Government Hacking

Week 8

Last week, we discussed U.S. government proposals to compel electronic device manufacturers and online communications service providers to build in a mechanism for law enforcement to access the plaintext of encrypted data - that is, to compel the intentional addition of new vulnerabilities to those devices and services. This week, we’ll study how the U.S. and other governments (and their private-sector contractors) exploit existing and unintentional vulnerabilities in order to hack people whom the governments wish to surveil or apprehend.

This book, and all H2O books, are Creative Commons licensed for sharing and re-use with the exception of certain excerpts. Any excerpts from the Restatements of the Law, Principles of the Law, and the Model Penal Code are copyright by The American Law Institute. Excerpts are reproduced with permission, not as part of a Creative Commons license.