The FBI has effectively abandoned its custom-built internet surveillance technology, once known as Carnivore, designed to read e-mails and other online communications among suspected criminals, terrorists and spies, according to bureau oversight reports submitted to Congress.
Instead, the FBI said it has switched to unspecified commercial software to eavesdrop on computer traffic during such investigations and has increasingly asked internet providers to conduct wiretaps on targeted customers on the government’s behalf, reimbursing companies for their costs.
This is idiotic. These fools at the FBI have no excuse for this monumental waste of tax dollars. Their IT/CS incompetence knows no bounds. And to think, there is more talent available in the market now than probably ever before. Of course, the budget is classified, they don’t want to announce that they have spent $3B over the last 7 years (of course, I really have no idea, but you have to suspect that this has reached into the Billions over the last seven years).
Aaron Fulkerson 