Senator Ron Wyden Calls for Review of Federal Law Enforcement’s Use of Hacking Tools

Democratic Senator Ron Wyden has urged the U.S. government to investigate the use of hacking tools and spyware by federal law enforcement agencies against American citizens, highlighting a concerning lack of transparency regarding their deployment and operational protocols.

In a letter sent on Friday to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), which is responsible for auditing federal government activities, Wyden requested a thorough examination of how the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Secret Service utilize these digital surveillance tools in their operations.

Wyden emphasized that despite the use of such tools for over two decades, “there exists little public information regarding its scope, frequency, or operational safeguards.” Unlike traditional surveillance methods, like wiretaps, which are documented through annual reports, he pointed out that the government fails to provide transparency concerning hacking operations. To address this gap, he asked the GAO to publish an unclassified report detailing their findings and recommendations.

The senator noted that while federal agents have repeatedly employed hacking tools, the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI “have repeatedly ignored congressional requests for greater transparency across multiple administrations.” He presented several specific requests to the GAO, including:

• Investigating whether agents have misused hacking tools and spyware for unauthorized or personal purposes and evaluating the existing technical and oversight measures to prevent such misuse.
• Reviewing agency protocols for the acquisition, storage, and security of these tools to avert potential leaks, as well as assessing if they engage in programs aimed at reporting security flaws to assist tech companies in improving their systems.
• Determining how federal authorities disclose the use of these tools to courts when applying for warrants, including whether they inform the courts of the potential risks to unknown or innocent individuals.

To illustrate the dangers associated with the procurement of hacking tools, Wyden referenced the case of Peter Williams, a former executive at defense contractor L3Harris, who illegally sold advanced hacking tools to a Russian broker. These tools were reportedly used against Ukraine by Russian operatives and by Chinese cybercriminals against cryptocurrency targets.

The use of spyware by the FBI dates back at least to 1999, during an investigation into illegal gambling and loan sharking. Authorities discovered that mobster Nicodemo S. Scarfo had employed an encryption program known as Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) to secure key evidence on his computer. To access this encrypted file, the FBI deployed basic malware designed to log the keystrokes, facilitating the decryption process.