FBI's Magic Lantern Exposed [Info-Graphic]

At first glance, Magic Lantern may appear to be something out of a Tolkien novel but the truth is that it is one of the most powerful surveillance apps in the world. The tool has been used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to assist in cases pertaining to identity theft, harassment and extortion. As opposed to keyloggers of the late 1990’s, which had to be physically placed on a target system that required monitoring, Magic Lantern could be installed from a remote location without the knowledge of the user.

The tool primarily used e-mail attachments to make its way into a system and activated once PGP encryption was used. Once operational, Magic Lantern logged pretty much every single OS activity from tracking IP addresses to storing Web browsing history. Furthermore, the software was given full support from Norton and McAfee who customized their antivirus apps to give unrestricted access to Magic Lantern. Our infographic has a lot more details.